Is there an "off the grid" Internet connection?

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dstebbins

Member
When I do a google search for "off the grid Internet," all I get are results advertising sattellite Internet. That's not what I'm looking for.

When I say "off the grid," think about that in terms of electricity. If I have my own solar panels and/or windmills, then the cost of purchasing that equipment is the only cost I pay for electricity. The electric company cannot turn off my electricity if they don't like me (Note: There's supposed to be a law against turning off m electricity for anything other than failure to pay the bill, but because of a little something called judicial immunity, I can't do anything about it if the judge decides to deny me such an injunction, simply because ... f*** you, that's why). Instead, once I have the solar panels, the electricity they produce is mine, mine, all mine. No one can take it from me.

I was wondering if there was an "off the grid" Internet connection that wasn't at the whim of an Internet Service Provider. After all, Internet isn't considered an "essential utility," and thus isn't even covered at all by the laws which forbid the arbitrary disconnection of utilities! No judicial immunity needed; the ISP could turn it off whenever they feel like it./

So, is there any way to get me independence from that?
 
I would think that cellular internet fits your definition of "off the grid" as it wouldn't require any wires connected between your house and the "grid".

Not sure where you live but here in Calif, I have solar on my roof. I'm not completely "off the grid" because I still rely on the power company for power during periods of no sunlight (like at night). My system has no batteries for storage. During periods of bright sunlight, if my system produces more power than my house is consuming then that excess power is fed back to the grid. By law, the power company must accept this power and pay me for it so those times when I have excess power it is sold back to the power company and then used to offset the cost of the power I buy from the power company when there is no sunlight.
 
Sorry, I forgot about that, you could get a phone with an unlimited data plan, and use it as a hotspot.

But that would be hella expensive, and not that fast either.
 
You will always have an ISP. Think about how expansive and physically massive the Internet is. Even ISPs need to have their own ISPs.

You could build out your own local network that would be yours but if you wanted to connect it to the larger network that is the Internet then you need to negotiate with an external party (ala ISP).

Alternatively you could just pay the bill...
 
You could just get connections from multiple vendors for redundancy, then.

It's clear to me that you really don't have any understanding of the Internet.
 
You are always going to need some entry point into the internet. There are different tiers of ISPs, for instance Comcast is a tier one, and I believe Fairpoint is a tier 2, with many smaller ISPs being tier 3 or above. Say you have a local DSL provider, they may feed into Fairpoint, who then feeds into Comcast. You need to deal with one of these providers to get access to the internet, otherwise you'd have to create your own separate network.

If electricity was your only concern, you can always power your own DSL or cable modem via solar. If you are worried about a moderate area power outage satellite is your best bet. Cellular data would work as long as the equipment has enough fuel for their backup generators, but it wouldn't last indefinitely.

It seems like you're comparing the internet to any other utility. To be "off the grid" for utilities, it's true all you need is solar/wind/water to create your own electricity, you can use local streams or rainwater for water, grow/raise your own food, etc. But the internet is a highly complex network, and isn't something you can create yourself to tie into it.
 
As others have said you need an ISP. You can't just find somewhere to "plug in" so to speak and have the internet there for you to use. Yes it is sort of a utility but for the time being still isn't treated as such.
 
ninjabubbles3 said:
Sorry, I forgot about that, you could get a phone with an unlimited data plan, and use it as a hotspot.

But that would be hella expensive, and not that fast either.
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That may be true for many but not all of us. For instance, the speed of my phone's hotspot varies but I've gotten downloads as fast as 20Mbps, not lightning fast for sure but much faster than the 4Mbps download speed I get from my home isp. My employer pays $138 month for that connection. My phone with unlimited data costs me about $60/month.
 
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ninjabubbles3 said:
Sorry, I forgot about that, you could get a phone with an unlimited data plan, and use it as a hotspot.

But that would be hella expensive, and not that fast either.
Click to expand...
Depends. My unlimited data plan is $60/mo and I've been able to get speeds of 70-90Mbps download and 20-30Mbps upload with pings in the 40-60ms range.
 
dstebbins said:
When I do a google search for "off the grid Internet," all I get are results advertising sattellite Internet. That's not what I'm looking for.

When I say "off the grid," think about that in terms of electricity. If I have my own solar panels and/or windmills, then the cost of purchasing that equipment is the only cost I pay for electricity. The electric company cannot turn off my electricity if they don't like me (Note: There's supposed to be a law against turning off m electricity for anything other than failure to pay the bill, but because of a little something called judicial immunity, I can't do anything about it if the judge decides to deny me such an injunction, simply because ... f*** you, that's why). Instead, once I have the solar panels, the electricity they produce is mine, mine, all mine. No one can take it from me.

