Remember the days of slow dial-up internet? Well some are still living in it, especially in rural areas.

The small town of Timber Lake has moved beyond dial up thanks to a federal grant it received in 2005 that allowed it to set up broadband wireless internet in the town.

The grant runs out this year. But even though that money will soon be gone, the city plans to expand its service.

Above such a small city in such a rural area of South Dakota sits some very modern technology connecting Timber Lake with big city hubs it's so far from.

"It's just opened doors for us," broadband program manager Barb Gross said.

A receiver sitting on the Timber Lake water tower brings in broadband internet and sends it to more than a hundred customers throughout the area.

You'll even find an internet receiver outside Mary Biegler's house.

"I'm kind of forced to do it," Biegler said. "My kids bought me a computer."

Biegler uses her internet primarily to keep up with family and friends. But some in the area use it for online classes or auctions, things not possible with the dial-up internet available before.

"I'm very impatient and I just about wanted to crochet when I was waiting for it to boot up before. It was pretty slow," Biegler said.

The start-up grant was $393,000 and that money is almost gone. But with kinks out of the system, the city started charging customers for the service this year.

"It has become self-sustaining and that's important. We didn't just want to be a burden for the city," Gross said.

And with a self-sustaining system in place, the city is surveying other rural communities to see if there's interest in bringing its service there.

A lot of the city's internet customers are from Timber Lake but it serves rural customers too, one even 20 miles away.

It's sending out a signal in three communities now and has a fourth in the works.