Directway, Internet Satellite

[AltaLawnCare]

Anyone here have any info on these? Or know of anyone who has one?

I looked into it about a year ago, but never followed up on it. I want to know how it performs before handin gout 600.00 then $60.00 per month.

The phones lines here get noise after the power blinks or we get a lot of rain! l^)

I had to report Sprint to Va state corp. commision, to get my dial up working this last time. It was down for 7 days!

Thanks for any information.

[J.T.]

From my research on sat internet access if you found it for 60 dollars a month you are doing great around here I can only fid it for 90 a month. From what I understand it is fast like cable on down loads but when uploading it is as slow as dialup

[lazer 46]

I was interested in this service for a while. The monthly price depends on weather you pay for the equipment right away or if you want to include the equipment price into the monthly fee. Either way I thought it was just too pricey for what I use the computer for. And actually my dial up service has been pretty reliable for the 2 years I have had it.

[daren_r]

Satellite is good if it is your last resort. downloads will be ok..uploads will suck big time and then some. When I was doing broad band internet support satellite had issues because there is apparently some delay in the signal so streaming video and audio are pretty difficult. Just about anything that is not a wired service will have some latency (delay) but satellite was really bad at one time with it. I would look for an alternative if there is one. I just don't know that I would put out 600.00 and 60 a month for it if it is like it was. Ask a lot of questions about the latency and download and upload speeds. Ask if they will provide you with what they consider acceptable upload and download speeds. Are they selling you a certain speed or just saying hook it up and you may get from x to x kbps. if they are selling you a certain speed you should be hitting in the 80 to 90 % range of the advertised speed with some "tweaks" done to your pc. If they aren't willing to say you will have a fixed range of speed forget it and stay with your dial up if there is no alternative. Also in heavy wind or rain your signal may be weaker. Just like satellite TV snow, wind, ice, rain, clouds, all of that can be a factor.

[AltaLawnCare]

Thanks everyone.

I'm holding off until I can get more info. Those are some good points, Daren.

[JJ Lawn]

I don't know too much about Direcway, except that they have a FAP (fair access policy) that sucks big time if you like to download a bunch of stuff at one setting. After you hit a certain level, your speeds are throttled sometimes slower than a dial-up connection. I think that the limit is around 169MB in a short time frame. At one time I had their one-way feed satellite and it was a problem then, and from what I have read on the Usenet groups it still is. Also the limit seems to fluctuate up or down and with different than other users.

I have been using the Starband system for the last 3 years. Like Daren say's latency and is one of the biggest drawbacks if you like to use webcam, play games and such while online. And also, the uploads are slow...... But just for everyday normal usage, and you don't have any other options than dial up it might be worth it if you want a little broadband. I average around 550-650kbps for downloads. So far I have never had my service restricted and I download quitew a bit at times. I never bothered to test up load, as I don't use it very often. But it is a little faster than dial-up, but not much. :)

Another problem, which is happening quite frequently now is rain fade. A good heavy, rain or cloud cover will block the signal. Same problem on the NOC (sending) end.

All in all, I have been pleased with the service I have gotten from Starband. It beats the heck out of dial-up hands down.

The big thing, if you decide to get a satellite system, do like you are doing and get information on it. And most of all understand that there are limits as to what it will, and will not do. do your research.

Jim

[UNIONTURF]

Cost too much, Road Runner cable modem here and very happy.

[JJ Lawn]

One more thing I should mention......

I got into the Starband on the pilot program (beta tester) when they first started. Got a Dell PC, and sat equiptment for $499, free installation, and a little over a year of free service.

The last 2 years I have been paying only $39.99+tax for my service. So I am a little biased about Starband service. But I would have paid the $60 if I had too. LOL

You might also check on ebay for a used system of either brand. Last I looked a couple went for a couple hundred bucks a while back.

My system is probably going to be up for sale by the end of next month. I just got DSL installed Thursday. Thought it would never happen here, but it did.

[JJ Lawn]

Cost too much, Road Runner cable modem here and very happy.

No kidding.... :) :)

Satellite is only for the folks that want some kind of broadband, and can't get anything else.

