Hi Speed Satellite Internet

05/22/2003 | TMMT

[The Magical Mischief Tour]

Hi all,

Just generally wanted to pick some of the more tech minded Freepers brains here about my latest toy, Hi-Speed Satellite Internet.

I just ordered it today, should be installed on or before the 29th, looking forward to FINALLY something over 56.6 dialup.

I had to go with Satellite because no cable, DSL or ISDN is available presently were we are. Didn’t feel like waiting up to another 3 years for decent surfing speeds.

Anyone here using Satellite?

Anyone got any reports?

I know it’s a bit of after-the-fact because I’ve already purchased the equipment (mush to the agony of my wife and the checking account) but I’d still like to hear any advice you guys may have.

TMMT

[The Magical Mischief Tour]

Man…

Spelling, get’s me every time!

TMMT


Hoked on fobnics wurked fer me!!!

[marktwain]

I've looked into it, and have a cousin who was a beta tester. I intend to get it, but ...it seems that there are always other things higher on the prioity list.

I see lots of neat applications for it.

[ALASKA]

I wish you mush happiness with your new speed!

[FairOpinion]

I knew someone who had it and seemed to be pretty satisfied with it. He did have choices of cable, DSL or sat & opted for sat. Seems to recall he had some problems with the installation, but once that was done correctly, he was happy. So I guess my advice is to have it installed professionally and make sure they will work with you, should there be any glitches.

The higher speed of course makes a huge difference.

[Wolverine]

All your digits are belong to TOTAL INFORMATION COLLECTION NETWORK (big brother).

[umgud]

What does it cost? My basic cable with high speed internet is $85/month.

[DeFault User]

Someone chose satellite over cable or DSL? Last I heard satellite was $100 per month and slower than the other choices.

[B Knotts]

I thought about getting it for a while, but the latency is high, so for working from home, I don't think it would have been all that great. Plus, you have to run some funky Windows proxy software, and I don't run Windows.

But it's probably pretty decent if you're mostly browsing the web and using email.

Thankfully, I finally got DSL in my rural area.

[B Knotts]

That's an odd choice. I'm not saying satellite is bad for everyone, but if you have the choice of cable or DSL, it's odd to opt for satellite, which tends to be slower and more expensive.

[FairOpinion]

I think satellite is as fast as DSL, maybe not as fast as cable. Now that you mention the monthly cost, I think this person I was talking about only needed it for limited amount of time per day, vs. always on, I think satellite TV was giving so many free hours, but not unlimited, and those were withing his usage parameters.

Since that is the only person I know who used satellite for internet access, it's rather a limited sample.

I think where people have a choice of cable of DSL, many choose those over satellite.

But for example when it comes to TV: cable or satellite, quite a few choose satellite, so then why not for internet.

[3D-JOY]

Basic cable, no premium channels,$108 here.

Just changed to "Bright House"...Time Warner name change?

[DeFault User]

If I recall correctly, satellite was $600 installation and $60-$70 per month or $100 per month for the first year. Speed was listed as about 600-700 kbps v. about 1200 for DSL and 2000 for cable.

I have satellite for TV and would never go back to cable, but I've had both DSL and cable for Internet and prefer the cable.

[kybabe]

I just have one question: what happens when it rains or snows or there is a heavy dew?? We have SAT TV and we seem to lose it whenever the weather threatens. Does internet work on the same principle?

[HAL9000]

I?d still like to hear any advice you guys may have.

Okay. Cancel the satellite order and find 20 or so homes and businesses in your area who want broadband service.

Put a high-gain WiFi antenna on a tower of some sort, like a 100-foot water tower.

Have the phone company install a local loop to the tower.

Get a T1 internet connection to the tower from a good access provider like AT&T or MCI.

Mount WiFi antennas at the customer sites and aim them at the tower. Charge $35-to-$50 per month for the service.

It will be much better than satellite.

[DeFault User]

Basic cable, no premium channels,$108 here.

And I thought cable was high here.....whoaaa! Get thee a dish.

[Political Junkie Newbie]

I've had DirecPC for about 3 years. I only pay $40 a month which is for DirecPC service using my own dial-up provider.DirecPC is also upgrading my equipment for free. I use the satellite for downloading, but it uses my dial-up for all outgoing data. But since I only download and never send files bigger than a MB it works great. I have gotten speeds up to 1.8MB a second depending on where I'm downloading from. I can usually download enough to fill a 700MB CD in an hour or two. The only drawback is that when there is a storm, I can only use my dial-up for internet access.

[elmer fudd]

I install cable internet connections for a living, and have talked to many ex-dsl and satellite subscribers. Some folks like their dsl, especially gamers for whom the low latency is a big plus. Many folks like their satellite TV service and feel it is superior to cable, but I've never run into even one person who was happy with their satellite internet connection. High latency, high cost, geriatric upload speeds and download speeds that are often in the 200 kbps range are almost universal complaints.

Perhaps this is because I'm seeing a nonrepresentative sample of satellite customers. Afterall, they aren't going to cable because they're happy with what they've got, but I think it's more than that. I frequently switch satellite TV customers over to cable TV as well and I don't hear half the complaints from them. For the most part they were happy with their service but just thought we had a better promotion going on or they wanted to be able to hook up extra TV's without extra receivers or something similar. With the satellite internet customers they are always dissatisfied.

[Magic Fingers]

I have had cable internet for about 3 years, and I am satisfied with the cost and stability. However, I have NEVER been able to download anything faster than about 180kbps - even though various "speed tests" indicate the potential speed of the connection is much faster.

I got cable in my neighborhood when it was first offered (with presumably less traffic), but the download speed has never changed - so it doesn't seem that traffic demands are the problem. As an installer, do you (or any other Freepers) have any suggestions for improving download speeds? Thanks!

[Sonny M]

Is it possible to get satellite connection for a Laptop computer, and if so, who would I contact to get it? Do you know any of the specs on that?