Fastest / Best Satellite Internet?

Castellamonte

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Mar 3, 2005
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I have a finca in the hills, way too far away for a DSL line, so I have been using HughesNet as the internet satellite. I've had this for a few years and generally am pleased with it. But I find the speed (up and down) to be much slower than I would want.

Does anyone know of a better, higher speed, satellite internet service?

By the way, I cannot use the Claro cellular system for my computer because: a) we have multiple computers and b) they are all Apple so they don't work so well with Claro.

Any recommendations?
 

slug

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Oct 13, 2005
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Just be careful. I was ripped off by a guy who I guess I shouldn't mention. PM me if you need the info.
 

NotLurking

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Jul 21, 2003
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I have a finca in the hills, way too far away for a DSL line, so I have been using HughesNet as the internet satellite. I've had this for a few years and generally am pleased with it. But I find the speed (up and down) to be much slower than I would want.

Does anyone know of a better, higher speed, satellite internet service?

By the way, I cannot use the Claro cellular system for my computer because: a) we have multiple computers and b) they are all Apple so they don't work so well with Claro.

Any recommendations?

I know you asked for satellite providers but I think you would be better served by using a service like 'Banda Ancha de Claro'. You can use this cellular connection for multiple computers (desktop or laptop) by implementing connection sharing or a full blown AP (Access Point). You can also use Claro's service ANYWHERE Claro's cellular service is available. You'll also be able to travel the country and take your internet with you. And, least but not last, the service is MUCH cheaper at ~DR$2000 per month for unlimited traffic at speeds of up to 3.5 Mbits. I know you said all your computers are MAC but that doesn't really matter.

If you like Banda Ancha de Claro
Claro que tienes m?s


If you still set on Satellite
DunHill Systems + CaribbeTech = Satellite and Wifi Communication

and here is a comparison of the services offered.
DunHill Systems + CaribbeTech = Satellite and Wifi Communication

Notluriking
 
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Castellamonte

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I know you asked for satellite providers but ...You can also use Claro's service ANYWHERE Claro's cellular service is available. You'll also be able to travel the country and take your internet with you...
Notluriking

Thanks for the links, I'll check them out. Unfortunately the Anywhere does not seem to work on the Apple computers. At least this is what Claro in Nagua is telling me.

They tried to sell me a Blackberry I could use the data connection from but even they couldn't get that to work (PC or Apple) so I decided to pass on that "offer of help."

I have a lot of friends who use the little plug into their PC and it seems to work great for them. But using it on the Apple, again according to Nagua Claro, just ain't gonna happen.

You know sumthin' different, I'm all ears! :bunny:
 

NotLurking

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You know sumthin' different, I'm all ears! :bunny:

Yes! You can buy a cheap Windows XP Laptop with an Ethernet port (US$150-300 for something used on ebay) and install the Claro Banda Ancha USB device on it. If you don't already have one, buy a regular wireless router (~US$50). On the WinXP laptop enable internet connection sharing on the Ethernet port and connect your wireless router to your WinXP laptop Ethernet port. That is it! You will now have Wifi in your whole house! All MACs and PC laptops can access the internet wirelessly via the WinXP/Claro internet connection. If your wireless router also includes a build in Ethernet switch (usually 4 ports on DLink, Linksys Netgear...) you can connect desktop with UTP cable to the router or buy any desktop a wireless USB or PCMCIA adapter.

When all is said and done you'll have a cheaper better (Less latency, no FAP and far cheaper initial investment-- and reusable H/W too) than what satellite can offer. Of course there are a few way this same thing can get done, I've only mentioned the way I think would be the easiest way to give you an idea of how to approach this.

Good Luck.