[AltaLawnCare]

Jim,

I found a forum about it, and they said the same things you just did.

So is the system you have a Satellite system? Will either them or Directway provide dial up as a back up?

Having both would be great, but I can't pay double, LOL.

[JJ Lawn]

I found a forum about it, and they said the same things you just did..
When you read the forum try to remember that some folks are just po'ed about the service, and some don't know what the heck they are talking about. :) After reading awhile you can get a feel as to who knows what.

So is the system you have a Satellite system? Will either them or Directway provide dial up as a back up? Having both would be great, but I can't pay double, LOL.
Yes Starband is a two way satellite, just like Direcway. And no, neither provide a phone back up.

But, that's the beauty of the satellite system. You can be living in the middle of nowhere with no utilities at all, if you have a generator you can have internet access.

[AltaLawnCare]

Well, I can't take it anymore. We had noise in th ephone lines AGAIN for the past 3 days...no internet or fax!

I called someone I know who installs them ....
should have a Direcway system in about a week. Thanks to DarenR for answering some questions about the systems while at Charlotte.

[J.T.]

Can someone tell me more about STARBAND and if so give me a link to there site I cant find any info on it

Billy You must be in my shoes and cant get anything other than either Dial up or Sat.

[daren_r]

good luck with it Billy. Let us know how it goes. I am glad I don't live that far out. I love my DSL. If you need some help getting your PC set up to get the best speeds let me know. There are a few sites you can check out. Changing a few settings in windows can make a difference.

[AltaLawnCare]

Joe..yes in the same sad shoes ... no modern techknologies here! Like living on Gilligan's Island, but no palm trees or Gilligan LOL.

Daren, thanks, I've heard of "tweaks", I'll be in touch.

[Advanced Lawncare]

Billy

Keep us posted on how it works. I am in the same position either crappy dial up or sat and I have been too cheap so far to pay for a service that I have no idea how good it actually works.

Thanks Ted

[daren_r]

JOE http://starband.com/ here you go.

[AltaLawnCare]

I'll keep yall posted. I'm also going to get the cheapest dial up as a back up..probably "WMConnect" Walmart's ISP, LOL! You know you've hit rock bottom when Walmart is your ISP provider!
:D

[daren_r]

Starband is saying upload to 100Kbps in turbo mode. Not sure what turbo mode is. Could be like the dial up companies do where the your info is cached (stored) then loaded somehow. They are also showing 39.99 a month for residential. not bad.

[daren_r]

Another technology to be on the look out for is portable broadband. Some company called Navini systems has developed a technology that can be deployed just about anywhere at low cost.

Navini works with an antennae that can be mounted to building or cell towers, etc. The end user gets a little modem that talks to this thing mounted on a building or tower and it is great. I beta tested it for several months before DSL came to my area.

I think you will see more of this in the future as companies try to figure out how to get broadband to rural areas. Soon there will be no digital divide.

[Richard Martin]

Another technology to be on the look out for is portable broadband. Some company called Navini systems has developed a technology that can be deployed just about anywhere at low cost.


Pitt County in North Carolina has a company called Wavelength Corp that is using this technology.

Also in heavy wind or rain your signal may be weaker. Just like satellite TV snow, wind, ice, rain, clouds, all of that can be a factor.

You're starting to sound like a cable salesman. I have had Directv for 7 or 8 years now and the only thing that affects it is sun interference (very rare), extra heavy rain or extra heavy snow.

I have my dish bolted to my house with lag bolts into solid wood. We have had winds in excess of 60 mph and there has been no disruption of signal. In fact, when Hurricanes Floyd and Isabel knocked out power (and cable TV) 10 hours into the storms we fired up the generator and had crystal clear TV for the 5 days the power was out.

The cloud interference thing is just silly. That's like saying that a mower won't cut grass because there's a dandilion in the way.

Our dish has had a 1/2" of ice on it. We couldn't tell without looking at the dish itself.

[AltaLawnCare]

Richard,
I had Directv for a few years...occasionally when a storm came in, it would lose the signal. DirecWay might be worse.

But it only did it at the beginning of a bad storm, just before the hard rain started, so I probably won't be online then anyway.