satellite DSL?

[Ernesto]

I live far enough out of town that I can't get DSL over the phone line.... Any DUer advice about satellite DSL service? From what little research I've done, it looks very expensive. Any help would be great!

[Frodo]

1. Very expensive.

Have you looked into cable?

[SheepyMcSheepster]

2. i had a user who connected to our office with a VPN who had that.

and...

it worked fine for most things, but for some reason it had loads of lag when trying to do work through a VPN connection to our office. if you are just going to use it for getting on the internet, i don't see a problem with it, but if you plan on doing "work" over the connection, you might want to check out some details.

[BigMcLargehuge]

3. sure...

first it isn't DSL. Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) is specific to the local loop between you and the central office of the phone company.

Satellite data service comes in two flavors:

Downstream SAT Upstream PSTN in which your upstream data travels over a 56 K connection to the central office just like if you had dialup Internet Access. However, the incoming data from the Internet stops at a router connected to a specific uplink station, is transmitted to a satellite, and bounced down where your Sat descrambler decodes your requested data.

Uplink rates peak at 56Kb/s downlink rates tend to peak at about 600Kb/s.

Good for regular web surfing. Crappy for anything interactive. It's also marginally expensive, $50-$60 a month after an initial $200-$500 investment in equipment.

Some companies also offer Asynchronous Downstream/Upstream SAT where your upstream information is transmitted up to the satellite then bounced down to a ground station that maintains a connection to the PSTN and Internet.

Better for interactive stuff, but the SAT transmission introduces about a half second latency and significantly impacts highly interactive sessions. Can't game on it, for one thing. Rates range from 100-300 Kb/s upstream to 300-600Kb/s downstream.

Asynchronous Upstream/Downstream SAT tends to cost more in initial equipment costs, sometimes up to a grand, and more in monthly fees, generally $70-$90 a month. It also costs more in electricity as it takes much more power to get your signals up to a satellite.

Hope this helps.

[Speck Tater]

4. I had it for about a year

OK for some things. Definitely no good at all for interactive games on the Internet because of lag, so forget using it for EQ, DAOC or WoW.

Download spead is pretty good, but upload speed is worse than a telephone connection.

Heavy rain sometimes created connection problems.

[Spider Jerusalem]

5. Is not DSL.

Is satellite Internet. Large difference.

It is also QUITE expensive. Installation and equipment fee of $250-$400. $60-80/month for the basic service. You receive a certain amount of usage free. Everything over that is metred. Speeds are (theoretical ideal) 400Kbps down/128Kbps up. This will vary with things like weather and sunspot activity, which can cause outright loss of connectivity.

If you don't mind paying a $20-30 premium over cable or DSL access for a slower and less reliable service, and your only other alternative is dialup, it might be worth trying to see if you want to stick with it.

Also, if you go to http://www.broadbandreports.com you can discover which broadband internet services are available where you live. You might have more options than you think.