The options for high speed Internet in rural areas are severely limited. You may be able to get fixed wireless on a local tower or, as shown in this video, you can get a dish installed to connect to a satellite in outer space. This installation of the Xplornet service on the ViaSat-1 satellite is similar to services offered by Wild Blue and Exede in the United States. A similar satellite, the EchoStar 17 is used by HughesNet. I think they all provide 3, 5, and 10 Mbit/s download speeds to areas not service by high speed cable service providers.

The download speed of this satellite service is quite variable, but it is also quite reliable. I often get downloads of 4.2 Mb/s on the 5 Mb/s service plan, but minutes later that can drop to 1.2 Mb/s and then jump to 6.2 Mb/s. Occasionally the service dies for a few seconds, but a refresh will get it going again. The latency is noticeable but not a problem. That applies to Skype as well.

After using the service for several months, the download speed continues to be quite variable - great sometimes, terrible sometimes. However, I can't say it is a reliable service anymore. Several times a week, on average once a day, it dies for a couple of hours, then recovers. It doesn't seem to be weather related. When you call the help line they repeat the same message, "higher than normal call volumes" and "the black modem is experiencing temporary disruption in service". It works, but I wish it worked better.