On the off chance

[Swoosh So]

Does anyone know of a satellite internet provider who doesent charge a fortune? Btw i live in scotland and the ones ive tried so far want £300 a month!!


Swoooooooooooooooooosh

[This message has been edited by Swoosh So (edited 09-18-2002).]

[This message has been edited by Swoosh So (edited 09-18-2002).]

[Kraellin]

swooshers,

i use satellite here in the states. for me it's about $70 per month. there are 2 prime companies here, i think. Pegasus, which is the one i'm using, leases the Hughes corp. satellites. Star is the other one and can be had through radio shack, i believe.

you shld also know that satellite, one way or two way, comes with a couple caveats. there is a half second built in delay that makes gaming suck over satellite. traveling at near the speed of light the signal still has to travel 44,000 miles and that equates to about a half second. the plus side is that it streams VERY fast! i've reached download speeds of 5000 Bp/s before...that's Bp/s, not bp/s. but that was with an app that opens 10 channels at once :)

the bottom line is, games that require low pings suck on satellite. browser speed is excellent. download speed is incredible at times. interactive functions like icq chat and some others have problems at times due to the proxy server at the NOC (network operations center). this cannot be disabled by the client, though sometimes you can work around it.

you'll also still need to keep a 56k modem isp with some satellite services. the set up for the satellite requires a 56k modem, but normally you dial into an 800 number (toll free). and, if you want to play games you'll still need that 56k modem for that. the initial ping is going to be lower on the 56k than on the satellite. the satellite will stream faster, but you just cant get past that 44,000, half second delay thing.

another caveat is that during unstable atomospheric conditions, the satellite can disconnect briefly. this is particularly true in heavy rain and thunderstorms. the funny thing is that i can often predict when it's going to rain with the satellite by when and how often it cuts out ;)

for me, not having access to dsl or cable, it's great. but as soon as dsl or cable are available, i'll gladly give up the incredible download speeds for a better game speed.

just as an example of download speed, i once downloaded a 100 meg file in under 4 minutes.

you're also still subject to all the vagaries of net traffic and low bandwidth to any given site, so dont expect this incredible speed everywhere you go. some sites just dont have the bandwidth.

to get back to your original question, i dont know if earthlink is available in your area, but they also just got into satellite service and are a big provider here in the states.

you can also try some of the broadband sites to find out where it's available and who's carrying it. just to get you started, try www.bandwidthplace.com ... i think they link to a number of broadband provider sites.

K.


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The only absolute is that there are no absolutes.

[Swoosh So]

Krae you are a gem