Hi DogTags,
Yes, I've had Earthlink Powered by Direcway Internet Satellite service since June .
Welp, it's been a bit of a roller coaster and also interesting learning experience, since Satellite is another beast entirely from DSL, Cable, T-1, ISDN dialup, etc.
Here are the advantages and disadvantages I've experienced over the past five months:
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ADVANTAGES
* Faster downloads than dialup (even ISDN), but slower than Cable and DSL. My average download speeds are about 800 kbps during peak hours (7:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.) and 1,200 kbps during non-peak hours (10:00 p.m. - 7:00 a.m.).
* Don't have to be near a Central Office (CO) like the ones needed for Cable and DSL, so it's more accessible in my area.
DISADVANTAGES
* Slower upload speeds than dialup (at least 56K). My average upload speeds are about 28 kbps.
* The Fair Access Policy (FAP) sucks...it limits you to 169 MG during a certain period of time, peark hours, (this combines both download and upload). When you fill your "FAP bucket", depending on how fast you fill it, will take between several minutes to a few hours to recovery, which means that your connection slows down slower than dialup or you can be totally cut off. Non-peak hours FAP bucket is 256 MG.
What I have done to avoid hitting the FAP limit is using Download Manager programs, like LeechGet (one of the best out there) that throttles downloads to the speed that will not fill up my FAP bucket.
* Weather drastically impacts Satellite access, both in your local area and at the Network Operations Center (or NOC as other Satellite users call it). For instance, yesterday, there was nasty weather around the NOC, which is located on the East Coast in Maryland, and there were tornado warnings in that area. The effect was that I was basically off-line for two hours yesterday during the afternoon. Also, during the early spring and fall, when the solar outages are about, that also affects access, like this fall, back in September/October, there were exact periods of the day for about 20 minutes, when my connection dropped due to solar outages. Also, snow and rain does affect your signal strength, like a couple days ago, when there was three inches of fresh snow on the ground and my satellite dish, I had to do outside and sweep the snow off the dish, since my signal strength dipped down to below the threshold of 30%.
* Latent downloads really suck...basically a lag in web browsing and sending/receiving emails. Most noticable with web browsing. But I've found using Firebird has helped a bit in the latency issue, since Firebird downloads the complete page rather than individual elements like IE does. Latency with Satellite is a chronic problem that will probably never be fixed. Think of it this way, the signal between your satellite dish and the big bird in the sky is about 28,800 miles away, give or take some miles, so that is the distance it has to travel to obtain a signal back down to earth at the NOC that then direct the signal back in the atmosphere back down to your dish. For one-way satellite systems that uses dialup connection for the return channel, it's a bit faster since it only has to travel 28,800 miles one way to obtain a signal to the NOC, and from the NOC to the dish it uses terrestial landlines to send the information. But for two-way systems (which is nice since I have a free phone line now for calling clients and faxing), it has to travel basically 56,000 miles (round-trip) to carry data requested from my computer.
* Lack of adequate technical support. The thing that satellite providers don't do well is educating their customers on the ins and outs of Satellite Internet connection. I spent a good three weeks back in September/October tweaking my computer to increase both the signal strength and also the access speed. If it wasn't for BroadBandReports.com (DSLReports.com), I'd be lost and probably would've trashed my satellite system a while ago. Although the technology is improving and making it easier for Satellite users to connect without having to tweak their systems so much, like with the recent introduction of the DW6000 system that uses Ethernet cable connection rather than USB cable connection (like mine and older modems).
* Satellite Internet service is expensive compared to DSL, Cable, and Wireless. I pay $69.00 per month (no static IP Address, 8 mailboxes, and 10 MG of web space) and had to pay over $800.00 for the hardware (dish, coax cables, and modem), software (web setup program), and installation.
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All in all, while the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, it has worked out pretty well, has really helped with tasks like exporting data to remote SQL Server and other database servers, as well as expediting reviewing remote websites, and downloading software and patches off the net (like downloading 60 MG files within minutes rather than several hours or even days with dialup).
I am looking into alternative services in my area, including wireless service (WISP), and there is a WISP (IonSky -
http://www.ionsky.com/) who has expanded their operations near my area. But they've stated that their wireless signal does not go through trees, which will be problematic since my property is surrounded by 100's of tall trees.
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Buh Bye!
Cheers,
Me
