Satelite ISP

zeroo · Nov 28, 2001

Has anyone got a satelite isp connection?What do you think?My provider is @home and am not sure whats going on with them.If they go under my only other choice is a satelite connection.I will not go back to a dialup modem.Anyways earthlink will set me up for $600 parts/install and $70 a month.Still shopping around for better deals but figure its going to be close to that.I have never seen a satelite connection work.Are they as quick?I know there is a 5 second delay but that doesn't matter.@home has been pretty good,few bugs,little down time but pretty quick speeds.I tested it once and the speed was about 600 kps(not sure if that the right term).

spanky250 · Nov 28, 2001

A satelite link is not two-way, it is for downloads only. You still have to have a dial-up for connecting and uploading.

Okiewan · Nov 28, 2001

A satelite link is not two-way, it is for downloads only. You still have to have a dial-up for connecting and uploading.

The system he's talking about is in fact two way.. 768K down and 128K up if I'm not mistaken. (I know the up is 128).... no phone line required.

Being in the boonies, I can't get dsl or cable (cable...ick), have been looking into it myself. My choice? DSL!!!

keith500r · Nov 28, 2001

My girlfriend works for Dish network, they offer 2 way internet. Everyone she has talked to about it says its really great. I would not pay anything close to 600 for install though, check around often satelite companies do free installs, if not it should not cost over 300.

yarbonwick · Nov 28, 2001

The biggest problem I've heard with SAT's are the imposed bandwidth quotas. NOt sure if they all do it though. Maybe check out some of the newsgroups?

gospeedracer · Nov 28, 2001

Originally posted by Okiewan
Being in the boonies, I can't get dsl or cable (ick), have been looking into it myself.

Ditto here. We have a satellite. Ours is two way. It's not bad but I'm used to a T1 line at work. I'm not familiar with DSL or Cable so I have no basis of comparision there. I'm almost certain our system wasn't $600.00 though!

My cousin said @home went bankrupt in her e-mail informing us of her NEW e-mail address.

zeroo · Nov 28, 2001

Thanks for the info.My cable provider(insight) is working with some other companies to continue service.The court rules on friday wether or not excite has to go "dark".In that case insight says they could have another provider within 45 days.They say they are talking to aol/time warner,road runner and actually AT&T is helping Insight keep service through @home.So I guess I'll wait it out and see.Come friday and I have no internet I can plug in one of the free time cd's from aol.I hope insight works something out,I've been testing my bandwidth speed today-1500 to 2000 kbps.

Camstyn · Nov 28, 2001

Actually, the deal is, @Home has a court date on Friday. They are appealing to drop their contracts with all of their MSO's, immediately.

We'll see what happens on Friday. My job is up in the air (tier 2 tech support)

YZr1der · Nov 28, 2001

Originally posted by Okiewan
Being in the boonies, I can't get dsl or cable (cable...ick), have been looking into it myself. My choice? DSL!!!

cable isn't a bad choice when no one else around you has it. my friend is the only one in a 10 mile radius that has a cable connection, and it is usually around 600k/sec, only $50 a month

Okiewan · Nov 28, 2001

cable isn't a bad choice when no one else around you has it

That's the problem. Live in a large area and it gets really slow.

KawieKX125 · Nov 28, 2001

I am in a red xzone so to say for cable and DSL so if anyone can provide contact info(#'s and web sites) for any of the dish internet providers, I would be very thank-full.:)

gospeedracer · Nov 29, 2001

Orrrr, you could have days like today when you can't get online because of bad weather! Sheesh, a little rain and wind and no connection? :mad: I got a message this morning saying there was no connection either due to "bad weather" or "the satellite is out of alignment". I used it just fine last night and I wasn't about to crawl into the roof this morning in the rain! :confused:

bwalker · Nov 29, 2001

My cousin said @home went bankrupt in her e-mail informing us of her NEW e-mail address.

Thats odd. I have @ home cable internet and havent heard anything about it. My e mail address has not been changed either.

yarbonwick · Nov 29, 2001

Same here. AT&T@home has been keeping me, as a customer, informed since the beginning. They said that even if Excite has to let things go, they've been working on their own backbone. 'Course that could mean several things. And to top it off
at 21:56hrs tonight I received this from http://dfw.speakeasy.net/

Your download speed : 4178868 bps, or 4178 kbps.
Browsers would show : about a 510.1 k/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 114942 bps, or 114 kbps.
Your connection rocks .. above the 1mbit barrier!

millenko · Nov 29, 2001

the biggest problem with satellite internet service is the ping rates between you and the servers you're connecting to. In my experience, you should expect 400-1000ms lag times, mainly a problem in online gaming, but still noticible in average browsing.

If you can get dsl or cable, either option would be much better. Of the two, dsl is the much better option due to the extremely low ping rates and high throughput. But, cable is still much better than dial-up. It is just much more succeptible (sp?) to lag spikes due to overcrowding on your node (neighborhood).

I have DSL service through southwestern bell, and I have nothing but good things to say. I pay 39.95/month for 384+down and 128up. I rarely drop below 1.54Mbs (T1 speed) approx. 145-160KB/s. I have a friend on cable and he is approximately in that speed sometimes, but in the evening, his speed dramatically drops, not to mention the fact that his pings are normall easily double mine on the same gaming servers (mine=30-45ms, his=75-100ms)

MrLuckey · Dec 1, 2001

For what its worth, The sat connection GSR is talking about is actually this:

We have DirecTV - using a DirecDUO dish (Same company as DirecTV). You run the cable to a box and then its USB to your computer. We are using AOLPlus as our provider. Normally I see about 400-600KB/s downloading. With this setup you do need a phone line for uploads :( For a lot of people thats not too much of a problem since they don't upload much anyway. This was about the only option I could find at the time and I will say that its faster than the DSL connection I had in OKC.

