Internet Access via Satellite Dish

[Guerri Stevens]

We are contemplating a move to an area where neither DSL nor cable Internet access is available. A top consideration for my husband is high-speed Internet access, and he has been looking into this. So far, the information he's found seems to imply that a special card is required in the PC, and that a desktop machine will be necessary for that. He, of course, has a laptop.

Does anyone know anything about this? One person we spoke to said he thought that a laptop would work fine, and no special card should be needed, just the hardware to connect. And that multiple computers could share the access. I admit to total ignorance on this subject.

I need a new machine myself, and would suggest to my husband that if a desktop machine *is* required, I buy one and let it be his, and his laptop can be mine. However, I don't think he wants to give up the laptop; i.e. he would still want a machine for travelling around.

[Dan in Saint Louis]

John F. Davis in the PCIS PCHardware forum (http://community.compuserve.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?msg=162502.15&nav=messages&webtag=ws-pchardware) uses satellite. AFAIK the link provides a regular Ethernet jack to plug into.

[earler]

You should get a router and plug the new desktop and the old laptop into it. Very simple procedure. As for satellite, be sure and get a service that two way, meaning you send commands by satellite, too. The one way versions are cheaper but require a dial-up connection, and that slow things somewhat and is a hassle.

-er

[sidney]

We are contemplating a move to an area where neither DSL nor cable Internet access is available.

I'm in the same position ... We just found our ideal new home out in the country and need to figure out how we are going to have Internet access. Satellite seems like our most likely option.

Every plan I've seen does have the option of plugging in to an ordinary router designed for a DSL/Cable home network. Computers would connect to that just like they do when you have DSL or cable. Even setups for a single computer are likely to plug into a USB port on the computer rather than require a card that has to go inside the computer.

However, if you can say which companies you are looking at I'm sure people here can provide more details.

[BobStone]

We recently moved to a desolate area, almost "off the grid" and had to go with satellite internet. My wife did the research and we went with a company called Wild Blue. You need absolutely no special connections other than an ethernet connection to the main computer, connected to the dish, and wired or wireless connections to other computers, desktop or laptops, in the house. It is a lot more expensive than DSL or cable since far fewer people are on it. That's one of the concessions we made to live 20 miles from the nearest McDonalds.

-Bob

[Karl Semper]

I am on Hughes satellite net, the former Direcway, be aware that you will be subject to a FAP (Fair Access Policy), after you have downloaded so many megabytes (the amount depends on your level of service) your bandwidth will be severely restricted for a period of time. The policy varies with both the provider and the level of service, but every provider has one. I have the basic consumer service and it doesn't affect me too often, but I save all my heavy downloading for work, where I have access to a T1 line.

Also if you are planning on using VOIP (voice over internet protocol) forget it, between the latency and the slow speed it will not be satifactory. Several people have tried and have not been satisfied with that service.

If your husband needs VPN, with the consumer accounts, typically you have a dynamic IP address which means again that it makes it harder to set up and maintain a VPN session (latency also enters into the equation).

If I could have anything else I would. Unfortunately I live far enough out that I will probably never have DSL or cable. Wireless (radio not Cell phone) is available, but the signal at my house is not strong enough. I thought about using cell phone, but since I have a 3 computer network, and the fastest cell phone data service out here is GPRS, that wouldn't work to well.

Sorry to be so negative about the satellite service and it may be better with some other providers, but the latency is something that can't be changed. It takes time for the radio signal to get to the satellite and then to the operations center and any response has to make the same trip. The satellite that you get connected to can also affect the service depending on how loaded the satellite is, the bandwidth to the satellite is fixed the more users the less bandwidth per user.

[BobStone]

We knew about the FAP and it did concern us, but we have tracked our useage and we seem to have plenty of headroom every month.

As for VOIP I only tried to use it once, and ran into trouble. My wife turned to useing her cell phone (free on weekends) plus an instant messaging software with video for her chats with friends.

-Bob

[Dan in Saint Louis]

If you have a cooperative friend within 10 miles or so who would share a broadband connection, amazing distances can be reached by consumer WiFi gear with good antennas.

[Karl Semper]

We knew about the FAP and it did concern us, but we have tracked our useage and we seem to have plenty of headroom every month.
=-Bob

Bob,

The FAP isn't monthly, it is based on how much you download in a certain number of hours. For a consumer account on Hughes, if you exceed 175 MB then the FAP kicks in you recover at a rate of 50kbps or approximately 21 MB/hour. So it would take you about 8 hours to get back up to the maximum. Some of the other providers have other limits, and certainly if you get a higher (read more expensive) account then the limits are also higher although the recovery rate is the same. I have been able to live with satellite for over 2 years now, but it certainly wouldn't be my first choice if I had a choice.

When Service Pack 2 for XP came out I thought about downloading it at home, the projected download time was at 27 hours and climbing. Needless I did not download it at home.

I am not trying to discourage you from getting satellite, but I want you to be aware of what you are getting, some companies may let you cancel your contract within a certain time period others not, and the equipment and installation isn't exactly cheap either.

[Guerri Stevens]

We recently moved to a desolate area, almost "off the grid" and had to go with satellite internet. My wife did the research and we went with a company called Wild Blue.
Thanks to you and the others who responded. I don't know whether we will have a choice of providers or not; there may be only one in the area. I have been assuming that the seller of the home we're planning to buy will leave the dishes (there are two, one for the TV and one for the net) and it will be up to us to make arrangements with a provider. We'll have to check on whether or not the dishes will remain in place. They may be the property of the service provider, rather than the homeowner, in which case we may be able to arrange for them to stay.

Cell phones don't work well either but my husband is investigating some sort of device that will strengthen the signal.