Need internet help, please!

Hi all,
I'll give you the story then hopefully someone can give me some ideas on what to do. I signed up for dial-up internet about 7 years ago and thought it was great, but after using it for awhile I got very frustrated with the lack of speed. We were trying to download things and it was taking toooo long. We live in a very rural community so due to no DSL or cable options Ilooked into satellite internet. I actually bought the equipment and had it installed and was zooming around on the net with what seemed to me like a awesome amount of speed. The only problem was the cost of the service. It was about $70.00/month charged to my credit card. After paying for that and the interest for about 2 years I decided that was enough and had it disconnected. Then earlier this year we decided to get internet again due to the fact that my daughter needs to use it for school, so we're back on dial-up. I am once again frustrated(so is my daughter)with the speed, or lack of it. Now all the satellite companies tell me that I can't use my old equipment for satellite internet no matter what. Are they just trying to sell me new equipment, or whats going on? I'm not a computer guru or anything so any help would be much appreciated. Thanks again

Sorry cant help with the sat problem, but you might want to look at www.onspeed.com... . Seen it over here in the UK and results are pretty good. Might help

[edit on 17/11/05 by Strodyn]

Personally I think you right with the "trying to sell new equipment" theory. I can't believe that your equipment has gone useless. (What was the timeframe from when you last used it until now?) You should contact a couple of different people with the same query and see if their responses are the same.
I'll base my answer on the assumption that you're in the US.

Here are your options when you're looking at "rural internet connections":
1. Dialup - Cheap, but way too slow. Not really an option.
2. Two-way satellite Internet - I've heard bad things about this, but it's been available for awhile now so I'd guess it's not completely useless. The latency sucks, but there's no way to get around it and you're probably not a gamer so how bad can it be? Do you go with Direcway or Starband or GroundControl or are there other companies? I understand that some services throttle bandwidth or charge per GB. Also kind of expensive. You also need to sign a contract that binds you for a long time. And then there's the question if it works in bad weather?
3. DSL - Are you sure you still don't have access to DSL in your area? Check with your phone company. Maybe they upgraded the lines? You could also use this site or this site to check, but I don't know if it's accurate... You could even write to your phone company and query if they are going to install DSL some time in the future. Or you can get the whole community ini your area to request DSL.
4. T1 line - Expensive. $600/mo? Probably more?
5. Wifi antenna - Wireless pointed towards a wireless access point somewhere in DSL land. Personally I feel that this option isn't very trustworthy. Lots of downtime in bad weather, susceptible to electronic disturbances. And then there's the question if you have a close enough Wireless Access point.
6. Run cable coax from nearest cable subscriber's house several miles away. This is totally absurd, but an option.
7. Cell (Mobile) phone connections - I understand that Verizon provides broadband thru a cell signal for around $80/month. Still expensive and probably a bandwidth cap as well? (And some say that it doesn't work on Apple Mac's.)
8. The Library - Hang out at the local library, let them foot the bill.
9. Use nature - Get a stable of small white mice. Equip them with tiny collars from which dangle St. Bernard-style miniature barrels. Carefully train these mice to run to Area 51 (where the Internet lives). Now, when you are online, take the packets that come out of the back of your computer and carefully but quickly pack them into the barrels and release the mice - shouting your command firmly and resolutely, "SEND!" If you are fast enough, the data rates you can get with this technique will be comparable to the average suburban broadband connection.
10. ISDN - I nearly forgot about this one! I'm not sure how it works over in the US, but to my knowledge there doesn't have to be any special phone company lines... A bit more expensive than dial-up, but not as fast as DSL. The middle of the two options.
11. WISP - I have no knowledge about this (Wireless ISP) but some people in the rural areas swear by it.
12. Point to Point Microwave and it looks like throughput can be very good! There is also Trango NLOS service which uses the 900 mHz range. This only works in Oregon.
13. Dual 56K modems - The two modems are ganged so they behave like a single connection. Linux supports it. You can run both modems at once or have one come on when it’s needed (if, say, you pay connect or phone charges). This works pretty well for basic browsing and email, but downloads of anything over a couple meg are still painful.

Err... That's about all the options I can come up with now... I live on the other side of the planet so my knowledge on the available ISP technologies in the US is limited.

Hope it helps!

LOL, I'm considering giving up broadband just to try Gemwolfs suggestion number 9. Just have to find me some mice.

It took a long time for DSL to become abvailable in my area, and BT is still telling me it's not available (even though I'm connected), so phone around, you may be able to get DSL and just not know it.

Ha!
Thanks Gemwolf, that number 9 is definitly a possibility, if I could get my cats to chase them as well it would be a T1 line
But seriously you've covered pretty much all the options and I appreciate the time and effort. You're right I do live in the US, and I have talked to the phone company about DSL. There just isn't enough of a dollar figure according to them to justify DSL lines for the rural people where I live. Wireless is a possibility but where my house is located it would take about a 50 ft. tower to get a direct line of sight to the point of origin. I guess they've got us by berries out here so I imagine I'll bite the bullet and get my satellite replaced. I really can't believe that my stuff is outdated. :bnghd:
I really appreciate everybodies help, if anyone comes up with something new let me know. Thanks