Anyone have experience with Satellite Internet?

2/6/06 | me

[alnick]

I've moved to an area where neither DSL nor cable internet is available. It appears that my only high speed options are DirectWay or Wild Blue, both satellite.

I'd love to hear some feedback from users or former users of these services.

Thanks.

[stainlessbanner]

I've heard satellite has some latency issues, especially over encrypted tunnels. You might look for wireless broadband providers in your area. Typically on towers, the wireless recievers serve transmitters (from homes/businesses) 1-5 mi away. They are usually line of sight, so mountainous and hilly regions may not be suitable.

Also, some companies are exploring connectivity through power lines - not sure of the avaialability yet though.

[kenth]

You might also check into wireless. Here in the north GA mountains, even our power company is offering wireless. Powerline broadband is a scant possibility, though it's probably too early for you to be seeing that available.

[abner]

Is logmein.com like gotomypc.com? I used that last summer when we were on the road. It didn't matter what I was on, cable or satellite, it has a several second delay. Granted, now they say it is supposed to be twice as fast... But, I don't know I cancelled my service.

[backhoe]

My wife's office is out in the boondocks, and they went from dialup to satellite about a year ago, using a wireless router so visitors and staff could access the 'net.

It's not as fast as cable or the faster DSL services, but it is far superior to dialup. Where you notice it most is downloading large files, like updates.

[Billthedrill]

Just went through that. I finally had a local ISP offer Canopy Wireless (a Motorola technology) - I get a feed from a mountaintop about 5 miles away. 2.3 MB (I'm paying for 512K - sweet). Not available everywhere, of course.

A couple of things - typically the Internet satellites are a bit lower on the horizon than satellite TV, at least in my area. Make sure you have clear southern exposure (I'm assuming you're in the Northern hemisphere). Oh, and one other thing - satellite is inherently higher-latency than other technologies, so if you have handshake-dependent needs such as a VPN you may find them very slow or timing out. Anything burstable works pretty well.

I now have no television, no radio, no mail delivery, and high-speed FReeping. Yessssssss!!!

[thinking]

I am sending you this email on a satellite system....it is good if you having no other available...

[alnick]

Thanks, y'all. Looks like it's Satellite for me, even with its drawbacks, because I don't seem to have any better options.

Now I have to decide between Wild Blue and DirectWay. Wildblue is a couple hundred dollars less for installation, but I wish I could get some reviews from users of each to find out if one is far superior to the other. It would be worth the extra couple of hundred up front for a more stable service.

[Kay Ludlow]

bttt for later reading

[righthand man]

for later

[TheOracleAtLilac]

Do a google for Wireless Internet Service Provider &/or(WISP) + your area - to see if a local entrepreneur has solved your problem.

It's line of sight, has no latency & is usually affordable.

[Ronaldus Magnus]

You might look for wireless broadband providers in your area. Typically on towers, the wireless recievers serve transmitters (from homes/businesses) 1-5 mi away. They are usually line of sight, so mountainous and hilly regions may not be suitable.

I've got a 7.5 mile direct microwave connection and it works great now that I have the receiver high enough (about 40ft). Over 1 Mb/sec and 0.030 pings on a good day. My reception goes down to about half of that in the summer when the humidity, birds, and bugs get in the way and degrade my signal. Even then, it's still a great connection at DSL prices.

[Hodar]

The internet is a 2-way street. Typically, the down-stream is much, much faster than the up=stream rate. Or, your PC will listen a LOT more than it talks.

So, for surfing the net; there is nothing inherently bad about satellite internet. You'll get great downloads, at rates far exceeding dial-up.

However, if you THINK you are going to play internet games, you are going to be very dissappointed. One of the biggest hang-ups is 'latency'. There is a much larger time difference between when your PC 'talks' and when the result comes down for your PC to 'listen'.

If you think you are going to even do marginally in a game of Unreal, you are in for a shock. A newbie will kick your butt, because your latency will mean that your character will take a LONG time to respond.

However, if playing games are not on your list of plans; Satellite Internet would be a superior solution compared to dial-up.

[upchuck]

do a google on satellite internet review

lots of reviews out there

[oldironsides]

We have had DirectWay for quite a while. It does have problems and it is far slower than advertised. I am not especially impressed with our roof looking like a TV station.
We have no option. We live on a road without cable and old phone lines that will not support modern technology. Any calls for help are to India. I hate asking the person to repeat what they say so often. They are patient and I have learned not to be in a hurry when dealing with them.

[Joe Boucher]

Good question, thanks.
I could use info too.

[alnick]

I am not a gamer, so that's not a problem, but I do need to be able to use logmein.com, which will allow me to take remote control of the computer at the office. Since this involves the computers "talking" to each other, this latency thing may present a problem for me.

Am I understanding that correctly, do you think?

Thanks.

[cva66snipe]

FYI ping

[theBuckwheat]

I had Starband. It gave me up to 90kbs of download speed. Their customer service stinks. The technical issues of their network design restrict usage to low-demand browsing. They have what appears to be an arbitary usage policy. There is no way for you to know how much bandwidth you have used. You only find out that your account has been throttled when it happens. If it does happen, there is no web site, nor usage meter you can access for usage metrics by which you can know when your account will be unthrottled. There is no time-of-day consideration on their metrics either. If you have a big download, it is just as easy to violate the policy if you download during low usage times as any other time. Upload speed was about 30kbs, but the uplink channel is used to control the downlink, which means that when you are using the uplink to its capacity, the downlink is constrained as well.

During heavy rainfall and snowfall with big wet flakes, the service gets cut off. A few times, the rain conditions have caused service loss for the better part of a day.

Except for cutoffs due to weather, while it is better than dialup, because of these problems, I junked it when a local ISP offered a microwave service.

I have two friends who have WildBlue and both are happy with it.

I understand that DirectTV satellite service is oversubscribed, so that download speed goes way down sometimes. Mabye a Freeper who has it can post his comments.

[ponsdorf]

Had Direcway for several years and recently migrated to Wild Blue.

Wild Blue has a much better FAP than Direcway for now.

See: http://www.wildblue.cc/ for some good and bad opinions.

Also check to wee if there is a WISP in your area, they are spreading, but not yet in my location.

Weather is a factor with any Satellite service.

[KarinG1]

I can't be helpful with your question, but it sounds like you've moved to a very cool place. Congratulations, seriously. I hope you'll like it there. I'm sure I would.