How bad is satellite internet?

[FiremanBob]

We saw a house today that we loved, but it's way out in the boonies where there is no cable. House has a dish. How bad is satellite compared to the cable service that we have become accustomed to (much as we hate the monopoly provider)?

[allingeneral]

I've never used it, but as I understand it, it's pretty susceptible to signal interruption from overcast skies and storms.

[Wolvee]

It's so bad, nobody you know in real life has it.

[SHMIV]

A buddy of mine has satellite internet; it's been his only internet option. Lately, though, he's been contemplating going back to contract cell phones, and using his cell as a hotspot to fulfill his internet needs.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[ShotgunBlast]

I have a customer that uses it in their remote location. Not the best, but options are limited out there. Data is metered so if you're a big downloader you may have a problem. My customer can stream from Netflix so the speeds and technology have gotten better.

Comparing satellite to cable is not only no comparison, but an unfair comparison since they use different technologies to get the bits to you. If you have a good 4G LTE cell signal at that location, that might be a better option since you'll likely get more throughput with the cell service.

[Palladin]

If you have good cell service there, then that could be a viable option. We use V's 4g Jetpack, and it's decent. Much better than satellite, IMO.

[Palladin]

Shotgun beat me to it!

[SHMIV]

Since we're elaborating on the cellular option. ..

A company called Wilson manufactures cell phone signal boosters. I have one in my truck, and I am right glad to have it. I will probably be upgrading to the bigger booster, before too much longer.

While I have a mobile booster, Wilson also makes them for home and office applications. If my little mobile, cradle style booster is any indication of all their related products performance, the big one for your house should perform wonderfully.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[MarcSpaz]

My dad used to use satellite internet. The service sucked and was WAY more expensive than standard wired service. He switched over to cellular.

Like others mentioned... if cell service is available, get a 4G HotSpot. If not, you have to make up your mind if expensive, unreliable and slow internet is better than no internet at all.

OR... see how much it will cost to have fiber run out to your property. If it's $50,000 - $80,000, ask neighbors if they all want to kick in and get the cable run to the house.

[OleMan]

I use Comcast cable but it is really slowing down - seems there is so much hi-res garbage advertising that they force me and my firewall to deal with. Conventional wisdom used to be that satellite Internet performance was slow - think like 1.5 to 3.0 mb DSL speed.
I only know of one former acquaintance who used satellite and it was obvious that he didn't really understand how slow his connection was compared to cable.

Lately, I have been thinking of switching to FIOS because it operates more like a point to point connection, while with cable, the user's systems have to inspect all packets. An in-law and a couple of my neighbors switched from cable and say that FIOS has faster throughput.

Before my son had cable internet service he used Verizon's cellular technology (3G then 4G). He and a lot of his neighbors had satellite television which he really liked, but they all said that satellite Internet service was too slow and they used cellular connections.

[wittmeba]

This does not directly address your question but you may want to consider alternatives.

To add to ShotgunBlast's post we have the same problem. We have DirecTV and we are on the fringe of the Verizon Mifi tower signal. Our Mifi bounces between 3G and 4G all day long. 3G is pretty poor, 4G is much better. It is the only option we have at this time. Verizon offers a continuous 4G program but it is not available in our area. They can offer the 3G/4G because when 4G fails, it will automatically go to 3G. The 4G plan is 4G or nothing.

We have 2 PC, 1 Nook and 1 cell phone that can (but rarely) accessing the Mifi. As stated you pay by the GB and it can get costly. We have 2 cell phones and the Mifi with 16GB Plan and it costs us just under $200.00/mo. Each GB overage is $15.00. We have gone over once.

You can check for service at your newly desired location here:

http://www.verizonwireless.com/wcms/con ... plans.html

[TallEd]

Satellite is fine for browsing or email, but it won't support a VPN and is horrible for gaming. When I lived in Montpeleir (until last year) the house was 1/2 a mile off the road. I used a company called Cyberonic out of Maine that resells Sprint bandwidth but without a data limit. Twice Sprint disconnected the card for heavy use, but they warned me every month for 3 months first, and Cyberonic overnighted me a new card each time. It was 89 a month if I recall.

