Broadband via satellite

[Christian]

Has anybody had any experience of this. Is it reliable? Is it affordable etc?

I have checked out www.astranet.fr, which is affordable, but is only for downloading. I cannot find a company that is affordable and allows you to upload.

I live in the middle of nowhere and I doubt normal broadband will come our way for years, so I am looking for a faster alternative to ISDN. Any words of wisdom would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Christian

[Owens88]

I am replying via a satellite feed.

Well actually a wireless link to my neighbour, then another long wireless link to another neighbour, then up into space to the satellite. I am in Britain and we are using Amariska, which I think is available in France. www.rural-web.org  is our volunteer community and would welcome the referral fee !

If you can also share like we do then satellite could be a way to go.

Satellite has long delays (latency) which means bad for 'gamers' (you shoot but die before your bullet/death ray gets to your oppponent). The satellite companies tell you that.

What I have also found is that it is occasionally slow for interactive sites (e-bay, car hire, flights etc.). They don't tell you that.

It is excellent for big downloads; Microsoft patches, music, film etc.

There are weather effects. A storm can kick it out of service for a short while.

 

If you want speed of download satellite will be good. If you haven't tried ISDN  yet you might also be interested in the 'unlimited' ISDN offerings being promoted in this forum. I had ISDN before satellite and am not a really big downloader, it worked well for me.

Good luck

[Owens88]

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