No chance of getting cable or DSL. Is satellite a reasonable option?

CrimsonWolf

Senior member
Oct 28, 2000
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I'm going to cry.

Here is a brief story of my situation. Previously I lived in Kansas City, KS. There I enjoyed a speedy cable connection for over a year and a half. However, my family moved to Phoenix over the summer, into a brand new nieghborhood. Big mistake. I have been waiting for broadband service for the past 3 months and it has all been futile. With the problems Excite@home has been having, Cox Communications informed me recently that there will be no new cable internet expansion into my area, ever. On the DSL front with Qwest, they have lied to me repeatedly concerning the dates when DSL would be available and I no longer have any reason to trust those incompetent ass-goblins with my internet service. I have reported them to the BBB but there is nothing else I can do regarding them. So, as a result, it looks like I will never have DSL or cable internet again.

Now here is where satellite comes in. I have done a little research considering Satellite internet access through DirecPC. However, I still can't figure some things out. If anybody has any personal expierience and can help me I would appreciate it.

First off, I am well aware with some off its weaknesses. I know it will be impossible for me to play games online, which doesn't bother me because I don't have to time to anyway. Also, I will most likely be getting the dial-return setup to save on costs and I already have a second phone line to accomodate it.

With the above taken into consideration, is it any good?
On average, is it reliable? (I loathe downtime)
Can it be shared over a network?

Those are just a few of the small questions I have. I realize few people have this service here, but I will take any input. I'm at the end of my ropes and will do anything to get rid of dial-up. Thanks!
 

OfficeDude

Member
Oct 14, 2001
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I don't actually have satellite internet access, but I have been looking into it a lot. One thing you have to worry about with DirecPC is bandwidth limitations. If you download over an x amount an hour......they will restrict your connection speed to 56k speeds:( They recommend that you stop using the internet and come back in a few hours to see if the limitation is still in place. I also visited sites such as epinions.com to get the inside scoop on them, and most people tend to give them poor ratings. More than one person I talked to actually got bandwidth restrictions even though they swore they did not go over the limit per hour, they had a program that controlled download rate. I'd recommend trying to find a different satellite internet provider with better ratings.
 

GT1999

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
5,261
1
71
Wow man, that really does suck. You could get the satellite now, and your assumtions are right about the service -- downloads are reasonable to good, but pings are horrible due to satellite delay. I'm sure the data transfer limits are all ISP related as well, so try to find one that doesn't have a limit.

I have had 1.5/512 ADSL @ $50/mo. since this July and it's awesome. So, you might just want to stick with 56k until DSL comes out, since it looks like Cable is a no-go no matter what. What's nice about DSL is once a company buys the DSLAM and implements the service, if they get bought out or go bankrupt, another provider will buy them out and take over the service, I'm talking 99% of the time. I'm not sure if it works the same way for cable.

Also, check into wireless internet, and see if that's available in your area. Last but not least, fibre optic based service. :p I really doubt that it's available where you live, otherwise you'd probably know about it quite a while ago, but from what I've heard it's supposed to be excellent.
 

Wayward

Member
Sep 21, 2001
127
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76
dslreports is a good place to get info on all types of broadband. At their site go to community>forums>satellite

Good luck
 

Rickten

Golden Member
Apr 17, 2001
1,607
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I heard that with satelite your ping time is going to be really bad. For example in CS I read that you will never get below 150. I guess it takes a little while to bounce the signal off the satelite.
 

Jiggz

Diamond Member
Mar 10, 2001
4,329
0
76
You're stuck with two hard rocks! Between DUN and Satelite. I'll go with the DUN until I get a real broadband like DSL or Cable. I've been on DUN since day 1 of my internet life. And still waiting for dsl service which they promised eons ago. At least with DUN it's almost free and unlimited.
 

Ausm

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
25,213
14
81
I would check into Wireless Internet access I believe Phoenix was a testbed for that new technology\


Ausm
 

oldfart

Lifer
Dec 2, 1999
10,207
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How much is ISDN in your area? 128K is still 3 times faster down and 4.5 times faster up than a modem. If you do play an occasional game, it also has good ping times.
 

