Posted: 8/30/2006 10:49:22 PM EDT
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how many people have it? How well does it fit your needs? I'm considering it. The only other option is a 33k dialup. I cannot get DSL where I live; they are too far from the switch. Besides, there's fiber optical cable between me and the trunk. My brother has it. I noticed something yesterday: just before dusk, the connection dropped. I am wondering if it has anything to do with the 'grey-line propogation' phenomenon? |
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We use it for internet access at work. I work out in the oilfield, so we're often in pretty remote locations. It works. That being said, it does have a few drawbacks. Namely it's not very reliable. If a bird flies in front of your dish, the signal will drop. Not an exaggeration, by any means. Also, latency is horrid. My average ping to anything I can actually get to respond is roughly 2500ms. Dialup is probably around 300ms. The good things? Works just about anywhere, isnt hard to set up, and download and upload speed both stomp the hell out of dialup. Is it right for you? Maybe. I think the latency is the biggest concern. If you plan to do any online gaming, even chat/IM programs, performance will suffer tremendously. If you're not much into that sort of thing, go for it. It works great, if you consider the limitations. I'd be happy to answer any specific questions you have regarding the service, I spend more than my fair share of time using it. |
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All these concerns have been my experience with my brother's setup. And in New Mexico, we frequently get high winds that screw things up. I suspect that there are ionized clouds of dust in the atmosphere that block the signal. --sigh-- I long for the good old days of DSL... |
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Its a last option. Have you loked at EVDO cards from cell providers? You can put the card in this router and use wifi and cat5 from there then. booster-antenna.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=35&products_id=99 -Foxxz |
The last time I looked at Verizon for computer access, they only had a 14Kbaud setup, and it only supported 'devices', i.e. palm pilots, etc. It was also horribly expensive: $75/month or so PLUS my phone. Have they improved their service, i.e. gone to 'real' computer service? |
They offer service thats usually around 512kbps and up to 2mbps. Its somewhat geographically dependent. Sprint and cingular have similar offterings. They give you a card that normally works in a laptop, but the device i linked to allows you to easily share it with a desktop and multiple computers. Check their website and also any local verizon stores to find out if its avalible. I have a friend who signed up for the 30 day trial and returned it as it didn't meet his needs. www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobileoptions/broadband/index.jsp Go here, type in your zip and select "Broadband Access" at the bottom: www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/CoverageLocatorController?requesttype=NEWREQUEST -Foxxz |
With my customers I have found it is very reliable if installed right and I can guarantee I have had far more down time per year with cable and DSL acess than most have with satellite internet. The latency is a major issue for online gaming. WildBlue offers up to 1.5kbs down… I believe they have partnered wit Dish Network. |
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Be aware of download restrictions on sat. If you download so luch over a period of time they throttle your connection. Here is hughes sat policy on that: ]]go.gethughesnet.com/HUGHES/Rooms/DisplayPages/LayoutInitial?pageid=fairaccess&Container=com.webridge.entity.Entity[OID[BD8BE0839F414B4FB7CDDCA10EFA5369]] -Foxxz |
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I used it overseas for a few years, worked pretty good. Not sure how well it works it the US, but it sounds like a lot of the performance issues people are mentioning are an issue of the provider and the hardware, not satellite technology limitations itself. I've known guys that played Everyquest on sat-based internet systems. |
I got it last Dec. 05, Wildblue.net as it was suggested here on ARFCOM. The highlights are also my complaints, but it beats the heck out of 24kbps! We'll never get DSL out here, so it's either dial up or wildblue. Still haven't decided if I'm going to renew in Dec. 06. |
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I wonder if anyone still offers one-way satellite? That's where your connection to the ISP is via landline, but the downlink is via satellite? The idea is, that most of the traffic is a downlink, and very little of the uplink (from your computer) needs fast speeds. |