Does anyone have satellite internet?

[Dino]

Yeah we're still on dial up.  There's no cable, dsl or wifi available in my area.  Luckily the dial up service is provided by my employer and is free.

Is there such a thing as reliable satellite internet?  I lose tv when there's a storm but it doesn't happen all that much and usually not for very long.  Is internet comparable or is it a different animal?

I think the cost for sat internet is high but I'm running out of options.  Unless there's a way to pluck wifi from the sky we're going to be stuck with satellites.

If anyone has one of the sat services I would be happy to hear real world experiences.

[maxwellwedge]

I had it. It was one of the worst experiences ever. It was killer monthly expensive and broke every few months. The "Tria" (I think that is how to spell it) needed to be replaced a few times a year at $300.00 per.

It was marginally faster than dial-up. I think there are some wireless 4G options out there now that trounce the 2-way sat systems......maybe something like that is available to you.

I ended up putting up a 90' tower to get a LOS (line of sight) wireless to a tower about 5 miles away. Works not bad.

[Dino]

Yikes!  I thought about the tower thing, read somewhere that you can get a decent signal BUT the sub association of course forbids anything over 10 feet or so.  Idiots....

[maxwellwedge]

Some cell companies sell what are called "Rocket Sticks" that plug into your computer or network to get cellular internet that is reasonably fast.....maybe look into that.

[Dino]

Didn't think of that.  I'll look into it.  Thanks!

[twodko]

Dino,

Does your telephone company have fiber optic cable to your neighborhood? Do you have ATT? We had both the big providers of Sat internet/TV. Both sucked and were spendy. We have good wx here in Cali but the signal would still drop out for no reason and then take forever to reacquire the bird.

ATT finally got fiber out to our area and we signed up for one of their U-verse packages. High speed net access, HD TV and ViOp telephone all for $156 a month. 

[Dino]

Dino,

Does your telephone company have fiber optic cable to your neighborhood? Do you have ATT? We had both the big providers of Sat internet/TV. Both sucked and were spendy. We have good wx here in Cali but the signal would still drop out for no reason and then take forever to reacquire the bird.

ATT finally got fiber out to our area and we signed up for one of their U-verse packages. High speed net access, HD TV and ViOp telephone all for $156 a month. 

Nope, no fiber.  We have ATT, regular old lines that are getting seriously worn as the phone quality has been going downhill for almost 2 years now.  Dial up is even worse than it ever was.  I think the max speed I cangetout of it is 2 kbps.  Yeah that's not a typo.

I'm pretty happy with sat TV, picture quality is superb and we rarely lose signal anymore.  It helps that the dish is mounted low on the roof so I can sweep it with a broom on snowy days.

TV is costing us near $100/month and I really don't want to spend that much on internet as well, it's crazy enough as it is, but there has to be something out there that works and doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

There are maybe 100-150 homes in my sub, the other sub near us and the scattered farms combined and for that low amount nobody is willing to invest in cables.

[Brightyellow69rtse]

fiber is no faster than cable unfortunatly. all it does is benifit the company who installed it. it only allows more people on the line so to speak.

[JB400]

I was told by a computer company that land line was the only way to go.   I went through the cable company and got wireless as well.  I'm happy with it.   They said the satellite and the cell phones break up all the time.

[2Gunz]

Satellite internet for the most part sucks, and I would consider it a last resort option.

However if I had to do it I would get hughesnet as they have the best plan for the money.

You should look into doing Point to point wireless or a verizon LTE 4G card.

[Fred]

We do and when it works it's good but when it doesn't...............need I say more.
It is heaps more expensive than cable and the modem alone costs $300.00 but as we have no cable in our area and fiber optics is a long way off and it (wireless) certainly does beat dial up which by the way disconnected every time we had an incoming call or even for no reason at all which made it really expensive because even though the service only cost $10.00, the re-connection fee was twice that.
Also need lots more GB's because it's faster than dial up and therefore uses more juice, so to speak. What we could do with 200MB on dial up now takes 3GB easily and of course all that costs more.

Still, beggars can't be choosers and we're just happy we have internet service of some kind..............where would we be without it.

[bakerhillpins]

Is there such a thing as reliable satellite internet?  I lose tv when there's a storm but it doesn't happen all that much and usually not for very long.  Is internet comparable or is it a different animal?

No. Not from my perspective anyhow.

