Is Anyone Using A Satellite Internet Provider

[rick91351]

Ellen and I are heading back to Idaho after spending two months snowbirding.  We are going to try and get back to the ranch ASAP barring too much snow.  From what I understand it is a poor, poor snow year.  So we might get in there okay in a week or so.  One thing we need to establish is internet.  Satellite is about the best option.  Slash that it is the only real option.  There is DSL up there but way - way to far away from our location.  It ends three miles from us.

So that said is any one Sat service better than the other?  I see where Wild Blue is changing to EXEDE and a lot faster.  But I hear has band width issues and is not as fast as advertised.  I have not really looked at Hughes specs and plans and services yet.  I hop on to a hot spot up there that is Hughes and check my emails.  It is okay and hardly earth shattering yet it is an Enterprise or Business plan.

Any ideas or ........

Rick           

         

[Redoverfarm]

Rick I am 22,000 feet from a telephone switching control. Supposeably DSL is only good for 20,000 feet.  The line is all hardwired old copper .  I had some problems initially and they decreased the speed some (not really noticable) to avoid errors.  So far it has worked good for the last couple of years.

I hear that Dish.net now has DSL satellite so you may check them out.

[Tickhill]

Rick, several years ago I had Hughes Net because we did not have DSL. The only problem I had was when my son did a couple of extended video streaming sessions with YouTube, I exceeded my "Fair Use" limit and they throttled my bandwidth to something a little faster than dial up for a day. Other than that it was great because I was used to dial up. Also if you are a night owl, there is usually free use, no counted against your usage, from midnight or so until 4 or 5 am.
That is when I would do any down/up loads. There is a little latency, but I would definitely go with commercial equipment, I had the 1 watt radio, go with the 2 watt or higher for better service in periods of bad weather.
Hopes this helps.
Tickhill

[Don_P]

Same issues here Rick. I'm trying to avoid satellite if at all possible. we have a wireless tower about 6-7 miles away that I can get line of sight on and am trying for. If there is something like that in the area it offers one more choice. Provided it works it'll be in the $40/ mo range.

[rick91351]

Same issues here Rick. I'm trying to avoid satellite if at all possible. we have a wireless tower about 6-7 miles away that I can get line of sight on and am trying for. If there is something like that in the area it offers one more choice. Provided it works it'll be in the $40/ mo range.

We ran a wireless system when we had the house in the rural area of Boise or referred to as the 'Treasure Valley.'  It worked great and we were a very early customer and suffered through some real ups and downs.  We sort of felt like a guinea pig.  When we sold the house last year it, it had worked pretty flaw less for about a year.  We had mostly router issues the last four or five years.  We could also go over band width once in a while.  There it was counted from the first day of the month.  So by the last day of the month you might just be crawling.  All in all it a very good experience and would do that again if at all possible.

......  snip ....... I exceeded my "Fair Use" limit and they throttled my bandwidth to something a little faster than dial up for a day. Other than that it was great because I was used to dial up. Also if you are a night owl, there is usually free use, no counted against your usage, from midnight or so until 4 or 5 am.
That is when I would do any down/up loads. There is a little latency, but I would definitely go with commercial equipment, I had the 1 watt radio, go with the 2 watt or higher for better service in periods of bad weather.
Hopes this helps.
Tickhill

Good to find out it was counted on a daily bases.  I do see where EXEDE is unlimited late nights.  I am sort a night owl some times.  I blame that on the railroad and being up round the clock.  I was planing on doing any 'heavy lifting' until then.     I remember one issue they said now was you sat line could only be so long.  We were hoping to get it set between where the fifth wheel sits and the where the house will be.  So just rewire to the house and not pay the extra hook up when the house is done.  But that did not look doable.  The tech said he might be able to run a slower Wildblue box that far but not the EXEDE. 

Rick I am 22,000 feet from a telephone switching control. Supposeably DSL is only good for 20,000 feet.  The line is all hardwired old copper .  I had some problems initially and they decreased the speed some (not really noticable) to avoid errors.  So far it has worked good for the last couple of years.

I hear that Dish.net now has DSL satellite so you may check them out.

I am afraid that the DSL there is stretched as far as it can go.   With us moving up there there might be enough interest to qualify the phone company for 'Obama Bucks' to bring another DSL Box over that way.  Still have not heard if it is available but been out of the loop for a couple months.  The whole system the techs say needs replaced.  They say it is sort of like a leg that is modern fiber optic that meets Alexander Graham Bell.  Then funnels into WWII Army surplus.     They doubt if I could even down load simple e-mail there. 

I will check out Dish as well.   

Thanks
Rick         

   

[flyingvan]

We use WildBlue (correction---Wildblue is the other dish for TV.  Viasat is for the interwebs) I think we shell out $55 a month.  It's lots faster than dial-up but nowhere near the speed you'd get with cable; forget about uploading movies.  But for email, pictures, and the occasional youtube video (if you don't mind waiting a bit) it's OK

[Tickhill]

I forgot to mention that I used a MiFi for a while, if you have 3G or even 4G access that might be an option for you, you can connect up to 3-5 wireless devices to a single MiFi. Plan I had was 5GB of data for $50/month. I never exceeded it but did NO video streaming.

[rick91351]

I forgot to mention that I used a MiFi for a while, if you have 3G or even 4G access that might be an option for you, you can connect up to 3-5 wireless devices to a single MiFi. Plan I had was 5GB of data for $50/month. I never exceeded it but did NO video streaming.

No 3G or 4G it is sort of smoke signals and tom toms up there at the ranch.  We are back in Boise this evening Alamo, Nv to Boise, Id.  529 miles...... 

[rick91351]

We use WildBlue (correction---Wildblue is the other dish for TV.  Viasat is for the interwebs) I think we shell out $55 a month.  It's lots faster than dial-up but nowhere near the speed you'd get with cable; forget about uploading movies.  But for email, pictures, and the occasional youtube video (if you don't mind waiting a bit) it's OK

Where as Ellen nor I game or down load movies.  We do watch a youtube now and then.  Mostly use internet for research and news and a couple forums.  I think we will go a head with a Sat hook up.

[flyingvan]

It does pretty well for that stuff...It works in bad weather until snow sticks to the dish, or if the storm clouds are very, very thick.   One of the Fall projects every year is to apply Rain-X to the dish so the snow slides off

[Windpower]

I presume this is satelite right now

I am at 33,000 feet over Texas

this connection is really fast but not cheap --- $10 for 90 minutes on American Airlines

[flyingvan]

If it's Gogo, it's actually an air to ground connection hitting cell towers

[glenn kangiser]

Sassy and my friend Al have it.  Decent enough and will stream vids.  It is the only choice in those locations.  Sassy has Hughes.