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TV & Internet
Living in a rural area usually means: no cable TV, no cabled high-speed Internet, and having an – often crackling – old telephone landline. Fortunately, there are some really good solutions to tackle these shortcomings:
Television
Many people around the lake pay for a satellite TV service to get the TV reception and channel package(s) they want.
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However, for those who don’t need all the sports, news and other specialty channels, there is an excellent and cheaper alternative: go the "old-fashioned" way and put a regular antenna on the roof and pick up the local over-the-air (OTA) TV stations (CBC, CTV, Global, TVO, etc.).
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This may sound like going back in time, but the opposite is true. In fact, both in the U.S.A. and Canada there is a revival of the traditional TV antenna. This is driven not only by ever-increasing cable- and satellite TV subscription costs, but also due to the change in 2012 from the old analogue TV signal to a superior digital one.
This map shows the two TV towers that we have in the Ottawa area: one in Camp Fortune, the other close to Manotick. This overview shows which tower transmits what stations.
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Obviously, the best antenna locations are those with a clear line of sight of the transmission tower. The whole northwest-side of the lake (from Dowdall Shore all the way down to Squaw Point Road) won’t have any problem picking up all the stations. Also, the southwestern part of the Big Lake (Grasshopper Point to Flintoff Bay) won’t have any issues. Most other locations probably face blockages of various degrees, but with a good quality antenna, mounted as high as possible (at least 24 feet from the ground) most of these stations can be received.
You notice the directional angle between the two TV towers, which is approx. 50 degrees. This angle decides what type of antenna you need, depending on your location. You may even end up needing two antennas.
Digital over-the-air TV reception offers two major advantages. You either have no picture or a perfect one; there is nothing in between, no snow, no double ghosting, no nothing. Secondly, as opposed to cable and satellite TV, signal compression is much less with over-the-air transmission, resulting in a noticeably sharper picture.
Over-the-air TV however comes with a possible downside: a minimum signal level is needed for the TV to process it into that super clear picture. This is where antenna location in relation to the TV transmission tower comes into play. We face issues like blockage (trees, buildings), antenna height, etc. So, let’s have a look at the actual situation around Mississippi Lake.
Internet
Is there life after Internet? Most people would probably answer that question with a firm NO. Our external communications depend more and more on a stable and reliable Internet service. We shop, do business, work from home and stream voice and video contents using Internet. An increasing number of people also use Internet for telephone functionality, so-called VOIP. This replaces their landline with the option of keeping the existing home phone number.
Most Mississippi Lake dwellers have signed up for an Internet service, either through a point-to-point wireless connection, cell tower or through satellite. A small area near 10th Line in Beckwith as well as the Lake Park area in Carleton Place have been upgraded to a fiber connection, but Bell has stated that there are no plans in the foreseeable future to expand this to all the other – less dense – parts of the lake.
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Fortunately ("Finally" you might say) in August 2022 the Ontario government has committed over $950 million to nearly 190 broadband, cellular and satellite projects to date, bringing faster internet access to over 375,000 homes and businesses across the province as per this news release. It has signed agreements with eight Internet providers. This page shows which provider(s) will be covering the 4 Mississippi Lake municipalities. The upgrade project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2025.