NotLurking
 
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gamana

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Apr 24, 2006
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Hughesnet can provide you with high speed but you need to pay for it. I am very satisfied with the Business 100 plan ($149/month) but you can always go higher. Also, if you have a 1 watt transmitter which is probably the case since you have had your system for a while, you should switch to a 2 watt transmitter. Your upload will be better and therefore your downloading will start sooner.
 

track

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Sep 6, 2008
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What part ofthe island are you? Claro is working very hard to provide high speed internet using the cellular infrastructure. The service should work fine in most places even while driving or flying at very high speed.
To my understanding Acatel-Lucent HSDPA card will provide a constant speed even while doing handovers ( That's jumping from one cell to another ). This could in the future backfire, but at present it should work very well.
 
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Adrian

Member
Oct 22, 2003
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Yes! You can buy a cheap Windows XP Laptop with an Ethernet port (US$150-300 for something used on ebay) and install the Claro Banda Ancha USB device on it. If you don't already have one, buy a regular wireless router (~US$50). On the WinXP laptop enable internet connection sharing on the Ethernet port and connect your wireless router to your WinXP laptop Ethernet port. That is it!

I was thinking of doing exactly this, but am wondering whether the Claro data SIM card would work in a dual ADSL/3G wireless router. Something like this:

Billion 7300GX 3G & ADSL 2+ Wireless-G Router (Supports 3G/HSDPA, EDGE, UMTS, GPRS) from Broadbandbuyer.co.uk

Any thoughts about whether it might work, or anyone tried it?

Adrian
 

track

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Sep 6, 2008
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I was thinking of doing exactly this, but am wondering whether the Claro data SIM card would work in a dual ADSL/3G wireless router. Something like this:

Billion 7300GX 3G & ADSL 2+ Wireless-G Router (Supports 3G/HSDPA, EDGE, UMTS, GPRS) from Broadbandbuyer.co.uk

Any thoughts about whether it might work, or anyone tried it?

Adrian

Codetel will supply a Wireless Internet card, USB from Acatel-Lucent.
Is USB OK?

Now about the modem/router, In order to support a modem and the carrier that it is on, they would not only need the VID and PID of the specified modem/router but they would also need the service active on that modem as well.
In other words, will Claro activate the modem/router?
 

granca

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For satellite internet have a look at www.level421.com/news/USA.jpg, this satellite Telesat T11 N-37.5 WEST comes on stream sometime in January with its centre of maximum signal here in the RD. If anyone is interested I will post further news when I get it as I am pursuing purchasing the service. Only a small dish will be needed.
 

track

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Sep 6, 2008
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For satellite internet have a look at www.level421.com/news/USA.jpg, this satellite Telesat T11 N-37.5 WEST comes on stream sometime in January with its centre of maximum signal here in the RD. If anyone is interested I will post further news when I get it as I am pursuing purchasing the service. Only a small dish will be needed.

This is great news, hope INDOTEL has an open mind about this and allow then sell the service.
 

Adrian

Member
Oct 22, 2003
192
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Track,

Thanks.

Codetel will supply a Wireless Internet card, USB from Acatel-Lucent.
Is USB OK?

Either will be fine.

Now about the modem/router, In order to support a modem and the carrier that it is on, they would not only need the VID and PID of the specified modem/router but they would also need the service active on that modem as well.
In other words, will Claro activate the modem/router?

That's a shame. I had hoped that putting a Wireless Internet card in the back of a router like that might have had a reasonable chance of working.

Adrian
 

track

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Sep 6, 2008
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That's a shame. I had hoped that putting a Wireless Internet card in the back of a router like that might have had a reasonable chance of working.

Adrian

The PCCard or USB Card have a special software that starts installing upon connection. It's not just the driver, this things is huge 73MB for the Alcatel-Lucent USB Card.

But you should try what NotLucking is saying. Get an old Laptop or a MiniMac and install the software, share the internet and test.
The CLARO network is very fast, HSPDA I've seen it peek at 3 Mbps and it could get as low as 60Kbps. The ping time could go as over 3,000ms but on average it's about 300-400ms. ( You could see YouTube with out a problem. But still 60Kbps is better than nothing ( No YouTube here ). The problems are 1) Voice has and will have priority over data. 2) It's a new network, not many people know about it and in the future it will probably get congested.
They have something like a FAP, it will peek at 1GB, No specific if this is per month or per Day.

