One way satellite internet?

[mellba]

Our slow dial-up keeps getting slower. We used to connect at 28, but since it has been raining so much the best we get now is 24. I've been thinking about getting satellite and have just started reading about one way. There are several companies, skyfx is one and it is a month to month service, which I like--$39.00 a month. I just wonder if it is worth the price of the equipment (about $300 with shipping). Does anybody have any experience with this? I'm not expecting much, but if we could connect at even 56 it would seem like speeding along. Or should I just go with Hughs or Wild Blue?

[OurLilHomestead]

We have Wild Blue & love it! It's really fast, even when we have more than one computer on line.

[Lizza]

We have had Hughesnet for about 5 years. I keep with it, would never go back to dial up, not exactly DSL but it's close enough (although you have download limits per day, so you can't really download movies, although I'm trying to figure out how with a download program because Hughesnet is unlimited download between 12am-3am, haven't figured it out yet though).

Anyways, Hughesnet isn't bad, you have to call India for any support but local contractors come out if there is a problem. Over the years we've signed a 15 month contract to upgrade equipment and we pay $80 per month.

[mellba]

ourlilhomestead and morningstar, thanks for the replies. Since Wild Blue has the best deal on the equipment right now, I'm leaning that way, but I found an ad for Skyway which is a one-way system. It is only $49.00 for the equipment after a rebate and is $29 a month for speeds up to 256, and I figure 256 would really seem fast to me if we really got that speed. All we use the internet for is email, to look up information, and to get on here--never download anything. Has anybody heard of Skyway?

[Lizza]

Sorry, I haven't heard of Skyway. The only two I've heard of were Wild Blue and Hughes. 256 seems hideously slow but maybe since it is an upgrade for you, you'd be happy with it.

A couple things to consider is that when they say speeds "up to" 256, with satellite it really doesn't work that way, in that it varies from time of day, day of week, and whether or not it is clear/cloudy/raining/snowing. So it may not be quite the upgrade you are thinking.

The second thing to consider is when they say "download" they don't really mean if you are actually downloading movies or files but if you look at large websites, or watch youtube videos, or the like then you are downloading. Like if you have blogs you like (Pioneerwoman comes to mind as a lot of download) then you are using your download limits. Or if you open a thread on this site and it is full of pictures, you are using your download limits. So if it comes with very small allowable downloads then you may hit your ceiling much faster then you think.

Not saying you shouldn't go the cheaper route with Skyway just trying to throw out some things to think about.

[cfabe]

One-way satellite is 10 year old technology, frankly I'm surprised it's still available. Yes, it will be better than dialup. If all you've ever used it dial-up you might be happy. But most websites these days are so picture intensive that I think even 256k (if you actually got that much, not "up to") would still seem quite slow to most people. We had a connection that got around 500-700 and it was usable but noticably slow. We upgraded to a new radio and now it's about 1500-2000 and it's very nice to use, pages load instantly and can watch youtube.

I suggest first looking to see if there are any wireless internet providers in your area. This is fixed wireless with an antenna/radio mounted on your house or on a tower. They are usually very small local companies so ask around to see if there are any in the area, or look for people with small flat or dish anteannas on their house (but not directv/dish network dishes).

If you can't get that, then consider getting a USB data card from a cell phone company if you have good signal in your area and the network has been upgraded to high speed service. You can even get a router to share one of these with multiple computers.

Then, if neither of those work out, consider satellite.

[plowjockey]

If you have been using today's Internet at 28kb, you must have the patience of a saint.

We had Wildblue, which stinks compared to DSL, but it is better than dial-up.

Your are only looking at $10/mo more, for 2-way satellite service. Probably worth it in the long run.

Internet uses up more bandwidth than one might think.

[sidepasser]

Gosh I remember 28 kb and thought I'd die waiting for this site to load..lol..

I have DSL with AT&T and it rocks, but if you can't get DSL, I would go with a faster two way satellite system.

[mellba]

Thanks for the replies. I needed some opinions about the one way satellite thing from a place I could trust. I guess we'll go with Wild Blue. We're 18 miles from the nearest town, so no cable or DSL and we're down in a valley and don't even have cell phone service--could "sort of" get two TV channels with lots of snow without satellite. I'm pretty sure wireless is out, too. I do hate to sign up for two years because maybe DSL will come this way and it would be just my luck it will arrive and I'll be locked into the satellite contract.