We’re now back on the farm (for about 6 weeks). I’ve often heard complaints from country people about the poor quality of internet and mobile access they have. As a city slicker it never meant much to me and so I tended to write it off as “the country cousins wingeing again”. Now that I’m in the “country” I suddenly get it. Mind you, my version of “the country” is 11km from Wiseman’s Ferry. WF has mobile access but we don’t.

We’re well set up with our own internet access, mini server and all the IT bits we need to operate effectively – IF WE’RE IN THE CITY. Having no mobile access means we’re using the satellite connection in the house. This is on an incredibly limited plan both for speed and monthly download allowance. While there are other plans available they’re very expensive compared to city prices. Also, it’s not simply a matter of upgrading the plan. Someone has to come out and reposition the satellite dish which of course involves more expense.

This has made us realise just how dependent we are on the internet. We do all our searching there – whether it’s looking up a phone number, researching our latest health scare, finding an address, catching up on important TV shows we’ve missed, just about everything our businesses require and so much more.

I now have a much greater understanding of the need for the NBN (National Broadband Network) and applaud the government for doing it (now there’s something novel). This property will be eligible for the NBN in January 2012.

The other little challenge for us at the moment is that somehow the router (one of those IT black boxes that performs magic) won’t allow us to access our server and so we can’t get to our files – ggggrrrrr. We’ve been routed by the router. This is one of those situations where, after spending an hour on the phone to the IT people the final response is “I don’t understand why it would be doing that – it should just work”.

Oh well, I guess this is teaching us flexibility and adaptability.