[KLUG Members] ISDN vs. Satelite

[Bruce Smith]

> My parents want a high(er) speed connection.  The two choices are:
> 
> 1. ISDN
> 2. Satellite.


If by Satellite you are talking about Starband or Direct PC or one,
of those, I investigated Starband a few months ago very extensively.
(since I cannot get ISDN, DSL, Cable or anything but dialup at home)

First, if Linux is going to be connected to the Satellite, forget it!
When I checked they didn't have Linux drivers.  They use some special
windows drivers to help eliminate the latency between packets.  Those
drivers (when I checked) were not available for Linux and without them
the download speed was terrible.  Worse than dialup by some accounts!
This is even though it would physically work on Linux when connected
to those that support an ethernet port (forget the USB).

The other "thing" with Starband and some others is they have something
called a "Fair Use Policy".  That means if they think you are using too
much bandwidth, the equipment will "FUP" you automatically, which lowers
your download speed to about dialup speed for hours (w/windows drivers)!
I couldn't find anything about that on their web site, but there is a
lot of talk about it on the newsgroups.

Speaking of newsgroups, there are a lot of unhappy users there.  The
stuff you heard about telnet/ssh being unusable, and rain causing
problems are all talked about there too.  Go to groups.google.com and
research this yourself before you buy!

Also, the install and equipment costs are quite high when I checked.
(they may have come down a little now).  And you cannot self-install
(like TV) without a FCC license because it is a two-way satellite.

Considering that I cannot even get IDSN where I live, and I really
want broadband, I passed on Satellite.  (sending this via dialup)

--------------------------------------------
Bruce Smith                bruce@armintl.com
System Administrator / Network Administrator
Armstrong International, Inc.
Three Rivers, Michigan  49093  USA
http://www.armstrong-intl.com/
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