Danman · Dec 1, 2001

I'm on @home and still here. No servivce interuptions. They must have cut there backbone to a different IP or paid some of Excite's bill till they find another ISP. I can proably get DSL, but it would cost more. Install and monthly. In might be out of range. Plus, if I move I might not be able to reuse my equipment with another provider and I'm locked into a yearly contract. With the cable modem I can go from month to month and with DOCSIS compliancy you can use your modem on other systems( not like there is another provider around here anyway). DSL is headed in that direction with a "standard", but in my area I don't think its happend yet. I think its called G-lite. A Cable modem is not that slow in a busy neighborhood if the network is designed correctly. If some is running some server that gets high traffic in you neighbor hood you are going to be slow, because they will hog all your bandwidth. DSL is not that much faster IMO, but is a tiny bit faster. The only difference is that with DSL you get a single connection to the central office and then from there its shared bandwidth were as with a cable system its shared from you modem to the backbone. The saying your are only as strong as your week comes to mind. If the back bome is not big enough it won't matter what you connect with the office it will still be slow. With that single DSL connection you are also limited to a certain bandwith. With a cable modem you can hog bandwidth as much as you can alocate (good and bad because you neighber can to). Cox spells in there agreement that you will have a certain amount. I'm not sure if thats enforced or not. Cable modems and DSL both have there strong points, but in realy depends on the quality of the provider and there design IMO. As for the sattelite I have never tried it so I don't know. The installation should be easy other than running cable (always a nasty job) I looked at it and I think it was about 499 for the equipment. If you live in an area that does not have DSL or Cable modems I would do that or if you have the dough and no other options go for it. Just check out provider and ask them a lot of questions because once you buy the equipment it yours and will not be able to use it with another provider.

MrLuckey · Dec 1, 2001

FYI - On the DirecTV/DirecDuo costs. If I remember correctly I paid about $120 for my Dish @ Circuit City. They were also providing FREE installation and computer setup although I did mine myself as soon as I got home. The software setup was fairly easy but aligning the dish is a major pain. Ya better have a good compass and a helper. The co-ordinate window for the computer sat connection is extremely narrow compared to DirecTV and calls for very minute movements of the dish to acquire a decent signal. Take your time and do it right and you will be rewarded. My dish has apparently moved ever so slightly since I have been gone (strong winds). I am going to weld the thing in place or something.

MrLuckey · Dec 1, 2001

Cable Modems :)

Oh yeah for you cable modem people. I cannot verify my suspicions but there is strong evidence to support them. Many people I know with cable modems have the opinion that your provider has the ability to 'choke' down your bandwidth. If you feel like its too slow and you are getting the shaft you should call and complain. Several times if necessary. People I know have done this and their connections mysteriously sped up right afterword. Worth a try.

keith500r · Dec 6, 2001

quote:
I have DSL service through southwestern bell, and I have nothing but good things to say. I pay 39.95/month for 384+down and 128up. I rarely drop below 1.54Mbs (T1 speed) approx. 145-160KB/s. I have a friend on cable and he is approximately in that speed sometimes, but in the evening, his speed dramatically drops, not to mention the fact that his pings are normall easily double mine on the same gaming servers (mine=30-45ms, his=75-100ms)

I dont understand, you pay for 384kb downstream but you are getting 1.5 mb? how does that work? the people I know who have dsl get what they pay for only.

bsmith · Dec 6, 2001

Just to point out, I think the speeds might be mixed up (bassackwards:) ).
A T1 at 1.544 Mbps is far faster the 384Kbps or 128Kbps.
Mbps=million bits per second measures a T1
Kbps=thousands of bits per second measures a DSL or broadband, the theoretical max of DSL is 8.448 megabits per second(8.448Mbps or 8448Kbps. Most people get between 512-128Kbps which is about a 3rd the speed of a T1 line
Your phone line at 64k-56k- or what I get 28.8kbps.

I think that is how it works.

Hope this help;)

zio · Dec 6, 2001

One thing I noticed with our sat system, though a very infrequent occurrence, is signal loss during storms. I can't remember the last time our phone lines actually went dead in a storm.

I'm pretty satisfied with DSL. I doubt I'd ever purchase sat internet service. just seems like too much hassle, with having to have both the sat for down & phone line for up. E-mail, anyone? There's the prob. You have to dial up everytime. I hate dial-up. No phone calls while online. No online while making phone calls. PITA. And what if I decide to switch back to calbe? Or Vise-Versa? At least I'll always have a phone line for DSL (I think, I'm probably sticking my foot in my mouth as we speak).

Okiewan · Dec 6, 2001

psssst... zio...
there are 2 way sats available.

zio · Dec 6, 2001

Say huh? backed up, re-read the entire thread.... now how could I have missed that? Thanks, Okie.

millenko · Dec 6, 2001

I pay for 384kbps down guaranteed, actually I think that the paperwork says 384+, meaning that I could get higher if my system, and the lines support it. I actually live around 3 blocks fromt he telco switching station which means I have probably an ideal situation for DSL. The farther you live from the telco in wire feet, the slower connection you get. SWbell will only install DSL at distances up to 17500 wire feet from the telco, and at that you would probably only get the minimum speed (384)

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