I was in your boat about a year ago.... then we got satellite. It was better than dail up. but still not great. if it clouded up, you couldnt get online.
then out of the blue AT&T DSL came online here........ I live 12 miles from Columbus, so it was surprising, because just 3 months earlier I called AT&T and they told me my area wasn't in there plans.
Good luck......getting online