Some alternative choices for faster internet

A reprint from an earlier post, with some updates and an updated update at the bottom.
 
As you all should know by now there is a broadband initiative in progress to bring fiber optic to our homes and businesses.  This is based on grant applications from the government to pay for the infrastructure and will likely require several years to actually complete. We are very hopeful that this will happen sooner rather than later, but a couple of years is the best-case scenario.

In the meantime, what are the choices? Many of us have Windstream DSL. This is ranging from great for a few folks to awful for more folks. The majority seem to have truly mediocre service. There are many homes that do not have Windstream DSL at all. They vary from cellular hotspots to HughesNet, to nothing at all. HughesNet, by many accounts, sucks. Dish also offers a satellite service. Those satellite services appear to be costly up front, expensive per month, and limited in the amount of usable data before surcharges kick in.
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Cellular connections, ATT by the lake and T-Mobile near the Rural Events Center, seem a workable solution. I don’t know if anyone is using a Verizon hotspot but I imagine that would be fine also. Cellular hotspots can be a great option if you have a good signal. The devices have a fairly low onetime cost upfront, and the monthly charges are not outlandish. The speeds vary, but seem to be in the 20 to 30mbps range, which is OK. Generally you will need a data plan so that’s a factor to consider.

I now have 2 people using Starlink as an internet solution. I worked with one person in setting it up and testing it. I’m going to briefly describe that and then below I will include the other person’s review.

My friend received and unboxed the Starlink device which consists of an antenna and a wifi router connected by a very long (75’) cable. The antenna is meant to be outside, on the roof for example, and the router is in the house, plugged into a power outlet. The setup of Starlink is done through an app which I downloaded to my phone.

The instructions are extremely simplistic. Basically, plug it in, connect to its broadcast through your phone, then use the app to configure it. Configuring asked 2 questions, what to name the broadcast and what password do you want to use. We left the password blank for now.
That was it. It went through some gyrations where the antenna looked for a satellite, and after a few minutes, it was ONLINE. I ran the speedtest option provided in the app and it showed 190mbps download. Upload was quite a bit slower, around 9mbps. Still, the download speed was astonishing, almost hard to believe, so I went into Chrome to test it and started to pull up some news articles. Sure enough, they were very fast to load.

The antenna for this setup is just sitting on the ground for now, so not an ideal location. The router was sitting on some buckets, and we were close by. It should be even better when everything is placed in more proper locations. We went in the house to see what the speed was like and the speed test still showed 50mbps down and 5 up. These numbers should improve with better device placement.

At one point the connection went down and I looked at the antenna and it was moving. Apparently, it decided to find a better satellite. That was cool. The disconnect was only for a few seconds. Presumably, as more satellites are launched, this service will improve. As of now though, I think it’s quite impressive.
 
The upfront cost of the Starlink is similar to other satellite services at about $600 with shipping, so it’s not cheap. (link: )  The monthly cost is about $110, and there is no contract for that, nor is there currently any data cap. For a stopgap measure though, my guess is that the Starlink resale value will be high. So, investing in Starlink now, until we get fiber, may make a whole lot of sense for some people.
 
UPDATE, 09/16/2022:
The Bondy's have been on Starlink for about 4 months now and are very happy with it. There are several people in the Abiquiu area using Starlink and it's pretty unanimously liked.