TECH: satellite connection

Subject: satellite connection
From: GUEST,Mike
Date: 22 Feb 01 - 08:10 AM

Since I live out in the boonies, on the end of five miles of racoon-chewed, corroded copper wire my internet connection is pretty slow and unreliable. I've been considering a satellite system called Starband. Has anyone had experience with this system or others like it? And on another subject, are there any Mudcatters going to the Dulcimer Doin's in Dayton, Ohio (Feb 23-25)? If so, come by and say hello to the Bailiff's Hollow crew (I'm the guy that plays guitar and banjo with them).

Subject: RE: satellite connection
From: Katcina
Date: 22 Feb 01 - 09:20 AM

I would love to hear about satellite systems myself since I've been considering one because I can't get a cable connection out here in the boonies and my ISP really sucks big time. They are the only one in town and act like it.

Subject: RE: satellite connection
From: Gray Rooster
Date: 22 Feb 01 - 10:14 AM

I don't know about the company you're considering. I do have a little experience with sat systems.

I had a Direct PC system for over five years. I was quite pleased with it. It did need periodic reallignment and it did not work well during heavy rain or snow. Sat dishes and service costs have gone down sharply since I had my system. If you want the thrill of fast response and the occasional frustrating rain delay, I can't imagine you'd be unhappy with this type of system. Watch out though, it'll attract neighbors .

I switched to DSL when it became available. It costs less and it is just as fast if you look at both sides of the send/receive equation.

Subject: RE: TECH: satellite connection
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Feb 02 - 04:07 AM

I've moved out to the boonies, too, and the best connection I can get by phone is just about 28.8. There's no cable here, and no DSL. Can anybody give me more comments on the quality and cost of DirecPC and other satellite systems?
The direcPC ad says nothing about the cost of the service - can anybody give me an idea?
-Joe Offer, in the Foothills of the Sierra-

Subject: RE: TECH: satellite connection
From: Mike Byers
Date: 03 Feb 02 - 09:06 AM

I was about ready to go for the Starband system until I discovered that although I did not plan to pay by credit card the company required a credit card number. A little more investigation revealed that the (one year minimum) contract did not guarantee any performance whatsoever. You could be connected at 300 baud and still be bound to the one-year contract. My suspicion was that a certain number of customers had been unhappy with the service (which in my case would have cost about $100 per month for internet and TV combined) and the credit card number was required to insure the company got paid whether the service was satisfactory or not. Internet connection only was not an available option. A little more investigation revealed that only about half of the users would recommend the service, so I decided to stick with a dial-up connection. The idea of being forced to give a credit card number when paying cash didn't impress me and I don't think it's a good idea to deal with companies that require this.

Subject: RE: TECH: satellite connection
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 03 Feb 02 - 06:32 PM

I use Starband regularly, and I'll say this...if you do a lot of file downloading or transmitting, it will do this at 5 to 10 times the speed of a 28.8 connection. For ordinary net surfing, chatting, gameplaying, etc there is no significant advantage, and may even be a disadvantage because of the dish-to-satellite-to-dish transmittal time. Atmospheric interruption of service is fairly common when snow or rain is in the air.

Starband is rumored to be having financial problems, and both Radioshack and MSN have dissolved some marketing and development partnerships that had existed. DirecPC is probably the better alternative, available as a single directional (download) system with dial-up upload, or the new bi-directional system. DSL is probably more consistent at this point than either, if you can get it.