Anyone have satellite internet?

I’m out in the sticks. I have DSL from a craptastic local phone company whose infrastructure likely predates the start of the Kennedy space race.

I pay for 5 Mbps up / 0.5 down (the most they claim they can offer), but I’ve also got a modern household with one kid trying to do her senior year of high school remote, another in her second year of community college studying graphic arts and photography, and a wife that is taking college classes and generally working from home. We don’t own a TV, so that’s either Netflix or Hulu if we watch anything at all (I don’t).

Some days/weeks, the connection is bearable... just try to stagger zoom calls and limit Netflix. The past several weeks though, as soon as we started getting bad weather, things drastically have turned to shit...again (it was like this back in March/April/May as well). Here’s my latest speed test, directly from their modem using their network speed test site (which I would expect to be optimized to provide falsely optimistic numbers).


Attempting to connect to a regular speedtest site like ookla just results in a failure. We’ve been calling daily to complain (minimum hour long wait time to do so) and they’ve managed to move our appointment for a tech to come out (and tell us their system sucks) up from Dec 10 (the date they gave us when we first called on 11/12) to Dec 2 (the date they gave us today).

Cell reception here also blows - after dropping $1k on a weboost home complete setup, I can get a single weak bar of LTE sitting directly under the indoor antenna. That’s with Verizon, but T-mobile and ATT can’t even get a signal on our property. So something like a mifi or “unlimitedville” is off the table.

SpaceX’s StarLink is still a pipe dream (I’ve been on the waitlist for the “Better Than Nothing” beta for a while now).

In other words, we’re getting desperate. And I’m not moving closer to town.

So, TL;DR - does anyone here have satellite internet? Is it really as bad (or worse) as some of the reviews? I know latency is a problem... but is it reliable? Do you get even close to the advertised speeds? Can you Zoom and video conference on it?
I realize it’s expensive, but I’m into my monthly bill damn near $60 for the shit I have right now.

Separate questions: Has anyone actually gotten into the StarLink beta? If so, how is it? I’ve got my fingers crossed that it might be the ultimate solution.

thanks for hearing me out...

 

I've had Hughesnet. All satellite service is inherently subject to the weather, expensive, and slower for the same money. Maybe better than DSL; I've never had DSL. We watch a lot of Netflix and Amazon Prime, so streaming bandwidth is essential for us. You can pay more for higher Hughesnet speed, but it was usually less than they advertised, and they couldn't deliver reliably. I finally dumped Hughesnet for Rise line-of-sight service, which is available in our area.

Only two satellite services I'm seen in our area are Hughesnet and ATT/DirectTV. Some people in my area must use satellite because they are in valleys, or in wooded areas, where LOS can't reach. FYI, I found the link below comparing Hughesnet and viasat.

https://www.satelliteinternet.com/resources/viasat-vs-hughesnet/

Edit: Above link shows all Hughesnet service is now the same advertised speed (25 Mbps), but they have different data plans. If you exceed the data you paid for, they begin to throttle your speed.

 

I have several clients that use Sat.Internet and I have to support this and will only recommend it if there is no other option.

A few weeks ago I got a call from a new client referred from an old one that had just moved into a new place in a lakefront community an hour out of town here and they will be there for a year or so while the intown house is gut remodeled.
They have 3 kids remote schooling and both parents run businesses from home mostly but they never even considered that there would not be useful internet where they were going.

There was not.

So long story,short I got them setup with Viasat and I have to say that they have come a long way since the last one that I worked on but it is very pricey and slow still compared to cable or even DSL when it works correctly.

There are evidently 2 different systems that are being implemented now by Viasat from 2 different Satellites and you have no choice which is available to you at all.It depends entirely on your location whether they can give you 30mps or 100mps service and both are unlimited data though they will throttle at some point too if needed and you pay depending on that threshold where they start the throttling.

So these people only get the 30mps option but it is a solid and steady speed too and there is really only throttling going on as needed and I can monitor this and see the times when it is happening and they get back the full speed as soon as the surge is over too.
Theirs seems useful though even when throttled back.

They pay $200 monthly for this and pay for 2 years on a card commitment so it is sure not cheap but it is useful and reliable for them and does get them by in the absence of options for now.

All Sat service can be subject to Rain Fade and other atmospheric conditions and the quality of the individual installation and limitations of each site have as much to do with this as anything that you can control and I rode herd on the installer for this one and helped him the whole time to try to make sure this one was as solid as possible but most installers will not tolerate this help from the outside unless they understand that you are an installer too and know what you are doing and even then most will ask you to back off.
I got lucky on this one.