But then again, That new Satellite Granca is telling us sounds great.
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
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We are interested in the Banda Ancha, as we may be moving to an area devoid of DSL or cable internet.

The tech of using a laptop as a router is doable. However, according to the info @ Claro, even with the "unlimited" 3.6mb plan, they throttle the speeds down to 128/144k when you reach 3gb transfer during the month. They increase the speed again at the beginning of the month.

3gb ain't squat.

For heavy users, that could be a day...

Comments?
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
40,964
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We are interested in the Banda Ancha, as we may be moving to an area devoid of DSL or cable internet.

The tech of using a laptop as a router is doable. However, according to the info @ Claro, even with the "unlimited" 3.6mb plan, they throttle the speeds down to 128/144k when you reach 3gb transfer during the month. They increase the speed again at the beginning of the month.

3gb ain't squat.

For heavy users, that could be a day...

Comments?
Corretion: 10gb, not 3gb. Still isn't much.
 

krwilson

Member
Apr 18, 2008
136
18
18
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="429"><tbody><tr><td align="center" valign="middle">
5 MB (3Gb*)​
</td><td>
5 MB (500Mb*)​
</td><td>
$135.00​
</td><td>
5 MB​
</td><td>
$0.05 x Kb​
</td></tr><tr><td>
15 MB (3Gb*)​
</td><td>
15 MB (500Mb*)​
</td><td>
$235.00​
</td><td>
15 MB​
</td><td>
$0.04 x Kb​
</td></tr><tr><td>
30 MB (3Gb*)​
</td><td>
30 MB (500Mb*)​
</td><td>
$345.00​
</td><td>
30 MB​
</td><td>
$0.03 x Kb​
</td></tr><tr><td>
60 MB (3Gb*)​
</td><td>
60 MB (500Mb*)​
</td><td>
$585.00​
</td><td>
60 MB​
</td><td>
$0.02 x Kb​
</td></tr><tr><td>
200 MB (3Gb*)​
</td><td>
200 MB (500Mb*)​
</td><td>
$750.00​
</td><td>
200 MB​
</td><td>
$1.50 x Kb​
</td></tr><tr><td>
500 MB (3Gb*)​
</td><td>
500 MB (500Mb*)​
</td><td>
$995.00​
</td><td>
500 MB​
</td><td>
$1.50 x Kb​
</td></tr><tr><td>
Ilimitado (3Gb*)​
</td><td>
Ilimitado (500Mb*)​
</td><td>
$1,595.00​
</td><td>
Ilimitado​
</td><td>
n/a​
</td></tr><tr><td>
Ilimitado (10Gb*)​
</td><td>
n/a​
</td><td>
$2,395.00​
</td><td>
Ilimitado​
</td><td>
n/a​
</td></tr></tbody></table>
You're paying another 800 pesos for the 10Gb limit. (originally it was a 20Gb limit that I read in old documentation, this was workable)

I had the 3Gb Llimitado (10Gb is a new offering) but dumped it, for I had many other issues with Claro over it's failure to work consistently. Originally I had argued with them in the fall of 2008 that it was never explained to me about any cap on downloads, so my account was wide open. BUT, I see now they are much more clear on the limits, so I must not have been the only one to complain. I had better things to do than drive to PP once or twice a week only to get nowhere with them. The someone will call you, not sure what's going on routine. This occurred after they had done network upgrades. For whatever reason they could not get my account to work correctly, and it would not reset at the beginning of the month to give me any speed. I was stuck with downloads at around 35Kb/s all of the time.

BUT, when it was working correctly I did really like it! So, if you can live with the download cap, then it can be good. And, yes, the 3Gb can easily be used in a day!
 
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cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
40,964
936
113
We use around 2.5gb a day. That's 85gb a month, but a big chunk of that includes seeding upload torrents. That would have to stop.