Last Mile, High Speed Help for Upper Michigan?

toaztke asks: "I've been charged with a quest by one of my employers. I am to sit on a regional committee and figure out how we can get high speed internet access all across Michigan's Upper Peninsula. For those of you not too familiar with the far north of this state one word can describe it all: 'rural'. So what I would like to know is if any Slashdot readers have any ideas/suggestions for me. Please send anything that crosses your mind my way. If you want more information on the project, just visit the Link UP website."

Comments

Check out MIS

[martyb]

This company was mentioned on /. a while ago; I don't have THAT link, but here's a link to their home page at: Midcoast Internet Solutions (MIS). For more details, check out their about page which provides info on their dialup, ISDN. DSL, and wireless solutions.

MIS provides high-speed wireless internet access along the mid coast of Maine (USA). The up-front fee is kind of stiff, ($795; but there is a $300 discount with a one year commitment) but that gets you service at $50/month at speeds up to 20 times 56K dialup access. (Taken from their High Speed Wireless Internet Access page.

DISCLAIMER: I've not personally used this service, nor do I have any financial interest. But I did grow up in Maine and the thought of high-speed internet access in an area of breathtaking scenery (and much lower home prices than the Boston area where I am now) is VERY tempting.

Why are you asking us?

[Wakko Warner]

I doubt anyone here is a telecomms expert or knows enough about the industry and the technology to make any useful suggestions: the kind of answers you are going to get will probably involve well-tuned Pringles cans, or something equally unreasonable, like laying fiber all over the place in rural, residential areas.

Good luck in your search, but I doubt anyone here will be of much help. Find and talk to some experts.

- A.P.

Grain Silos

[n-baxley]

I've heard of a company that uses broadcasters based on top of grain silos around rural Illinois and Iowa. I'm not familiar with UP agriculture, but this might be an option. My uncle uses them in Illinois and has had excellent service.

Bars!

["Zow"]

Wiring the Upers, eh? Well, it may be rural, but there seem to be an abundance of bars. After all, anytime you ask for directions, it's always in relation to the bars. So all you have to do is run a T1 or so to every bar (not a small expense, to be sure, but sure better than wiring everyone), and set up a wireless access point with an antenna and booster. That might not cover the whole penensula, but it should cover most of the homes & businesses, and a good deal of the hunting grounds (don't know how important that will be for a few years though given the deer elimination this year).

And if you haven't figured it out by now, I'm kidding.

-"Zow"

Re:In expensive and reliable service

[PD]

The UP doesn't have much cable. People heat their cabins and homes with propane, delivered by truck, because gas lines don't go everywhere. Electricity is too expensive. It can be 20 miles drive to the nearest town, and when you get there, the sign says "Winnemanachaktah, population: 57". The only store in town is a 1 pump gas station (not a digital one) with a few necessities for sale. The real store is the Red Owl grocery 50 miles away in Ontanagon. Heavy traffic on the way to work means that it took you an hour to drive to the state forest where you work as a ranger instead of 45 minutes, because a Winnebago with Illinois plates was driving 45. Everybody says "Eh" after questions, but they aren't Canadian. Everyone can tell you exactly what they were doing when they heard the Fitzgerald went down, and everyone knows the words to the Lightfoot ballad "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."

Anyway, the UP of Michigan is a wonderful place, with a long history of shipping, copper mining, logging, hunting, fishing, and other manly man sorts of things. I grew up in Michigan, and loved to go camping up there whenever I could get the chance. My favorite part is the Keewenaw Penninsula, especially the old British fort with the palisade fence at Copper Harbor.