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satelite internet service question

B

Blazer

Golden Member
anyone use this type of service, currently or in the past ?

dsl or cable not available in my area, stuck on dialup, someone that has experience with Blue sky or Direct wave as thats my only options that i know.

The At&T 100mb service appears to be a loooooooog way off.


Move from Computer Help to Networking.

AnandTech Moderator
mechBgon
 
If you are using it for normal Internet browsing, it will work just fine. If you are planning to do any FPS gaming, you probably won't be happy with the high ping times that you will get with a Satellite connection.
 
Other than high latency and a fair use policy saying you cant download over xxx amount of data its great. Always on, fast and reliable
 
i donot game!

had bellsouth dsl 1.5mb service in past, was happy with it and the customer service, the latency would not play a big part for me i presume as i dont game, either online or off, a few uploads and downloads, just looking for dependable service and good customer support, had a bad experience with a cable internet provider that could not correct slow speeds, have read the fair use policy but i was looking at the pro package with 5000mb up and 17000mb down with wildblue.
 
just found out that AT&T can provide us with a usb wireless internet card with 1.4mb service, it is not required to have a wireless cell phone service with AT&T, apparently i can connect it to my desktop pc and use our wired/wireless router to serve up a shared internet connection, even better i can travel with it and get internet service anywhere there is a signal, send me one i said.
 
Your much better off with ATT.
Both companies in the USA have oversold the satellite service to the point they are trying to squeeze customers in where there is no more bandwidth.
Satellite could be done better, but instead its being run as cheaply as absolutely possible, with no frills .
 
thats what i was afraid of and seemed to remember reading a few years back, i have used bellsouth with great support and have no reason to think AT&T cant provide the same, yesterday i had seen a commercial on tv that stated at&t had broadband wireless internet service but only caught the very end, looked this morning and finally found it this evening and signed up, thanks all.
 
I would have gone with either sprint or millenicom (Millenicom is a reseller of sprint mobile broadband, same price but no extra taxes and no contract, cancel whenever you want). Sprint is an EVDO connection which gives much higher bandwidth than ATT (ATT & Tmobile are both GSM). If you get sprint in your area (check out the sprint coverage maps, they're pretty accurate), sign up with millenicom and test it out. I did and I won't be returning mine, awesome service and awesome coverage for me.
 
got the at&t wireless usb card today and been evaluating it, so far its been sloooow and cant connect at times, testing the download side it has droped to 11.0 kbs, so it looks like more calls tomorow.

Kevnich2: gona see if i fall into the coverage area of the ones you mentioned, somehow i gota get something better that dialup and satelite is really what i would like to avoid, although i would like to avoid moving as well.
 
I would really give sprint/millenicom a try. I went with millenicom just because they don't have a 2-year contract (I hate 2-year contracts, if the service doesn't work for you, you should be able to cancel any time). Also, the hardware is free (though if you cancel within the first year, you do have to send it back). I'm actually typing this through my cellular connection now. I'm in a "poor" area and am still pulling down 700k down/225k up. Not bad.
 
sprint is the only one left to contact, at&t wireless didnt cut it after many tries [but almost], verizon and mellincom said they didnt have coverage, if sprint cant cover me it comes down to satelite or move, i would almost move before satelite, still trying though.
 
Where exactly do you live? Millenicom is a reseller of sprint service (they both use sprint's network). If AT&T, Verizon & Sprint don't have coverage, that means you have NO cellular coverage where you are?
 
living on the edge i am told, if sprint packages are sold by mellincom they didnt offer it, sent me an email stating they could provide a dialup service, i already have that and trying to share that connection on my home network is like pulling teeth from hungry crock, looks like satelite is my only option!!!!!!!! thanks for the help.
 
have you searched for WISPs in your area? its unlikely since cell service doesnt seem to be an option, but its atleast worth checking out...

Locator
 
Originally posted by: Old Hippie
If AT&T, Verizon & Sprint don't have coverage, that means you have NO cellular coverage where you are?
Click to expand...

I have Sprint cell phone coverage here, but I can't get their broadband coverage.
Click to expand...

