How many out their are hooked up this way and what do you think of it?. I am tempted since all that I can get now is dial up.

We have a couple of clients who live out in the country and have satellite internet.  It is not blazingly fast, and I think you still need the phone line for uploads, but it's better than just phone line dialup.  With their system they can't do VPN, if that is an issue for you.

GunLvr

OK GunLvrPHD, I am not sure why you would need a phone line and what is a VPN? Thanks, and yes the dial up really sucks.

[b] expensive[/b]

Satellite is my only option for any sort of fast Internet connection, so I use it. My average download speed is ~1 Mbps, upload ~ 56 Kbps.  It has obvious latency issues, and it's not a perfect solution, but given my choices it sure beats dial-up by quite a few orders of magnitude.

You still need a phoneline to send data [i]to[/i] the ISP (upload), because the little satellite dish you get is just a receiver (download).  For normal web browsing and stuff, you don't need much upload bandwidth, just enough to send a request to download a page.  It's not good if you want to run a server or something where people will be downloading [i]from you[/i]

VPN = Virtual Private Network.  It allows a (fairly) secure tunnel between you and another computer (say, at work).  

Last time I checked into sat internet, 2 varieties were available.  One (cheaper) used sat for downlink & your phone line for uplink.  Other (more $$) used sat for both up and downlinks.

VPN = Virtual Private Network; a protocol that allows you to control or access another computer or network.  Latency plays hell with vpn's, and/or anything else that requires a somewhat real-time response...e.g., online gaming.  It's also part of your sat contract that if your bandwidth gets heavy, sat company can cap you at a much lower download speed for a period of time...something that you won't find out unless you read the fine print.

I'm in an area with no cable or dsl.  I've had a number of rural clients try sat, the longest any of them could stand the latency was 3 days. All had the installer come back & get the equipment.  I'm using a wireless connection; basically an antenna on my roof aimed at my isp's tower around 26 miles away.  Not as fast as cable (256K guaranteed) but considerably better than the 14K dialup available here in the boonies.  See if anybody in your area has wireless available.  For more detail, my isp...[url]www.bigskytel.com[/url]

-hanko

You mean none of you are hooked up by satellite?

you do not need the phone line anymore. that has been replaced with 2 way. i have been using it for 6months and i its ok....just ok. latency is incredible so websurfing is kinda slow but still faster than dial. once you establish a connection file downloads are right up there with DSL. the system uses packet aggregation so the ping times are horrendous. as a matter of fact to play online games i have to dial-up.


im selling my hardware because i can get DSL as of june 1st . i paid $600 for it in january and ill let it go for $200 if you come take it off the roof. then its just $50 to have a tech come aim it  (you can do it yourself) and then its $49 a month.   how far are you from atlanta?

The wireless is good for us country people. My ISP just boosted me to 768 on my wireless connection.

It's great!  Fast download speeds and it never disconne

I'm an installer(a VERY inexperienced one) for a Starband Reseller so I pay about $15 less per month than customers do. Still pricey though.

About $500 in initial equipment fees (saved $200 because I did the installation) and $60/month.

It is 2-way and while the upload is only slightly faster than dialup, downloads are great!!  Say goodbye to online gaming though :(

Man I miss Medal of Honor.

If you can afford it and there's no other broadband option in your area it's well worth it.

I tried to get Dish networks programming through the dish by adding an extra LNB kit but there are too many trees in the way and hitting 3 satellites with one dish in a wooded area is a bitch....after cutting down about eight 75' pines I gave up and got a small dish networks dish.

I could only hit 2 out of three birds with the starband dish so I tried to raise it a couple feet in true ghetto style....still didn't work....so now I have a small dish networks dish, connected to a switch on the back of the starband dish....using one lnb from each dish to get dishnetworks channels.

I'm planning on building a garage that the Starband dish will go on top of eventually but for now this works.

Feel free to make fun out my mount.....it's an old shower stall floor on a couple of cinder blocks...the mast is wired to the two trees next to it.  LOL

[img]http://freesites.pshift.net/~vtdefender/images/stateflowers.jpg[/img]

*disclaimor...this is NOT a starband approved setup# ;)

Direcway is notorious for capping peoples downloads...apparently there is an automated process in place that does it.

I have downloaded files for up to 6 hours at a time with starband and never been capped. Had the service for four months.

I don't make a habit of downloading for long periods of time but I was testing Starband's tolerance for that kind of thing.

  ects you!

lord I'm slow this morning.....LOL

I get disconnected once in a while during heavy rainstorms but thats about it.

[b]redray[/b]:
Funny.

redray, translate please. Anyone on satellite want to compare #'s? I am surfing at 26400 as we speak. oslow, who you connected with?

Direcway does cap downloads, so far at around 100-120MB. I accept the system for what it is and it's limitations aren't too bad for the average net surfer. Gamers won't like it and people into file sharing won't either. But the download cap does kinda piss me off. Way I see it if downloading is basically all it does then it should do that to it's fullest extent.

I've been using a satellite modem for about 3 years and it sure beats dial-up.  i would prefer a cable or dsl setup but it is unavaliable in my area at this time.  if this is your only option: get it you will not regret it.  if you have a choice between dsl or cable then it is not the best choice

email me if you have questions:
[email protected]