I think the cost for sat internet is high but I'm running out of options.  Unless there's a way to pluck wifi from the sky we're going to be stuck with satellites.

It's much more expensive than any other hard line option. It's comparable to cell phone/LTE services though. I am in the middle of a 3 month expedition to try to move to cell based net services. Ill PM you.

If anyone has one of the sat services I would be happy to hear real world experiences.

Wildblue. Yuk, and more yuk but I have survived on it since late 2007.  It's the price I pay for where I live.  

[twodko]

fiber is no faster than cable unfortunatly. all it does is benifit the company who installed it. it only allows more people on the line so to speak.

I disagree. Data transmission is much faster on optic cable because there is no signal line loss due to resistance as there is with cable - copper wire. There is no signal that can pass through a copper wire at the speed of light. As mentioned fiber optic cabling offers far more users "online" than cable, again with no decrease in speed.......all data is moving at light speed. 

[FC7 V code]

We have satellite internet in our home...it has some redeeming features but as I type this I'm on dial-up. Weather can play havoc with it just like satellite TV and all you need is a couple of teenagers (or a wife) spending tons of time on facepage :rofl:and you will go over whatever Wildblue refers to as there "FAP"(guess it means fair access policy" and they will manage to turn your speed down until you fall below a certain threshold of usage on a 30 day average. In other words a couple of days of heavy usage can screw you for a couple weeks or more. It does let you download/upload photos much faster than dial-up when its working properly. Price is relatively high and I will be off to hi speed cable or fiber as soon as its offered in my area(if ever, because we live in the sticks). In the meantime it does the job with a few headaches, but now days that describes most everything to some degree.

[maxwellwedge]

This is a great site  http://www.broadbandreports.com/forums/all

Do some digging to see what others are doing in your area 

[shorty442]

We have Hughes Net out here in the sticks.
Our dish is ground based about shoulder high on a pole.
Occasional problems with major snow storms but never with equipment in the 3 yrs we've had it.

The FAP issues (allotted download amount per day) are manageable. If you run out in any given period, you can opt for a $5 re-set that lets you have another allotment.   Otherwise, it resets in 24 hr increments.   We live with it ok but if you're into videos, u-tube, etc all the time, then you may get frustrated.   Hughes had a better reputation around here than DISH network or Charter when we signed up.

Good luck with what ever you choose and smart move doing research before making a chamge.

[bakerhillpins]

I disagree. Data transmission is much faster on optic cable because there is no signal line loss due to resistance as there is with cable - copper wire. There is no signal that can pass through a copper wire at the speed of light. As mentioned fiber optic cabling offers far more users "online" than cable, again with no decrease in speed.......all data is moving at light speed. 

Actually, fiber optic cables are not the panacea that you might think. They do have losses which are akin to resistance and are very prone to degradation due to improper handling among other things.

Absorption Loss
Light travels best in clear substances. Impurities such as metal particles or moisture in the fiber can block
some of the light energy, it absorb the light and dissipate it in the form of heat energy, which caused
absorption loss.
Rayleigh Scatter
Rayleigh scatter occurs at random when there are small changes in the refractive index of materials in which
the light signal travels. In this case, it is the changes in the refractive index of the core and the cladding of the
fiber optic cable. This loss is caused by the miniscule variation in the composition and density of the optical
glass material itself, which is related to the fiber manufacturing process.
Bending Loss
Bending losses occurs in two forms - macrobending and microbending. When a cable is bent and it disrupts
the path of the light signal. The tighter the bends of a cable, the greater it is of the light loss.

It also has max transmission distances which require boosting.

etc...
http://www.olabstech.com/pdf/understanding_losses.pdf
https://www.juniper.net/techpubs/en_US/release-independent/junos/topics/concept/fiber-optic-cable-signal-loss-attenuation-dispersion-understanding.html

Speed:

Electrical signals in a copper wire travel at approximately 2/3 the speed of light. This is referred to as the propagation speed of the signal. Since we know that Ethernet operates at 10Mbps or 10,000,000 bits per second, we can determine that the length of wire that one bit occupies is approximately equal to 20 meters or 60 feet via the following math:

    speed of light in a vacuum = 300,000,000 meters/ second
    speed of electricity in a copper cable = 200,000,000 meters/ second
    (200,000,000 ms) / (10,000,000 bits / s) = 20 meters per bit

We can further determine that a minimum size Ethernet frame consisting of 64 bytes or 512 bits will occupy 10,240 meters of cable.

