Thanks to a previous Wacco post, we just had Fred Coffman of MoTech install high speed Internet on our vineyard house, offices and carriage house. It is way faster than HughesNet or anything else we have tried. In fact, it really is high speed.
Seems Fred has towers all over North County. He instals a small dish and sets it all up to receive his broadcst. It is really amazing that this service exists here. Fred is a perfectionist and wasn't satisfied untill he had a really great connection. He's fun to work with too.
If you are as tired as we were of slow connections, give him a try at 707 824 4605.
Sara S
06-18-2009, 06:52 AM
But: How much does it cost?
Hi Waccos,
Thanks to a previous Wacco post, we just had Fred Coffman of MoTech install high speed Internet on our vineyard house, offices and carriage house. It is way faster than HughesNet or anything else we have tried. In fact, it really is high speed.
Seems Fred has towers all over North County. He instals a small dish and sets it all up to receive his broadcst. It is really amazing that this service exists here. Fred is a perfectionist and wasn't satisfied untill he had a really great connection. He's fun to work with too.
If you are as tired as we were of slow connections, give him a try at 707 824 4605.
RussianRiverRattina
06-18-2009, 09:00 PM
According to his Web site at Home Page (https://www.MoTech.org), prices start at $59.95 per month for 1 megabit per second download/upload speed. Alas, this doesn't compare favorably with our service from Comcast. However, it's reasonable enough that it seems like a no-brainer for folks who can't get Comcast.
But: How much does it cost?
battindown
06-18-2009, 09:10 PM
I'm not sure. Fred did a lot of networking for our system. But, the original quote was a monthly cost of $59.95. Plus an installation charge of $199. Give Fred a call and he will come to your location to check the signal strength from his towers and give you an estimate. I don't know what the actual speed is. But, the speed I get on my wireless laptop via the modem and router is 54.0 Mbps. It is faster when running directly from the modem on my desktop. Anyway it's way, way faster than HughesNet or ATT Broadband and isn't effected by three simultaneous computers sending and receiving graphics. BTW, he doesn't know that I posted about him on Wacco. 'Hope this helps. Regards, Brion
battindown
06-18-2009, 09:29 PM
According to his Web site at Home Page (https://www.MoTech.org), prices start at $59.95 per month for 1 megabit per second download/upload speed. Alas, this doesn't compare favorably with our service from Comcast. However, it's reasonable enough that it seems like a no-brainer for folks who can't get Comcast.
Yes, from what little I know, cable is the fastest Internet connection for residential users who can get it. (COMCAST offered to run cable to our place for only $5,000!) The point of this thread, however, is to alert rural, non cable folks, to know that there is a reasonable option available.
BTW, I am in no way associated with Fred or his firm. He's just a great local resource and since I found him through WACCO, I thought some people might like to know of our experience.
Tars
06-19-2009, 08:22 AM
Thanks for your post about MoTech! Per your referral I just contacted them to set up a site evaluation. My "broadband" provider currently is HughesNet. Their basic package is comparable in price to MoTech. The transfer speed from HughesNet is workable but not great.
What chafes me about them is that they charge for volume of transfer. For my level of usage, they are charging me way WAY beyond $60/month. HughesNet has also been problematic about their email service. They recently "upgraded" their setup so that I have to go to their web page to get my email, which means that I have to involuntarily view the ads they display there. Their tech support would not/was not able to assist with setting up email access with my preferred email client - Mozilla Thunderbird.
At this point I would dearly love to use an (ANY) alternate provider to HughesNet.
Karl Frederick
06-20-2009, 12:13 AM
. . . the speed I get on my wireless laptop via the modem and router is 54.0 Mbps. It is faster when running directly from the modem on my desktop. . . .
54 Mbps is very fast, and I don't know who in this area can deliver that. Are you sure you're not just seeing the theoretical upper limit of your local wireless network's speed displayed on your screen? Here's one place to measure your downlink and uplink speed: Speedtest.net - The Global Broadband Speed Test (https://www.speedtest.net/)
Karl
battindown
06-20-2009, 01:09 AM
I need to correct the speed of my conection. I down loaded software to check the speed of the wireless connection to my laptop. It is 782.6 kbps. Not what my computer was showing (54.0 Mbps). According to CNET this the equivalent speed of DSL/cable.
