Why is Rural Internet so Patchy!

What are the technologies that bring internet access to Rural Canada, specially our regions of Peel, Wellington, Dufferin and Halton.

Access to internet has become a necessity in today's world, whether you are living in a high-rise apartment at Toronto OR at your farm in the middle of Grand Valley, Ontario. When it comes to internet access, the city folks have it easy thanks to the multitude of telecom companies vying to provide them with wired internet access. Meanwhile our rural areas need something more special than wires to get internet access, and it boils down to two main factors Technology and Installation.

#1. Finding the right technology to service you

Our first step would be to determine which technology can serve your location and your internet needs. Here are the technologies that can help you get internet access in our region.

Satellite

As the name suggests, these are satellite in earth's orbit that 'beam' a signal onto a particular area.

Depending on the area it could be a Viasat or Jupiter satellite that can give you access.

Each of the beams are designed to cater to a certain amount of 'load' and overlaps of satellite internet providers at certain areas allows you to put customers on one beam or the other in a priority order. For example in our region, here are the beams of satellites. (I have marked Arthur, Ontario to give you an idea)

Three satellite beams intersecting in Rural Otario

Fixed Wireless

Basically, wireless access is provided in an area when someone erects a tower that acts as a hub and dissipates internet signal in a wide radius. Households and business in the area can then receive the signal through antennas that can be tuned to the tower. Many fixed wireless networks can service areas upto 30kms away from them and have speeds ranging from 5mbps to 25mbps. Some networks can support upto 50mbps speeds, but we haven't seen them in our region.

So when you add fixed wireless LTE towers coverage starts to look like, highlighting areas in green (and yellow for 2.5 Ghz signal) that would have LTE coverage.

And as you add WiMax the map becomes unrecognizable.

Colorful, Eh! this is what coverage for rural internet would look like on a good day.

So the first thing you need is someone who can point your exact location on a map and identify the best options for you. Which Satellite, LTE or WiMax signal can you be serviced with and what sort of signal strength would you be able to get.

Did we hear you say 'patchy' ? YES. It is patchy because many factors contribute to the signal reaching your location (pretty much how our cell phones can have bad or slow signal reception areas). Obstructions in the form of hills, trees, buildings etc. can cause disturbance in signal and other uncontrollable factors like distance from tower and number of people on the 'beam' etc. and all these factors are out of our control. Which brings us to our next and the most important point.

#2 : Installation Quality determines your Signal quality

The second and the biggest factor determining your signal quality is the quality of your installation. Unlike cables and wires (which anyone can put together, while watching a YouTube video), rural internet uses precision instruments to get you a connection. Most companies need installers that are certified on a certain platform of hardware and software ,before they can get to install anything.

Sample this image that shows you a satellite in the sky. When you are pointing a dish antenna towards a satellite 35000+ kilometers away from you, a rookie installer may not do justice to it.

A typical Satellite Finder in action. This gives installers an idea of the satellite location so that they can point the dish towards it.

Even though the equipment manufacturers have tried to build systems that can guide installers on pointing a dish, the quality still come with experience.

This along-with the stability of the dish, proper grounding, height of the dish, signal quality and noise ratios etc. decide if you are getting the best from your hardware. For Wireless service as well, the health of your signal depends on determining the best location, which tower to serve from, the height of the antenna and its correct positioning to maximize the signal.

So, there you go. I hope this gives you a better idea about the hard work (sometimes, well mostly) that goes into getting internet access to rural areas.

At Virtec, we have been successful at many locations where others had given up on getting a signal. We obviously take pride in both our E-coverage tool and the quality of our experienced installers. If you wish to know what is the best internet plan that we can offer you, please get in touch with us. We would be happy to help you.

Email: service@virteccanada.com Phone +1855-883-1494 or Message us on Facebook