Best options of connections for a rural section?

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sbw

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#109318 17-Sep-2012 20:55

Hi there, we are buying a rural section in Haycock Road, Hope. It is currently a field, and there are telecommunications, power etc to the boundary. There is nothing else!

I am wondering how much it will cost to put in the phone line, as it will need to travel some distance across the field into the house. Is there, or will there be, a better way to connect to the outside world than copper wire?

We obviously use the phone and broadband now (we are currently in Richmond), but we are not particularly high users (I don't think so anyway, we rarely get up to our allowance of 10GB per month). In a rural location, I don't know what the broadband service would be like.

I guess in the future we will be downloading movies or watching TV over the internet, and who knows how our currently preschool children will use technology?!

A guy in the Vodafone shop told me about 4G which is coming when the analogue TV is switched off, will this be a viable (and not ludicrously expensive) option?

Also, in terms of building a house, I am wondering if you would put in all the cabling for computers etc, and then it turns out that the technologies will all be wireless.

As we've got a blank slate to start with, it would be interesting to see what options are out there.

Will stop waffling now, hope someone can unravel my thoughts, and give me some ideas to think about! I hope this is in the right forum, thanks in advance for your help.

Cheers

Sarah

johnr

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#687425 17-Sep-2012 21:04

What is some distance 40 - 100 - 500 meters? The further the distance the more the cost

You don't need 4G for internet access this can be delivered over 3G HSPA networks quite easily,

Check out the Vodafone RBI page

http://www.vodafone.co.nz/about/rural-broadband-initiative/

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sbw

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#687428 17-Sep-2012 21:09

Thanks for your reply, it would probably be about 120m from the boundary to the house....

We don't use smartphones, so I'm not familiar with 3G. Would it have the speed and data allowance (and cost) comparable to broadband in the home?

Thanks again

Sarah

johnr

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#687430 17-Sep-2012 21:10

You don't need a Smart above I have linked you to a page above that covers the questions you have asked me

chevrolux

4962 posts

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#687431 17-Sep-2012 21:14

These guys might be able to help you out. I don't know the area well but WISP's are usually better options than fixed line operators in rural areas.
You could get these guys to hook you up and then run VoIP for your phone.

In saying that though, I would still get some copper laid out to the road. Chorus have a standard rate for service leads under 60m (or it might be 100 now)of $103.99 +GST. Distances over that you pay an 'hourly rate' and materials. However I would say, with confidence, the bill would be no more than $200. Basically a drop in the pond compared to the cost of other services.

Annnnd after typing that out I check the Chorus SAT and it looks like there is a good amount of ADSL2+ and VDSL so your address might have some sort of DSL. As above though, speeds will most likely be better with a WISP.

johnr

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#687432 17-Sep-2012 21:16

If you browse around Geekzone many questions like yours have been covered before,

3G HSPA+ Dual carrier can offer fantastic speeds and sometimes faster than home ADSL / ADSL2+ under the right radio conditions connected to a cell that supports these faster speeds

johnr

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#687434 17-Sep-2012 21:19

As above if you can get connected to Copper and a local cabinet then this might be the best option

cisconz

cisconz
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#687440 17-Sep-2012 21:34

No matter how you connect, I would ensure that your house is wired to this standard at a mimimum.

Hmmmm

oxnsox

1923 posts

Uber Geek

#687444 17-Sep-2012 21:51

Since you're going to be putting a power cable in, as Chevrolet suggests it makes sense to run a cable for phone in there too. That work would probably be done by the Transfield team (Chorus contractors) down Beach Road, but the council or your builder should be able to give you a heads-up.

As johnr says, you could do this via current 3g, you're not to far from some cell towers (think they're up on the hill at the end of Hart Road), but this won't be as cheap as using a fixed line. LTE (wireless) maybe an option, but not right now as it's not available right now. In summary stick with copper.

LennonNZ

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#687454 17-Sep-2012 22:19

For the last 3 weeks at my temp rental in Greenhithe I've been using a Telecom 3G simcard/T-Stick attached to an edimax 3G Router. It works fine for surfing the internet and I even have VOIP Running over it for my home number.

I would suggest more people go and use it - apart from the cost of the Data :-) I had to add 2GB of data ($50) onto the Sim card each week. I can't wait until I move into my new house next weekend.

Looking at the Chorus maps you are not even in ADSL Range but saying that contact an ISP and get a prequel at your address as new cabinets are always being installed. They can get a costing from Chorus for installation.

For example my new house is connected to a cabinet which isn't on any of their public maps or even on Chorus automated prequel system until I got them to triple check where I was connected off by sending them a map of the location of my house.

Zeon

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#687470 17-Sep-2012 22:44

Check your address in the "chorus SAT" to see if you can get DSL where you are. It's probably cheaper than WISP/3g but may be slower if you are on the fringe and you may also may not be able to get it due to limited broadband connections available to the residents fed from your cabinet. If you are laying power though you may aswell run it. I would also recommend running a duct for the entire distance with pull wire inside it in case you want additional copper or fibre in the future.

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sbw

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#690851 24-Sep-2012 21:22

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and advice, much appreciated. Will check out all the suggestions, get the copper to the house and ensure we wire it for the future! It won't be happening for a while, but I'm sure I'll be browsing Geekzone again for useful info.

Thanks again

Sarah