Guide to Getting Internet to Your Business in the Boondocks

When choosing a place to do business, many of us prefer to pick somewhere less downtown and more ghost town. Well... maybe not completely a ghost town but at least more small town.

Making the small town or boondocks choice is great for many reasons including: lowered cost of facilities, salaries, and taxes. It also usually means shorter commutes and harder working employees. Plus it provides employment opportunity for locals who might not otherwise have good job prospects.

BUT... there's always a but it seems. Doing business in a small town or in the boondocks usually means at best limited choice in broadband providers and at worst means having to basically become your own ISP.

Rural broadband can often be a complicated affair. Let's take a methodical approach to finding connectivity for your house, warehouse, office or other venue.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

First determine if DSL or cable modem service is available.

There are several online sites that will let you look at multiple carriers all at one time. For the lowest cost, you'll be hoping for DSL and cable services (rarely available in the boondocks but sometimes you get lucky) that will run anywhere from $50 per month to as high as $300 per month.

I recommend: Check out DSL/cable availability in your area using agregator sites like ShopforDSL.

Agregator sites, also sometimes known as "master agencies" have relationships with lots of providers - often 30 or more - and save you the hassle of having to contact each provider individually.

Remember... whoever you are asking about service is likely to need a real *working* phone number at the location where you want service.  If you do not have a phone line in the location where you need service, you will probably have to order one before you can get DSL pricing. 

DSL usually requires a phone line, so information is likely to be completely wrong if it is not quoted against your own, existing land line phone number.  Cell phone numbers don't work for DSL.

If DSL and cable modem service is unavailable, T1 service probably is.

When DSL and cable modems aren't available, you're next bet for a reliable connection will be T1 service which will run from $450 per month to as much as $1200 per month in true middle of nowhere locations. A T1 provides 1.5 megabits per second in both the up and down directions. That should be enough bandwidth for most businesses with fewer than 50 employees. In general, T1s can be installed anywhere you can get a phone line installed and in fact the wiring used by a T1 is provided by the local phone company and leased to a carrier that can actually get you to the internet. You will need 2 pair of wires coming from the phone company to bring the T1 in on. T1s are more expensive than DSL and cable modem service because they come with guaranteed uptime - usually 99.99% or higher - and offer repair service even after hours or on holidays.

I recommend: The same company who runs ShopforDSL also runs ShopforT1.  They can provide T1 pricing anywhere in the continental US.  Pretty much anywhere that you can install a phone line, you can get T1 service.

Be careful when choosing an aggregator to use to look for T1 service.  Some promise real-time quotes and don't actually deliver them.  The ones I have recommended are known to actually provide the instant online quotes they promise.  Lots of other online places take your contact information and give you nothing in return until a sales person calls you on the phone.

If DSL/Cable isn't available and T1 service wasn't budgeted for...

Many businesses who chose to operate outside of major population centers find themselves in the same circumstance as you. DSL and cable modem service isn't available and they had staked their business on being connected to the internet but did not budget in case they would end up having to pay $500+ per month for T1 service. What now? Well, 3 options: 1) Find a local wireless ISP. 2) Get service via satellite. 3) Get a T1 and become a small wireless ISP yourself.

I recommend: Let's tackle the first option here. Satellite and becoming an ISP yourself follow below.

Finding a local wireless ISP can be a pain sometimes. Usually they are small, locally owned and operated companies that don't have big advertising budgets.

First, call your local Chamber of Commerce or business development office of your county and ask if they know of anyone providing wireless internet in your area. You can find your local chamber of commerce in the USA Chamber of Commerce Directory and on the website for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce - who represents most all Chamber of Commerce offices in the USA.

Next, check a site called "One Las Vegas". Don't be thrown by the name. The site is run by a real estate agent in Las Vegas and houses the best national wireless ISP directory I know of.

Then, as a last resort you can check to see if there are any hotspots near you on sites like WiFinder, Boingo, JiWire. You may get lucky and find a local business who could share a T1 with you.

Satellite - If you can see the sky, you can get it... but do you want it?

Internet via satellite is one of those things in life that I'm glad is available but I don't want to have to use. That's my philosophy with the hospital emergency room too. Satellite is available in a couple different flavors. The major two divisions are: consumer/SOHO v/s enterprise. The names you've seen advertised on TV or by your satellite TV provider all fall into the consumer/SOHO category - DirecWay, HughsNet, WildBlue, Starband, etc. The consumer/SOHO products aren't necessarily bad - and for a single person operation they're usually just fine. But if you have more than 2 people who need to share the internet connection you'll quickly hit a brick wall on those consumer/SOHO services - the first of which is called a Fair Access Policy (FAP) which limits how much traffic you can generate to the internet in a given time period. Remember you're sharing a connection in the sky with as many people as the satellite provider can possibly squeeze together.

I recommend: Take a look at the enterprise grade satellite services available.  They usually run $150/mo and up plus the cost of installation - which can run anywhere from $1000-3000 depending on the system and type of equipment required.

Anyion Services can help you get your arms around all the available options and narrow the field down to the ones that make the most sense for you.  They offer instant online quotes for the most common options.

If you want to go it alone, Ground Control is one of the most prominent providers of entry level enterprise satellite internet.

Picking the right satellite service for a business application isn't always the most straightforward task.  If you've never done it before, I'd recommend having the helping hand of someone like Anyion to help you avoid unnecessary costs or options.

Remember that things like Vonage, Skype and gaming don't work the same over satellite as they do on wired connections due to the time it takes to get to space and back down (called latency).

So you want T1 quality service but can't afford it by yourself?

Lots of businesses are in just the same situation. They need the reliability of T1 service, can't get DSL or cable modem service, and don't have the money to spend on a T1 (i.e. $500 or so per month).

I recommend: Take a look at starting your own micro-ISP.  If you have neighbors that you can see - i.e. no trees obstructing the view - or you and a good handful of other people can see some object like a water tower, mountain or high roof somewhere, then you might be in a good place to start providing wireless internet service to those around you.

Don't walk into this idea with grand dillusions.  Expect to spend or share $10,000 in equipment and setup expenses.  And someone will have to sign their name to a T1 contract and guarantee to pay that $500+ per month even if the idea doesn't float.  The T1 provider won't let you out of the contract just because your neighbors wouldn't help you pay for it.

A good place to start for information is Start a WISP.  Dig deep.  The topic is broad.  Also get a quote for T1 service in your area if you haven't already so you'll know what the basic bandwidth operating cost of a WISP is before you go any deeper.  If a T1 costs $800+/mo it'll be a hard to break even.

Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• When budgeting for the internet service at your small town or boondocks office, don't assume you will be able to get inexpensive DSL or cable modem service. If you can, consider yourself lucky but for budgeting purposes, assume you may have to pay $500 or more per month for internet service.
• Get creative - especially if you have neighbors. If someone is willing to handle the collection of money each month, you can probably find someone to help you start a small wireless ISP or you can create one yourself.
• Don't be afraid of satellite but don't expect it to be like wired broadband either. There are different grades of satellite service. DirecWay, Starband, WildBlue, HughesNet and the like are just the *bottom* tier of satellite providers. Companies like ShopforT1 represent business class satellite providers who can provide satellite service without the dropouts and slow downs associated with the low end services - for not a whole lot more money in many cases.
• Making broadband work in your rural area may take some work and some money, however, don't give up without trying. The payoff for your improved work environment and the income, employment or tax base you are providing for your small town is both good community service and a prescription for retaining your sanity!