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Old 08-09-2017, 08:29 PM
 
160 posts, read 187,067 times
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The Internet/Cable/TV picture is bleak in Marion County. I am moving there shortly, so I am trying to find the best option. The best download speed I can get from conventional Internet is 1.5 MBPS, which really means 1 MBPS, and that means uploading will be, for all intents and purposes, impossible. Uploading is always much slower than downloading. I can forget about Youtube.

I am looking into Hughesnet satellite Internet. I'm wondering if anyone can tell me about their experiences with it.

The download speed (claimed to be 25 MBPS) is more than high enough. The upload speed (claimed) is 3 MBPS, which is okay. It's my understanding that certain types of heavy weather will kill my system, so I'm not thrilled about that, but if it happens sufficiently rarely, it will still be better than Centurylink's 1999-worthy speeds.

I'm also not excited about Hughesnet's policy of throttling data when you go over your limit. I watch a lot of Youtube and very little TV, so I would have to get a pretty generous plan.

I don't care about gaming, so the satellite latency doesn't bother me.
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Old 08-09-2017, 11:36 PM
 
Location: Winter Garden, FL
378 posts, read 480,173 times
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I would only recommend satellite internet only as a last resort, the latency (response time) combined with bandwidth caps and throttling make it a non-starter for me.

1 - stick with your conventional internet
2 - Look to see if there are any WISP/Microwave internet providers in your area
3 - Look into one of the mobile offerings if you have coverage (AT&T had a 50Gb package that worked well for one of my remote employees, I've heard that they have higher 250Gb packages too)
4 - If there is a remote location (A friends home, commercial location with roof rights or tower) that you have line of sight to, check into the Ubiquiti gear (AirFiber or etc) and a consultant/vendor who can set it up for you
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Old 08-09-2017, 11:43 PM
 
Location: Winter Garden, FL
378 posts, read 480,173 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by A Little Hoarse View Post
I don't care about gaming, so the satellite latency doesn't bother me.
Latency affects more than just gaming, it just happens to be more noticeable with gaming/voip and is just as important.

With satellite internet, regardless of speed it will be like a 56K modem IMO.
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Old 08-10-2017, 09:22 AM
 
160 posts, read 187,067 times
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Thanks for the help. Would a mobile plan have decent upload speeds?

I will look into WISP. Never heard of it until now.
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Old 08-10-2017, 10:29 AM
 
Location: Winter Garden, FL
378 posts, read 480,173 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by A Little Hoarse View Post
Thanks for the help. Would a mobile plan have decent upload speeds?

I will look into WISP. Never heard of it until now.
It would depend on the service available to your area. My employee was in rural Indiana and was getting better than 10Mbps up & down...and now that I think of it they had HughesNet for personal use and he wanted to know more about the plan we got for him since he wanted to switch.

For WISPs - Check out SVIC.net or Long Hammock Wireless, or if there is enough interest in your community, start your own

If you go the mobile route - Check out some popular RV blogs, I recall seeing a thread where they have access to some higher bandwidth cap plans (>250Gb)
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Old 08-10-2017, 12:04 PM
 
160 posts, read 187,067 times
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What kind of problems will latency cause for a non-gamer?
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Old 08-10-2017, 12:47 PM
 
Location: Winter Garden, FL
378 posts, read 480,173 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by A Little Hoarse View Post
What kind of problems will latency cause for a non-gamer?
It affects the response time. Here is a simple breakdown I found that should help:
Quote:
Latency in the Real World

Let’s say you are browsing the web on different types of connections. Here’s how latency would “feel”:

Satellite Internet Connection (High Speed, High Latency): You would click a link on a web page and, after a noticeable delay, the web page would start downloading and show up almost all at once.

Theoretical Connection (Low Speed, Low Latency): You would click a link on a web page and the web page would start loading immediately. However, it would take a while to load completely and you would see images load one-by-one.

Cable Internet Connection (High Speed, Low Latency): You would click a link on a web page and the web page would appear almost immediately, downloading all at once.

Latency always manifests as a delay. For example, if you are having a Skype chat with someone on a high-latency Internet connection, you would be out of sync with each other. You would have to pause in between sentences or you would end up talking over each other thanks to the delay.
So to put this in perspective/real-world, think of a drag race. You have the car on the left (Traditional internet/low latency) and a car on the right (Satellite/high latency), when the lights turn green the car on the left will have a near instant reaction and start racing down the road, meanwhile the car on the right has a delay (latency) that can vary between 1 to 5 seconds before they start going.

Think that type of scenario impacts the race, especially considering that the average time of a race is 5-10 seconds (Left car could finish the race before Right car even starts)?
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Old 08-10-2017, 02:23 PM
 
160 posts, read 187,067 times
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Thanks again.

A company called Millenicom says it can give me wireless Internet that doesn't slow after 32 GB. I am bracing for the price.

I checked my current data usage, and it's over 100 GB/month, so I think 32 (the current standard) would mean a big reduction in my Youtubing.
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Old 08-10-2017, 02:37 PM
 
Location: Winter Garden, FL
378 posts, read 480,173 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by A Little Hoarse View Post
Thanks again.

A company called Millenicom says it can give me wireless Internet that doesn't slow after 32 GB. I am bracing for the price.

I checked my current data usage, and it's over 100 GB/month, so I think 32 (the current standard) would mean a big reduction in my Youtubing.
From their site, plans range from $35 (6GB) to $95 (22GB):;
Home – Millenicom

But you might be in luck if YouTube makes up most of your content...but you might want to clarify how this works as it could be limited to specific Apps (I.E. As seen here, I don't see any Windows Apps http://www.millenicom.com/unlimited-movies/)
Unlimited Movies … doesn’t use your LTE data: watch Netflix, HBO, ESPN, YouTube and more
Unlimited Music … doesn’t use your LTE data: enjoy Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music and more
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Old 08-10-2017, 04:04 PM
 
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I live in a rural location with no DSL/cable internet and have to use satellite internet. My only other options are cellular 4GLTE plans and dial up and those don't give me enough data for what I need. I am on the hughesnet 50GB plan with 50GB anytime data and another separate bucket of 50GB from 2AM-8AM.

The satellite internet will not work in moderate to heavy rain which in Florida is frequent in the summer so you'll want to have a cell phone plan with internet as a backup. Otherwise, it is not terrible. It is OK for what it is. Latency can be an issue with some websites but you get used to it. It should still be noticeably faster than 1.5MBs DSL.

The problem you will have is data caps for your streaming of youtube netflix. You will need to stop streaming in HD and change all your video settings to 480P/DVD quality. This uses about 0.7 GB per hour and will give you about 50 hours of video a month. If you change your settings to the lowest quality setting 240P or 360P, you can probably burn 0.3 GB per hour and have 100 hours of video a month before you reach your cap.

I don't know how much video you watch but it's not going to be a replacement if you want to subscribe to a cut your cord over the top streaming service where you have news or other cable channels streaming 12 hours a day. You are going to need to subscribe to satellite if you need that level of TV.

Hughesnet recently launched a new satellite with Gen 5 service. The new satellite allows unlimited throttled speeds of up to 3MBps after you hit your cap. This should be enough to do your normal websites and stream in the lowest quality but there are no guarantees. If it's a congested part of the day like primetime, streaming may not work at all in the throttled status. You'll be in the lowest priority for data like the cell phone plans that throttle.
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