People living in rural areas are stuck with a dialup Internet provider, because there are no other options right? Think again. Providing broadband service to rural areas of the country has been a great challenge for years. Low population densities mean cable companies won’t be running any lines your way, ever in most cases. And, unless their local phone company is going to upgrade its rural technology, they may not be offered DSL anytime soon. Wireless Internet Service Providers have been popping up recently, but the service is wrought with pitfalls and limitations. So what are farmers, ranchers and other rural Americans to do?
Broadband Satellite Internet has been around for more than a decade now and with the improvements to technology, may be a solution worth looking into. Because it is satellite it’s available everywhere you can get a clear exposure to the southern sky. It provides an always-on connection, which is not reliant on a telephone line. Speeds are currently comparable to DSL services, however the ViaSat-WildBlue merger announcement will enable WildBlue to ramp up to speeds as fast as cable providers by early 2011.
The only existing challenges with Satellite Internet are a half-second latency delay, which is only noticeable if you are playing real-time games and videoconferencing. There is also a Fair Access Policy to negotiate, which limits the amount of bandwidth assigned to an individual end user. WildBlue says that just 4% of its customers are ever affected by FAP, so the upload/download thresholds are set pretty high. Chances are if you have been on dialup all this time, you’re not in the habit of downloading a whole lot anyway.
Installation is fairly straightforward, an installer places a satellite dish on your physical property or it can be placed on a poll in the yard. The hardware is minimal, just an Ethernet cable connected to your computer from a satellite modem, which is connected with coaxial cable from a wall outlet that is connected to the dish. There is no software to download.
The reliability has come along way, improved with the technology over the last decade to keep a signal at a reported 96% of the time. Only sunspot activity, which is rare seems to be the only thing known to hamper the signal, precipitation issues are a thing of the past with the improvements over the years.
If you decide that Satellite Internet is a solution for you, there are two to choose from HughesNet and WildBlue. My recommendation is Wild Blue, lower upfront costs, lower monthly costs, better promotions and better and more efficient equipment. Customer service rated pretty high as well, with 24/7 technical support available and support techs that actually work in the United States.
Showing posts with label wildblue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wildblue. Show all posts
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Understanding Satellite Internet Access
Satellite Internet services are used in every location in the United States were DSL and Cable Internet is not available and customers need an always on, fast Internet service that dial-up ISP’s can’t provide.
Although there are some technical issues for end users to be aware of, such as latency, this only affects customers seeking to play real-time interactive games online. Signal loss due to precipitation is extremely minimal and the service is up to 30-times faster than dialup Internet providers and considerably more reliable.
Latency is caused when the request for data is transmitted from your satellite modem to the satellite orbiting the earth and then returned. The delay is approximately half a second, not noticeable if you are browsing the Internet, reading email or even downloading. It can however cause significant headaches to customers trying to use applications like VOIP, VPN and video conferencing.
Another way satellite Internet differs from cable, DSL or dialup is the use of a Fair Access Policy, a device put in place to guarantee that every end user can download a pre-determined amount of files, using an allotment of bandwidth, without affecting other users. Ever been on a DSL connection that for whatever reason begins to crawl or attempted to connect to a dialup server but couldn’t because of capacity issues, satellite providers afford their customers this protection policy. It is also important to note that only 4% of all WildBlue Satellite Internet customers are ever affected by FAP. HughesNet considerable higher by comparison, however HughesNet offers a daily allotment of bandwidth to it users, while WildBlue uses a revolving 30-day period, in other words whatever you use today you will receive back in your account in 30-days. This rolling 30-day period makes going over your bandwidth threshold less likely.
Satellite Internet is not as scary as it seems, for the timid, the hardware involved is as follows:
Satellite Modem – connected to your computer through a USB port, this allows the ISP’s routers to connect to proxy servers, which enforce bandwidth limits and guarantees fair use by all end users.
Satellite Dish – The satellite modem connects to a cable that is run to the satellite dish, either mounted to the physical property or a pole.
That’s it!
For dialup and DSL users, no need for a phone line. The service is always on.
For customers seeking to use Satellite Internet’s speed over that of a dialup ISP, for the purposes of working from home or distance learning or e-learning, a word of caution about the use of VPN’s. VPN or Virtual Private Network software doesn’t handle the delay or latency of packets sent to VPN servers. Because the VPN acts as a tunnel from one network to another it requires authentication and once accepted needs to keep that handshake throughout the process of working on that network. The latency will break that authentication handshake and cause the end user to constantly have to validate to access the VPN. Not recommended with satellite Internet, but consult the IT guru for the VPN for their input. Special IP stacks and possibly proxies can lessen the effects of latency, so check into it.
Satellite Internet is one of the fastest growing consumer electronic products out there and its target demographic continues to be rural America, where dialup is the only option. However the pending merger between ViaSat, a satellite equipment maker and WildBlue, the leading satellite Internet provider, will merge their technologies and provide customers with speeds comparable to cable Internet speeds within the next year.
Although there are some technical issues for end users to be aware of, such as latency, this only affects customers seeking to play real-time interactive games online. Signal loss due to precipitation is extremely minimal and the service is up to 30-times faster than dialup Internet providers and considerably more reliable.
Latency is caused when the request for data is transmitted from your satellite modem to the satellite orbiting the earth and then returned. The delay is approximately half a second, not noticeable if you are browsing the Internet, reading email or even downloading. It can however cause significant headaches to customers trying to use applications like VOIP, VPN and video conferencing.
Another way satellite Internet differs from cable, DSL or dialup is the use of a Fair Access Policy, a device put in place to guarantee that every end user can download a pre-determined amount of files, using an allotment of bandwidth, without affecting other users. Ever been on a DSL connection that for whatever reason begins to crawl or attempted to connect to a dialup server but couldn’t because of capacity issues, satellite providers afford their customers this protection policy. It is also important to note that only 4% of all WildBlue Satellite Internet customers are ever affected by FAP. HughesNet considerable higher by comparison, however HughesNet offers a daily allotment of bandwidth to it users, while WildBlue uses a revolving 30-day period, in other words whatever you use today you will receive back in your account in 30-days. This rolling 30-day period makes going over your bandwidth threshold less likely.
Satellite Internet is not as scary as it seems, for the timid, the hardware involved is as follows:
Satellite Modem – connected to your computer through a USB port, this allows the ISP’s routers to connect to proxy servers, which enforce bandwidth limits and guarantees fair use by all end users.
Satellite Dish – The satellite modem connects to a cable that is run to the satellite dish, either mounted to the physical property or a pole.
That’s it!
For dialup and DSL users, no need for a phone line. The service is always on.
For customers seeking to use Satellite Internet’s speed over that of a dialup ISP, for the purposes of working from home or distance learning or e-learning, a word of caution about the use of VPN’s. VPN or Virtual Private Network software doesn’t handle the delay or latency of packets sent to VPN servers. Because the VPN acts as a tunnel from one network to another it requires authentication and once accepted needs to keep that handshake throughout the process of working on that network. The latency will break that authentication handshake and cause the end user to constantly have to validate to access the VPN. Not recommended with satellite Internet, but consult the IT guru for the VPN for their input. Special IP stacks and possibly proxies can lessen the effects of latency, so check into it.
Satellite Internet is one of the fastest growing consumer electronic products out there and its target demographic continues to be rural America, where dialup is the only option. However the pending merger between ViaSat, a satellite equipment maker and WildBlue, the leading satellite Internet provider, will merge their technologies and provide customers with speeds comparable to cable Internet speeds within the next year.
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