Satellite -vs- dialup (ISDN)

[Richard]

ok..here's the deal...

I live in the boonies and will not have any kind of DSL service for the forseeable future.

I DO have a dual channel ISDN line installed (2 digital 56K lines). HOWEVER, I do NOT have an ISDN internet service...in fact, I do not have a service at home at all... I piggyback on my work account with my login and as such, only have access to 56K on my ISDN line.

Yes, this means I'm paying for an extra B channel and not using it although I did use to have a phone connected

So, my MAX speed is never going to be faster than 56K, in truth, 56K is on a perfect day anyway... I probably get closer to 44K but it's been a long time since I've checked.

I forget but I'm probably paying about $40 for the two ISDN channels.

We're changing our world at work so I won't be able to piggy back on my work line... AT&T does NOT offer DSL out here yet and they will NOT give me an ISDN internet password (in spite of the fact that I use to have one )

So, they are essentially saying to me, we can't give you DSL, can't give you ISDN BUT you can do a cell phone type hookup.... (no idea of the cost)


This leads me to wonder if its now time to look into a satellite for my internet connection (only) at home.

Thoughts on Sat. verses 56K?? Hugues plan HughesNet - Plans & Pricing says $60/month (plus installation costs) for a 1 meg speed? is this up and download?

Might be a dramatic differrence for me...little more money with huge difference in speed.

I already understand that a storm cloud might obscure my signal a bit. I've been with Direct TV for probably 10 years now so this dish would be in addition to my existing or instead of my existing (not sure how they'd do it)

Anyone go from dialup to Sat??

Thoughts/frustrations/good/bad??

 

[riptides]

You do any VPN work?

What about your cell services? Any available?

 

[zuiko]

Depends on what you do. If you just download files and surf the web, sat is the way to go. You will have much better bandwidth. If you use it for VPN access or playing games or other things where latency is important, you probably want to stick with what you got. Having to go into space and back to earth several times to make a round trips results in bad latency, even at the speed of light.

 

[grossgary]

wow, excellent question. i too am thinking about getting satellite internet as well. has any one here ever actually used it?

i live where there's no possibility of internet of any kind as well..no cable, DSL, nothing, nor is there any cell phone service at all.

i just do general email, research, reading, forums like this kind of stuff. i'd like to talk to hear from someone that has actually used it?

how often does it "go out" due to weather/clouds or whatever?

 

[zuiko]

I had it a long time ago. For general web browsing and email it is good, since latency doesn't matter too much in that kind of application.

Clouds won't cause any problems, but rain fade is an issue. You'll get the same fade you do on your TV signal. Your performance will start to degrade as the signal does and at some point you will lose it entirely, depending on how bad the snow or rain happens to be, and how strong your signal was to start with. The further north you are the worse off you are, since you will be shooting at a shallower angle to hit the sat and picking up more snow and rain as a consequence.

 

[texasjohn]

I'm faced with the same problem.... no DSL, won't be for a long time, dial up speeds. I've looked, many times, into all forms of satellite and WAN hookups... in my area, at least, the calculations never have been sufficiently good to warrant a change from dial up 56K...

Things to look CAREFULLY at include

monthly amount up/download allowed BEFORE you get cut off or charged extra... this info is often deeply hidden, but this is a real gotcha.

I used NETMETER... a free package... to study my down/upload patterns and determine if I would hit the monthly limit... turns out that it is rather easy to do so...

yes, each provider has a high end package that will resolve up/download caps... but for me the cost was too high... around $100/mo if I recall correctly.

I also looked at numerous forums and discovered that there is a lot of problems/concerns/issues with satellite that many people find objectionable..including long contract periods, etc.

Net..for me... I've been forced to stay with dialup so far.

 

[SCRich]

TexasJohn is right on the money...This has been discussed several times I believe on this web forum and I know more than several times on the homesteading, self reliance, self sufficiency, country living, how-to, alternative energy forum, it's actually more common than you would think, I am one of those. Try searching here and on backwoods, also go to DSLREPORTS.COM and read all the posts there.

Stay AWAY IF AT ALL POSSIBLE FROM HUGHES NET!! That is very well known, another forum to search is DSL ? Cable ? VOIP ? Security ? Satellite ? Fiber ? News ? Tips ? Reviews ? Community ? Tools - dslreports.com and check out the Sat Forum just to see the pain that those owners are all feeling.

