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Re: [IRCA] OT: Internet option update
Hi Pat,
Another possible option is satellite internet; that's what I have, through
Wildblue. I have the cheapest plan, $50/month, with 3Gb max download/month.
I never ever come close to reaching that, so far (I've had it a year now).
It's not especially fast compared to folks who can get DSL and such, but
it's vastly faster than diallup, and is the only option now for me, in this
very-rural area. Average download speed is in the 30-60kb/second range,
again not very fast compared to DSL but vastly faster than diallup. Hughes
also offers satellite internet; theirs starts at $60/month but is generally
similar to Wildblue. A brother in Tucson uses Hughes satellite internet and
prefers it since his download is unlimited if done in non-peak hours. He
downloads videos in the middle of the night, using special software to do it
automatically while he sleeps. I don't do things like that, so Wildblue is
good enough for me.
Wildblue installation is usually free; I don't remember if the equipment was
also free, I think it was, but could be wrong. You're required to use a good
anti-virus program. Wildblue and Hughes of course have webpages where you
can find out all about their services, if interested.
Satellite internet is subject to outages from weather either at your
location or at the uplink location; there are also frequent outages
apparently from maintenance; I never know the reason why. So far I have
never observed a weather outage due to my location, even in heavy snowstorms
(we rarely get really heavy rain so haven't tried it during that). And there
can be a daily outage of about 15 minutes in the morning when the sun hits
the dish just right (if it's not cloudy).
But compared to diallup, which became impossible to use, with inability to
even download 100kb of email without it stalling and then stopping,
satellite internet has worked well for me.
(Wildblue has several more plans, in $10/month increments from the basic
$50/month plan, giving you higher monthly download limits.)
73,
Steve
NE Oregon
----- Original Message -----
From: "Patrick Martin" <mwdxer@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "Mailing list for the International Radio Club ofAmerica"
<irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2009 9:02 PM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] Internet option OT update
Walt,
Yes, 50 MB is too smal. Even a music video off You Tube is 4-5 MB, so 25
of those ad the 50 MB is gone. The CSR at Verizon told me at 50 MB, you
could get 17,000 e mails and 342 webpages. Way to small. I can do that
with dial up! The charge per 1 MB abover the 50 would be 25 cents each,
so it would run the bill up a lot! But the 5GB would probably be plenty
for me, if I chose to go with it. But at least I do have an option other
than cable. That Verizon wireless would be quiet too. I could also
unplug it when not in use, if needed.
73,
Patrick
Patrick Martin
KGED QSL Manager
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