The Most Popular Types of Internet for Rural Areas

If you’ve lived any amount of time in rural America, you may be familiar with some of the most popular alternative rural Internet service providers on the market. Because of rural America’s unique situation, many mainstream Internet service providers are not available. Several factors contribute to this issue, including rural areas’ lack of adequate infrastructure for high-speed broadband Internet access and their low population density dissuading Internet companies from doing business in rural neighborhoods.

For these reasons, several popular types of Internet for rural areas have risen to the forefront. These options include satellite Internet service providers such as Starlink, unlimited 4G rural Internet providers such as UbiFi, and dial-up Internet providers. What all of these Internet providers have in common is the ability to reach even the most remote areas of the country. In dial-up Internet’s case, it can be easily installed if you have a phone line. On the other hand, mobile 4G Internet providers like UbiFi use the 4G cell towers throughout rural America to provide an Internet signal. Lastly, satellite Internet companies use satellites in orbit to send Internet signals back to rural households.

Each of these Internet types has its own strengths and weaknesses. Dial-up is reliable and readily available, but its performance is poor and outdated compared to the other options. Satellite Internet performs well and is available in many areas, but it suffers from low latency. Mobile 4G Internet from companies such as UbiFi is fast and carries low latency, but it performs best when you are adequately covered by a 4G cell tower.

Be sure to do your research and choose the best option for your personal needs.