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Satellite broadband - one way or two?


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Hello - I know there are other posts on sat internet but I can't really find naything on this: does anyone know if there I would be better off getting mono-directional or bi-directional sat if Ihave to go down this route? I know the latter is more expensive but if it is more reliable/faster I'm happy to pay as I need it for work. I'm also a little unclear about the fair usage policies - I don't really know how much I need as someone who uses the internet for general browsing most of the day for work but don't download films etc (which I believe you can't do over satellite anyway?) If anyone had any experience or knowledge I'd be really grateful. Thanks!
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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Catherine

I looked into this about 3 years ago when I needed broadband or similar for work but didn't have adsl in my area. I don't remember the finer details anymore but I did finally end up with one direction only. The cost was just far too great otherwise with too many restrictions. I used to look at ariase.com on a daily basis hoping I would get reADSL until I finally was able to receive it. I have SO never looked back!

Sorry I can't help more but I sympathise with your predicament!

Clare.

 

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Upload via  Sat is very expensive.  I know a few people with Sat download and ISDN upload.  It's OK but quite expensive too. 

As an option, have you looked at ADSL via 3G ?  Orange and SFR will sell you a dongle (USB so use on your PC/Laptop/Mac) then off you go from 20 to 60 euros a month.  Not blistering speed (3.6Mb) but good enough for most things and of course its portable!

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Hello Catherine

We're in a similar situation, with no broadband prospect on the horizon, and the much-vaunted WiMax system seeming to get further away each time I check.

We started with dial-up, but like you, searched for an effective satellite solution.  The bi-directional suppliers were far too expensive, so we settled for a hybrid system (dial-up uplink, satellite down).

So mid-summer last year we opted for the service provided by SkyDSL.  I won't say it's been without issues, but it's a lot better than pure dial-up.  Our uplink ISP is Orange.  We get fairly consistent download speeds up to 2 Mbs, and it's quite nippy for browsing.  They do a number of packages, ours is unlimited and for a few extra Euros, we can download at faster speeds.  It'll do, as we have no real alternative.  Only drawback is it can't be used for Skype phone calls or 2 way video links, otherwise it seems to be OK.  Because we use it a lot on individual machines, we have their SkyDSL box which enables networking to multiple computers.  We are also having a second phone line installed as people can't reach us on the existing land line whilst we're surfing...

If you opt for this supplier, they send you everything you need including a dish (80cm), and a compass to set it up!  The instructions are comprehensive, too.

Chris

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Danny - that looks really interesting,  cheaper than club-internet,  slightly faster in our case (we get 450 kbps,  so I'd be happy with 512 kbps),   and most importantly it OUGHT to work 24 hours a day,   which our present one (along with most of the rest of the village) doesn't.

But I wonder if those upload speeds are fast enough for VOIP type calls?  Does anyone know what the lower limit is for that?

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