Pasayten's Methow Valley Bulletin Board

Let's go Greg...

OCEC
SURVEY TIME!

OCEC is looking to gather information from you, our members, on your current level of internet service, your interest in a new higher speed broadband internet service, and other related topics.

There are currently grand funding opportunities to expand rural broadband access both through the state of Washington and Federally. We are looking to hear from our members on your thoughts on building a fiber broadband network to expand fast, reliable, and affordable internet access in our electric service territory.

This survey is just one of the initial steps in our research into the possibility of bringing fiber broadband into our service territory in the future.

Below is a link to our short survey.

Starlink just notified me that new availability date is late 2022...

I'm pretty certain I'll be dead before fiber runs its course.

Also, per Elon Musk, disruption is unlikely.
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20210 ... band.shtml

Similar experience back in 2004. Could only dish to McClure. Shabby connection in non ideal weather. Would get my internet shut off every day/week for "suspicious" activity. I guess I was the only person in the valley doing anything other than checking email at the time.

You're always going to get more bandwidth and on the average a more robust connection with a wired (well, or with a fiber optic) connection than a wireless connection. Always.

And you'll always need more bandwidth.

When I started here in 1999 my criteria was being able to listen to NPR over the internet. I was one of methow.com's first wireless customers and it barely did that. It did less well when it was raining or snowing and much less well when there was smoke between me and the repeater on McClure. There will never be surface lines to my house so if/when I need to upload or download large datasets (right now on the order of 250G) I need to go somewhere with a hard-wired connection. Right now I also drop ship 1TB USB-C hard drives with full datasets every few weeks. Easier and cheaper to drop ship than babysit the upload (although modern tools like rclone make it easier).

I have 100 mbps (or 12.5 mb/s) symmetrical fiber run to the house and can't even recall the connection being down outside of scheduled maintenance or power outages. I had one issue at install with their equipment not delivering the correct speeds which was resolved, and another issue where they did not apply the correct settings in newly installed equipment causing severe packet loss, also resolved.

My latency is solid and not at the whims of weather or sight lines. I do not have data caps. I do not pay an exorbitant amount.

The post topic is broadband internet in the methow, the response is about starlink, my response is starlink won't work for my situation, and you're telling me about off gridding with cell phones? I said I need a wired connection because I work from home and your response is that wires don't work? That you use 100 gigs a month which is probably about 10% of my household usage. Then the follow up is "it's pretty good for cell based internet" which the underlying tone implies "cell based internet is not good". If you want to throw an implied "yet" in there feel free, but that doesn't help me now.

So again, I don't understand your response.

I don't understand this response.

I think Starlink is great and will likely be able to serve 90% of the average consumers needs and hopefully wireless technology will continue to improve to the point that it is as reliable as a wired connection.

But me and my wife both work from home and absolutely rely on the stability provided by a hard wired connection. Given our needs and current technological limitations, I do not see us being able to give up a hard wired connection in the near future.

I like Starlink, but at times it can be subject to interuptions to weather events. There can also be some siting issues affecting suitability. Some folks may still like a hard wired fiber connection. The marketplace will sort out the available options.

BROADBAND IN THE METHOW

Broadband Community UpdateThe Methow Valley Broadband Action Team (BAT) has been meeting since early 2018 to plan for the Broadband needs of the Methow Valley in a way that preserves the unique culture of the Valley while providing equitable access to all residents and visitors. In order to help us make a case for expanded Broadband access in the Methow Valley, the BAT invites you to complete the Washington State Broadband Office’s speed test and mapping survey. The State will use data to identify underserved areas, prioritizing resources for infrastructure development in order to meet Washington’s goal of universal broadband access by 2024.

In July 2019, the Twisp Public Development Authority (PDA) was awarded a Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) grant to conduct a broadband study that will conclude in 2020. TwispWorks was contracted by the Twisp PDA to convene the BAT, coordinate the meetings and administer the grant. Tilson Tech was retained to conduct the study under the advisement of the BAT and you can read their reports here or review this four point summary:

1. The key to broadband infrastructure expansion in the Methow Valley is finding supplemental capital funding to enable deployment.
2. There is no business case to be made for a for profit entity to invest the full cost to deploy fiber to the premise infrastructure, the only infrastructure capable of meeting the state’s broadband policy goal of symmetrical 150 Mbps service to all residents by 2028.
3. The capability and reach of Internet access networks that can be financed entirely by private investment, with no public contribution, is already on display in the Methow Valley.
4. Additional broadband infrastructure with greater capabilities reaching a much greater population will require the infusion of supplemental funding that could come from state and federal grants, subsidies, private investment, and funding from special assessment districts.

Get more information on our rural broadband work here... https://twispworks.org/programs/advocacy/