Snapster

Diamond Member
Oct 14, 2001
3,916
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<< You're stuck with two hard rocks! Between DUN and Satelite. I'll go with the DUN until I get a real broadband like DSL or Cable. I've been on DUN since day 1 of my internet life. And still waiting for dsl service which they promised eons ago. At least with DUN it's almost free and unlimited. >>



Same here, I'm in the UK so that day when it comes is even further away! (damn BT)

An another note, after months of watching the boards, reading the posts, I decided to join so I'd like to say "hey everyone!" :)
 

Don66

Platinum Member
Jan 5, 2000
2,216
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DirecPC has it's good points and it's bad points..
I have it and I'm on it now.
It's great for downloading fast within reason. at around 200mb they start to strangle your abilility to d\l.
That can last several hours. It's called Fair Access Policy. F.A.P. Their site says about 160 m\b per hour.
Not true. They'll still get ya. Generally if you stick to about 100mb an hour they won't mess with ya..
But, you can get 100 mb in less than 12min.(depending on the site)
Their techs are pretty good for trouble shooting.
They are up most of the time, I haven't had too may downtimes.

F.A.P. is my biggest beef...And when they get ya it sucks...
 

SuperSix

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
9,872
2
0
I went to Office depot yesterday with a friend that is looking into satellite for his business, no cable or DSL in his area..
The guy @ OD said there's no way to share the connection?? He said it is a USB modem. I assume that you could share it with proxy software but not a standard broadband router...

Also, check these guys out.

 

Don66

Platinum Member
Jan 5, 2000
2,216
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76


<< The guy @ OD said there's no way to share the connection?? >>


Those people at Office depot are a bunch of lammers.....
Just use a lan card
I do it all the time with my kids machine.... Internet Connect Sharing...:p
 

wfbberzerker

Lifer
Apr 12, 2001
10,423
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satellite is good for downloading and websites and the like (some of the new stuff thats coming out its comparable to dsl, ive heard), but it really sucks if you want gaming. it basically stems from the fact that data has to travel thousands of miles up to the satellite, back down to the isp, which equals high pings - but it should still much faster than dialup.
 

Medea

Golden Member
Dec 5, 2000
1,606
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I also have just DUN available in my area, although for the past two years, Verizon has been promising DSL within the next 6 months. :|

I looked into satellite access and, after reading everything I could get my hands on, I concluded that it wasn't worth the extra money versus the cost of an ISP for a DUN. You get intermin limitations on speed with d/l's, rainy/cloudy weather can interfere with the service, nevermind the costs with switching to it.

So, like some people have already said here, just stick with DUN until either DSL or cable becomes available in your area.

 

CrimsonWolf

Senior member
Oct 28, 2000
867
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Wow, thanks for all the input!

OfficeDude, Don66
I had heard about the Fair Access Policy, but I didn't know if it was strictly enforced or not. I guess it is, oh well.:( I guess I'll try to find an ISP that doesn't use that.

xsquid, Wayward, Supersix
Thanks to thoose who suggested www.dslreports.com, it is very informative so far. Starband as well.

Geekish Thoughts, ausm
As for wireless internet, I'll check it out, I think it might be in my area. Now that a couple people mentioned it, I remember seeing something about it the newspaper.

Jiggz, Medea
Forgive my ignorance, but what is DUN?

oldfart,
I've already tried getting ISDN, but no luck thus far. Thanks anyway.

Welcome to the forums Snapster!

Supersix, Don66
I guess I'll just use ICS in Windows to share the connection. Whatever works.

Thanks for all the information guys! I knew you wouldn't let me down.;)
 

Medea

Golden Member
Dec 5, 2000
1,606
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0
CrimsonWolf - it's old term from Win95 days. DUN=Dialup Network. It's the same thing as dialup connection.

 

mikable

Senior member
Sep 23, 2000
303
0
0
Well, I got Starband satellite. Its only a reasonable alternitive if you don't have and will not get cable, DSL, or wireless. Starband doesn't enforce the FAP like DirectPC does but other then that it's fairly comparable.

Download 300-900Kbps with 400 an average
Uploads 30-60Kbps with 40 an average
Pings 550-1000ms with 600 an average Yes an average ping of over 1/2 a second! :(


Networking is different then cable/dsl the "modem" will not work behind a router or switch so your host needs 2 NICs one for the "modem" the other for the network. Windows 98/me needs third party proxy to handle the sharing as it's ICS blows out the satillite connection... Windows 2000/XP ICS works great!

If your gona be able to get Cable/DSL in the next year or so I'd wait! the cost of satillite is prohibitive (Equipment/Monthly/Installation)

New Satellite providers are on the horizion! Wildblue is one and another (forget the name) that will provide LEO satellites to reduce pings to a better 200-300 average!