Bajagypsy - 2-17-2007 at 08:48 AM
The Bajagypsy's are just doing some preliminary investigation on purchasing a satilite system so that when we are camping in the middle of knowhere we
can get our emails, post on Baja Nomads (of course) and talk to our family at home. We are just wondering what type of systems fellow nomads use, and
the price of purchase and fees per month. We are also wondering if you can pay to have it turned on when we are there, and then have it dormant when
we are back in freezing Saskatchewan with the 30 feet of snow!! 
Any input would be appreciated.
losfrailes - 2-17-2007 at 09:11 AM
DirecWay (Hughes Network) with a tripod will do it. Just have to learn how to point it.
flyfishinPam - 2-17-2007 at 05:48 PM
Pointing it will be tough if you'll be moving around.
Anyone on direcway having trouble connecting, getting on? My service has been lousy for about a month. I understand solar flares are to blame but
its getting to the point where I'm paying for no service here and on the brink of canceling it.
Pescador - 2-17-2007 at 06:09 PM
My Direcway on the beach at San Lucas Cove has been a jewel of an operation and works like a champ. Los Frailes installed it for me and we have never
even had a burp or a temporary problem. We are so happy, that I have bought a second antenna for home in Colorado and we will carry the modem back
and forth. It needs to be aimed properly and then needs to be tied down securely.
Pam, if you continue to have problems you might want to have wayne stop in and check your system when he is going through town on his way to San
Juanico, he is the best installer I have seen.
oxxo - 2-17-2007 at 07:43 PM
More information please. Where is San Lucas cove? Who is Los Frailes. Who is Wayne?
Thanks
Bob and Susan - 2-17-2007 at 08:37 PM
wayne BEST installer of SAT internet in baja!!!
San Lucas is just south of Santa Rosalia and north of Mulege
THE BEST ?
MrBillM - 2-17-2007 at 08:46 PM
While not questioning your choice, I'm wondering HOW it was determined that he was the Best in all of Baja. Was there a competition ? A Baja-wide
poll taken ?
My Direcway works fine. All of my neighbors also work fine. Could they have worked better ? How ?
Just wondering.
[Edited on 2-18-2007 by MrBillM]
overly enthusiastic----
beercan - 2-17-2007 at 08:51 PM
My direcway works fine and I installed it myself !!
Bob and Susan - 2-17-2007 at 09:10 PM
ok i TAKE IT BACK!!!
Bajagypsy - 2-18-2007 at 09:42 AM
So it seems that directway is the one to use. HOw much is the initall start up cost, and what do you pay per month? How much does the equipment
cost, and can you hook a vontage phone modem into it? How many megabites per second?
Cost and Performance
MrBillM - 2-18-2007 at 10:33 AM
Although Direcway (Hughes) has various promotions on at one time or another, the hardware cost has been around $600 in the U.S. with a premium charged
by some or most installers in Baja. At various times, including now, there is a $100 rebate on Equipment purchase. They also advertise a $99 / $99
plan where you pay $99 for the install and then pay a higher monthly amount for a required subscription period. It works out to the same hardware
cost.
Monthy charges start at $59.99 with the "pro" residential service coming in two flavors (static IP vs not) at $89.99 / $79.99. The bottom line
service advertises download speeds of 768Kbps and 128Kbps (I think). Actual speeds vary constantly with the most difficulty being the Upload speeds
which can drop into the mid Dial-up ranges (around 33K). There are numerous free websites where you can test your connection speed at any given
moment i.e. www.testmy.net. When I first bought Direcway, I still had dialup en El Norte and I thought Direcway was fast. Switching to DSL (economy) at home
in the North, I decided Direcway was Slow, but it can't be beat where there is no Landline phone access.
All in All, no regrets. I "wish" it were faster without having to pay a higher rate, but That's Life.
losfrailes - 2-18-2007 at 10:46 AM
Pretty technical Bill.
