[Plowman]

Fixing to go full time on the road. Gonna have to do business along the way. Seems like it should be possible to communicate with 2 way sat within the limitations of HughesNet.

Anybody have real life experience with this provider? Six grand for hardware and a C note a month is big bling for me. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif Is service dependable?

Thanks,
Plowman /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[parcours]

Plowman, I've had Sat internet for 10 years.. Paid a bundle in monthly charges. The only reason I HAD to use Direcway was because there was no DSL in my area. The cable co. wouldn't sell me just internet access, I had to buy cable TV. I didn't need it because I had Direct TV.

Direcway just became Hughes. Good service overall, just big$$$$$$

You should have no problems with them. You might want to consider a wireless network, like Verizon. Just a thought. I think, they are $50/mo and no hardware.

 

[CaptRon]

Starband also has a system aimed at RVers. I still st up my Starband dish in SC when I go there every month, never had any problems.

Capt Ron

 

[one_horseman]

What about this new wireless phone access?

Sounds like alot better or easier way to go.
Havne't met anyone who had it or seen it demo'd. Though.

I tried just the basic server throw my cell which
is the same as dialup, but if you
pay the extra bucks it's supposed to be pretty fast
for the better version.

W

 

[SmokeyWren]

[ QUOTE ]
Anybody have real life experience with this provider?

[/ QUOTE ]

We finally gave up and switched from dial-up to HughesNet yesterday. Their hired installer did a good job. The system so far works really good on TheDieselStop, but not so hot on MSN HotMail. Of course only a few hours experience is not much of an indicator.

[ QUOTE ]
Six grand for hardware and a C note a month is big bling for me.

[/ QUOTE ]

You apparently bought the gold-plated pkg. Ours was about $600 for the satellite antenna, cable modem, installation and setup on one PC. Minus a $200 rebate per the Hughes/DirectWay advertising on TV.

The router and one more network cable to hook up a 2nd PC was a hair over $70 at Radio Shack, and I did the install of the router and 2nd PC myself.

Monthly cost of our satellite acess from Hughes for our "business" network with two PCs is $70 per month. We don't have a business, but Darling Wife insists on having her internet surfing on her PC to be just as fast as mine. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

So less than $500 up front plus $70 per month. We were paying about $70 per month for two ISPs and one extra phone line. So our monthly cost will be a wash after we cancel the two ISPs and the extra phone line.

The installer showed us the "other" antenna tripod that you would use on the road, and mentioned that it cost more than our simpler roof-mounted tripod. He didn't say how much more, but surely not more than another C-note or so?

The HughesNet satellite antenna is a lot bigger and bulkier than our DirectWay satellite TV antenna. I've hauled the TV antenna with us on long RV trips, but I wouldn't want to try to find space for the bigger HughesNet satellite antenna. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Down South]

Yep, the same here. I've been on Direcway for at least 7 or 8 years which as stated above is now Hughes Net.
I just had to upgrade to the two way system about a year and a half ago so I had to buy all new equipment.
I paid about what Smokey paid. The system works great for me. Hotmail is a little slow and I don't know why but it's still lighting fast compared to my old dial up.

BTW I couldn't get cable or DSL where I live and I'm on the end of the phone system. For me to call about a mile down the road in the other direction is long distance so you can figure how sorry my dial up was.

 

[Plowman]

Thanks for the replies. I was interested in the reliability of the sat network, heard some horror stories from some other sites.

The hardware that runs around 6k installed is designed for rooftop of RVs - auto positioning on the sat from any location. Arrive at campsite, push button, online in 3-5 minutes.

Tripod mounted setups can be had, requires manual setup and positioning whenever you change location - $1500 includes meter to help locate sat.

Both the above include dish, modem, router.

As for wireless, I can't even get cell phones to work at my home base! Coverage in the mountain west is spotty at best.

Haven't made a purchase yet. I have been accused before of researching even minor expenditures to death.

Thanks again for the imput!