Another option may be one of the LOS services as John mentions but these are really only available in certain limited areas and also pricey typically but if you need broadband then what else can you do?

I have also setup private LOS service with off the shelf components for people who know other people within their line of site that do get good broadband and are willing to share the bandwidth.
It seems sort of crazy but can work if you can set it up and in the mountains and deep woods it can be effective if the situation is available to you.

Hope this helps?

 

I think the biggest con besides price is the data limits with sat. A few video calls or Netflix shows will go through it pretty quick.

 

Thanks for the replies so far. I’ve looked at LOS options, but I’m just far enough below the crest of the hill and tucked just enough into the trees that it’s not available. Our whole neighborhood is plagued with being stuck with it, except possibly one house at the end of the road that sits high enough they can see a bit of the Portland West Hills.

I’ve got to get up and get started on our Thanksgiving meal, but might reach out to @ezdog for some more details on the install, etc. on the Viasat setup. Sounds like it is better than Hughes, though still expensive and far from ideal.

I remember having to use HughesNet once in a job site years ago (I’m in industrial construction) and it was a nightmare. But that was 15+ years ago.

@timsp8 all of the plans I’ve looked at have a bandwidth throttle cap, sort of like how cell carriers are doing it. So the plan is “unlimited” but once you hit a specific data amount (you can pay for higher tiers), then you don’t get cut off or charged overages, but you do have the potential to get throttled during “peak” times.

I honestly thought about trying to get the whole neighborhood to come together and use the farthest lot’s skyline view to get a LOS link and then build a mesh through the whole HOA (about 15 5-acre lots in the woods). I’ve got a feeling that wouldn’t be easy or cheap though... and none of us are experts in that sort of infrastructure.

 

The Viasat plans are unlimited data which is really the only reason they are practical in the end I think.

They offer different plans with different full speed promises of data amounts and over those amounts they only reduce your speed but not your total data which again is unlimited.

There is only so much bandwidth available on a satellite transponder so they have to regulate it somehow and evidently they will even limit the number of new users if needed to be able to keep the deal they made with existing customers.

The system seems to work as advertised so far and is a lot better than it used to be.

There are now 2 sats for Viasat,the old one that was overloaded and overwhelmed before and that has a hardware limitation of up to 30mps performance and a relatively lower number of users.

Then there is a much newer and more current Sat that can hit 100mps and more users due to more modern technology.

New users in big cities get put on the newer bird while more rural users are on the older one.

In the past the old single sat just could not handle the demands and everyone suffered for it but now with the load distributed a little the old sat works much better than before and the new sat is much better than the old one too.

Latency is terrible for sure but you can get used to it too if not needing real time performance at high bandwidth,Zoom seems to scale and adapt to it just fine and streaming entertainment is OK too but you also need a really solid network in the house to make it all run well together and in every install I have done I have had to upgrade the Networking to make it all keep up too.

 

But don’t they throttle at some limit like @RainMan_PNW mentioned? I know his options are limited, but something to consider if his goal is video calls for his kids and wife.

 

The house side should be solid... i ran dedicated CAT6 to every room in the house (we built it ourselves) and have a 24-port gigabit switch in the basement. Anything that can be hardwired is. The WiFi is an eero mesh (3 pro and one Gen1 hubs) that are all hooked up to hardwire for the backhaul. I’ve got NO issues with internal connectivity...I can get wifi about anywhere in my yard. I’m just trying to fill a swimming pool with a capillary tube!

 

It sounds like they CAN, but it isn’t necessarily automatic. I’ve experienced that with cell companies as well. The 2 year contract and price of equipment is heavy handed too... If it didn’t work for me, I’m stuck with an expensive experiment.

 

Yes they throttle which I have said in each of my posts.

But throttle means they slow you down and not limit data amount only speeds.
They do not throttle to an unusable level in any way and the client has few complaints about live sports being unusable even after his kids burn through his allotted data for the month in 6 days which they seem to do each month so far since installed.

So far even when throttled performance has been better than I expected and they seem to try to throttle as little as possible and only as long as needed as full speed comes back much more quickly than I expected as well.

 

Thanks... I’ll reach out more after today. Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Our dsl provider, says that dec 31 our hook up will go the way of the Dinosaur. Been exploring satellite providers because there is only electrical and telephone lines coming down hill. Property is wooded, and no clear shot to the sky.. We loose dish for the season that the trees are leafed out only to regain during winter. The dish response is to take trees out at a soon discovered cost of 1000.00 per tree. After 3 trees out the signal is no better.

