I don’t want this to sound like a “you know you’re living in the twenty first century when” chain email, but a friend of mine called a while ago saying he was looking at a new house. He, his wife, son and daughter live near Kerr Lake (pronounced “car”), on the western end of Lake Gaston. Water flows through the Kerr Lake dam, feeding Lake Gaston. Although the Kerr Lake water level may fluctuate twenty or thirty feet, Lake Gaston always remains at about the same level.
“I found an eleven acre farm, Tim,” he said. “House looks real nice. Everyone’s excited. Big trees, a barn, lots of garden space. Real nice. Gotta go talk with the real estate agent.”
He called back about three hours later. “How’s the house?” I asked.
“Forget it,” he exclaimed. “It’s so far out in the boonies there’s no cable modem service. Then I called to check on DSL and they laughed.”
In all fairness, my friend works out of a home office instead of commuting to and from Raleigh every day, a two hour drive each way. A large part of what he does relies on a swift company link in both directions. I suggested a satellite system similar to one I used to use, but a satellite upload is comparable to dial-up speed and not fast enough for his needs.
My friend’s reasoning got me to thinking about how completely the weft and woof of technology has been woven into the everyday tapestries that make up our lives. To think that Internet connection speed and broadband availability could affect such a monumental decision as buying a new home is, well – mind warping. But it’s certainly something to check out before making the plunge.
Tim,
I completely understand. I work from home as well. I need a reliable, high speed internet provider, one with consistent service and a quick response to problems. A couple of years ago I switched from cable to an wireless provider. Their speeds weren’t the best, but the had great customer service, actually comped me for down time (unlike the cable company, who said they would, but never did).
I was very saddened and disappointed when my service went out on a Friday night. Calls to the company went to a message system (first time ever I didn’t get a live body) and I realized that my service provider had gone bankrupt.
I live in a rural area and when I called DSL and explained what I wanted and needed, they also laughed. They could provide me with service, but it was to slowest available and cost just as much as their higher speeds. Aaarrrghhh – they must have thought I was an idiot!!
So, back to cable for me and I’m just glad I can get that. i wouldn’t want to have to start back in with the 45 mile (one way) commute.
nlwreeds
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At first I went with satellite. VERY expensive and terrible service. Then — after several years — DSL became available 1.2 Gigahertz! Arghhh. 4 years later (LAST YEAR), they called to inform me 3 gigahertz was available. When I asked them about their 10-100 gigahertz service, THEY laughed! Aggravating. When I called the cable company last month (I use Direct TV), THEY laughed, too. No cable modem service in my area. Insanity.
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LOL! I work from home too, and don’t ever plan to move from here. I never thought of that being a consideration in buying a dream place. I moved here when Commodores with dialup were the cat’s pajamas.
I have to admit, though, that it certainly would be a consideration if I ever did. I commuted for years, and now I don’t wanna have to hit the road any more than I have to!
Friends of mine live in the boonies where there is no cable or DSL. They are deaf, and the husband is illiterate, can’t even spell the name of the road he’s lived on all his life. He’s also the smartest man I ever met. The things he invents astound me.
He managed to work up a system for getting online. He has an account with Sprint (a data account for a cell phone, but he doesn’t have the cell phone). He cobbled together a system using a router, a repeater, and some other components to amplify the signal, and he’s tweaked it so they have broadband internet access. Dang.
We talk on the video phone, and it works fine! Normally a person with a video phone needs a cable or DSL modem as it requires broadband to work, but he managed to use cellular data access to get the equivalent of a broadband connection that passes along flawless video. I need to take a close look at it next time I go over, and see what exactly he’s done.
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[…] posted here: Warp Speed « Simply Tim's Blog Spot Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: daughter-live, flows-through, gaston, his-wife, kerr, […]
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Friends of mine built a new house in a new subdivision just on the edge of a major metro area. A week before moving in, they discovered that neither AT&T nor Time Warner Cable would be servicing the new area for several months. She’s spending lots of time in internet cafes and using an air card, but not happy about it, needless to say!
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