Satillite Internet

[bbeane]

Has anyone had any exp with hughes net on the road or at home?

[pumper9x9]

We have been on the road full time for two years now. Forget the satellite. Get a verizon air card either the one you plug into one lap top at a time or the MiFi mobile hot spot up to 5 hook ups available. There a few places in the western US that we haven't been able to get cell signal but 99% of the places we've been we get it just fine. MiFI card with 5 gigs upload/download about $60/month. Satellite dish $400-600. Mount the same and hook up $300-$400. Satellite internet service ??

[texnet]

We have Hughes Net at a Royal Rangers campground in So. Missouri that I am responsible for maintaining. It has been there for about 5 years and while it is ok if one person is using it for a few emails and a little Internet it is very slow if you have multiple folks trying to use it at the same time. First off, the speed is only 512kbs and since the Satellite is 22,000 miles out there is a big delay between your computer asking for something and you actually receiving it. The other problem is the "bit bucket". They measure how much you download and keep track of it via the bit bucket. The normall bit bucket is 512 mb... so after you have downloaded 512 mb of data in a 24 hour time period the connection slows down to basically dial up speed.

My recommendation is if you have ANY OTHER OPTIONS then take them and only use Hughes Net or other satellite based Internet as a last resort!

We only have satellite options at the camp... However in a few weeks I am installing a tower at the camp and backhauling Internet from 25 miles away via wireless. Hughes Net will be gone by the end of May!!

We use a combination of AT&T and campground WiFi for hour motorhome and it works great!

[paz]

We had satellite internet from Hughes through MotoSat. MotoSat makes automatic mobile dishes. Since Hughes officially does not support mobile services, MotoSat (which is a VAR - value added retailer) was our service provider. They also provide tech support for the automatic dish.

The automatic dishes are expensive ($5000 installed new, although used systems are available for less) and are sometimes a little problematic. Service was $80 a month through the VAR. Tripod dishes are cheaper ($1000-$1500), but take a longer time and some practice to set up. Internet service for a tripod dish runs $50 or $60 a month.

Last fall, we had a mechanical problem with our automatic satellite internet dish. Rather than go to the expense of repairing it, we switched to Verizon Broadband. We couldn't be happier. 3G service is faster than satellite internet, and 4G (where available) absolutely flies.

If you absolutely MUST have an internet connection every day and you travel to remote areas where there may not be wireless internet, satellite is the best choice. As long as your dish has a clear view of the southern sky, you can get internet all over the U.S. and in much of Canada and Mexico as well.

On the other hand, Verizon coverage is quite good these days. IMO, wireless internet is the way to go for most people. It is simpler, faster, the equipment is cheaper (sometimes free when there is a promotion), and the monthly service charge is usually cheaper than satellite unless you consistently way go over your monthly allocation. There are even alternatives available to help compensate for high usage like Millenicom that provides high limit wireless internet through Verizon and unlimited wireless internet through Sprint.

[golden]

I had it for two summers while travelling and hated it. When I finally decided to cut my losses I couldn't give the equipment away. All that said, I've seen recommendations from others who liked it. In some cases, people have no other option.

[Bigd2]

I had Hughes once at my house and would never do it again

Check out Virgin Mobile. $50.00 per month with unlimited use. One of the advantages is that you can use it when you want and you only pay for it when in use. We use ours about 6 months per year while we travel and it spends the rest of the time in the desk drawer. You purchase the service in monthly increments as needed.

Dick

[wa8yxm]

short answer: YES, I have.

Oh, you did not really want a short answer:

the biggest issues with 2-way Sattelite internet are as follows:
COST:
Speed (Slow DSL at best)
Download Limites (Hughes has a well defined Fair Access Policy, Check it out)
LAG.

It takes about 1/8 second for the signal to go from the ground station to the sat. 1/8 more to the central ground station. 1/8 more from the central station to the sat and 1/8 more back to your ground station. that's a total of 1/2 second. Sometimes the bird can guess at your next act and hasten that a bit but basically that is the minimum.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO "Try before you buy".

Many Thousand Trails parks use Verizon 2-way Satellite internet. Service is very close to Hughes (Save for the FAP) so you can get a feel for it.. but caution, NOT all parks use it. Where I'm at now it's AT&T high speed DSL.


Note if you have a friend who is a TT member,, Pay 'em a visit when they are at one of the 2-way sat parks and take your laptop along.

[saydiver]

Testing satellite service at a campground is not really a good way to test the speed. Finding a friend with Hughes Net will give you a much better feel for the service.

Motosat is no longer acting as a VAR for Hughes Net. They transferred everyone to another VAR. See link:

Datastorm Users Forum: email notice from Motosat

Yes, you can get decent satellite service, but you'll need to pay more like $250+ a month. Here's a link to the service plans for Mobilsat:

Monthly Service Price | Mobil Satellite Technologies

Sue

[chaunclm]

Hughes Net is the biggest rip off that I have ever experience. We spent a substantial amount of money having an automatic Motosat satellite dish installed. When it worked it never worked well. Mostly though it just didn't work at all. We now use a 3 G Verizon Air Card. It is much better.

Don't waste your money on satellite internet.

[boweavel]

besides cost the biggest fault is the limited download once you reach your very low limit it slows to almost stopped if you insist on satelitte internet check wildblue not any cheater but you dont have the low download limits

[saydiver]

Originally Posted by boweavel

besides cost the biggest fault is the limited download once you reach your very low limit it slows to almost stopped if you insist on satelitte internet check wildblue not any cheater but you dont have the low download limits

Not all satellite plans have a download limit. See the link I posted above. Of course they cost more and they're not Hughes. Also Wildblue does not offer mobile satellite service.

Sue

[Ed-Sommers]

I have used satt Internet for the last ten years or so, and get get good service with it. There is a LOT of misinformation on this thread.

I use Starband, not Hughes Net.

Oh, by the way, I could even set the time on my old VCR,s.

Ed