So if we get the hughes net people out today to install, there is no commitment from them on the cost to return in the summer and realign if possible.

hopefully some one here will come up with a solution that I haven't thought of. Sorry for the rant.

 

@RainMan_PNW
Did you ever get into the StarLink beta? Just wated a video on youtube about it and reminded me of this thread.

 

So, my wife tried to sign us up for ViaSat just before Christmas. Expensive, but we were at our wits end with our DSL provider and how bad our line and speed had gotten. The installers came out, surveyed the property, and couldn’t find a line of sight (without taking out trees on neighbor’s land) except for one spot in the corner of our property that would be good for maybe two years before a tree would be big enough to block that. The spot was ~300 ft from the house and would require us to ditch power and ethernet to it, or power and then use a microwave repeater to get the signal to the house. $1000+ in equipment, plus the cost and labor to run the power to the dish, for maybe two years worth of service (remember, you’re on a 2-year contract) at $150/month for a decent plan with limited throttling. I said thanks, but no thanks...and a week later we FINALLY got the phone company to get off their asses and investigate our issue deeper. Three techs and 6 visits later, it turned out it was the port on their main switching equipment had gone bad and when they plugged us into a new port our phone line static, dropped internet whenever the phone would ring, and abysmal speeds all were resolved (well, the speeds still suck, but they are pretty much the 5mbps down/0.5mbps up that we pay for).

A few weeks ago, I did get the email stating I was eligible for the StarLink beta. I’ve put my deposit/down payment down ($100 of the $500 equipment costs). Now it’s just waiting for the actual ship date.

 

5G available in your area ?

 

Not at my house. Can’t get crap for cell service in any way/shape/form. Even a $1000 weBoost house setup has managed to only give us 2 bars of voice (1x) only.

 

A local buddy and coworker of mine got on the starlink beta a couple weeks ago and has been loving it, here's his first week impression.


"Ok so about a week into our Starlink Beta test experience...and I know some of you were interested in how things went.
Really impressed with the kit/hardware. Its all plugged in together in the box. You pretty much literally could throw the dish out in the yard and plug the power source into and outlet and have internet. The setup is all via App. But there isn't much to it.
The dish is pretty neat. Heavier than I thought. But it does move on it's own and align itself. Also it has a built in heater to melt snow off which is pretty darn cool.
The router included is completely locked down. The only customization you can do is change your SSID and password. Luckily you can plug in your own router/mesh system into the aux port or straight into the power brick.
If you do bypass the router you will lose the ability to check starlink data as shown in the picture. There is a work around with static IP addresses but my gear isnt capable of it or I just can't figure it out. But I like having the data for now.
When we first set it up...I thought we had a pretty open sky with no obstructions. But after the dish sets up it's pretty clear it orients towards the north sky a bit which makes sense if you look at the satellite patterns. We had some tree obstructions and rather than to take the trees out I moved the dish to the shop and it did much better there. The APP was pretty neat. After 24 hrs it has enough data to show you where your obstructions are on a compass so you can make adjustments.
There are 3 possibilities for downtime. Obstruction, no satellites, and beta downtime.
- obstruction is self explanatory.
- no satellite is too. However, this is Beta testing and the amount of satellites will increase dramatically.
- beta downtime is arbitrary. Don't know what it is but I assume its "engineering monkey business"
The goal at launch to all customers is no downtime at all. Even when we do get downtime its only a few seconds and is only noticed during a video call which has no buffer. Other than that there is no problem.
Speeds range from 30mbps to 155mbps. New target is 300mbps. But I'm stoked with 30! I'd say our average is 80mbps so far. Latency has been good. Usually it's around 35, but I believe the target is 12!
The only major downside I see so far is the reality that a lot of people in rural areas also have trees/obstructions. Because this system is different than traditional satellites where the dish is fixed on 1 satellite and a big open sky is necessary some folks may have an issue with this. But as satellite numbers increase this should be reduced also.
So far so good. Excited to have real internet at our rural home. It's the biggest thing we missed when we moved here. This is a game changer for sure."

 

Sweet - even 30 MB is 6x what we get now, and with shittier latency. And our upload is what really limits us...can’t do cloud backups, or even sync pictures on your phone.

Looking forward to getting the equipment. Obstructions and where I have to set the dish at are my biggest concerns, but at least I can install it myself where with ViaSat they wouldn’t even let me do that (nor would they use the existing RG6 Quad I have pre-run to an antenna position on my roof).