MCN has a 'higher' speed dial up. Depending on how much resolution you're willing to give up it's a roughly a few times faster than regular, and you can adjust that easily through the icon at any time. Probably not fast enough for some but a huge improvement here, and it's only a couple of bucks or so more a month. I've seen this advertised from other N. Coast companies too. Since it's a quick download and free to try the 1st month (after telling them by phone) it might help while you explore other options.

Verizon has EVDO service in this area, but only their National Plan, which is slower than regular EVDO, works here. I got my set up from 3gstore.com. It's a tiny modem (with a USB port) that I plug into a router and signal booster antennae. Everything is small because it's designed to be portable, and it's kinda cool because you can theoretically take it anywhere within their coverage area and you'll have internet. There are a lot of downsides though, and we're thinking about just getting cable TV if that will work, then using the cable modem on the cable tv line.

The problems we've discovered with EVDO from Verizon are: crappy coverage in this area, it's only about 2 - 3 times faster than dial up and doesn't seem fast enough for working online like I do; you have to sign a 1 or 2 year contract just like a cell phone; and you have to buy equipment plus pay for a monthly plan; and there's a 5GB bandwidth limit per month. I really don't know how much bandwidth I use but I'm willing to bet it's a lot, and for that reason alone we may keep looking for options. It does work though, it came activated when I bought it from 3gstore, and it's quick to get set up. There is a 30-day trial period which is really nice because we may be taking advantage of this. I just wanted to give it a try to see if it would work. With two of us online at the same time though, it's not all that much better than dial-up. :(