best satellite provider?

Hi,

Check the following link:

"Patrick" hath wroth:

It's called Starband and DirecWay/HughesNet. Also see WildBlue.

There are plenty of other providers but most are aimed at commercial users. There are also resellers that specialize in mobile (RV, vehicle, boating, etc) service. There are also a series of satellite providers that serve countries other than the USA. Rather than list all of them, could you disclose what country you are located and whether you're looking for commercial or consumer grade internet, fixed or mobile service? Meanwhile, you'll find a list of others at:

I only have experience with DirecWay/Hughesnet systems. It works, but has bad days due to weather and congestion. One customer just installed Wild Blue service but I haven't had reason or time to visit. In general, I would avoid satellite service unless you have no other alternative.

There is no connectivity software. The various satellite internet services provide you with a modem/router combination. You configure the router using your web browser over an ethernet connection. There was a time when specialized software was required for modem return systems, for USB satellite modems, and for bridge only devices. No longer. However, there are some tweaks usually necessary for non-Windoze users. See:

So, if you don't like Microsoft products, why does your news header show that you're using Microsoft Outlook Express 6 for usenet news?

I think you'll get better results if you:

1. Read a few satellite FAQ's to get a feel for what's available and how things work.
2. Dig into the various satellite internet forums, blogs, and newsgroups for opinions by users.

I suggest you start at:

Thanks for that link; I'll study it carefully. We're currently in the continental U.S. and can get by, I believe, with "consumer grade" connectivity, generally at a fixed location but will occasionally re-locate for a week or so at a time, and will re-aim the dish as needed for the new lat./lon.

This lab will occasionaly be located at remote rural locations where telco lines, cellular coverage and wireless aren't available.

Software *is* required to aim the dish, and that's what I mean by "connectivity". Each lat./lon. requires a azimuth, elevation and rotation of the dish

Because that's the newsreader I'm posting with here, which has nothing to do with the lab. Microsoft products are unstable and unreliable in our experience. The lab operates NetBSD 3.1 machines for automated data acquisition and reduction, remote submission and reporting capabilities. If vendor-specific dish-aiming software requires an MS OS, then we'll install and use VMWare to address the issue, but would rather avoid the bloat.

Again, thanks for your help.

work due to spot-beam technology. Hughes's system will allow you to move and re-set your dish, though they have a "don't ask-don't tell" policy towards mobile consumer systems.

Check this out:

This should give you many options.

If you go with Hughes, which is the biggest and most popular, make sure you get one of the business accounts to get past the increasingly strict daily thruput limitations. In fact, these limitations, which dymnamically distribute the usage of the scarce satellite bandwidth are in place with every provider. With Hughes this is called "FAP" or fair access policy. This FAP and it's corresponding policies with each company are one of the main criteria you should compare to your intended usage when deciding on a service.

FAP and perhaps latency depending on your intended use. I understand that at least one of the providers specializes in minimizing latency for VPNs and such. At very best it's over 600 ms - with Hughes it varies from 700-1500ms typically.

Download speed is the most advertised and least critical feature for most users.

As far a aiming software, I believe that is all taken care of within the modem's firmware, if I am not mistaken. The HN7000S with Hughes may be running VX works?......

Cheers, Steve