Posted: 2/15/2006 8:07:45 AM EDT
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Iam starting to look into getting satellite internet equipment and service. My local DSL service sucks. I'm in between routers and too far away for reliable service. Specifically looking for companys and service that people are happy with, as well as those to stay away from. I'm under the impression that you have to buy the equipment, then pay for monthly service. How expensive is it to buy and what do the monthly bills amount to? Is the speed fast and reliable, similar to high speed DSL? Any info would be greatly appreciated. I am doing searches trying to find info on brands and companys, but would like input from ARFCOMMERS. Thanks in advance. |
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Reliability is hit and miss (anecdotal evidence only), YMMV. Latency is high - like 700+ ms. Forget using it for VoIP and VPN connectivity is out. Most providers have fairly restrictive fair use policies. I.e., it isn't really unlimited, and if you enjoy p2p services they'll severely restrict your bandwidth until the end of the month. A non-p2p power user could easily hit FAP limits. It beats dialup, and I may have to look at it again, since I live in a remote area. The one and only wireless ISP capable of providing me service is failing miserably at it (75% packet loss as I type this). At this point, I'd be better off with the latency. Check out broadbandreports.com, and read the sattelite forums. |
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Satellite internet sucks. Period. I would give anything to be on DSL, even unreliable DSL. While the numbers are good, actual performance is less than stellar. If you get DirecWay they also have something called the "F.A.P." or Fair Access Policy. What the FAP means is that after you have downloaded so much in a day, they drop your connection speed. I think that you are limited to approx. 170mb/day, if you exceed that, your connection speed is dropped to <1kbps. ETA: Satellite upload speeds are horrid too, far slower than download speeds. |
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Tag for addtl info. Miles from a cable drop, no hope of DSL, dial-up at 24k-36k. I have the need for speed. Anyone know anything about the oneway satellite downlink services, Dish Network had something at one time, still used dialup for up-link but down was from the Dish. Help! |
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My dad uses it to teach online classes from his cabin in Montana. He hasn't really had any complaints about it, He does a lot of web access, chat and even online poker over the connection w/o any problems. I can't comment on the access policy, I have never heard about that. |
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Compared to any WIRED high-speed connection (Cable, DSL, etc.), satellite Internet is limited and restrictive. Dropping a wired connection for a sat connection makes NO sense. Having said that, if you can't GET wired HS Internet, or wireless HS Internet for that matter, then sat may be your best option. And of the available options, the newest and by far the best is WildBlue. I've recommended it to several folks here who have had it installed successfully and reported a good experience. It is *still* satellite, though, and there is still latency (the signal has to travel 22,300 miles each way to and from the sat), and there is still the FAP, so you can forget running any app or service that requires low latency (many online games, most VPN, VOIP, etc.), and you can forget about P2P (BitTorrent, eMule, LimeWire, etc.). But it works just fine for web surfing, email, and other typical use. It also costs about half of what DirecWay or Starband costs, both to install (in most cases), and for monthly service. But like any sat Internet service, the installation is critical, since the dish doesn't just receive, but also transmits. If the dish moves, and starts transmitting at another sat in the sky, that can cause HUGE problems that can literally affect the whole country. Depending on your location and how your house is built, you may need to pay some custom installation charges to get the dish properly installed, due to the need for an absolutely solid mount. If you have any questions, let me know. -Troy |
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Thanks for the info Troy. I checked into DriectWay several years ago and decided I could live without it. The equipment was expensive and service was reported to be spotty at best. I've got broadband here at the office, but live 20 miles west of town. Great place to live, not so great for internet service.  |
FAP = Fair Access Policy. You use too much bandwidth, they throttle back the speeds you can surf and download at. |