It came with router that connects to an antenna that they say to put in a window, but I put mine on top of the house.

It was the only alternative I could find without data limits. It supported my work VPN connection and almost constant HD streaming of netflix with no issues most of the time.

The other option is to get a T1, but that is usually 300 or more a month and you have to say you are a business to even talk to sales agent. For some reason most carriers don't offer them to residential users.

[OakRidgeStars]

If you have good cell service there, then that could be a viable option. We use V's 4g Jetpack, and it's decent. Much better than satellite, IMO.

+1

[Nevermore1]

I used to have satellite. When it worked it was great but if is was so much as drizzling outside I would lose the connection. Pricing was the same as what I am now paying for FIOS.

[wittmeba]

If you want to test what you currently have this may help.

http://www.speedtest.net/

I don't know if the server location selection is too important but I'd want to be consistent if checking from day to day and use the same server location.

This is ours on Verizon Mifi (JetPack 5510) 3G - terrible! Rarely goes to 4G.

Ping: 93ms

Download speed: 2.29 mbps

Upload speed: .55 mbps

[Swampman]

Doesn't Verizon sell an antenna that plugs into the USB on your computer? That, or the hotspot would be my choice. The big problem satellite can't overcome is atmospheric conditions. Sunflares? Yer screwed. Rainstorm? Yer screwed.

I think Verizon also sells an iPad that can access their system. Good luck. Hope we don't lose ya!

[wittmeba]

Millenicom (uses Verizon towers/hardware) has a Hotspot device that plugs into a USB port but they too are marginal in our area. We had one for a while and went to the Verizon. Millenicom is a little less expensive but being on the fringe was not the best option for us.

[NovaHunter]

I've had Hughesnet satellite internet for the last year. Out where I am in north western Loudoun County, the 4G LTE cell phone data signal is spotty and there are no cable options.

Upsides: Hughesnet's new Gen 4 Satellite service is very good. Steady service usually. I can VPN into work, but if I owned my own business I would not be able to host a VPN, check email, stream hulu and Netflix. I usually get download speeds of 8-15megs, and upload speeds of 1-3megs. It's been the best internet service that I've had out where I live, as I have tried cell phone hotspot and a local ISP and both of those would just drop at random times. Customer service has been very good too.

Downsides, it's expensive. Installation was a few hundred bucks and I had to sign a 2 year contract. Monthly is $129.99 for 20 gigs of data. If I go over my data limit, they don't charge me extra like Verizon would for going over a cell phone data limit. They instead meter the speed to near zero where you can pretty much only check your email. You can buy extra gigs of data if you need to but it usually is about $8 per gig. If there is a really bad storm service will sometimes get interrupted, but it generally has not lasted long and there have been many time when it has been raining out and service has been fine.

If you are a heavy downloader, like to stream HD video's and such, you'll hate the data cap. We stream hulu and netflix at 480p , picture is decent on the tv and we've used about 2 gigs for watching probably 7-8 episodes for the last week so as long as you keep the image quality standard then you're fine. You also can't game as the connection has a high latency.

Hope that helps. When you live in the boonies all available internet connections have trade offs. For what I use, Hughesnet has been the best experience I have had so far in the 3+ years I've lived in "rural" Loudoun.

Thanks,
Ryan

[HighExpert]

Hughes Gen 4 is much improved from the old versions. Speeds will not compare with cable usually about 12. Cost is higher and you do have a data cap. I have made it with the 10 gig per month most of the time. Unlike the others, I am using it and I have been a computer tech for 25 years. If I could get cable or Fios, I would. It does beat cell hotspot at my house. I have a cell tower 3 miles away so cell service is good. I have used Sprint and now have Verizon. Same difference.

[Swampman]

Tried the test. Ping - 15ms, Upload - 16.8 mbps, Download - 5.87 mbps. I have cable.