Internet Service

Living in the middle of the mountains has many advantages, but easy to obtain internet service is not one of them. We have researched a variety of ways to stay connected and have selected Verizon’s data service as our way to go.

The signal at the house is very weak so we have been researching antennas and amplifiers. The 3G store (www.3Gstore.com) is full of information related to checking antenna strength using RSSI readings from our air card.

This involves checking readings at a variety of locations both inside and outside the house to determine signal strength and direction to the cell tower. It also involves meeting many of the neighbors who stop to ask if everything is OK while you are stopped by the side of the road taking readings to find the best signal.

I’ve taken all of the readings they suggest and got with the techs at the3G store and determined what we need to get internet service at the house. Turns out the answer is different depending upon whether you wish to just get data or if you also wish to receive a signal that supports voice calls. The latter is more expensive.

We ended up with a Wilson 4G antenna and amplifier. The antenna is a flat panel that can mount on the inside of the window glass, but if you have windows with an E-glass treatment (we do) then you need to mount outdoors as the coating on the glass reduces the signal.

We put ours on a corner of the deck with facing the strongest signal and all works as intended. We can now take calls inside the house and surf the net.

Life is grand!