We have DirectTV and have had it for over 12 years. We like the idea of not paying rent on the equipment (you do with Dish). We also upgraded our receiver about 3 years ago so that we would get HDTV and we love it!!!!

My Mother-In-Law has wireless internet and it has worked out for her.

p.s. I SOOOO flaked out on your last request!!! I will get to it soon.....

I had Dish for a few years, and it was OK, but just barely. Make them guarantee a signal strength. You will have a twin-dish antenna that has to be aimed at two birds, and depending on where you are, you will get crappy reception on one of the birds. I would get no better than a 60% signal on #110, if I wanted 75% or better from the other transponders. Try to get a plan that leaves out all the stupid music channels which you don't ever use.

Good luck with the broadband card. Verizon's is $60/month, but I understand a different company (dono which one) has a $50/month plan. Make the phone company give you the right of return if it doesn't come in. If you can get reception on a remote part of your property, it's a simple matter to run a high-power wireless router (which will take the card) with a beam antenna aimed at your house (use the "n" network). For power, you will have to have a battery/inverter setup with maybe a solar charger out in the remote location, but if you look carefully at the routers, you might find one that runs on 12volt DC current. The cheap solution would be to just go out to the site on your ATV every couple of days and change out the battery with a fresh one.

You might even be able to make it respond remotely so that it doesn't stay powered up when you're not online.

I would have to say a "dish" is the option to choose. However that is based on my own experiences here in Canada where it's operated through Bell Canada. The reception is super clear and the monthly fee is under $60/month, under $70/month if one is in a rural area.

Reading the comment of Rivrdog, though, now I'm not sure. It would depend on what has worked the best for neighbours in that area, I suppose. Good luck.

Veritas et Fidelis Semper

Direct TV can also give you broad band, but its expensive. For HD which you will need , make sure you have plenty of view of the southern sky or a good chain saw.

I can't help you on the TV but I do have Verizon Wireless data. I've got via my Treo 700p SmartPhone so your mileage may vary with a card.

I've got the unlimited data plan plus I pay a small fee to be able to use the phone as a modem. Just got back from a trip where it was all I used for access.

Speed is slightly slower than the cable modem at home - sometimes more than slightly but generally it just feels like I'm running just a bit below my hard wire at home. Working at getting it to work with my Ubuntu Linux box (V7.04 - Feisty Fawn which has much better support for wireless). Just got a big new toy in today so I probably won't mess with it much for a while but others are working on it - I just Googled up almost enough info to get it working when I tried it over the weekend.

Heh. Figures - Verizon has no signal out at the New Castle Argghhh!

My experience has been that whenever I discuss cellular optimization with the non-technical they assume that the cell-site near their home should be providing them with signal. Of course not every provider is using every location. It should be possible to determine who is on your local tower from outside the fence, by reading the FCC placard, signs on equipment doors, or even tags on the padlocks.

We already know that, Trit - Sprint has the closest tower.

Which isn't to say it's... close.

We've had Direct TV for years and have not had any issues with them. We're using Sprint Broadband which in our case is a RF transceiver pointed to an antenna about 20 miles away. It works very well, but relies on line of sight - in the Phoenix area they've sited antennas on the local mountains. No sure if that would be available in your case since I think it's an urban sprawl solution, but if it is it works well.

Well the dish thingy is just great until you are trying to watch the weather channel to see if the heavy rain and high winds you are experiencing are going to turn into a tornado. At which point you either learn that there is no such thing as local on the eights that is actually local or the rain has blocked the signal. Either way it is pretty useless. Get a weather radio.

We have... two.

And the siren is nearby.