Considering Satellite internet. Need advice

bigfatty · 10-02-2002, 01:47 AM

I'm one of those unfortunate souls who had smoking hot DSL for several years and then moved to a neighborhood that is without. I can't take the dial-up anymore and I'm ready to look into the highway robbery of Satellite. As far as I've seen the two main players are DirecPC and Starband. DirecPC has the best looking deal that I've seen. $99 hardware/installation and $99/month for 1 year. Then the price comes down to $59/month after first year. If anyone has any suggestions or better Ideas... Please do tell. Thanks

Jeffbx · 10-02-2002, 05:42 AM

Last time I looked into satellite it was like $600 startup costs (for equipment & installation). If you're getting it for $99 installed, that's a prettty good deal. $99/mo is pretty steep, tho... what's the bandwidth?

bigfatty · 10-02-2002, 08:55 AM

I'm not sure what the actual bandwidth is. But it is a 2-way system, as opposed to the 1-way systems that still require a modem connection. They still have the $579 option with a $59/month cost. If you compare the two options it comes out to the same exact price after the first year.

Jeffbx · 10-02-2002, 10:24 AM

Ahh, that's where the $600 went to!

Well, I guess it's up to you whether it's worth it. I would want at least a 768k connection for that cost, however.

ramazank2 · 10-07-2002, 02:09 PM

Last I saw satelite internet was extremely slow. Dont know much about it anymore. But the intrest hasnt been there so I doubt the research is.

Jcranmer · 10-08-2002, 09:40 AM

I have the dial return direcpc (modem uploads and sat downloads) system. If you have ANY other option other then dialup don't make the switch to a sat system, at least with DirecPC.

My main issue with it is what they call the FAP (Fair Access Policy). If you are looking to download much at all this will affect you. Basically if I download more then around 100MB in any one hour period (200 at nights and weekends) my speed gets capped at around half of what it was. If I continue to go at a large download it gets halved again and so on, to the point that I have to make the switch to a 19.2K dialup connection (Phone lines are too bad for anything faster) to get a faster download.

On a good day with a normal download from a fast location I can get maybe 150Kbps download speed to begin with. Now using something like Gozilla and a good clear day (weather and your view of the southern sky will affect download speeds) I can bump that up to maybe 300Kbps with about 6 to 8 connections to the same download site)

However the faster I download, the faster I get my download speed capped.

Now the good news is for me, my DSL line finally gets installed sometime this week, as soon as that happens I am thinking of using the dish for target practice!

bigfatty · 10-08-2002, 08:41 PM

Thanks for the info. If that's the best I can expect I may just have to live with dial-up until I can get DSL or cable modem. If satellite were a little less expensive I think I would give it a try but it sounds like it's not worth the costs.

Jcranmer · 10-11-2002, 08:12 AM

Just in case you change your mind, here is a great site that covers all the issues with DirecPC and has some great info on the FAP and how it works and how best to avoid it.

http://www.copperhead.cc/fap.html

cheapie · 10-18-2002, 11:22 AM

reading this post makes me realize how lucky i am. i have a cable modem that works pays for. also, because my 768 connection was lousy, they upgraded me to the 1.5 service and the same price. so i usually get consistant speeds of 1.1-1.3. very nice....

attgig · 10-18-2002, 12:31 PM

if it rains at all around where u are...don't do it.

I also recently moved, and couldn't get adsl
i'm suffering through idsl now (144up/down) at 90 a month (but free cuz my company pays for it)

Nottoman · 10-18-2002, 05:42 PM

You bro in law, great catching you on the site.
Just remembering a desperate attempt for bandwith by Diamond MM that has a modem that will put two ISP accounts together. (you have to have two separate ones, you can't just split the lines on two from what I remember). So theoretically if you have two 56K (reality is 44 maybe) then you can double your download speed to around 100kps. There are ISP's that are 13-15 bucks so twice that is 30 or less.
I may not be exact on this but I'm not far off on the mark. Just an option.
Take care and get back to making some money.
Nottoman

10-02-2002, 01:47 AM	#1
bigfatty Lieutenant Junior Grade Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Spokompton Posts: 99	Considering Satellite internet. Need advice I'm one of those unfortunate souls who had smoking hot DSL for several years and then moved to a neighborhood that is without. I can't take the dial-up anymore and I'm ready to look into the highway robbery of Satellite. As far as I've seen the two main players are DirecPC and Starband. DirecPC has the best looking deal that I've seen. $99 hardware/installation and $99/month for 1 year. Then the price comes down to $59/month after first year. If anyone has any suggestions or better Ideas... Please do tell. Thanks __________________ Sitting quietly, doing nothing, spring comes, and the grass grows by itself.

