Who Uses Satellite Internet???

[Bulldogg]

Hi- I am considering getting high speed Internet via satellite. All that is available to me is dial up and it just takes forever. Can anyone recommend a good brand? Are there a lot of problems? What about price? Thanks for all the input!

 

[red]

we use a internet providor that has a tower & we have a small satellite that transmits from that. It's a local one though.

Red

 

[Shebet21]

I've had satellite internet now for almost two years now. Mine is through Hughes Net, a national provider as long as you have a clear view of the southern sky. Initial equipment cost was around $450 but I think that has come down since then. You can get different set ups and speeds which affects your price. I have the fastest one they offer and it costs me $59 a month. I've had pretty good luck with it, only time there are issues is if the weather is really bad, it works when my satellite TV has gone out from weather. You can go to www.hughesnet.com for more info.

 

[Show Dad]

BD - I have Hughesnet satellite and it's better than dial-up. Cost about $200 for installation and equipment then about $50 a month. There are other plans. Much faster when it comes to downloads of files and the like. Can get slow on secure sites when shopping online.

 

[cowz]

As a person who lives in the sticks, it has been great.  So much faster than dial up  or DSL.  But, if you have an ice storm or blizzard, do not be disappointed if you lose service for a while.  (or high winds, too.)

 

[cpubarn]

I live in North Central Iowa and sold Cpu's for 15 years.  I am not able to get DSL either.

My customers opinions as to best...
1)t1, t-3, fiber -etc (Only in town)
2)Cable, or DSL (still around 2 miles from a transformer call your telephone company as you can get lucky)
3a)Fixed base wireless (tower - usually 6-30 mile radius)
3b)Satelite

Skip 96 choices

99)Dial-up
100) Nothing


The Satellite firms that use a phone uplink were not as good as the direct uplink (satellite both ways).  I happen to use Wildblue for my satellite system, I had dish network/starband before and it was too unreliable.  All of them will be efected by weather (worse than sat tv), will have long ping times that can disrupt some voice over internet stuff, but all in all they are SOOOO much better than dialup.  Like most things, find a neighbor or two that like their system and the guy that services/installs it and go with that.

Generally they have gotten to the point they work pretty well but will always be somewhat limited by the distance from the farm to that satellite.  I like Wildblue since I can network the kids/spouses cpu, ip calving camera I got for christmas, etc.

cpubarn

 

[doubled]

We have a dish from a local company here in Iowa, I love it, it seems to be real realiable. 

 

[rmbcows]

If you use a local company I would recommend talking to some of their customers.  My parents have a terrible time with their provider, while my sister who only lives two miles away has no trouble at all with a different provider. 

 

[cpubarn]

Bulldog,

I wonder if we have been any help.  What area of the country are you in?  I assume that you have talked to the phone company, now we need to look for a dish provider..  Maybe someone else is in your area to help.

Mark

 

[JSchroeder]

What kind of download and upload rates are you guys able to get?

I drive 40 miles to/from the ranch because I simply cannot operate without highspeed internet at this point in my life.

 

[NHR]

We use Sprint Mobile Broadband which is high speed Internet through a PC Connection card the technology is called EVDO RevA. We get 1Meg download and 400k upload. Go to www.Sprint.com and click on coverage. You can enter your address and check for coverage. Be sure to click on Data Coverage to see what speed to expect.