rural internet

Speedy

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Since we switched to Starlink, not all that long ago, I’ve been quite happy with the improvement of my internet speed and connectivity. Especially the connectivity. That was the biggest issue with our old satellite provider. We were paying an awful lot for limited data, and the connectivity just kept getting worse and worse.

Now, my “office” is in the corner of my bedroom, where the external walls are log. Even with a wi-fi booster, just being set up where I am is probably the worst part of the house to get wi-fi. Plus, my desktop is rather old and having a harder time keeping up with the newer technology. Still, with a little booster set up, and the improved connectivity with Starlink, I was quite content with my desktop’s internet speeds.

My husband was not.

He also wasn’t satisfied with the bare bones router that came with the Starlink system. They actually upgraded while we were in line for it, so it’s not what people are getting now. One issue was that the router had only one port in it. My husband likes to have his computer wired directly, but we also need to connect our security camera.

So he ended up getting a NETGEAR Orbi Whole Home Tri-Band Mesh Wi-Fi 6 System (RBK852) – Router with 1 Satellite Extender (not an affiliate link). The extender is set up in the living room; another wi-fi semi-dead zone.

Also, you can set up a payment plan. There was no way we could have afforded it, otherwise!

He got that set up, and was seeing huge increases in speed on his desktop. Plus, he could be directly wired in with his computer, and the security camera could be, too, though still with the original Starlink router. It won’t work with wi-fi 6. Too old. So we’ve got both running at the same time.

Me?

Meh.

In fact, when I first tried to log onto the new network, I lost all ability to do anything online. It turns out that I just needed to give it more time to set up in the background. Whatever. I wasn’t unhappy with my wi-fi, so I honestly didn’t care. I was good with what I had.

My husband was not.

The other thing he picked up was for my desktop. A new wi-fi card to enable me to get wi-fi 6. (also, not an affiliate link).

He just finished setting it up for m. I now have antennae sticking out the back of my tower. :-D He also set me up with the new network.

So, of course, I did a speed test once I settled at my computer.

The results always fluctuate, of course, but right now, not only am I able to use the new router’s signal, but my speed is dramatically improved.

This is the history of speed tests I did today. Can you tell when the new card was installed? :-D

It turns out my computer is so old, it couldn’t read the installation mini-disk that came with the card. My husband had to read it on his own computer, download it onto a thumb drive, then use that to install the wi-fi card on my desktop.

What would I do without my awesome, techy husband? :-D

My phone consistently got better speeds than my desktop. While my desktop saw an improvement because of the new wi-fi card, this is what my phone got, just with the new router.

The download speed is about 50-60% improved from what I would typically get using my phone.

Yes, I was quite content with what I had, but I’m going to quite appreciate this upgrade!

The Re-Farmer

All packed up… almost

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One of the things we got in the mail today was the packaging to send back parts of our old satellite internet system that need to be returned. It came with return postage, instructions and even a strip of packing tape to close the box up again!

Now, I finally know the names of the different parts. :-D

With my brother trying to mount the new dish to the old supports, one of the satellite dishes was already dismantled and in the basement. The other, however, still needed to remove the radio from the dish on the roof. I had been thinking it could be done after the weather improved, but it’s supposed to get worse over the next couple of days, not better. So my darling daughters dug the ladder out, and one of them climbed up to remove it. She ended up having to cut the coax cable, because it was stuck, but we were able to get that off, later.

With one of the radios already being indoors, we could pack it up with the modem, power supply and power cord, and it’s ready to go.

For the other one, we’ll have to wait for the rest of the snow to melt off, and for it to dry, first.

I’d already brushed off as much as I could before I took the above photo!

Which means we’ll be ready to return them tomorrow morning, or the day after, if I don’t get out before the store closes at noon. Since it’s postage paid, I could theoretically leave it in the mail box outside the building, but I don’t think the boxes will fit! :-D

You know, for all the issues we had with our internet, we actually got good customer service with them. They simply don’t have the equipment necessary to meet our needs, in our location. Having to have two satellites just to get enough data for our household was bad enough – mostly on our budget. As I write this, I can see the live feed from our garage security cam, and every now and then, it’s a whiteout from blowing snow. In weather like this, we would have had no end of connectivity issues, if not losing our connection entirely. With the new Starlink system, there have been no issues at all. With no data limit and the monthly bill less than half what we were paying, our old provider just can’t match it. At least not for our geographical area. I know in more urban areas, they can be much more competitive. In that respect, I would still recommend them. Just not for anyone living in the boonies, like we do!

The Re-Farmer

That was probably good timing

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As much of an inconvenience it was to set up our new Starlink system in the winter has been, it looks like it was good timing. It looks like we’re all getting our OS updates, and with each of us having our own desktops, that would have done a number of our data limits!

My computer downloaded the update when I shut it down last night. When I started it up this morning, after doing my morning rounds, it spent the next while updating and restarting itself until it was done.

I did remember to get photos of the finished set up, this morning.

You can see where my brother ran the wire across, above where the old cables were. The one that’s hanging down was from the dish that was removed, which was the only one that had a connector. I’ll have to go back and tie it off so it doesn’t blow around in the wind, as soon as I can, until we can take it the rest of the way down.

Plus I’ll re-wrap the excess cable and make it tidier. My brother was a bit enthusiastic about making sure it was secure to the wall, so I’m not in any hurry to take out those screws! :-D Hopefully, I’ll be able to use the same screw holes when I put it back, because I sure don’t want to make more of them!

I did a speed test on my phone while I was at the burn barrel in the outer yard. Not too shabby!

This is my desktop, taken just this evening.

We have better signal in the outer yard than I have in my office! :-D

It’s still pretty darn good. Especially when I checked checked the outage log on the Starlink app. There were just three of them in the past 12 hours. Not sure what could obstruct it up on the roof like that. One, shortly before noon, shows the signal was obstructed for 10 seconds. The other two were just a minute apart. One was “no signal received” for 3 seconds, and the other was “network issue” for 13 seconds.

We never noticed any of these.

The app has a visibility check, showing any obstructions it is picking up from its current location – which is handy, since we have no way to get up there and do a check with a phone – and there are just the tiniest bits of red showing in a few places on the edges. Most of it is clear view, in all directions.

Since we got set up, my husband has tested its limits. There were some games he was curious about and downloaded them, tried them, then uninstalled most of them. There was one game he’d tried before, but it was unplayable. He’s now able to play it. Even my daughters, who play Star Wars in the evenings, have had a number of problems they were having simply disappear. For my older daughter, it’ll mean she’ll be better able to upload files, which will free her up to do more complicated, data heavier pieces, such as her animations and videos.

So far, we all are really, really happy with the improvements!

The Re-Farmer