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.
