[olug] Alltell / Windstream and a new DSL modem...

[Cameron Montgomery]

On Fri, Jan 30, 2009 at 8:18 AM, Dan Linder <dan at linder.org> wrote:

> On Thu, Jan 29, 2009 at 12:32 PM, Dan Staehr <staehrmedia at neb.rr.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Also OT for a Linux list, but do any of you have experience with
> > satelite broadband or long range wireless access. I have a client in
> > Raymond, NE that is using DSL and has had all sorts of problems.
> >
>
>
> I can contribute a bit on this note.  Before they got DSL, my parents had
> the Satellite broadband through DirectTV for two years.  When it was just
> the two of them doing their normal e-mail and basic surfing, it worked very
> well.  The only issues they had were the same ones they had with the
> Satellite TV - outages during extreme weather, wind could move the dish out
> of alignment, etc.  The speeds weren't the greatest, but that wasn't an
> objective.
>
> They ended up leaving because the technical support was pretty bad.  Even
> if
> we went down to the basic Windows XP connected directly to the RJ45 port on
> the Satellite "modem", their people were troublshooting it to a problem
> with
> their wiring and/or computer.  Couple that with the fact that their TV
> support was saying that their analog phone lines weren't perfectly
> compatible with the DirectTV tuners (for periodic dial-in to check
> subscriptions), my dad finally had enough and dropped back to the basic
> service as soon as DSL was available.
>
> But for a person in a remote location, the speed for DSL will vary
> depending
> on distance from the CO where Satellite Internet is always the same speed
> on
> an average day.  Plus it can be mobile so you could take it with you when
> you go for a camping trip (if you so desire).
>
> Dan
>
> --
> "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" (Who can watch the watchmen?) -- from the
> Satires of Juvenal
> "I do not fear computers, I fear the lack of them." -- Isaac Asimov
> (Author)
> ** *** ***** ******* *********** *************

I'm new to the list, but have some experience in this area. I used to work
for a home builder and finding solid connectivity was always an issue for us
because most of the land was in under-developed areas and had no
infastructure for the first few months of operations. I did try out a
satelite provider like Dan mentioned. The connection speed was decent, but
day to day browsing was a bit slow because the latency was so high. On the
other hand, the bandwidth was pretty good so larger sized files downloaded
very quickly. Dan already coverd the weather/alignment issues.

Another solutiuon we tried were the Sprint PCS PCMCIA cards. They worked
well and had good data rates as long as cell coverage was good. The only
drawback was the price. At that time (2003-2004), these devices were very
new so they could charge an arm and a leg. I belive it was $99/month for
unlimited data. I haven't looked into any of these devices since then, but
I'm sure the technology has come a long way, and with more providers the
prices should have improved.
Cameron