Slow internet service can slow a business down, adding up to lost time and money. And often the problem is worse in rural areas.

Access to high-speed internet stops about seven miles east of both Nippersink School District 2 and Richmond-Burton Community High School District 157, according to Tom Lind. He’s the superintendent of both districts, located near the border of Wisconsin —  about 70 miles northwest of Chicago.

Many rural areas still don't have access to the kind of high-speed internet service they need. That hurts businesses, schools, even medical care.

Farm towns in Illinois could get access to high-speed internet with the help of new federal funding.

The more remote you are, the more critical the connection to the rest of the world. But the Federal Communications Commission says while 10 percent of Americans had no access to broadband in 2016, that number was nearly 40 percent in rural areas.