Episode3WillSuck said:
My grandparents live out on rural Long Island (NY) and ALL cable modem and
DSL providers aren't available in their area. And satellite DSL is just way
too expensive.
I've never used wireless internet so I'm not sure how it works (and I assume
that it goes anywhere?). Is it possible to put a wireless card into a
desktop PC and get online with it?
Your parents are out of luck. 802.11g is pretty current wireless
technology, and it's limited to about 500 feet of range. As someone else
wrote, you would need a nearby neighbor who had broadband access and who
happened to be running a wireless access point (WAP) with no security
settings enabled. That's not likely. If your grandparents can't get cable
modem or dsl, then their neighbors probably can't, either.
You should be aware that, depending on your broadband provider, cable modem
service can run between $50 to $60 per month, PLUS the rental charge for a
cable modem. Until recently, I was paying Comcast ~$63 per month for cable
modem service. You can order Direcway two-way satellite broadband service
from Earthlink for $70 per month. The equipment (one time charge) will be
about $500. I think that's your best bet. If you want your grandparents to
be connected to the world, that is their best option. Other than the
one-time equipment charge, it's only going to be 10-20 bucks more per month
than a decent wired broadband connection. That's not unreasonable. Oh, and
your grandparents can use the same dish for DirecTV DBS television service,
if they want to. I imagine all it would take to activate that is a call to
DirecTV. The direcTV receiver would likely be free of charge. If your
grandparents currently have cable television service, they would likely find
directv service to be better anyway. -Dave