Not only is speed and reliability very low (much lower than claimed) there is no guarantee in the contract so even though they claim something they DO NOT NEED TO provide it. Customer service is very poor at best not only over the Bangladesh Phone support but also by what I have heard from many (not all but MOST) of the installers, you need to have an installer do the job and by what I have heard most people would do a better job than their "certified installers".

I live deep in trees and in some rolling terrain, I am in a bad spot not only for Hughes but also for cell service. I have ended up with Verizon EVDO and I know that Knoxville TN does have that service but just because the area has service does not mean that your home has good service, I would ask friends that may have a Verizon Phone to come by and see how strong it is. If you have a strong cell signal you can't beat it. My signal here is weak and my speeds are slow but faster than dial up. I also use the same service in my truck for work and it works GREAT when I am closer to town, actually just as fast and faster than the DSL I had previously when I lived in Florida and had DSL.

Verizon does have a 5GB limit a month but I have never hit it and I am on the computer A LOT. I don't download music or spend all night on YouTube but I do e-mail photos at time and receive some. It's slow, and I have even checked a couple of YouTube videos but still never gone over my 5GB. Hughes net will lock you down to lower than dial up speeds for 24 hours, actually as slow as FORGET USING IT if you go over a specific limit over a limited period of time in ADDITION to going over your limit for the month. I believe that if you go over your limit for 3 months in a row they will cancil your contract which sometimes is a good thing. Some people hate Hughes so bad and can't get out of the usual 1 or 2 year contract even with worthles service that they do all they can to go over their limit so they will get canned. Problem is for those people service is so poor they usually can not go over their limit even if they try.

For now, I sit here and wait. Someday I may get cable or DSL. Cable is available 650ft away from me and the company will not bring it to my home, even after offering them $3K for system upgrades if they give me a price break on my monthly service, heck they can offer it to other people close to me if they build it out. I know the local phone company techs and they say that the system in the area has been upgraded to handle DSL but they have no idea if or when the equipment would be purchased to offer it near me. But for now my EVDO connection is doing OK, if I lived 1/4 mile down the street it would be doing GREAT but way too many trees and a dip in elevation on my side of the road.

PS: I have never seen it before but it looks like this forum stuck some links in my message above. I only typed the web name and it did some funky stuff.

 

[MikeInEburg]

If you have an appropriate ISDN BRI router (I just tossed two Ascend Pipeline 75 units) you can use an internet service provider other than at&t and make a circuit-switched dialup connection that will be either 64 or 128K all day long. We used to do this - made a 128K connection until we needed to make a voice call - at which time router would drop one B channel for the duration of the voice call. Be careful as at&t may charge you differently for circuit switched data calls (as opposed to circuit switched voice calls).

Satellite internet service has both good and bad reviews - likely a tossup...
Mike

 

[Richard]

You do any VPN work?

What about your cell services? Any available?

Although I think I know aht VPN means "virtual private network" (??) I don't know what that really means in the real world... I guess that means I do NOT do VPN.

I just dinker around on the net and any games I do play are more card games verses 'action' games

 

[Jimbrown]

Ok the real deal on Hughes. I have been a hughes user for over 4 yers. I am am/was a beta tester for their last two systems.

The plan you are looking at is probably 1meg down and about 200kb up. Notice that those are "up to speeds" you will not necessarily get them all of the time specially during prime time. Actual speed will probably be more like 800 down 100 up. There is also a thing called th FAP. That limits you to a certain amount of download per day. I think it is 500mb on the 1 meg plan.

HughesNet Customer Care - Fair Access Policy FAQs

Now having said that it is far better than any dial up. I can down load large files and updates in minutes that would take hours on dial up. It is not good for any type of fast action games, shooters ect. Chesss, cards ect maybe. VOIP is flakey and VPN if you use it requires special setup as do all satellite systems.

If you sign up now you will be assigned to spaceway III a brand new satellite just put into orbit by Hughes, and you will get the new 9000 series modem. Most people have been very pleased with the new modem and satellite.

The key to any satellite service is the installation. If it is installed by a knowledgeable installer it will work correctly if not it will work poorly.

If you decide to go this way go here and search for installation hints or just ask.
HughesNet Satellite forum - dslreports.com broadband community