I was wondering if there was an "off the grid" Internet connection that wasn't at the whim of an Internet Service Provider. After all, Internet isn't considered an "essential utility," and thus isn't even covered at all by the laws which forbid the arbitrary disconnection of utilities! No judicial immunity needed; the ISP could turn it off whenever they feel like it./

So, is there any way to get me independence from that?
Click to expand...


If you have the cash and you're in a good location near a datacenter that will provide you with roof access to set up an antenna... The right wireless link can transmit dozens and dozens of miles with line of sight. You would then get a server in the datacenter or just a cross over with a demarc or whatever and run your net from that...
 
Madzco said:
If you have the cash and you're in a good location near a datacenter that will provide you with roof access to set up an antenna... The right wireless link can transmit dozens and dozens of miles with line of sight. You would then get a server in the datacenter or just a cross over with a demarc or whatever and run your net from that...
Click to expand...

Except you still have a service provider to your server, whether it be a colocation fee from the data center and they'll put you on some sort of segment, or whatever circuit you would have come in from the provider of your choice.

Also, good luck getting on the roof of pretty much any reasonable DC.
 
WRXGuy1 said:
Depends. My unlimited data plan is $60/mo and I've been able to get speeds of 70-90Mbps download and 20-30Mbps upload with pings in the 40-60ms range.
Click to expand...

With T-Mobile, my current provider, an unlimited plan is 80 bucks, and well as only providing 5 GBs of hotspot service. If you're anything like me, 5 GBs wouldn't even last two days
 
Madzco said:
If you have the cash and you're in a good location near a datacenter that will provide you with roof access to set up an antenna... The right wireless link can transmit dozens and dozens of miles with line of sight. You would then get a server in the datacenter or just a cross over with a demarc or whatever and run your net from that...
Click to expand...
As Beers said, your server is still contracted with a company. How exactly do you expect to get roof access at the data center to install a wireless transmitter or antenna anyways? I can see at a home, but unless you own the datacenter they don't let you install your own equipment and put antennas up on their roof.

ninjabubbles3 said:
With T-Mobile, my current provider, an unlimited plan is 80 bucks, and well as only providing 5 GBs of hotspot service. If you're anything like me, 5 GBs wouldn't even last two days
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That's why some of us have unlimited hotspot, like I have on Verizon.
 
WRXGuy1 said:
As Beers said, your server is still contracted with a company. How exactly do you expect to get roof access at the data center to install a wireless transmitter or antenna anyways? I can see at a home, but unless you own the datacenter they don't let you install your own equipment and put antennas up on their roof.


That's why some of us have unlimited hotspot, like I have on Verizon.
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I've worked in a datacenter, Sure they allow it if you do it right. Any Datacenter will if THEY can allow it (local codes may prevent size/etc). It's extra income.

example http://www.ntsource.com/web-hosting/chicago-hosting-news-article.cfm?articleID=37

<quote> datacenters offering roof access packages for use with our colocation, dedicated hosting, and cloud hosting packages. NetSource's roof access packages start for as little as $149 month depending on the size of the antenna and the packages they are combined with. </quote>

A demarc in a dc is better than an connection with say, Time Warner or AT&T ..

I would rather have the link through my servers in the DC than through any of the local ISP's. I just don't have the cash or the location (yet).
 
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Just get a dedicated line from a provider/LEC then to your location wherever you are, it'd be a better implementation than screwing around with whatever point to point wireless uplink to another location.

Kind of off-topic though since everything is still associated with a provider.
 
Madzco said:
I've worked in a datacenter, Sure they allow it if you do it right. Any Datacenter will if THEY can allow it (local codes may prevent size/etc). It's extra income.

example http://www.ntsource.com/web-hosting/chicago-hosting-news-article.cfm?articleID=37

<quote> datacenters offering roof access packages for use with our colocation, dedicated hosting, and cloud hosting packages. NetSource's roof access packages start for as little as $149 month depending on the size of the antenna and the packages they are combined with. </quote>

A demarc in a dc is better than an connection with say, Time Warner or AT&T ..

I would rather have the link through my servers in the DC than through any of the local ISP's. I just don't have the cash or the location (yet).
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You're missing the point, this person is still dependent on a service provider who has the capability to shut him off whenever they feel like it.

Besides, there are much better ways to get internet than what you're suggesting. One such way is to buy a dedicated fiber/copper line from the telco or fiber provider, or the not necessarily legal way, just move to a giant apartment building and you are bound to find open wireless networks.
 
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