For the most part, living in a small town is a great idea. While rural living is not for everyone, it’s definitely high up on my list of places to live in. People who live and work in rural areas can testify to how amazing it is—As it is a more desirable alternative to the stress and strain of living in the big cities.
Most people chose to stay in rural America for:
- Fresh Air
- Peace
- Quiet, and of course
- Wide-Open Spaces
As with everything having both advantages and disadvantages, we move on to the limitations of living and working in rural areas.
Limitations of Living in a Small Town
Besides the obvious of not having as many opportunities as people who live in the cities, there’s a massive gap between rural and urban areas regarding technological advancements—particularly access to the internet. And when you live and work from home, crappy internet should be the least of your worries.
Trust me, access to the internet is a huge struggle in the rural areas of America. And when rural Americans finally gain access to the internet, here comes new struggles!
Having to walk a distance to get a signal. Which can negatively affect your workflow and productivity
Slow and unreliable internet. You can’t work when you want to because the internet service is down.
To give you a mental picture of how crappy and slow rural internet can be, if competing in a race with a snail, the snail would win by a mile.
…LOL…
I know I sound a little bitter right now. It’s from a place of frustration; I had to deal with crappy rural internet from those days. But, thanks to Nomad Internet’s work from anywhere plan, those days are over.
When talking about access to the internet, especially for nomads and people who work from home, just having internet service isn't enough. You need an internet provider that offers you reliable high-speed internet. And this is where Nomad Internet comes into play—High-Speed Internet Designed for Rural Residents and Travelers.
Ways to Stay Connected in Rural Areas
While Nomad Internet is the first step to reliable high-speed rural internet, depending on how close your home is to a cell tower, you might need to make some tweaks to your step up. These steps are especially recommended for digital nomads living in small towns in and around Texas, Virginia, and California.
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Find the Right Location for Your Router/Antenna
This is the first thing you need to do more often than not. Find the location with the best signal in your home. I once found that my bathroom was the best place for my router, and while that seems weird, it’s still there today.
Decide where the right place is for your router. Don’t keep it in the bathroom like me, whether it is your child's bedroom, the living room, or home office.
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Reposition Your Router
I know this sounds very similar to the first tip, but it’s not. You might be surprised to hear that if you place your router close to a microwave or Tv, it can decrease your connection speed.
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Get a Wi-Fi Extender
If the best place for the router is far from the living room or home office, while the router might be getting a great signal, you won’t be getting a great signal from the router. A Wi-Fi Extender will do exactly what it implies boost/extend the signal of your Wi-Fi to reach you where you need it.
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Give your Router a Break
Reset your router every month to give the device a break and refresh your internet connection. If you experience serious speed issues, you might consider resetting your router every day.
If you have a modem separate from your router, reset that too. Resetting the modem stimulates your connection to your ISP, and that’s what turning it on and off again is all about.
Keep in mind If you decide to hit the reset button, have all of the information necessary ahead of time to avoid losing anything. We handle this one ALOT over technical support calls with customers. So please be sure NOT to hit reset when you are just looking to do a quick power On/Off maneuver.
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Block Ads
The internet is full of ads, and a lot of them; everywhere you go online, there are endless ads, pictures, GIFs, and auto-played videos. These ads have a way of slowing down your Internet connection.
You might not mind watching/seeing advertisements, but trust me, your internet connection does. Ad media slows down your internet connection, so sometimes it’s easiest just to block them. Install an ad-blocking plugin that will shut down those data-heavy auto-play videos, and you’ll free up some breathing room for your connection.
Conclusion
Any digital nomad would tell you that the biggest issue faced when you live in rural America is an unreliable internet connection. But that is an issue you can avoid by joining the Nomad Internet family and taking steps to optimize your connection.
With Nomad Internet Living in Rural Areas doesn’t limit your access to Reliable High-Speed Internet, and you don’t have to take just our word for it. Hear from satisfied customers.
Remember to use the code WELCOME25 at checkout to get $25 OFF your first order.
This article was written by Dennis from OneCareer.