Are you sure?
--- Chet Gardiner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Thanks, guys. > > I remember webex sessions with a client in Puerto > Rico who had satellite > internet. When it was raining in PR, don't even > bother... > > I'll probably go with the evil cable company in > Tucson rather than the > evil AT&T... > > Cheers; > > C > > john harvey wrote: > > What he said! I just moved to dsl from HughesNet. > DSL is much better, but at > > the time it was either dialup or satellite. I'm > happy now and I'm saving > > over 150.00 per year. > > > > JH > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf > > Of Ken Dibble > > Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2007 9:22 PM > > To: [email protected] > > Subject: Re: [NF] WildBlue Satellite Internet > > > > > > > >> Anybody have any experience with WildBlue > Satellite internet service? > >> > >> http://www.wildblue.com > >> > >> $49.95/month -- 512kb Down - 128k up > >> $69.96/month -- 1Mbps down - 200Kbps up > >> > >> Currently Free installation/Free first month... > >> > > > > Hi Chet, > > > > Not with WildBlue, but I had StarBand for quite a > while. They are similar. > > > > WildBlue uses a "spot beam" technology, aiming > transmissions from different > > transponders to different areas of the country. > StarBand had at one time a > > couple of satellites and used broader beams. > > > > Both companies use geosynchronous satellites. > Being some 22,000 miles away, > > there is an unavoidable 1-second lag on all packet > round trips. This makes > > satellite internet either problematic or > completely unsuitable for use with > > anything where timeouts are a problem, like > real-time games, some forms of > > instant messaging, some types of VPN, and some > kinds of streaming media. It > > also means that web access is not any faster than > dial-up, on average. The > > only thing they're really good at is high-speed > downloading. > > > > Typically those speed numbers are *maximum* > off-peak speeds; expect speeds > > to be about 1/2 those quoted much or most of the > time. > > > > StarBand was subject to frequent weather outtages > (heavy thunderstorms or > > snowstorms); WildBlue is even more subject to them > than StarBand is. > > > > StarBand has only one uplink point, in Georgia. > That means that when the > > weather is bad in the Southeast, NOBODY can > connect to StarBand. I don't > > know where WildBlue's uplink point is, or if they > have more than one. If > > they only have one and it isn't in the desert, > they'll have the same issue. > > > > StarBand, in addition, was notorious for badly > managing their network and > > being stingy about adding bandwidth to their trunk > lines. They were highly > > unreliable as a service, though their most recent > hardware was pretty > > rugged. > > > > WildBlue has a reputation for weaker hardware but > better managed service. > > > > Both companies have "Fair Access Policies" > (FAPs)--they will throttle your > > speed waaaaay back if you exceed download byte > maximums during a revolving > > period of time. > > > > In short--satellite internet basically sucks if > you have access to any > > other form of broadband service. It's really only > suitable for people who > > have nothing but dialup. And it's not going to > work much better than dialup > > for some kinds of applications. > > > > Ken Dibble > > www.stic-cil.org > > > > > > [excessive quoting removed by server] _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[EMAIL PROTECTED] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
