Satellite Internet News

Internet connectivity across the country has been growing at a brisk pace and the FCC has taken steps to ensure that the Internet reaches the interiors of America. The different technologies used to provide Internet connections to customers include dial-up, broadband, cable modem, and DSL. Dial-up is one of the oldest technologies and among the new technologies Satellite Internet is being preferred by many subscribers. AOL is the leading American company which offers dial-up connections to subscribers and HughesNet is the leading player among Satellite Internet providers. We can draw an interesting analogy when comparing dial-up services to Satellite Internet services. It is like a short garden hose compared to a longer fire hose. It may only take a second for the water to get to the end of the garden hose, but to fill up a pool it can take days. It make take a fraction of a second longer for that water to reach the end of a fire hose but it will only take minutes to fill a pool.

Satellite Internet connections offer faster download and upload speeds as compared to dial-up connectivity. The normal download speed for a dial-up connection is 56 Kbps and for a Satellite Internet connection it varies between 700 Kbps to 1.5 Mbps. Speed is one of the primary reasons why Satellite Internet connectivity scores over dial-up Internet connections. It is not practically possible to download large applications using dial-up connections. The slow speed often ends up in congestion, packet losses and ultimately the connection time-out resulting in a frustrating experience. Dial-up service providers are also gearing up to the competition and are offering features like higher speeds, unique e-mail addresses, Email virus protection, spam controls, Pop up blockers and other functionalities. Monthly charge for dial-up Internet is less than Satellite Internet. While a dial-up connection will cost you approximately $10-$25 per month, satellite Internet services can cost $59.99 to $179.99 per month. Satellite Internet has some upfront costs for installation of dish and modem.

Satellite Internet scores over dial-up and any other modes of Internet connectivity because of the wide reach of the services. In areas where dial-up or cable modem is not accessible, Satellite Internet providers can offer service because connecting to the transponder requires only a dish and a modem. Cabling is not required like the other modes of Internet connectivity. The cost of Satellite Internet is a roadblock and people in the cities prefer using broadband or DSL connectivity. The major players offering dial-up connections in America include AOL, NetZero and Juno and AOL leads the race.

Satellite Internet is capturing a quick market share and customers no longer prefer dial-up connectivity because of the slow speed and many other disadvantages. Subscribers who have used dial-up for a long time may take sometime to realize the benefits of other technologies. A brief analysis of dial-up and satellite modem will help anyone understand the many advantages that Satellite Internet over dial-up. It can be safely concluded that Satellite Internet is slightly more expensive but a better option to connect to the Internet than dial-up.

August 6, 2007

We always think of various options that have available when we plan to change our Internet connection or take a new one. There are many options which include broadband connectivity, leased lines, DSL, or through the cable network. What happens when you are in a far off place and devoid of such facility? Satellite Internet is the best option for such areas and ideal for the rural internet aficionados. The technology of Satellite Internet does not use a phone line or a network cable, but it depends on a satellite dish for both download and upload. The speed of Satellite Internet is definitely much faster than the dial-up modem connections. So how does Satellite Internet work? Let us first check out the equipments used. The equipments used are two-foot by two and half-foot dish for receiving and transmitting data. A modem is used for both, upload and download connections. The satellite dish needs to be connected through two coaxial cables, which also provide power to the dish.
The installation when done must ensure that the dish has a southern view, since most satellites orbiting the Earth are at the equator. The data gets transferred from the orbiting satellites and transmits to your dish, which then transfers the data to your computer via the coaxial cables. The Satellite Internet uses the technology of Internet Protocol (IP) multicasting. This provides the option of communicating 5,000 channels at the same time through a single satellite frequency. The data is transferred from a single point to multiple points in a compressed format. The advantage of compression is that it reduces the data size and also reduces the bandwidth requirements substantially.

Here, one needs to understand the functioning of TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol). TCP actually controls and manages the transmission through IP. TCP sends the data for the receipts. If the same is not received within a specific time frame, then the TCP sends back the data and it slows the data transfer rate. This factor must be considers when using Satellite Internet, because a delay of few milliseconds can affect the speed of the Internet. The problem needs to be corrected immediately when it is detected which only HughesNet does.