Sprint mobile broadband is given via EVDO. Use this as their coverage maps. Make sure you that click the data button to the right and if you're in orange, you should have good data coverage. If I went by Old Hippie's coverage map, I can't get coverage even though my entire state is blanketed by Sprint EVDO and I can drive pretty much anywhere with my laptop and use it without a problem.
 
update: verizon gave me a 30 day trial to evaluate the usb720 modem with a 10ft extention and portable antenna, my location is borderline, the weather is really bad here [ 1 bar ] and i am still able to connect with decent results, i expect the service to get much better when the weather clears, if so i will spend some time moving the antenna around maybe even above the roof to improve things, looks promising though, are there any acceleration programs that can be used or high gain antennas ? any suggestions would be helpfull.
 
If I went by Old Hippie's coverage map, I can't get coverage even though my entire state is blanketed by Sprint EVDO
Click to expand...

Same here. Youre link shows I'm good to go. Same as phone coverage.


This must be a case of the 'Left link' not knowing what the 'Right link' is doing? 😀
 
Just out of curiosity, what is the EXACT date that you signed up for Verizon EVDO? Did you happen to read the contract you signed regarding to the usage? Verizon has changed their usage policies and it now states that if you sign up for the 5gb/monthly plan, you pay something like $.49 for every mb over that. Charges could add up VERY quickly. Just wanted you to to be aware, don't go hog crazy with downloads or you'll literally pay a fortune for it.
 
i was aware of the 5gb monthly, thats alot of useage for us as we dont download very much, esp any large files as i am the only one that would download those and there are two other places with T1 connections i go too to get those on the lappy.

what i was trying to get setup was a higher speed and better bandwidth than dialup service that could be always active and shared on my home network so the little lady could browse her stores while i was online as well, if it works out we would also have the ability to be portable as well.

been on some other sites that indicate that the air card could be used with some of the newer routers that use both usb and cat5 which would give us a shared internet/home network solution, if the air card works out that would be the direction i would go, if not then here comes the satelite.
 
Just another question, did you actually TRY out sprint's cellular broadband service to see if it would work? They have a 30 day trial on there's also, give it a try and see if you get any signal. I honestly don't like a company that puts limits on their service and then charges a VERY high overage amount if/when you go over. I like verizon wireless for voice, but I don't like them for data, I'll take sprint for data.
 
And as far as a router, check out 3gstore.com and evdoinfo.com (both run by the same company), they have information about every card put out by both verizon and sprint as well as routers that will be compatible for that specific card. I have a router for my PX-500 card that works quite well. I use it in my laptop when I'm out and I can also use it as a backup internet if my cable internet goes down (no service is 100%)
 
Thanks Kevnich2, sprint was closed today but i am gona give em a try, this wireless data card bussiness/external entenna/evdo 3G wireless capable router stuff has me busy a bee.

came in friday night with the verizon data card to try out and the weather was anything but favorable, a little adjusting with the antenna and i got 2 bars [ National Network only] @92-94 dbm at 140-160kbs but blowed dialup away esp in how clear the web pages were, picked up a wilson antenna and a couple 10ft ext cables from our local truck stop and setup the antenna on a pole outside, 92 - 101 dbm at 400-600kbs [smoking], very happy with those results so now i can purchase the better quality ext cable, set the antenna on a higher pole, order the router and get an amp.

on a side note the weather on sat morning was better but the connection and speed were worse!!!!! the reason for todays shopping trip.

i found the sites that you mentioned and have registered and been reading ther with a post to come soon.

so far i am pleased with the results, as now i am on the Broadband Access rev A network.
 
I would give sprint a try, just to see if you can get a signal from them. My reason for this is that Sprint and verizon both have evdo roaming with alltel. If you're not in a major city, chances are you're actually on an alltel system and not verizon wireless (Verizon and Sprint both usually build their networks near more heavily populated areas). In which case, you should be able to get a sprint card (which in turn you could get a millenicom card that has no contract), get the router and actually have unlimited data usage. So my recommendation, before you buy any equipment for your verizon card, go into a sprint store, get a card from them, try it out and see how well it works. If you have an external antenna already, get a card that will work with that antenna and you should be good to go. Post back here with the results. I doubt you'll answer this question, but what city and state are you in? I'd like to find you on one of the evdo coverage maps and see how rural you're location is.
 
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