If it were up to me, that would be illegal. If I pay for a service that offers me say... 768K downlad speeds I want that all day and night, just because I surf alot and maybe download some music or videos does not give them the right to limit my speed. You think the CEO of DirectWay has a FAP? I seriously doubt it. |
| The two satellite tv providers have announced a joint agreement to provide much better on line service to compete with cable and DSL lines. Have realized they are losing customers due to bundling of services. Murdoch usually does what he says he will do. Improvements coming to compete |
| Actually, dont go with DirectWay, go with a newer provider called Wild Blue. Check up on their website, they are using a different satellite frequency band and monthly subscription starts at $50. Hardware costs ~$300 and has to be professionally installed as per the FCC. It works on Ka-band satellite Anik F2 at 111.1 degrees west longitude. If you have any questions IM me, I don't work for the company but I've done work in Ka-Band and had to work with similar Very Small Aperature Terminals (VSAT). |
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WildBlue reserves the right, but not the obligation, to refuse to transmit or post and to remove or block any information or materials, in whole or in part, that it, in its sole discretion, deems to be offensive, indecent, or otherwise inappropriate, regardless of whether this material or its dissemination is unlawful. Neither WildBlue nor any of its affiliates, suppliers, or agents have any obligation to monitor transmissions or postings (including, but not limited to, e-mail, newsgroup, and instant message transmissions as well as materials available on the Personal Web Pages and Online Storage features) made on the Service. However, WildBlue and its affiliates, suppliers, and agents have the right to monitor these transmissions and postings from time to time for violations of this Policy and to disclose, block, or remove them in accordance with the Subscriber Agreement and any other applicable agreements and policies. Does diectwav do that? |
FAP = Fair Access Policy.  WildBlue has 34 broadcast "nodes", or zones, for the US, allowing the available (Ka-band) frequencies to be reused in each of the 34 nodes. This can be done because the satellite creates spot-beams, which creates a LOT more bandwidth than older technologies like DirecWay. Still, the total bandwidth is still limited, and there will be many more subscribers than there is available bandwidth. Just like the phone companies only have so many trunk lines, knowing that most of the time, only a small fraction of their subscribers will be calling long-distance, the sat providers have (out of necessity) designed the system with the understanding that most users use only a fraction of their available bandwidth WHEN USAGE IS AVERAGED OVER TIME. Meaning: you might need to download a Windows ServicePack, which is a big file, and when you do, you'll get your full bandwidth, but once the file has been downloaded, your usage will fall way off, and someone else will be able to use that available bandwidth with little impact on you. Certain applications, though, use 100% of the available bandwidth 100% of the time. In a bandwidth-limited situation, you could have a couple dozen people running P2P apps and using up all available bandwidth in a node, screwing thousands of other users out of their connections. That's why the FAP is necessary. Virtually ALL ISPs have a FAP, but most WIRED ISPs have, or can get, enough bandwidth to handle the traffic, and therefore set their limits very high, and only enforce FAP when there are complaints or obvious abuses. Wireless and Sat providers, by neccessity, have to be more restrictive. P2P = Peer To Peer or "FileSharing" applications such as eMule, the old Napster, BitTorrent, LimeWire, BearShare, and so on. People run a program and share files on their computer, allowing others to download those files over the Internet, and vice versa. Normally, this uses near 100% of the computer's available bandwidth the entire time it is running. VPN = Virtual Private Networking - Creating an encrypted connection to allow secure communications over an unsecure network. Normally used to allow a remote user log into a corporate network over the Internet, as if that person were in the office connected to the local LAN. The login and encryption requires low latency in the communication (i.e., fast turn-around time for the data packets). VOIP = Voice-Over-Internet Protocol - Using the Internet (or other IP-based network) to carry standard phone calls. Vonage allows you to use your home High-Speed Internet connection to provide you with a phone line, allowing flat-rate long distance and a lot of phone features (Caller ID, Voicemail, etc.) for free. There are other providers for commercial service, and many large companies are using VOIP for internal phone service.
All major ISPs have (or should have) such language in their User Agreement, though such things are rarely enforced on anyone. -Troy |