For those who living in urban areas, there are various ways to access the Internet. But, for living-off-the-grid people, there’re lots of challenges. If you belong to this group, and you’re lucky enough to live near a local wireless hotspot or in the range of cable internet, the problem is solved easily. But it you’re not, then read this article where I’m going to share with you some options for internet in a tiny house for off-the-grid living as well as their pros and cons.
Internet Options for Off Grid Tiny House
Satellite Internet
Satellite internet has several outstanding characteristics that make it become one of the best choices for tiny house internet options. Firstly, it’s able to access the most remote areas where physical cables or mobile internet cannot reach. In desolate locations, such as mountains or forests, satellite internet might be the only choice.
In the USA, HughesNet, Exede and DishNET are three best satellite internet providers. Among them, Exede supplies the fastest speed (both download and upload rate), ranging from 12 to 25 Mbps depending on which data plan you choose. Of course, it also costs you the most ($50-$150/month).
HughesNet and DishNET are quite similar in terms of speed and price. HughesNet is a little bit faster (5-15Mbps) and more expensive ($30-$90/month); they also offer the larger maximal amount of anytime data (5-50Gb) and bonus data (5-50Gb). For a clear review and comparison, take a look at this article.
Personally, I’ve used the 20Gb plan from HughesNet for 2 years, and it’s just enough for me. The speed so far is enough for basic work and entertainment, including music and TV (Hulu, DVR, and Netflix are my favorite channels).
To get access to the Internet via the satellite, you will need to buy a satellite dish – a type of parabolic antenna designed to receive electromagnetic signals from satellites. You can install it yourself or require the help from the internet provider. Anyway, setting it up is not too difficult. In general, you only need to take three steps:
- Install the satellite dish: You’ll need to dig a hole and bury the dish’s leg into the ground to make it stand. Make sure you install it in an open location under the sky. Also, ensure there is nothing to block the dish from receiving/transmitting signals, or any nearby device that can interfere the signal.
- Set up your home network: Connect your computer to the Internet. There’s will be a clear instruction by the provider showing you how to do that, so nothing to worry.
- Connect your computer to you