i have no idea how fast it is. if your goal is to play games online, you can probably forget it right now. with a round-trip distance of about 145000 miles between you and the satellite, thats a full second of latency just to get a packet from the ground to you and back to the ground again.
Ian - my mom tried that familynet thing. Kept getting bumped off. After several calls to their tech folks, we told them to cancel it. They couldn't figure out why she was getting bumped off about every 15 minutes and she was just frustrated.
DSL was not an option for her as she has lifeline and even with filters, there was an issue with that.
She ended up with a cable modem and loves it.
A friend up north has the satellite broadband as that's the only fast connection available there. There is a cost of purchasing the eliptical dish. I don't know what those cost now, but a year ago they were in the $700 - $800 range and then there's the monthly service fee.
We just went with the cable modem and I love it! We have DSL at work and the cable is definately faster than that is.
In heavy rain - downpours - the signal tends to get lost with the satellite. Also, with sites like this, because of the way the packets are sent and received, you might run into trouble posting.
Another option is going with one of the other phone companies now filtering into what was always US West territory. McLeod, for example, offers dialup service for about $15 a month.
A friend of mine who has DSL switched from qwest to Golden Gate. She had used them before when she lived out on the left coast so she knew she'd be happy with them. They now have an office in Fridley or out in that neighborhood somewhere.
Does Onvoy only do business lines? That might be another one to try.
I just knew there had to be a way to get to what I needed to do. Stubborn determination won out.
It's a database we inherited so it's all set up. Just needed to noodle how to get from point A to point B without detours or road blocks. When one has never worked in a program before, there are tricks that you just need to find.
I do tech support for some specialized software so it's not like I'm a total, out in left field, dingbat.
I've been using DirecPc for over a year now and love it. My dish cost about $150, after finding a deal on the internet. The speed runs anywhere between 500 and 800 kbps.
I am using DirecPc, which is one-way. Still need to use a phone line. No immediate response, but it downloads very fast. I paid $150 for the dish, the modem was extra. A buddy and I installed it. No problems yet. I had no other option really. Pretty rural out here. ;)
I'm really thinking about it. I use DirecTV for my "cable" TV already...hopefully the pro installer will do better than the hack job I did installing my TV one...
in case you didn't read my isp change horror story, frosti, i'll summarise it here: pick your isp from the start and don't change. :)
getting qwest to actually make the change 2 months ago was akin to being drawn and quartered.
funny thing is, i can still receive mail at jmichaelson@qwest.net.
640 down, 256 up. the standard 640 is 640 in both directions, the 1mbps is 1mbps both ways, the other 2 have a 1mbps upstream speed.
Thanks Ares.
that's what i'm here for :)
Maybe I'll go with cable. Then neither MSN nor Qwest get my money. And it's about the same price.
directtv's dsl? then at&t doesn't get any of it either.
Direct TV's DSL?
yep
regardless of who you go with, an external modem is a *must* if you've got multiple machines you want to connecct.
The Direct TV looks good for dual PC's. Price is good. Speed? They don't cover it much. It must be slow upstream?
i have no idea how fast it is. if your goal is to play games online, you can probably forget it right now. with a round-trip distance of about 145000 miles between you and the satellite, thats a full second of latency just to get a packet from the ground to you and back to the ground again.
No intention of playing games. Just don't want to have to upload at 56K
i just thought i'd point out another alternative for you since scribe mentioned an aversion you guys have to at&t.
Thanks. I didn't even know Direct TV had such a thing now. I've heard of similiar things but not through Direct TV.
I'm pretty sure Marley and Artemis have DirecTV for their internet connection. Maybe check with them to see what they think.
::peek::
lemme see if i got this straight, dal. an html discussion comes up yesterday and you decide to leave. and you show up today in the tech thread????? :)
Women.....pass the beernuts.
:-)
sorry, thx, but i'm gonna have to leave you on your own to deal with the whip lady for that comment :)
As Jethro would say........ Coward!
:-)
surely you jest. i just know how to pick my battles :)
Who said anything about a battle?
When tweedle beetles fight, it's called a tweedle beetle battle...