The system can be purchased thru a reputable dealer in San Diego for 400 bucks. It costs, in this area at least, 300 for installation (all parts
included).
Monthly with Pro plan (which supports Vonage fairly well) costs 69.99/monthly.
Upload speeds do vary considerably, it seems due to climatic conditions as well as use, but it is considerably better than the dialup if you are on
the grid.
If however, you are in a location where you can get Infinitum (Mexicos DSL), you get much faster up/down for the same 70 bucks.
If your area is served by telephone that is via Microwave, you cannot get Infinitum in Mexico.
Si, Si Losfrailes
MrBillM - 2-18-2007 at 11:13 AM
I had been looking at the two Pro "Plus" offerings and didn't realize that there was also a lower "Pro" class. As far as being "technical", I do tend
to be pedantic, believing that more info is better than less.
[Edited on 2-18-2007 by MrBillM]
losfrailes - 2-18-2007 at 11:18 AM
The question seemed to revolve around upload speeds more than down. For that reason Vonage works as well on the Pro as on the ProPlus. Note the
approx upload speeds are maxed out at 200 on each.
mexibob - 2-18-2007 at 11:37 AM
February 13th, 11:46AM - 1183/195 kbps
February 13th, 11:44AM - 1040/194 kbps
February 3rd, 11:19AM - 1023/187 kbps
February 3rd, 11:17AM - 901/190 kbps
Those are my speeds of late. I have the ProPlus plan, 80 bucks per month.
Oh, I installed the system myself as I am the 'best' in the area.
Bajagypsy - 2-18-2007 at 11:47 AM
How hard is it to set up your self if your are moving around from place to place?
losfrailes - 2-18-2007 at 02:58 PM
once you have it commissioned, its fairly easy to set up. You just have to know what you are doing. Not rocket science.
DWay advises that the FCC wants you to use a certified installer because the transmitter is putting out som energy, but it should not be too difficult
once you learn how.
Interference
MrBillM - 2-18-2007 at 03:16 PM
Because I was personally involved at the time, I remember when Starband nee Gilat and Dish Network got into deep stuff with the FCC because the Dish
installers were being too cavalier in their alignment procedures when installing the two-way systems. As a result, Transmissions from the terrestrial
locations were interfering with adjacent satellites in the same orbital slot. The FCC caused Dish to suspend all future installations until the Dish
Network installers were all properly trained and requiring that no one, other than a Certified Dish Installer could install a system. The actual test
was pretty much a joke, though. They set it up on the Dealer's resource website and it was easy to go through the course, take the module tests and
become certified. It seemed to be effective, though, since the number of Interference problems went way down after they resume installs.
Bob and Susan - 2-18-2007 at 07:58 PM
here on the beach the traveling people are setting up their SAT internet in about 1/2 an hour, some a little longer.
it all depends on their skill knowledge!!
We are using VONAGE with SAT internet
The calls to the USA from baja are not quite as good as the calls from the USA to baja, but they do go thru
Calls either way are sometimes broken depending on the link
Sometimes i need to hang up and call again to get a better connection
it is kinda cool to have an internet connection here on the beach and...
a phone number from Southern California that rings in mulege
it is well worth the expense
i call susan daily from my cell phone in california
last month i got in trouble because i called too much and ran over the FREE minutes
BCSTech - 2-24-2007 at 10:25 PM
Los Frailes is spot on; The key is the DWay uplink speed.
You'll have to order more than the basic service level if you want reliable VOIP service. Vonage likes to see somewhere north of 120 Kbps. There is
a configuration in the Vonage control panel that will let you throttle it back but it still seems to want a lot of bandwidth.
"Soft phones" like Skype need less but. your computer has to be on in order to use these.
To improve results, try restarting your computer (to reduce the "chatter") and then stay off of it while you're talking so it's not competing with
your VOIP for bandwidth.
Also, don't get your D'Way system commissioned on SatMex 5. That bird is totally overloaded by everyone from Montana to Venezuela.