High-Speed Internet Service for the Mississippi Lake Area
Internet Service Update: Just a reminder that HorizonTech was sold to Storm Internet.
High-speed Internet seems to be a highly sought-after commodity these days. People just have to have it! But why?! Some
of the reasons people have given include: “I send photos to my family and dial-up takes too long”; “I download many large
files from the net and I just hate the waiting time with dial-up”; “I tele-work from home and send large files back and forth to
the office”; “My neighbour has it and I want it too!”; “It frees up my telephone line for regular calls.”; and so on! Well
we’re going to add another dimension, an important environmental aspect.
A few years ago, there was a survey completed by the Lanark Communications Network (LCN) where they asked commuters who
travelled back and forth to Ottawa from Lanark County about their type of work and whether high-speed access in their home
would reduce their need to travel to the city. The data is about seven years old, but the relative results should be similar today, if not higher.
The study estimated commuters from Lanark County made more than 2 million trips back and forth to Ottawa each year. The survey
indicated about 80% of the commuters would work from home, from two to five days a week, if they had high-speed access.
So what is the environmental aspect? Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the primary global-warming gas and vehicles are responsible for almost a
quarter of annual emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) in North America. Three factors contribute to CO2 emissions from cars and trucks:
· Amount of fuel used;
· Amount of CO2 released when a particular fuel is consumed;
· Number of vehicle-kilometres travelled
With better high-speed Internet access around the lake, more people will be able to work from home. This will have a
positive effect in limiting the number of cars on the road and reducing the amount of fuel consumed thus lessening the effects
of carbon emissions.
The MLA has been active in facilitating High Speed access around Mississippi Lakes and the available options include; Storm Internet, Bell Canada, Rogers Internet and Telus Mobility.
Storm Internet:
Storm provided the following update to their service around the lake:
“Since 2007 Lanark County has been working hand-in-hand with Ottawa based Storm Internet to bring high-speed, wireless Internet to the area. This year has been a big year for the company: Towers have been erected, radios have been installed and hundreds of our friends and neighbours have received Internet services that were previously unavailable to them.
"In the summer of 2010 “Phase 2” of the project began and the network has expanded even further. Internet services are now available to residents of Elphin, Burgess, Lavant, Maberly, Innisville and Balderson thanks to new infrastructure that has been built in the past year.
"It is now possible to enjoy the benefits of the Internet from the comfort of your Adirondack chair. As "Phase 2" nears completion, the wireless network is being extended to meet the final challenges of the uneven terrain and forest cover. If service has not been available to you in the past, Storm is working hard to change that. They are offering 3 Mbps service with 50GB of throughput at $50/month.
"As part of their network expansion, Storm Internet has also expanded their customer support network and has opened a branch office in Perth at 38 Gore St. E. The office is home to Perth based customer and technical service representatives as well as an installation and repair team.
"The goal is to bring all of their services closer to you and to have knowledgeable support staff present to answer any questions, address concerns or problems with service and to accept payments. Gary Kreklewetz, who heads the Perth team and is a long-time Perth resident, has been working with Storm Internet for over a decade and knows the system inside and out.
"Storm’s future plans include offering educational courses on basic computer and Internet usage through the Perth office, further growth of their wireless network with the goal of offering high-speed Internet to Lanark County residents and continuing their commitment to the local community. You may recognize their logo from the 2010 Perth Santa Clause parade or perhaps you met some of the team members at this year’s Valley Fishing Boat & Cottage Show in Beckwith.
"It is now possible to enjoy the benefits of the Internet from the comfort of your adirondack chair. As "Phase 2" nears completion, the wireless network is being extended to meet the final challenges of the uneven terrain and forest cover. If service has not been available to you in the past, Storm is working hard to change that. They are offering 3 Mbps service with 50GB of throughput at $50/month.
"Visit Gary at the Perth office with any questions you may have or for more information about the services Storm Internet can offer to you."
If you are interested in
Storm's high-speed Internet, you can fill out an application at:
Storm Internet Services or by calling 613.567.6585."
Bell Canada:
There are several options Bell Canada is offering. (Editor’s note: Most of the items and information provided here are also available from Rogers and Telus.)
1. TurboHub: Bell Canada offer two versions of what they refer to as the "TurboHub". One is manufactured by Ericsson and the other by NetGear. They both allow up to 15 devices at a time using Wi-Fi and/or Ethernet. You can also plug your landline phone into your Turbo Hub to enjoy voice service. The prices start at $35.00 per month for up to 3.0 Gbs of usage. The unit costs $149 up front upon signing a two-year contract. Download speed: up to 7.2 Mbps and upload speed: up to 5.76 Mbps. (Ed's note: I have used both units and have found the Ericsson unit seems to have difficulty with maintaining a permanent Internet connection while the NetGear so far seems to work well.)
2. TurboStick:The TurboStick plugs into your USB port and is supposed to provide 21 Mbps (megabits per second) throughput, (ten times what typical wireless networks provide). This is a cellular-based service so you will be changed for download usage. You pay for what you download and upload in terms of megabytes (MB) of usage. The cost is set up for various data packages to cover the total data used in the month. The smallest package is $30.00 per month for 500 MB, $40 per month for 1GB and $65 for 3 GB of total usage. Keep in mind if you send or receive photos, you can use more than a megabyte each time. If you sign up for three months, you do not pay for the memory stick or for
set-up. During this time, you can cancel within 15 days and only pay for your usage up until the cancellation date. Keep in
mind that the price you pay is related to the amount of data downloaded and uploaded. If you are getting the stick to
download large data files quickly, this will accomplish that. However, you’d better be ready to pay for that! You may save
time in your transfer of data, but you don't pay by time, you pay by usage.
3. Bell Canada DSL: Bell still has not ventured further into the Mississippi Lakes area with High-speed Internet using
Bell Sympatico DSL. Under certain conditions, they can provide service up to a maximum cable distance of 12 kms from their
service centres in Almonte, Carleton Place, Smiths Falls and Perth. However, this 12 km radius is the absolute maximum
distance that DSL can serve subscribers under ideal conditions. This distance is measured along the cable run from the
location of the Bell exchange to the subscriber and is highly dependent of the quality of the transmission system in each
area. Much of the transmission facilities in this area may not be good enough to serve distances of that magnitude and as a
result, actual distances may be less than 6 kms. I do not expect to see Bell expand their DSL service any time soon!
If you are interested in more information or to check out availability of DSL in your particular
area, go to Bell DSL Information
and enter your phone number.
For further information on all Bell Internet options, visit: Bell Information
Rogers Wireless: are offering a similar HSPA service (21 Mbps) and pricing to Bell’s Turbostick called Rocket and the Ericcson Turbo Hub. They are gradually adding new locations so if you do not see your area at this time, you can check back later. You can access further details, view the coverage map and check rates at:
Telus Mobility: are also offering a Smart Hub similar to Bell’s Turbo Hub and an Internet Key similar to Bell’s Turbo Stick. For further information check out their website at: