Discussions

Looking for suggestions on rural tv. Recommendations please.

It’s a lottery depending on your location and the prices for poor rural internet are extortionate Years of underinvestment by providers in rural communities has made little provision for rural homes and businesses. At our farm we can’t obtain a strong enough signal from any provider to enable streaming or even a decent download speed. For TV we are stuck with Shaw direct and if I had my way I’d have it removed because it’s awful.  
For internet needed for our business we have Xplore. It’s ok but very weak, very slow , unreliable and expensive.  
 
Edited by Farmergeorge, 2023-07-31 07:31:34

I have Shaw satellite TV and Xplore satellite internet. I live just outside Rivers, MB. and have no complaints about their service.  
Did originally sign up for Xplore tower service 5 years ago. Had on/off issues for a while, so, switched to satellite. I understand they did major updates to the tower, so, probably not an issue anymore.  
Shaw has lots of good choices, as does Xplore.  
Only time ever lose service is when we have bad electrical thunderstorms.  
My neighbor had Starlink internet, as he and wife did work from home. They said it was great.

We live just outside of Rapid City and a little over a year ago we switched from Bell MTS to Starlink and absolutely love it! Our download speeds went from 6 Mbps to around 110 Mbps and our cost per month did not change too significantly. We are currently paying $156/month for unlimited internet. The only time we have it go down is during a heavy rain storm or snow storm when the satellite dish automatically tips all of the water out of it, but even then its usually only down for about 5 minutes. In the winter the dish will heat up to melt any snow accumulation and will automatically tip the water out. It also moves itself around to face wherever the satellite is automatically. There is even a sale on right now for the equipment (which you have to purchase, but then after that it is yours to keep). Lots of options also for if you do a lot of travelling you can take it with you and use it on the go (though you have to pay more per month if you plan on using this option). To check if Starlink is available in your area you just have to go to their website and type in where you live.  
Since we have gotten this great new internet system we just subscribe to Amazon Video and have a subs:cription to StackTV ($12/month) which allows us access to most of the TV channels we would have watched on live TV anyways. Discovery+ is another one we subscribe too and is only $5/month and it has lots of different TV channels as well.  
 
Edited by Cassie1818, 2023-07-31 12:00:25

Who can afford $150 a month for internet. That’s an obscene amount of money . There’s no way we would be able or prepared to pay that much.

120$ - xplore… :’(

Starlink is a lot of money, but it's very competitively priced when you consider the alternatives.  
 
I'm lucky in that I am able to get RFNow fiber to the home. But that cost me $700 for installation plus $160 per month. For that I get 300Mbps up and 300Mbps down. I'd rather have the wired connection than a connection via satellite, but for those with no option starlink is a godsend.  
 
Internet in Canada is expensive period. Add the rural factor and you're right, it's obscene. But if you need high speed internet what choice do you have?

We have Bell Wireless. Get 26mbps download for $101 per month plus taxes. There’s only 2 of us and we can watch Netflix, Prime, Disney+ with no issues. We can’t justify $150-$160 per month either. What we pay now is too much really.

The choice I have is to pay $82 (which is still extortion) per month for poor and slow internet to cover the basics needed and that’s where it ends as far as I’m concerned.  
With the cost of living as high as it is I have no problem scaling back what we spend where it’s not necessary.  
The funny thing is that there is a major BellMts fibre line crossing our property right next to the farmyard and we can’t get connected to it leaving a dish the only option for us.  
Makes little sense.  
 
Edited by Farmergeorge, 2023-07-31 18:53:38

Would it maybe be cheaper to get an unlimited cell phone plan and just tether to it? Or does that not have the bandwidth (or service)?

 
 
Edited by Cassie1818, 2023-08-01 12:15:49

It was pretty much the same price we were paying when we lived in Brandon, not too much of a difference anyways. If you are someone who can live with slower internet or doesn't need it at all then that's great, but with the way Canadian cell phone/internet prices are, those of us that need to be connected whether it be for work or other reasons don't have much of a choice but to pay what they are asking. Living rurally there are even fewer options than in town (which you obviously know and understand). Starlink was definitely the most affordable option for us, we could have hooked up to fiber but we would have had to pay $800 for the hookup and sign a contract that we would have been obligated to stay with Westman for minimum of 4 years and pay $200 a month for their internet. So we went with the lesser of 2 evils, paid less upfront and can cancel anytime we want to, and re-sign up whenever we want to as well now that we actually own the equipment. The equipment can also move with you if you leave, unlike a hook up to fiber. It is a lot of money but for those of us that need it, we don't really have much of a choice but to pay up. Hopefully one day some of the American companies make it up here and make the market a little more competitive. Until then, it is what it is. *shrugs*

Thanks to everyone for your replies,  
Have a great day

Canada is overcharged for internet.. talking to other people in the world including the states it is at least half of what we pay..