Are you calling us tweedle beetles?
ok thx. how 'bout this?
i just know when to keep my mouth shut :)
Ian - my mom tried that familynet thing. Kept getting bumped off. After several calls to their tech folks, we told them to cancel it. They couldn't figure out why she was getting bumped off about every 15 minutes and she was just frustrated.
DSL was not an option for her as she has lifeline and even with filters, there was an issue with that.
She ended up with a cable modem and loves it.
A friend up north has the satellite broadband as that's the only fast connection available there. There is a cost of purchasing the eliptical dish. I don't know what those cost now, but a year ago they were in the $700 - $800 range and then there's the monthly service fee.
We just went with the cable modem and I love it! We have DSL at work and the cable is definately faster than that is.
Almost forgot this...
In heavy rain - downpours - the signal tends to get lost with the satellite. Also, with sites like this, because of the way the packets are sent and received, you might run into trouble posting.
Another option is going with one of the other phone companies now filtering into what was always US West territory. McLeod, for example, offers dialup service for about $15 a month.
Thanks for the info, guys.
Terry, I just went to McLeod's web site and it doesn't appear that they offer DSL for residential customers.
i just know when to keep my mouth shut :)
There's something I've yet to learn.
you're welcome, thx.
Hi! Sneaking around here while I'm supposed to be working. Shhhhhhhhhh
Thx - McLeod offers dial-up - not DSL - at least not yet.
Check with other local phone companies in the area though, maybe one of the others offers DSL.
A friend of mine who has DSL switched from qwest to Golden Gate. She had used them before when she lived out on the left coast so she knew she'd be happy with them. They now have an office in Fridley or out in that neighborhood somewhere.
Does Onvoy only do business lines? That might be another one to try.
Still sneaking.....
Ares - I have one part of the stuff figured out. I'll holler if I don't get the other part figured.
Bill Fold - Howdy!
Ares - I did it! I figured it out. Nice to know I can call on your computer generated brain though if I need to do so. :-)
very good, terry!
I just knew there had to be a way to get to what I needed to do. Stubborn determination won out.
It's a database we inherited so it's all set up. Just needed to noodle how to get from point A to point B without detours or road blocks. When one has never worked in a program before, there are tricks that you just need to find.
I do tech support for some specialized software so it's not like I'm a total, out in left field, dingbat.
This is the url for my buttons.(I left a space before the a.)
I know you can right click, then open a new window. Is there something I can insert in the link, that will automatically open a new browser/window?
Test:
New Order Web
Here ya go, Ian. I sent Message to you with the info on how to do it.
Good question. I had forgotten how to do it.
It's been a long time since HTML was allowed.
:-)
I've been using DirecPc for over a year now and love it. My dish cost about $150, after finding a deal on the internet. The speed runs anywhere between 500 and 800 kbps.
what kind of latency do you get with that, chuck? immediate response?
I am using DirecPc, which is one-way. Still need to use a phone line. No immediate response, but it downloads very fast. I paid $150 for the dish, the modem was extra. A buddy and I installed it. No problems yet. I had no other option really. Pretty rural out here. ;)
I'm really thinking about it. I use DirecTV for my "cable" TV already...hopefully the pro installer will do better than the hack job I did installing my TV one...
I'm officially on dial up for now.
The whole Qwest/MSN thing just pissed me off too much so I dumped em.
I won't be able to use DSL cuz I'm getting rid of Qwest all together and switching to McLeod.
I'll have to do DirecPC or Cable.
For now, this really sucks at 56k
:-(
wow, jt, you did get pissed off. hope things work out for you.
I'm thinking that you run your phone line to an external modem, then connect to your PC. I have 56k in my PC, but I also have an external 28.8 or 33.6
I just remembered reading about that? Any comments?
it might work if your isp supports it ian. of course that means multiple phone lines, yada yada yada.
What he said and......
I don't know of many people that did it and from what I know it's died off.
Years back it was a cool and somewhat cost effective way to get a "Fast" connection.
I can't seem to connect at anything other than 26,400bps on here. I tried both my machines and my work laptop, but no go on a faster speed.
I got get me hooked up next week!!!
When I get some time I think I'll try connecting that external modem. There wouldn't be anything special that I'd have to set up, would there?
just change the connection over to use the external modem instead of the internal one.