Fiber does have amazing bandwidth though:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber-optic_communication

Bandwidth–distance product

Because the effect of dispersion increases with the length of the fiber, a fiber transmission system is often characterized by its bandwidth–distance product, usually expressed in units of MHz·km. This value is a product of bandwidth and distance because there is a trade off between the bandwidth of the signal and the distance it can be carried. For example, a common multi-mode fiber with bandwidth–distance product of 500 MHz·km could carry a 500 MHz signal for 1 km or a 1000 MHz signal for 0.5 km.

......

In intensive development NEC scientists have managed to reach speed of 101 Tbit/s by multiplexing 370 channels over single fiber, while similar Japanese effort reached 109 terabits per second, but through a difficult production of cable with seven fibers.[8] But this is barely matching the 50%-per-year exponentially increasing backbone traffic.

I worked on Fiber optic digital drive (giant industrial electric motors) systems for Rockwell Automation for several years. Fiber was a huge headache. 

[Fred]

Well my wireless has been dropping in and out all day today. Most annoying when I'm in the middle of posting a reply. Such is life!

[twodko]

Evolving technology........the R&D sector will get it down hyper efficient.

[PA Dodger]

I had satellite internet, Hughes Net. I can't express how horribly bad their service was. I should have dumped them in the first week. I spent so much time with technical support that I knew all the tech questions in the order they would be asked. I reached tier 4 technical service because they couldn't diagnose a POS modem. It was so bad that I ate the $200 early termination fee to get out of my contract.
I don't buy into the idea that satellite service is subpar. I've had Dish Network for TV for 15 years now with very few issues. And the issues I do have are handled promptly. The only time I lose signal is when a very bad storm is approaching and I probably shouldn't have the TV on anyway. So, not all satellite service is bad.

[2Gunz]

Satellite internet and satellite TV cant really be put in the same category.

Satellite internet sucks even if the connection is perfect.
This is because of the transmission time from your computer to space back to earth again.
This takes roughly over half a second to ask for a page then another half a second and them some to get the page to your computer.
There are hybrid setups that do better, Im not going to get into all that..... but you get the idea.
A second or two doesnt sound like much, but when your used to a cable connect that make the trip in 50ms, A second or 2 SUCKS!


Satellite TV is different because it is always on. The channels are playing even if your not watching them.
It still has to take the long trip up and back.  But since you have no frame of reference, there is no way to notice the couple seconds its behind.
 

[2Gunz]

Dino,

Maybe you should "Roll your own" internet and become the service provider in area.  Just a thought.  Hell If the market looks decent I might even come do it. LOL


Other than that Verizon 4G LTE is still a good option.  And I wouldnt waste time on ATT, Sprint, clear or any of the others unless you have zero other options.

My Verizon LTE hauls ASS!  Its faster than most peoples DSL and a lot of peoples cable connection.

Ive had Clear (which is sprint) and messed with ATT's version and they both pretty much suck.

[Dino]

Roll my own?  I used to do that when I was younger!   

But in all seriousness, I have no clue what that means.  I'm googlin'!

[2Gunz]

Basically find someplace with internet at a fesible distance away and get it to your house.

Point to point wifi would be a cheap and easy solution.... however you need line of sight.

Or if no LOS rent a "dry pair" of wires from the phone company and make your own DSL.


Wifi

http://www.ubnt.com/airmax



DIY DSL     - This page is OLD.  But its a good place to start

http://www.odessaoffice.com/sdsl.htm

[Dino]

Basically find someplace with internet at a fesible distance away and get it to your house.

Point to point wifi would be a cheap and easy solution.... however you need line of sight.

Or if no LOS rent a "dry pair" of wires from the phone company and make your own DSL.


Wifi

http://www.ubnt.com/airmax



DIY DSL     - This page is OLD.  But its a good place to start

http://www.odessaoffice.com/sdsl.htm

Thanks for those links, that was very interesting.

I'm looking into that Verizon LTE thingie.  So this simply works on the cell towers right?  I see you need a 2 year contract for these things but can't find much info on what is in the contract.  I don't suppose this is something I can leave connected all the time?  Also I have a desktop and a laptop so it would be nice if I can go online with either one or my wife can use the desktop while I use the laptop.  One of the other issues is that I only have one bar max on my cell at home but I'm assuming I can use a signal booster?

Man this stuff is confusing....