We’ve written before about the need for universal broadband, usually defined as access to the internet for all regardless of physical location. Today I’m going to share my personal experience with looking for an effective internet connection in rural Washington, which underscores the complexity of the problem. Especially if your need for an internet connection is online education.
Six months ago, I lived in a major western US city and got my internet via Google fiber. 1 gigabit download and upload speeds, no data caps, $70/month. To put it simply, I got spoiled.
Then I moved to the Pacific Northwest, 15 minutes from the nearest town and surrounded by beautiful tall trees. As I queried my neighbors about what they do for internet access, I got a lot of different answers and a lot of sighs. One neighbor has no TV and no internet access, and relishes the solitude. Other neighbors used their cell phones as a hotspot, but that needed a cell booster to work and the cell booster had to be placed in the perfect location (sometimes at the top of a tree up at the road). Most used the same satellite company, but complained about slow service and data caps; don’t stream a lot of TV or you’d run of data by the middle of the month we were told. One neighbor had two satellite dishes and paid double monthly service to increase the useable data. Of greatest interest and concern to me, no-one was highly satisfied with their internet set-up (except the one neighbor without internet).
The house we bought already had a satellite dish from this one company, so we decided to use them. Our monthly cost was $150 for 25 Mbps max download speeds and 60 GB high speed data. Other plans were much more expensive for marginally faster download speeds and varying data caps. We watch very little TV, but we do a good number of zoom calls. Our data ran out in the middle of the month. In the past few months, the company has added the option of paying for additional data when you run out. Last month, that cost me an additional $100, for a total monthly cost of $250.
I researched other satellite internet providers and found they all offered the same “deal”. Low speeds, low data caps. If I was trying to take courses online, this would not work. I’d either have to miss the second half of the months’ classes, or pay a small fortune to keep the high speed data flowing.
We paid a deposit for Starlink as soon as we moved in, and last month got the notice that service was now available in our area. We paid for the satellite dish ($500) and have it set up on the back porch. Our monthly cost is $110, with up to 60 Mbps download speeds and no high speed data caps. Problem solved, right? Not exactly. Yes, we can watch TV to our heart’s content, and emails, websites and videos download quickly. But our zoom screen regularly locks up. Starlink says that’s because the dish is not placed properly; there should be no tall trees anywhere near the dish. We live in a forest! I’ve also heard that some neighbors have decided against Starlink because of the trees.
Once again, not an ideal setup for online learning, where classes via zoom are the norm.
I recently learned that Amazon is working on Project Kuiper, satellites that will provide internet service anywhere. The research and development part of the project launched in 2019. Amazon just announced that satellite production would start in early 2023. The first two prototype satellites will also launch in early 2023. Amazon has contracts in place to launch its satellites as they are produced, but I haven’t read when Amazon will start offering this satellite-based internet service. Likewise, no details are available about cost or capacity of the Amazon satellite service. Hopefully it will be an improvement on what already exists.
