Aloha8

I just saw a report that AT&T officially ended DSL support last October; I think it was that they won't take new accounts, even if you move into a house that already has AT&T DSL. TDS still offers DSL but I heard from several of their subscribers that it's marginally better than nothing. AT&T left a bunch of people out in the internet cold. No wonder Musk with StarLink sees a real opportunity.

And the FCC definition of "high speed" is interesting as well. "Sure, we have high speed internet..." is often the answer; just a bit of research shows it to be DSL (good luck) or satellite, neither of which meets our needs, not even close. Add you observation of lousy, no-caring service and, well, just leave it at we're not impressed or interested.

Thanks Mac. Yep, that's the rub indeed. Fortunately, some developers - a rare few so far, actually 3 that we've found from Old Fort up to Townsend! - are arranging for fiber internet in their developments. The search continues...

Sorry that I'm late with this: Thanks to everyone for the responses and suggestions... the search continues!

Thanks. Good luck is what we'll need I wish Chattanooga EPB internet was an option. Their coverage area just doesn't get us away from crowds and urban sprawl, sadly. We've found a couple of possibilities that have AT&T gigabit fiber available, and we'll keep looking until we find what we need. High speed internet is one requirement that we can't compromise on. My wife, the road warrior (hence the need to be fairly close to an airport) frequently works with clients from her home office and I instruct on-line classes. DSL with its unreliable speeds, satellite with data caps and latency, and fixed wireless just won't cut it. So... looking and looking continues.

Good suggestions. We are actually looking along, and mostly east of, Hwy 411 from Old Fort up to Maryville... but not east of Ocoee more or less. Thanks for the contact information, we'll call him.

Thanks Dirtshooter, and thanks for the PM too. Oh yes, we have to see, in detail, any potential properties and the surrounding areas, and we plan to spend Saturdays and maybe weekends looking, as we have been since last month. I'm well familiar with the tourist and outdoor recreation areas and how the crowds build up as the weather gets better; that's a serious consideration too. I recall several times when I just wanted to stop in Gburg for a burger and a beer after a weekend hiking on the AT and it seemed to take a hour just to get to a restaurant. Anyway, totally agree that any of that is better than what the Atlanta area has become!

Thanks for the suggestion. I used to know that area, or did in 1960s. It might be too far west, but certainly worth a look.

Thanks Red!

Actually, I have and really like the Ducktown and Copperhill area, which I know well (I was the Venue Technology Manager at the Ocoee Whitewater Center during the 1996 Olympics). But that's too far east -- Hwy 64 would not be a viable drive home from the Chattanooga airport late at night after a week on the road . And, as you note, there's no truly high speed internet available around there.

Those choices are what's making the search a slow process, given our fixed requirements. Thanks for the contact info.

Thanks Mark. Yep, real high speed internet is rare, but we'll keep looking until we can put something together.

My wife and I are fed up with so many things in the Atlanta area where we now live and are looking to move to southeast (more or less) Tennessee. Not only for the more conservative points of view and less crowding (my wife calls it "too peoplely" around here), but to avoid state income tax as well. We've having a devil of a time finding something that meets our requirements, which admittedly, are somewhat unusual. We want some land, more than 5 acres (to help with the close neighbors issue), within about an hour's drive to the Chattanooga or Knoxville airports, with some mountain views, and (here's the hard part) true high speed internet, not the so-called high speed from DSL or satellite service. We've found several properties that seem to meet everything except the high speed internet requirement. And a few that have gigabit service but with other serious problems. And one property that's close to right, but we need to keep looking it seems. Just wondering is anyone here knows of any leads on properties that might be coming up for sale. Thanks everyone.

Thanks everyone for the "welcome" and the comments. We're sure that Tennessee will be better than our current county is becoming... but then, I grew up in SE TN, so maybe I'm biased? Thanks again.

Hello! My wife and I are planning to move from the Atlanta area to somewhere in Southeast Tennessee, maybe within 2021. We don't like the shifting political climate in the Atlanta area, and in fact the direction of the entire state of Georgia, crime is going up, and as my wife puts it, it's too "peoplely" around us. We are both strong advocates of conservative values and the 2nd Amendment, are handgun shooters -- the wife for self-defense and me also for sport -- and I'm a NRA Life Member. I joined to start learning about the state of the RKBA and shooting in general in Tennessee, and maybe continue as a resident.