How widely available is DSL and/or Cable in the Grafton area? Which companies provide the service?
How good is the 4G coverage? Again, which companies?
I can make my own power but I MUST have a good internet connection!
DSL is available.
Fairpoint is the only provider.
Quote from: Wonderer on December 18, 2013, 10:18 AM NHFT
How good is the 4G coverage? Again, which companies?
I used a Verizon wireless card for internet until the DSL became available. Speed was adequate, but the data cap was annoying.
Forget mobile use though. Down in the valleys there is no cell signal at all.
FWIW, a lot of smartphones can use wifi to function at pretty much full capacity.
Quote from: dalebert on December 18, 2013, 11:18 PM NHFT
FWIW, a lot of smartphones can use wifi to function at pretty much full capacity.
To save on data, all our phones are set to automatically log on to free wifi networks that they "know". Even without a cell signal, or with one that's less than optimal, the phones work perfectly if they're on wifi.
There are about six DSLAMs around Grafton. Before we moved here, I drove around to find all of them. The closer you are to a DSLAM, the better your speeds, up to 15 Mbps. FairPoint is the only provider. I'd be happy to point them out to you if you visit Grafton.
In the graphs below, WAN 1 is our DSL connection and WAN 3 is our LTE connection.
(http://i.imgur.com/HGaDJTJ.jpg)
Verizon 4G LTE is available at our home in the northwest corner of town, but only because we're up on a hill with line of sight to Whaleback Mountain. With a grandfathered unlimited data account, it might be worth it, but even in the best of conditions, LTE really is still a "mobile" technology. DSL is rock solid, but LTE service is very inconsistent in comparison.
In our house, we have a Wilson Electronics LTE (700 MHz) antenna and repeater/amplifier, with the directional antenna pointed directly at the Verizon tower, so this is with the best possible conditions.
(http://i.imgur.com/ua29Q8Q.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/4t64pgK.jpg)
There are no cable providers in Grafton (to my knowledge).
T-Mobile service is not available (data or voice) anywhere in Grafton. T-Mobile 3G service is available on Route 4 until about Barker Steel in Canaan.
When we first moved here, we had several guests with AT&T phones and they were able to get service at our house, but recently (within the last six months) AT&T folks who were visiting were not able to get any service. Not even texts.
- Peter
The 4 years I lived in grafton I connected to the internet with a phone modem at 28.8kbps. On a good day it would connect at 33.6kbps.
G4 is a company that packages and resells Fairpoint, at a generally lower price for DSL and digital phone service.
Whatever you do, do not use G4!
I've never had a worse experience. We had no DSL when the tech left, and never got it. Four months of phone tag later, I told them to cancel the whole account. By then we had Time-Warner cable internet (in Lancaster), and have had no problems with it.
man ours guys know everything about the internet access in town. :)
I've made a map of the location of all of the DSLAMs in town. The closer you live to these, the faster speeds you could expect. I can't verify that all of them are currently active, but to the best of my knowledge they are:
http://www.zeemaps.com/view?group=783018
(http://i.imgur.com/PlZ2Moc.png)
These are all of the telephone boxes I've seen as I've driven around town:
US Route 4, Canaan near Follansbee Rd (43.647045,-72.021115): http://goo.gl/maps/1uiig
Gristmill Hill Rd Canaan near South Rd (43.629608,-72.020128): http://goo.gl/maps/4Bi6U
US Route 4 (Main St) near Snug Harbor Rd (43.618288,-71.971104): http://goo.gl/maps/WUQnm
US Route 4 (Main St) near Kilton Rd (43.579351,-71.975657): http://goo.gl/maps/ddR2p
US Route 4 (Main St) near Prescott Hill Rd (43.561324,-71.949866): http://goo.gl/maps/Y2nLT
Prescott Hill Rd near Kinsman Hwy (43.535007,-71.971443): http://goo.gl/maps/79aI5
Turnpike Rd near Lower Meadow Rd (43.568967,-71.928328): http://goo.gl/maps/v7gD0
Lockehaven Rd Enfield near Potato Rd (43.605902,-72.053411): http://goo.gl/maps/OOq0k
NH Route 4A, Enfield near Grafton town line (43.561077,-72.064408): http://goo.gl/maps/MFl9A