[plug] Satellite links?

[Onno Benschop]

Senectus . wrote:

>Does anyone here have much to do with sat-link Internet connections?
>In particular what sort of behaviour to expect from them, reliability
>costs, speeds and best providers.
>One of my customers are having "issue's" with Telstra's service. I'd
>like to see what we can do about it.
>
Well, yes, funny you should ask :-)

My satellite experience is limited to the Optus SatWeb offerings. I have 
travelled around the country with a mobile 2-way service for the past 
two years (and you're getting this email using that connection). For a 
client of mine I've also done a little work with a 1-way SatWeb service.

The behaviour of my satellite link is that it's just an Internet 
connection. It just works. Of course, that doesn't give you the complete 
answer or the complete picture. As I've said elsewhere, the devil is in 
the detail.

Before I spend the next hour writing about this, how about you read the 
following two documents and come back with some specific questions 
regarding behaviour.

    * http://itmaze.com.au/articles/mobile.internet/
    * http://itmaze.com.au/locations/

As for providers, there are quite a few around, but they break down to 
four main groups and the rest.

One service is provided by Optus on the Optus B3 satellite, you can buy 
the connectivity from Optus, BorderNet and quite a number of other 
resellers. This service is based on Gilat and Chiron hardware.

The next service is provided by Telstra (and formerly iHug) and uses the 
Pas {mumble - I think 2 and 8} satellites and uses the DirectWay hardware.

A new player is based around the NewSkies platform on (from memory) NSS6 
which has a whole bunch of resellers each with a deal better than the 
next (but I think that they hide a large part of the costs and I've yet 
to get an actual accurate costing from any of them).

Of course there is InmarSat and there are other private network providers.

If cost is a concern, then domestic connectivity is petty much the only 
affordable option.

I pay $130 per month, that includes 1.25Gb of data and a 400kBit/76kBit 
link.

Setup isn't trivial, but it's not impossible either. Installers charge 
anywhere from $1000 and up.


Hope that gives you a taste and feel free to ask more...


Cheers,

-- 
Onno Benschop

Connected via Optus B3 at S25°34'41" - E152°35'34" (Graham's Creek, QLD)
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