The notable companies that offer this service of Satellite Internet on a two-way basis are HughesNet aka Direcway, WildBlue, and StarBand. HughesNet is the only provider which designed and uses a complex but efficient technology to transmit data over satellite. This Protocol is “IPOS” Internet Protocol Over Satellite. This technology is years ahead of the competition.

HughesNet was formerly known as Direcway. The Hughes Corp. (Hughes Network Systems) bought the remaining shares of Direcway making the world’s largest leader to offer Internet via Satellite. The earlier Direcway service was known as DirecPC which was the world’s first satellite internet provider. DirecPC offered a dial-up modem or connection to send data to the internet. Only data received or downloaded was via satellite, which offered a much slower speed and performance.

One of the new comers to the market is WildBlue. WildBlue currently has two only satellites in operation. When compared to HughesNet’s twelve satellites it’s a small slice of the market. WildBlue uses a cable modem technology for their protocol. This technology is not optimized for satellite internet usages, which limits the bandwidth and availability of their satellites.

An old-timer in the satellite internet business is StarBand. StarBand is not seen or heard of much anymore. The few thousand, or maybe only hundreds of customers that StarBand has left, have been jumping ship. The company is no longer investing money into research and development and they are no longer offering upgrades.

Copyright Elite Satellite

Elite Satellite is Offering HughesNet anywhere.
Riverside, CA, July 16, 2007

HughesNet is a solution for all internet users, which provides very high speed connection to users in the US. The technology is based on satellite internet and requires a clear southern sky. It is totally wire-less and keeps you online at any time or place.

The breakthrough technology of HughesNet is provided by Hughes Network Systems LLC, which has more than 30 years of experience in the field of satellite communication. The technology is beneficial for both the government, business and the individual users. The market for HughesNet is not limited only to the United States, but serves worldwide to over 100 countries. Moreover, the brand has now become synonymous to the world of wireless communication.

The technology of HughesNet offers Internet service via satellite dish and through your telephone line. Your computer will be connected to the orbiting satellite with the help of the dish, usually installed on the roof of the home. The download speeds usually varies from 700 Kbps to 2000 Kbps and is definitely faster than the normal dial-up connections, in fact up to 70x faster. It is usually not recommended to play online real-time games through this service or avail VOIP because of the latency time. The speed is beyond comparison and you will have a great net surfing experience. The few benefits that HughesNet offers to the customers are services which are available at any place and even at places where cable and DSL connections are not within the reach, there is no downtime and large files can be downloaded in minutes and not is hours.

HughesNet has assured customers that surfing the web is as easy as going through the pages of a book Music and video download can be done at incredibly fast speeds. Another advantage of the service is platform independence and it can run on both Windows and Macintosh based computers. The minimum requirement is a Windows 98SE or higher version and for Mac OS the version you are using has to be 10.1 or higher. Your system should have a 10/100 Ethernet network capability. The service comes with various tariff plans suited for your home, office or personal use

The HughesNet Ethernet connection helps you to set up the internet link with much ease. There is no software required and it is backed up with 24/7 professional assistance for any form of troubleshooting. Apart from the above mentioned benefits, HughesNet has the latest technology in satellite internet and has the new generation HN7000S group of satellite systems. It is of great benefit for small offices, large enterprises and also for individual use. The HughesNet allows you do more work efficiently and do not keep you waiting for important downloads. With excellent bandwidth, it is the real time internet solution for can you for your browsing requirements.

Wildblue Communications Inc. based out of Greenwood Village in Colorado, started offering Satellite Internet connectivity across the United States in June 2005. The Chairman of the company is Mark D. Carleton and CEO is Dave J. Leonard. The revenue so far for this year is $8.7 million. The company has 70 employees and is funded by venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins. It offers service using the Ka band geosynchronous satellite Anik-F2 which is operated by Telesat Canada. The competitors of Wildblue are HughesNet and Starband. Wildblue is a new company which will take sometime to generate more revenue and increase its employee strength.

