Moving Your Internet Rural - Finding Internet Freedom

As much as I have searched, I could not find a single statistic that supports what all of us feel living in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho - there is a big influx of population in the last year.

The 2022 statistics are, of course, not calculated yet. What I did find were many statistical charts - including 2021 - stating that there has been a shift in population to our area but the number is less annually than the general trend (over the last 10 years). But it doesn’t feel that way. In the last year particularly, there has been a sudden and significant increase in traffic on the roads, an increase of cars going the wrong way on one-way streets and lines in the grocery store - all signs of new folks in the area. And people moving within our area from towns to further out in the country.

The three trends we see in providing internet in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho are:

The biggest challenge in all these scenarios is having sufficient internet to meet your needs, your business's needs and your family's needs at this more remote and underserved location (ok, just want to point out - this is what Fast Internet USA does best and we have an award to prove it).

One of the issues we face is a lack of understanding internet - how it works and why it is different when living more remotely.

Similar to the contrast of city sewer and septic systems, or the need to have a power generator as electricity back up, or solar as supplementary to electricity (or even completely alternative electrical sources), internet is completely different in remote areas of the country. It is constantly changing - and improving, but it isn't the same as urban internet.

Internet begins with a Distribution Point. This is the location of signal origination. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) differ in how they provide the signal/connection from the distribution point to end users:

on earth to a satellite many miles above the Earth’s atmosphere. After the signal is received, it is beamed to your satellite dish/receiver. This is hard wired to a modem and then to your computer via wire or Wi-Fi. Lag time, ping or latency is the time for the signal to be transmitted back and forth. This can slow down streaming video and is not recommended for gaming. There are system work arounds (and we would be happy to help you work those out).

In town (Spokane city limits for example), the options for internet may include: T-mobile (fixed wireless - cell based - we sell this and can set you up), CenturyLink (hard-wired - we sell this and can set you up), Xfinity (wired), TDS (wired). These products have little to no latency and high data allowances per month.

Moving out of the city center (Mead, Washington), these DSL services are either unavailable or greatly taxed and customers are finding that Satellite and Fixed Wireless products are comparable. There are also some local line-of-sight options (like Pterra) available in this category.

Once you move out further into rural areas, Satellite and Fixed Wireless / LTE are available only.

Believe it or not, there are spots that have little to no cell signal and only can have Satellite for their internet. Like Good Grief, Idaho or Metaline Falls, Washington.

Internet is, thankfully, always improving, and Fast Internet USA is always on the lookout for ways to improve the internet usage and functionality that is available so we can improve your internet experience. This is what we do.

Let us do this for you. If you are a part of the trend - moving rural - give us a call. We will make this part of the move easy for you and clear up what you can get at your location to meet your needs.

Internet Freedom is possible - even if you live in the middle of nowhere.