10-18-2002, 11:22 AM	#9
cheapie Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: raising my pimp hand strong Posts: 13,038	reading this post makes me realize how lucky i am. i have a cable modem that works pays for. also, because my 768 connection was lousy, they upgraded me to the 1.5 service and the same price. so i usually get consistant speeds of 1.1-1.3. very nice.... __________________ 70% of the world is covered by water. The rest is covered by Bob Sanders Last edited by cheapie : 10-18-2002 at 12:39 PM.

10-18-2002, 12:31 PM	#10
attgig Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: the burbs of baltimore Posts: 11,924	if it rains at all around where u are...don't do it. I also recently moved, and couldn't get adsl i'm suffering through idsl now (144up/down) at 90 a month (but free cuz my company pays for it) __________________

10-18-2002, 05:42 PM	#11
Nottoman Lieutenant Junior Grade Join Date: May 2001 Location: Portland OR Posts: 112	Diamond Multimedia Shotgun You bro in law, great catching you on the site. Just remembering a desperate attempt for bandwith by Diamond MM that has a modem that will put two ISP accounts together. (you have to have two separate ones, you can't just split the lines on two from what I remember). So theoretically if you have two 56K (reality is 44 maybe) then you can double your download speed to around 100kps. There are ISP's that are 13-15 bucks so twice that is 30 or less. I may not be exact on this but I'm not far off on the mark. Just an option. Take care and get back to making some money. Nottoman __________________ "Common sense isn't"

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10-02-2002, 05:42 AM	#2
Jeffbx Fleet Admiral Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: Michigan Posts: 9,390	Last time I looked into satellite it was like $600 startup costs (for equipment & installation). If you're getting it for $99 installed, that's a prettty good deal. $99/mo is pretty steep, tho... what's the bandwidth?

10-02-2002, 08:55 AM	#3
bigfatty Lieutenant Junior Grade Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Spokompton Posts: 99	I'm not sure what the actual bandwidth is. But it is a 2-way system, as opposed to the 1-way systems that still require a modem connection. They still have the $579 option with a $59/month cost. If you compare the two options it comes out to the same exact price after the first year.

10-02-2002, 10:24 AM	#4
Jeffbx Fleet Admiral Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: Michigan Posts: 9,390	Ahh, that's where the $600 went to! Well, I guess it's up to you whether it's worth it. I would want at least a 768k connection for that cost, however.

10-07-2002, 02:09 PM	#5
ramazank2 Commander Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Costa Mesa, CA Posts: 1,295	Last I saw satelite internet was extremely slow. Dont know much about it anymore. But the intrest hasnt been there so I doubt the research is.

10-08-2002, 09:40 AM	#6
Jcranmer Commander Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Pekin, IN Posts: 1,377	I have the dial return direcpc (modem uploads and sat downloads) system. If you have ANY other option other then dialup don't make the switch to a sat system, at least with DirecPC. My main issue with it is what they call the FAP (Fair Access Policy). If you are looking to download much at all this will affect you. Basically if I download more then around 100MB in any one hour period (200 at nights and weekends) my speed gets capped at around half of what it was. If I continue to go at a large download it gets halved again and so on, to the point that I have to make the switch to a 19.2K dialup connection (Phone lines are too bad for anything faster) to get a faster download. On a good day with a normal download from a fast location I can get maybe 150Kbps download speed to begin with. Now using something like Gozilla and a good clear day (weather and your view of the southern sky will affect download speeds) I can bump that up to maybe 300Kbps with about 6 to 8 connections to the same download site) However the faster I download, the faster I get my download speed capped. Now the good news is for me, my DSL line finally gets installed sometime this week, as soon as that happens I am thinking of using the dish for target practice!

10-08-2002, 08:41 PM	#7
bigfatty Lieutenant Junior Grade Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Spokompton Posts: 99	Thanks for the info. If that's the best I can expect I may just have to live with dial-up until I can get DSL or cable modem. If satellite were a little less expensive I think I would give it a try but it sounds like it's not worth the costs.

10-11-2002, 08:12 AM	#8
Jcranmer Commander Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Pekin, IN Posts: 1,377	Just in case you change your mind, here is a great site that covers all the issues with DirecPC and has some great info on the FAP and how it works and how best to avoid it. http://www.copperhead.cc/fap.html

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