As a young company they may not be able to offer the same level of service like an established provider like HughesNet. The support and installation services are not offered by the company directly but outsourced to local agencies. If a customer applies for a connection the installation will be done by an agency which has been authorized by Wildblue. There have been many instances where customers had to face the pangs of dealing with a new company. The local agencies have no solutions if there are problems with the modem and the dish. The billing process of the company has flaws and needs to be rectified so that customers do not get wrong billing details.

People in rural areas are excited about Wildblue because the only option they have now is 56Kbps dial-up connectivity. Unfortunately, the 1.5Mbps advertised download speed is not achieved regularly. Many customers are frustrated to find that the normal speeds are barely more or equivalent to dial-up connectivity. The charge of a connection starts at $50 which is much more than any other modes of Internet connection. Even if subscribers are not satisfied with the service, they have to continue for the minimum period of 12 months. The complainants say that speed of service is much more during the night when usage is less. This factor makes one to believe that Wildblue has oversold its satellite bandwidth capacity. This is a serious problem and until they take steps to increase speed and reliability quickly people will move away from the service.

Technical support is also not responsive and if they do respond the usual response that one might expect are, weather conditions are poor and hence there is downtime. Some customers have logged complaints that they were able to get across to tech support only after trying for 4 days. Wildblue has also been accused of being unfair by customers in regards to their FAP or Fair Access Policy. Under the manner of the policy customers have been denied of their legitimate bandwidth. The company has used this free bandwidth to increase the subscriber base. A subscriber with a committed bandwidth of 512 Kbps has been able to download only at speeds of 125 Kbps. As a young company, Wildblue is facing these problems and many more. The company should take steps to rectify the errors in processes so that customers do not face recurring speed and reliability problems in future. It will help Wildblue to remain competitive in the years ahead.

HughesNet is the leader in Satellite Internet connectivity in the United States. It has 325,000 customers and the number is growing everyday. To meet customer’s expectations HughesNet has launched the Boeing built Space3 satellite into space. The Ka- band satellite was launched by the Ariane 5 ECA launcher from Kourou, French Guiana on 14th of August 2007. The spacecraft will maneuver in a circular orbit at a height of 22,300 miles above the equator at 95 degrees West longitude. Hughes will start using the satellite for commercial purposes in 2008. The Spaceway 3 satellite was designed and developed by Hughes because there was a need for commercial satellite to fulfill growing customer expectations. It has features such as onboard traffic switching and routing capability. Other advanced features include 10Gbps overall capacity, fast packet switching and dynamic beam forming. The satellite will help Hughes to launch bandwidth-on-demand satellite services with site-to-site, single hop networking of high performance ground terminals. The single hop communication between satellite terminals will eliminate the need for routing traffic through a central hub earth station. The Ka-band spectrum will help in high speed services for IP data and multimedia applications. The satellite has a digital processor, downlink phased array antenna, microwave switch matrix and flight hardware and software.

In the next couple of months Boeing along with Hughes will complete on orbit testing of the systems. It will also complete deployment of the satellite’s 132-foot solar arrays. An overall satellite checkout and systems acceptance testing will also be completed during this period. After completing all tests Hughes will put the satellite into commercial operation providing high-end satellite Internet connectivity to clients across America and Canada.

Hughes mission statement of ‘Connect to the Future’ through Satellite based Internet services can be partly achieved by the launch of the Spaceway 3 satellite. Like many other first’s to it credit Hughes will be able to offer high-end Satellite Internet services to customers and will move ahead of it competitor Wildblue. The Satellite Internet market has enough space to grow and the technology is being accepted by people across the length and breadth of the country. Customers in rural areas who do not get access to broadband and cable modem facilities will benefit greatly once Hughes puts the Spaceway 3 satellite into commercial use. The expected date of the start of commercial operations of the satellite can be anytime in the early part of 2008. HughesNet is a communication filed with the SEC has stated that Spaceway 3 can help address a US$ 26 billion per year market in North America. Apart from this HughesNet can offer services in Canada and Puerto Rico. The existing customers of Hughes are offered service using the conventional Ku-band satellite systems. They would need to change their existing equipment to receive services from the Ka-band Spaceway 3 satellite. There are licensing issues which Hughes needs to sort out before the commercial operation starts in early 2008. Once that is done customers can expect Satellite Internet connectivity with speeds that are comparable with any other technologies and no downtime of services.