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Hi, We're looking for a very isolated property but, for our business, also need reasonably good, reliable internet speeds (over 2mbs) for Skyping and telephone that supports packages for free calls to many countries. How realistic is this?
Thanks in advance.

If it is really isolated, you will probably need Internet by Satellite. I keep looking at these packages as my speed dips under 2 in the school holidays.

However, I keep reading that Skype doesn't work well with satellite

And you are probably talking about 300 set up costs and 80 a month.

pearson

Ex-clients tried running their safari business with a 'querty' telephone connecrtion by WIFI from SFR. They found it very diffcult. Their connection from England in the office kept breaking up. However this may not be relevant to your request.

Perfectly realistic if you mean "no close neighbours". But you do need to be within a few kms of your local telephone exchange. Find out the phone number of prospective purchaser and look up what they are good for.

I have found that Skype is very demanding. When I was in Saint Marsal I got a speed of 6 and Skype was fine. Here I get 2 and Skype is too unreliable for me to use for professional purposes. I can't charge clients for coaching and then have the line break down. I am looking at Google Hangouts and Goto Meetings as a possible solution.

Hi Maryn94, Ideally, we would like a place with neighbours about 1 kilometre away - does that sound doable to you with the broadband requirement?

NigelS wrote:Hi Maryn94, Ideally, we would like a place with neighbours about 1 kilometre away - does that sound doable to you with the broadband requirement?

I have no idea: what matters is the distance from the exchange. Your agence shd be able to give you the phone number. You then look on eg degrouptest wh will tell you what the line can do.

If it is Ok, there is no need for Skype unless you want video calls or calls to third-world destinations. Any of the internet providers can give you "all you can eat" phone service to all developed countries as part of their package.

martyn94 wrote:

NigelS wrote:Hi Maryn94, Ideally, we would like a place with neighbours about 1 kilometre away - does that sound doable to you with the broadband requirement?

I have no idea: what matters is the distance from the exchange. Your agence shd be able to give you the phone number. You then look on eg degrouptest wh will tell you what the line can do.

If it is Ok, there is no need for Skype unless you want video calls or calls to third-world destinations. Any of the internet providers can give you "all you can eat" phone service to all developed countries as part of their package.

This could have been more helpful. If there is a phone line, you can get unlimimited calls to almost anywhere for a modest-ish fixed price. That is so whether or not your line is good enough to support decent ADSL service.

If it is not, satellite internet is good for most purposes, but suffers from a) high latency (you wait for about 1.5 seconds for anything to happen) and b) limits on data volumes unless you pay a lot.

If it can support ADSL service, what I said above will guide you to how good it might be.

So you need to be clear what you do or do not absoluitely need. If it's essentially browsing and emails plus phone calls, you could buy essentially anywhere. If more than that, you need to decide where the shoe is going to pinch, and do your research accordingly.

At my older place in Normandy, I am well off the map for ADSL, but manage quite well on phone and satellite internet. I have never run a business there, but some would have been quite OK, others not.

it is , incidentally, worth checking on mobile phone coverage. Even if you don't anticipate using it outwards, other people will want to use it inwards (eg making deliveries, verifying online purchases on your cards...).

Thanks Martyn94 - good point about mobile coverage. We want to use Skype heavily so the latency with satellite means it's a non-starter.