 

[STurbo90]

Have you looked at Tracvision, they are supposed to have internet access available soon and the equipment package is much cheaper. I have used the Tracvision satellite programming and it seemed pretty good, but the internet service was not available then, so I can't comment on that part.

http://www.kvh.com/Products/product.asp?id=117

 

[Peter3540]

If you get a chance look at Hughes FAP (Fair Access Policy). It basically states how much data you can download a day based on your plan. It looks at a period of time and if you download more than is allowed in that time frame, it will slow your download speed. This has been an issue for some business partners of mine. Even though they download less in a day than the plan calls out, they get slow download speeds because they are downloading a big file in such a short time frame. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

However, I do understand why they need this policy. Just something to be aware of.

 

[mgwerks]

FWIW, out where we live no cable, DSL or like services are available, and the phone lines are so bad that about 16K was the best you could do. After looking at satellite and WiFi solutions, we ended up with a Sprint Connection Card for the laptop. Card was $100, service is $80 unlimited use and MB transfer. The best part is I am using it now, off in a campground outside Chattanooga!

You can get a much-faster-than-dialup speed about anywhere Sprint reaches, but in an area where EV-D0 is available I am getting near-cable speed. We use it in the truck along with GPS mapping on the laptop when travelling, and find the combo can't be beat.

HTH

 

[StuartV]

I have a Verizon EV-DO card. With a Verizon voice plan, the unlimited data plan for the wireless card is $60/month.

When I'm in an area with EV-DO service (aka Verizon BroadbandAccess), the speeds usually range from 500Kbps to 1Mbps. I have gotten as high as 1.8Mbps. Comparable to slower DSL or the actual throughput on some cable modems.

When I'm not in an EV-DO area, I still can almost always get reception for Verizon's NationalAccess. Speed on that runs about 3 times faster than dialup. Usually around 150Kbps. And I get that even when out in the STICKS!

If you're concerned about multiple computers, you *can* setup your home/RV network so that all your computers share the connection through one laptop with the aircard in it.

If you decide to go for an aircard solution, my research (about 2 months ago) led me to these conclusions:

The Kyocera KPC650 is THE aircard to get. It will cost a little more than a Verizon-branded card, but it will get reception where others won't.

Verizon has better coverage than Sprint in major metro areas. But Sprint has EV-DO coverage in more smaller, out-of-the-way places. You just have to look at their coverage maps and decide which is better for you.

Verizon is $20 per month cheaper than Sprint, if you also have a voice plan. At least, it was 2 months ago. Of course, Sprint could also now be on board with the $60/month deal for voice subscribers.

And I guess I should point out the obvious, which is that you can use an aircard while driving. Well, your passenger(s) can, anyway. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif It sounds like maybe that is not true for those satellite options.

 

[Plowman]

Thanks for the replies and alternative solutions.

Unfortunately, all the solutions suggested are line of sight (including satelite). Most of my travels are in the intermountain west where cell towers are few and often blocked by millions of cubic yards of granite.

The advantage of satelite is that if the southern sky is visible - signal is available. The disadvantages are that bandwidth is limited and hardware is expensive.

Hey, why complain? I can remember when rotary dial phones and party lines were the norm. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif Is that my ring? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[Motownfire]

StuartV I also use Verizon wireless for my internet. How do you set up more than one computer to run off of the one wireless card?

 

[StuartV]

I believe you have to use a feature of Windows XP called Internet Connection Sharing. Then connect the computers together with a crossover cable from the Ethernet card in one to the Ethernet card in the other. Or use a hub and two regular network cables.

I'm aware of this feature and its capabilities, but I've never actually set it up, so I can't give you a step-by-step on how to set it up.

 

[Motownfire]

Ok thanks, that sounds fairly simple. I never new that option was on XP.

Thanks again,

Delwars

 

[drainman]

Just ditched Hughes Net - the lag was horrible. NO internet gaming. Instant messaging was unreliable at best. Dial up had better response times, just took longer to download images. I'd steer clear of hughesnet formerly directway if at all possible. I'm on DSL now and living la vida loca. It is the bomb out here in the country. Good luck.