Rural High Speed Internet

Why is it so hard to get a good internet connection out in the country?  I live in a rural area where there is no DSL and no cable. The phone and cable companies will not install the broadband lines in an area where there are not enough people to make it profitable.  This is understandable because they might have to put down miles of line to reach just one house.  They would never be able to make back the thousands of dollars it costs to lay miles of cable.

I say this is understandable, but on the other hand, it's a little bit aggravating because in some cases the internet providing communication companies were given subsidies from the government in order to bring fast web access to rural parts of the country.  Instead, they used the money to connect suburban (semi-rural) areas.

What does any of this have to do with aircards?  Well, aircards are one of the ways a person can get around the issue of no decent phone lines or cable.  Anyone that lives within a reasonable distance from a cell phone tower can get internet access with an aircard unless they live in a steep valley or behind a mountain that blocks the line of sight to the tower.

Where we live, 6 miles from the nearest DSL or cable, an aircard is the best way to get online.  Hopefully, as time goes by, our service provider will have 4G in our area.  Then we'll have true high speed internet in a rural area.

Aircard Meets Cradlepoint: A Marriage Made in Heaven

If you're like a lot of people who rely on an Aircard to get online, you may be wishing it would allow you to connect multiple computers to the web at one time. Using more than one computer with an Aircard has not been possible, not easily anyway, until recently.

That's when the Cradle Point or mobile broadband router came along. If you know someone who has high-speed internet, either through DSL or a cable connection, you may have noticed that they can set up wifi in their house and connect multiple computers or other devices to the internet at once. My brother has this option and he uses a wifi router to allow him and his wife to both surf the net from anywhere in the house at the same time. But this was not an option for people with an aircard until cradlepoints came along.

A Cradlepoint is basically a router designed just for aircards. The device is actually called a 3G mobile broadband router, and Cradlepoint is a copyrighted name of a company that produces these routers, but most people call all 3G routers by this title.

Instead of plugging your aircard into one computer, you plug the aircard into the Cradlepoint, and it creates a wifi signal that allows any wifi enabled computer in the area to connect to the internet through the aircard. Amazing, huh?

I live in a rural area, and I never thought I would have a fast internet connection, let alone a wifi network in my home. Aircards made it possible for folks in the country to get a fast internet connection, and now mobile broadband routers are making wifi a reality for people in rural areas. This is also true for people who travel a lot, live in an RV, or need a back up in case other web connections go down.

Just like regular wireless routers, the 3G version, a Cradlepoint, has security features to protect your computers and information from snoopers and hackers. It's important to use these features if you don't want other people to have access to your network. Most mobile broadband routers use a firewall or double firewalls to provide protection. They also use virtual private network technology (VPN).

There is also at least one benefit of using an aircard and cradlepoint over the use of a traditional wireless router. They are very mobile. You can take these two devices to any place that has cell phone connectivity and a power source (either a battery or electricity) and use them to connect to the web. Like I said before, this is very handy for travelers, and RVers.

There are also versions of this technology like Verizon's MiFi that combine a cradlepoint and an aircard into one device. The Mi-Fi is a pocket device that does the same thing as the two devices combined. However, it only allows a few computers or devices to be networked. Other 3G mobile routers allow 10 or more devices to connect, though I imagine they each would have a slow connection, since they would all have to share the Aircard's 3G signal.

Aircards revolutionized access to the internet for people all over the world. Now, Cradlepoints and other 3G mobile wifi routers are revolutionizing wireless networking for a lot of Aircard users.

Aircards are One Option for Rural Internet Access

Is a wireless aircard the best choice for rural internet access?

If you live in the country you may have few options for internet access. I live in a rural area where there are no cable or dsl internet services. Even the dial-up access is slow due to poor telephone lines. I was connecting at a typical speed of 24kbs. Ouch, that's slow! It made uploading pictures or viewing video nearly impossible. Any website with a lot of graphics loaded so slowly it wasn't worth trying. So what options did I have? What alternatives to dial-up can rural internet users rely on for high speed internet access?

There are basically three alternatives including a wireless aircard. You can choose between satellite, long distance wifi (if it's available,) or an aircard.

• Satellite Internet Access - This works almost anywhere with a view of the southern sky. It is a stable way to connect to the internet at high speeds in a rural location. However, it is more expensive to install than the other options like a wireless aircard. Installation of the satellite reciever is often nearly $700, but sometimes there are deals you can get or the provider may work the installation cost into your monthly service plan. After paying for installation, it usually costs about $60 per month for the basic plan, which is about the same as what it costs for an aircard service plan from a cell phone carrier.

• Long Distance Wifi - In some rural areas you can have an antenna put on your house that recieves a signal from a long distance wifi tower. This works sort of like the wifi signal you connect with at your local coffee shop, but in this case, it works over long distances. There is an installation fee. The fee in my area of Missouri for this wireless service is about $300 for installation. A monthly service fee also applies and these vary from company to company.
  

• Wireless Aircard (also known as a wireless modem) - An aircard is the method I chose. I bought an aircard, or wireless usb modem, from my local Alltel store. The aircard connects to my laptop computer via a usb connection. It allows my computer to connect with cell phone towers and uses their 3G connection to provide high speed internet. It works anywhere I can get cell service. One advantage of an aircard over long distance wifi or satellite is the fact that I can take it anywhere. With the other options I'm limited to my home. With an aircard you can go almost anywhere. I've even used it while riding down the highway. I no longer have to consider whether or not a hotel has wifi service; if I have my aircard I can connect to the internet at high speed through the nearest Alltel cell phone tower. It only cost $25 dollars to get the aircard installed and Alltel gave me the aircard itself for signing a 2 year service agreement. It costs $60 a month for an unlimited internet data plan. Also, if you buy a Cradlepoint too, an aircard can be used to set up a wifi network in your home or wherever you go.
  

If you know of any other options for rural users to get high speed internet service or would like to know more about how aircards work, let me know in the comments. As far as I'm concerned, the best option for me is an aircard, so if you live in a rural area and you're looking for a high speed option, check with your local cell phone provider and see if a wireless aircard is for you.