[jaykay]

So - this is the fourth weekend in a row, and over three weeks, that I've had no Internet 

We have microwave broadband which 'bounces' from one barn to the next down the dale, via little radio thingies on the end of each barn. Several blew up it would appear, when there was a thunderstorm. But it's taken this long (and still not fixed, hence my absence here) to get it sorted.

I can't get broadband via my phone line as I'm too far from the exchange. I'm tired of having to drive out of the dale with my iPad to get a phone signal (which is what I'm doing now  )

Does anyone know anything about satellite broadband?

[SallyintNorth]

Hi there jaykay.  You and I have been staying in touch outwith TAS, else I'd have started a, "Has anyone heard from jaykay?" thread some weeks back! 

I did know a bit about satellite broadband some years back but it's almost certainly out of date now.  You used to need something like 20 households within a one mile radius to make it financially viable.

I'm not sure I know what the barn-bouncing microwave setup is; I think it might be similar to what distributed the signal from the satellite receiver...

When I was on the moorland farm, BT were wanting us to get satellite broadband from them, for about a £99 setup charge then not very much more than landline broadband would have been per quarter - although it wouldn't have had the same capacity as the landline version.

A friend drives around with his wireless laptop on the passenger seat, set up to look for a wireless connection it can use.  A huge proportion of people with wireless broadband in their houses, offices, restaurants, etc, have it set up to allow passing connections, so he usually finds one pretty soon, parks up and does his up- and down-loading.  But it sounds as though you'd have to drive out of the Dale to get a connection you could use anyway.  Although I guess this way would give you more bandwidth than the mobile phone connection - and would cost nothing to use.

Sorry I can't be more help.  Especially as I miss 'seeing' you on here!