[COLUG] Linux-friendly rural broadband in Central Ohio?

[Joshua Kramer]

Going back to dialup really isn't that bad.  A couple of years ago I moved 
from Columbus to Apple Valley (http://www.applevalleypoa.com) and ran into 
this same problem.  At first I was using an old 33.6 modem I had lying 
around, then I upgraded to 56k.

The thing I miss most is the ability to download CD ISO's.  Most other 
well-designed sites are bearable.

There were a handful of things that I attempted.  There were a couple of 
satellite options - Directway and one other independent company that 
actively supported Linux.  Directway requires you to sign over your first 
born, and the other company had a hefty startup fee to purchase equipment.

One company offered wireless high speed over HDTV (download over wireless, 
upload over modem) and they had drivers for linux that were unsupported.  
I signed up for the service, but when the technician came out to install 
it, he found that it was impossible to get a strong enough signal.  so 
that was out.

Finally, Sprint just announced DSL availability last week, so it looks 
like that's the direction we're going in.

My e-mail and web pages are handled by a colocated server I have.

--Josh