[Yaelle]

This matters a lot to me because right now the solution was to piggyback the connections up there with the connections in the city, which destroys the chance of having good tv and Internet in the city, where we are moving in a few weeks. We wish to choose our own tv and Internet services, and the only way I will get a choice is if we have a solution for the mountain home.

This probably doesn't make sense but it's important to me and FReepers know everything. Pretty much!

[nomorelurker]

Try to get a signal from over the air HD TV may need to spend a little bit of time on a good antenna. The rest may be a mobile hotspot on a cellphone. That is what
I do on my TX coast 2 a month weekend getaway. All the other posts here may have said that already.

[mrsmith]

See what TV you’d get with an antenna.
http://www.tvfool.com/
I get stations from 40 miles away with a cheap outdoor antenna and a booster.

Find out if there’s cell service. Seniors may be happy with just email.

If you have to have full internet that means DSL- here it’s only offered by the local phone company.

[AFreeBird]

Some providers allow you to “suspend” your service for off season times. It depends on who they are and what their policies are. Check with them.

[RightField]

We have a Tailgater which we use in our motorhome. We keep a 211K box in the motorhome. DISH knows we use the box. It costs about $8 a month.

The only limitation is that when we travel outside our home area, we do not let 'local' channels, which includes ABC-CBS-NBC-FOX, etc. All the other channels are identical to what we get at home.

We also have a Slingbox hooked up to our home box, but using it requires a robust internet connection. We can connect through our cell phones, but it's a data hog.

If you already have DISH at home, I'd suggest buying the Tailgater. The Tailgater will only work with one TV, just so you know.

[Ray'sBeth]

I really appreciate this thread, and it’s a good break from all the blood and gore going on.

I have a different question. We have a vacation home with a metal roof which cuts off the signal. Is there any way to boost the signal inside the house? Otherwise we have to go outside when we want to talk.

We did invest in a good antenna, and now pull in all the stations we care to watch. We’ve never ever had cable in any house.

[RightField]

My previous post only concerns cable TV.
For far-out internet, we either use our phone connection or go without. We can get our email and do some serious web surfing with just our phones. Streaming videos and gaming are the serious data hogs.

[Ann de IL]

Thanks Yaelle, hubbie and I have been trying to solve this problem too. The home had direct tv while it was occupied full time, but we don’t want to pay for the time we cannot access it, internet is an even more difficult problem.

[sergeantdave]

“The home might be used less than once a month, or even just a few times a year.”

You’ll have difficulty finding a broadband company willing to provide intermittent service “a few times a year.” I had a vacation house in a remote location and paid nearly $200 for 14 days of broadband service (Internet only) this past spring.

I would check with Charter to see if it offers service in your area. Charter offers a day-to-day rate and doesn’t require that you sign a long-term contract. I’ve found the company to be reasonable cost-wise and the service they provided to me was excellent.

Good luck.

[jch10]

I have an isolated cabin like you describe and if you have Direct TV, you can add another tv at your cabin. Someone must be there when it is installed. It is very reasonably priced. It works out beautifully for us.

[Enlightened1]

Roku Stick

[Enlightened1]

Get a Roku II or III

If you know anyone that has Direct TV, they can share up to 5 people like Netflix.

So use that account to log into pretty much any channel.

You can also pick up a digital Antena like a Leaf with a 60 mile rage. That way the signal will be strong.