Satellite Internet - What is it?

[silvercord]

The new 2-way satellite internet access is blazing fast for downloads and uploads...there is a slight latency for normal surfing or *gasp* gaming. It can suck the bandwidth out of a cable or dsl user without trouble. The big downside is the cost...right now the equipment for a 2-way system is around $700 and then you have monthly access, which is similar to what you would pay for cable $40-50/mo.

So there it is in a nuthell...

silvercord

[TechJumper]

Satellite Internet is a concept that will take a couple of years to fully acheive its intended purpose. The problem with it is its lack of reliability. Talk to voogru, he knows. Much of the problem is derived from the lack of air space. In order for you to receive from the satellite, your provider has to have air waves reserved for your connection. Many companies dealing in the satellite internet industry simply purchase on package of 'air' for an area, and provide service to a much broader spectrum of users than their air-space will allow for, resulting in the unreliable, but very speedy, connections you are referring to.


TJ

[derek79602]

Asymmetrical (uploads through dial-up, downloads through satellite)internet connections have been around for many years. The two-way you speak of is similar in cost to wireless internet, but the asymmetrical is terribly cheap. It's definatly not new technology.

[RobRich]

I corporate beta tested with Gilat several months ago, and I couldn't honestly recommend the Starband 2-way sat service to anyone seeking a low-latency connection. The nature of wireless communications is the limited factor here. During testing, our average ping times commonly exceeded 1000ms, with the worst ping times upwards of 2000ms during maximum use hours. Definitely not those interested in streaming intensive multimedia or online gaming. However, download speeds were acceptable with speeds ranging from 100 to 500+ peak Kbps.

Catch ya' later,
Robert Richmond

[BobyJo]

I have DirecPC Satellite and am very happy with the service. I have purchased the upgrade to the 2way service but not recieved it as yet. The air space problem the other person is talking about applies to Dish Network only. DirecPC and DirecTV had (over the past several years) purchased all the slots for satellite transmission and receiption. There is none available for anyone else at present unless more satellites are placed above the atmosphere. There is a movement for this to be done in the near future. But for right now DirecTV and DirecPC has the bandwidth tied up. I have downloaded files at over 100kb per second. Right now the upload is done by modem so this is not good. We live in an area where DSL, and Cable is not possible, ISDN is available, but Verison wants to us to complete an application to see if we would qualify for that service, Since they want to run another line to the house, the cost to us is way above Satellite TV and PC. We have both, and the cost is about $100.00 per month for both services. With a tower and V210 antenna TV reception sucks. This TV and PC service is too high for us but we have no choice other than dialup which sucks big time. Download speed is in the 3-4kb per second range. And this is if you don't get disconnected after awhile.

[wufam007]

I've been using AOL DirecPC for several months now, and I have no complaint with my downloading speeds. What I hate is that I can't do online gaming with it, because it downloads in bursts. On all the games I've tried I just get disconnected...So now I'm selling it to get cable, my local company is offering discounted modems this month.
Woo-HOO!!

[BobyJo]

wufam007: Why would you invest in DirecPC when you live in town where you have access to DSL and Cable service? This does not really make sense. Satellite has way too much delay in transmission and recieption speed to be able to play games. Maybe the new 2way will be better. The original service is not the way to go. Maybe you should have done more research before going with DirecPC.

[Mark Stubblefield]

I am using Starband for my access and I am pretty happy with it now.

When I first got it a few months ago I was ready to end my contract after the first day because it was so slow and the system would go down every half-hour. Now it seems they have got their act together and I have been pretty pleased with the results. I cannot get DSL or cable so this is the next best thing for me.

[SickPup404]

What about us poor folks that *DO* want to frag in the game arena? Is ISDN a viable alternative to the sat/POTS question??

Thoughts/comments appreciated!

[BobyJo]

Any hard wired IP hookup will give a better latency time than Satellite hookup. ISDN, DSL,Cable or regular phone line is better than Satellite, for playing games. For browsing, downloads etc Satellite is good, for overall T1 is the ultimate connection, the only problem most of us cannot afford a T1 connection. Much the less qualify for one.

[DemonKnight]

T1 speed is 1.4somthing Megabits a second I belive, cable and DSL are hitting that speed in some cases. the best connection would probably be somthing in the realm of the OC-256 or greater I've been looking into sattalite internet my self since I cant get DSL or Cable either. and I dont play games much at all.. least not multi player.