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Satellite Internet

CraKaJaX

Lifer
I was wondering if anyone else has this? I just moved from New York (roadrunner ISP) to Florida (now using direcway satellite isp) at my grandparents house where I'll be staying for school. I was told that this satellite internet was supposed to be just about as fast as cable, if not better. I also read about this too. I don't know if it is me, but this is the slowest internet I think I have ever used. I pinged google using DirecWay and here is what I got:

Minimum: 876ms
Maximum: 1359ms
Average: 1020ms

It takes me atleast 5-10 seconds to even look at someones profile or away message on aim, and now games aren't even playable anymore. I asked some friends from NY to ping google for me on what I used to have up there (Roadrunner)... and here is what I got:

Minimum: 31ms
Maximum: 36ms
Average: 32ms

I only have this internet in Florida because there are no DSL or Cable providers in my area code - 32105. I don't understand how this is supposed to be fast, because this is just rediculous. Is it supposed to be this "fast"? or is something seriously wrong here? If anyone else is using this or knows anything that could possibly be wrong, please post about it. Thanks

-Dan


 
the transfer rates are fast, but the latency is bad. meaning, for a web page to get from request to sending takes longer, but the time to actually transfer the bits of the page is "high speed"
 
There are two different speeds when it comes to network (or internet) connection.

The first is throughput (or bandwith). It's what determines how "fast" you can download items off of a website or file sharing app.
Satellite is *decent* at this. Speeds are around 500kbs. It's about middle of the road in comparison to DSL, and anymore, quit a bit slower than cable. Cable speeds are running from 1mb all the way up to 8 or more mb/s.

The second part of connection speed is latency. Latency is the time it takes your computer to send a message to another machine, and then for that machine to send a response back.

This is where satellite falls on its face.

It has to shoot that signal 25,000 miles into outerspace, down to the machine you wanted to talk to, and then back up, and back down again. The process is much, much slower than the same thing over cable or DSL.

This is why gaming, VOIP, and remote control, and other "chatty" programs are terrible over satellite. They are latency dependent. Satellite service just can't process those kinds of things.
 
If that's the case then I'll get netzero.... does anyone have netzero? It's about my only other option other than direcway or aol. this sucks going from cable to this crap 🙁
 
I have an aunt that uses NetZero, and she is frequently disconnected, it takes *forever* to do anything at all... etc. I connect at 21.6k at my house, and it's usually faster for me to do stuff on my connection (SBC is my ISP) than it is for her to use NetZero, and she usually connects at around 48.8.... 36.6 minimum.

Satellite is not usable for gaming... at all. Its latency is just too high. That said, it's perfectly usable for many other things. It's excellent to download files with, and to browse most websites with... there's an initial delay of a second or two before the request starts to be received, but that is *much* better than dialup. There are some things that dialup is better at, but satellite can still hold its ground for being useful. Go check out the broadbandreports forum if you want to talk about satellite connections.
 
Go to dslreports.com and look around in the forums fro tweaking. I have configured for some of my clients and its not that bad when setup correctly. (ie proxy/port settings in your browser setup). Satellite is much better than dialup, for basic browsing and email; that is.
 
All I want to do is game really. I could care less about web browsing, I rarely ever do it. So if satellite is better for web browsing/email... 56k is better for gaming? I know I will ping high with it, but atleast I'll be able to move. Right now I can't play anything at all.
 
Originally posted by: CraKaJaX
All I want to do is game really. I could care less about web browsing, I rarely ever do it. So if satellite is better for web browsing/email... 56k is better for gaming? I know I will ping high with it, but atleast I'll be able to move. Right now I can't play anything at all.

Actually, the reason that satellite won't work well for you is because of high "ping times" (latency). Dialup should ping MUCH faster than satellite.
 
i tried netzero before i went with msn they were slow and made you watch a stinking commercial on your desktop.


also I figure you could reduce that 22,000 miles by 5 1/2 miles if you moved on top of Mt Everest.
Probably not a good trade off though😕
 
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