Paul, I've responded via e-mail.
Just a few general comments. Dish size has a lot to do with the ability to "attract and amplify" the satelite signal to a correct strength to be able to have a connection significantly strong to maintain in all weather conditions. Currently my own connection stays up in even the most vile weather. The dish has to be knocked over for me to go down. Having said that, I do experience slightly slower connectivity and lower signal strength with heavy cloud cover or rain, or sunspot activity.
In the Caribbean, we are on the edge of the footprint for most available satellites for connectivity. It gets a little easier once you talk about television. However, if you want to do television and internet connectivity on the same dish, you are bound to the satellites that you can aim to, for connectivity. A parabola cannot look into two different directions.
This technology is not fully developed. It takes quite some doing for us involved in this technology, to stay ahead of the curve, both in terms of giving a good service to current customers, as well as getting the prices down to a realistically affordable model.
Usually, your uplink speed differs quite dramatically from your downlink speed. This has to do with the compression algorithms when you 'request' something as well as the way that your connectivity providers (and satelite owners) translate those requests and prioritise them. As I say, the technology known as vsat (very small aparture technology), is very new in terms of individual commercial application.
The first choice is to go land based. This means that if you have DSL or cable modem or T-type lines available for broadband, this should be your first choice. If these services are not dependable or available, then you look to satellite connectivity. The reason for this is that if anyone spends the money to set the infrastructure for a landbased system, they probably will provide the service at a price affordable to the general population. Satellite connectivity requires an initial investment in hardware, and on a monthly basis, is slightly more expensive than what is usual for DSL or cable modem type connectivity.
Some good news, there is quite some development happening in terms of telephone connectivity over satellite - SVoIP. Currently, with the differences in uplink and downlink speeds, (a-synchronous), the service is not acceptable at a reasonable price. It is available for quite some dollars. We expect by mid-year to be testing good telephone connectivity solutions whereby the asynchronous nature of the technology is overcome by certain voice compression algorithms.
Some more good news, over the last year, with improvements in the technology, we've seen a downward pressure on pricing. The prices of this stuff is coming down and will come down even more in future. This trend will take awhile to reach us in the Caribbean but it will reach us.
For anyone contemplating purchasing the hardware and monthly service for satellite connectivity, the words of wisdom would be - check out your suppliers, have they been in business a long time, does their providers show a consistent business background. Check out some of your providers' installations - are their current customers happy. Are your suppliers and installers accredited or do they have certification in what they do? This is new stuff, the "backyard mechanic" probably will not give you a consistent service at this stage of the game. It is not rocket science, but an installation that is substandard, will never make you feel good and productive and will go down all the time.
Thats all I have to say for now. My husband always teases me - he says that he should have married someone who gets excited about jewellery and fur coats - instead, he has someone who gets passionate about business and technology and politics - and good wine.
