High Speed Internet in Charlevoix County

Advantages - Generally lowest up-front cost, highest speeds, most reliable, speeds up to 16 megabits

 

Disadvantages - Limiited geographic availability

 

Up-Front / Monthly - minimal / mid $30's

 

Charter has bandwidths available up to 16 megabits, the fastest solution available county-wide.  Service is limited to areas that are wired for Charter Cable.

 

http://www.charter.com/Visitors/Products.aspx?MenuItem=3 

 

 Limited by distance to about 18,000 feet to the telephone company central office.  This is roughly 3.4 wire miles, not travel miles.  In Charlevoix the Central Office is across the street from the City Hall.  DSL requires copper pairs for service, these copper pairs are limited the further you get from the CO.  The telephone companies have replaced many of the long run copper pairs with fiber.  This further limits DSL availability.

 

http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=6431 

 

Wired solutions are going to provide the highest bandwidth at the lowest cost with the highest reliability.  These are the first choice if available at your location. 

Advantages - It goes where you go, low up-front costs.

 

Disadvantages - limited to cellular coverage, speeds generally less than one megabit, generally higher monthly cost

 

Up-Front / Monthly - Roughly $100 / $60 with USB card adapter

 

AllTel is being purchased by Verizon.  AllTel has very good coverage in Northwest Michigan.  Verizon and AllTel are currently sharing tower space.  Both AllTell and Verizon seem to have coverage issues on the Lake Michigan and Lake Charlevoix shorelines near Charlevoix.  The Verizon purchase should be good for both companies and their subscribers.  There are plans for a new tower that should help the Lake Charlevoix coverage.

 

Coverage is good along main roads.  One of our customers reports that he has fair Round Lake coverage and uses the service across the country in offices and on boats.  (130 Kbps download on Round Lake)

 

www.alltel.com

 

www.sprint.com

 

Advantages - Relatively high bandwidth, wide Lake Charlevoix coverage, increasing availability north along US-31 into Norwood Township

 

Disadvantages - Depending on the provider the up-front costs can be as high as $800.  Some access points are limited to line-of-sight.

 

Up-Front / Monthly - Up-front costs vary widely between providers / monthly service in the $35 range

 

Broad coverage of Lake Charlevoix with some limited coverage into southern Charlevoix County.

 

Charlevoix Wireless was acquired by Cherry Capital Connection http://cherrycapitalconnection.com/ in August 2008.  Service switch-over was completed at the end of August.

 

This is probably a really good thing for existing Charlevoix Wireless customers and expands Cherry Capital's market.  The acquisition insures continued competition in the marketplace.

 

Broad coverage from Traverse City to Southern Charlevoix County along US-31 and Grand Traverse Bay.

 

Chain of Lakes Internet recently purchased Twin Valley Internet giving them new presence north from East jordan and Boyne City.

 

 

www.charlevoixwireless.com

 

www.torchlake.com

 

Advantages - Generally available across the country with a southern view of the sky.  Often the only alternative available.  Really good for email, surfing, limited downloads and keeping your computer updated.

 

Disadvantages - Latency and data compression create limitiations with VOIP, VPN, Live Video, first person action games, etc.  Relative high up-front and monthly cost.  Avoid a satellite dish location that prevents you from removing snow and ice from the dish. 

 

Up-Front / Monthly - $300 to $400 up-front and $50 to $60 monthly varies by provider

 

Has the highest number of plans and fastests speeds available (up to 3 megabits) via satellite.  HughesNet has multiple satellites available for resolving line-of-site issues.  HughesNet has a more generous Fair Access Policy (FAP).

Has had historical limitations on activations in the far western parts of Antrim, Emmet and Charlevoix Counties.

 

Lower up-front and monthly costs.  Less generous on FAP (see the websites).  Fair Access Policy establishes how much bandwidth you can use before they throttle your download speed. 

 

 

www.hughesnet.com

 

www.wildblue.com