I'm not sure. Fred did a lot of networking for our system. But, the original quote was a monthly cost of $59.95. Plus an installation charge of $199. Give Fred a call and he will come to your location to check the signal strength from his towers and give you an estimate. I don't know what the actual speed is. But, the speed I get on my wireless laptop via the modem and router is 54.0 Mbps. It is faster when running directly from the modem on my desktop. Anyway it's way, way faster than HughesNet or ATT Broadband and isn't effected by three simultaneous computers sending and receiving graphics. BTW, he doesn't know that I posted about him on Wacco. 'Hope this helps. Regards, Brion
The Computer Wizard
06-20-2009, 09:04 PM
I need to correct the speed of my conection. I down loaded software to check the speed of the wireless connection to my laptop. It is 782.6 kbps. Not what my computer was showing (54.0 Mbps). According to CNET this the equivalent speed of DSL/cable.
782 kbps is not the equivalent of DSL and not even close to cable. 782kbps is typical of cellular internet from AT&T, which uses an 'aircard', which works by picking up internet anywhere there is AT&T cellular service. For $60/month you could expect download speeds only up to 600 or 700 kbps.
DSL internet from AT&T gives you speeds of 1500 kbps (1.5mb/s), 3000 kbps (3mb/s) or 6000 kbps (6mb/s) or more, depending on what plan you pay for.
Cable internet from Comcast ($43/mo if you already have cable tv) gives speeds of 6000 kbps (6mb/s) and up - I routinely see speeds of 12 mb/s or even 20mb/s with cable.
Satellite internet, an alternative for people who can't get or don't want cable or DSL, also costs around $60/mo (not including initial hardware investments) and can only achieve download speeds of approximately 600 or 700 kbps.
Local company MoTech has it's own towers around our county. On their website Home Page (https://www.motech.org/) they say they "offer 1Mbit/sec residential broadband service for as low as $59.95 per month". For more info contact Fred Coffman at MoTech 707 824 460.
Folks can check their internet speed at Speakeasy - Speed Test (https://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/)
If you have any computer questions, problems or needs please don't hesitate to contact me.
Best wishes,
Ken Edwards
The Computer Wizard
www.PersonalComputerWizard.com (https://www.personalcomputerwizard.com/)
707-318-2258 cell
707-545-3877
Tars
07-03-2009, 08:12 AM
Satellite internet, an alternative for people who can't get or don't want cable or DSL, also costs around $60/mo (not including initial hardware investments) and can only achieve download speeds of approximately 600 or 700 kbps.
Local company MoTech has it's own towers around our county. On their website Home Page (https://www.motech.org/) they say they "offer 1Mbit/sec residential broadband service for as low as $59.95 per month". For more info contact Fred Coffman at MoTech 707 824 460.
Folks can check their internet speed at Speakeasy - Speed Test (https://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/)
Thanks for posting the Speakeasy test, Wiz. And thanks again to battindown for the original post.
I'm in the process of switching from hughesnet to Motech. I tested my hughesnet connection, and was disappointed, but not too surprised, to see it was 156kbps - faster than dialup, but that's about it. I tested on a clear day, mid-morning. My upload speed was actually faster, by a factor of two - that surprised me - upload speed is usually slower. I assume hughesnet's speeds are relative to how many users they have online. Big satellite bottleneck.
I tested my Motech radio-connection speed this a.m., with very hazy conditions - 1029 kbps (1 MB) download speed, and 979 kbps upload speed. Awesome improvement! This is particularly awesome to me, as I live northeast of Sebastopol. The only Motech transmitter I can see from my place, is located on Fitch Mountain, by Healdsburg - approx 12 miles, by crowflight.
I know cable subscribers will sniff derisevely at my slow speeds. Cable speeds require living close-in or in noisy crowded congestions...er, I mean towns. But after years of putting up with frustratingly slow connections, so I could live rurally, Motech has finally given me comfortable connection speeds.
Oh, by the way, after initial setup expense (comparable to hughesnet's), my monthly expense will have decreased by about 60%.
My bro just moved into a location in Mendo County, where hughesnet, or that ilk, is really his only "broadband" option. I'm going to see if he wants the hughesnet modem that I recently upgraded to. If he doesn't, I'll be offering it for sale here. I don't need it no mo!