[thelist] T1 via satellite?

Seb Barre sebastien at oven.com
Wed Oct 25 09:54:11 CDT 2000


At 08:34 AM 10/25/2000 -0600, you wrote:
>Here in the wilds of Montana--even in the thriving metropolis of Missoula
>(Hub of Five Valleys) we do not have readily available (i.e affordable by a
>person like myself) fiber or wire DSL, ISDN, etc. We do, however, have a
>satellite service offering T1 speed at $50US/ month--if you buy the hardware
>at $1,200US.
>         I'm tempted, but would like to know if anyone has  satellite tales
>to tell, and if $1,200 is a fair price for a receiver and antenna.
>         Anyone know?


Not sure about the pricing for your area, but don't forget that satellite 
is (as far as I know), a one-way technology, and while you can download at 
high speed, you need a modem, phone line and dial-up connection to send out 
information, and that info goes out at whatever speed your modem runs at 
(56k etc).

Most of the time this isn't a bad thing since web surfing is 90% download 
and 10% upload (sending requests for content)..  However, don't plan on 
using any kind of interactive real-time applications over the net (such as 
online gaming etc) because your latency will be ridiculously high and make 
any game or two-way transfer unfeasible to use..

Ask if they're willing to rent or lend you the equipment or if you can go 
somewhere to see a live demo and play around with it before you shell out 
the bucks...  I know some people who have bought similar systems and are 
happy with it, but I also know some people who were very disappointed with 
the limitations of the service (mostly because they weren't aware of them 
before they signed up).

As always, buyer beware. =)


--- -- -
Seb Barre - sebastien at oven.com
OVEN Digital Toronto
Work: 416-595-9750 x 222
Mobile: 416-254-5078
http://www.oven.com/





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