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BCSTech
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Registered: 4-16-2006
Location: Todos Santos, BCS / Placerville, CA.
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| Quote: | are you talking about other hardware, or simply the upgraded "commercial" levels of Hughesnet service?
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No, this is not HughesNet, it's "business grade" satellite Internet gear.
We install a 1.2 meter dish with a 3 watt BUC and commission on non HughesNet satellites. The modem is totally different than HughesNet and can be
optimized specifically for VoIP service (or any other kind of traffic). This is a managed service, which means we can call up the service provider's
US technicians directly to resolve problems instead of dealing with some outsourced customer service rep trainee in India. Some of them even speak
Spanish, which my guys appreciate tremendously.
Service levels and speeds are way beyond anything provided by HughesNet on a 0.74 meter dish, or even a 1.2.
The main thing? the service levels or guaranteed by a CIR (Committed Information Rate). HughesNet talks about "up to" speeds but won't guarantee you
will ever receive these speeds. There are far fewer customers sharing the same chunk of bandwidth, no more than 40. HughesNet can load on a 1,000 or
more (they won't reveal this figure).
Again, HughesNet is what it is. Not saying it doesn't work but it has its limits. We continue to offer it as a limited "consumer-grade" system. But
it's pretty clear that we won't be able to sell new HughesNet systems for much longer.
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Bajabus
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Location: Elias Calles B.C.S. or NC USA
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Alan, who is the provider provisioning the iDirect equipment you are using?
@contact, Ethersat, VSATUS or some other?
"Preventive war was an invention of Hitler. Frankly I would not even listen to anyone seriously that came and talked of such a thing."
Dwight David Eisenhower
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rob
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Location: Pacific Coast, BCS
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I was just looking at iDirect, and am staggered by the costs. For $149 a month you get a limit 1GB of data (that's upload+download).
I am no fan of Starband, but even with that I get 1.3GB a week of upload/download (and even that gets a bit tight at times) for half the price, albeit
at slower (and guaranteed) transfer rates.
Must be missing something.
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Bajabus
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1st, idirect is an equipment brand. In the USA alone there are probably 60 or more sat ISP's using iDirect equipment for their hubs and clients.
They range from small mom and pop providers with a storefront and a big dish in the back, private govt or corporate networks, or large scale
operations with dozens of employees and 24/7 help desks.
2nd, commercial service is a different animal, in order to offer guaranteed service levels and stability their contention ratios have to be far
less....anywhere from 60:1 to 10:1. Consumer class service from SB and HN are on the order of 130:1 or more.......thats why it's a lot more
expensive...you are trading off known guaranteed service levels for a higher price. the cost goes up exponentially for higher bandwidth caps and
speeds. For instance expect to pay about $300 or so for 512kbps X 1024Kbps with about 15GB per month cap.
3rd, Regardless of what equipment the provider is using, many commercial operators have a hard cap on data moved (FAP) and throttle you if you exceed
that hard number or keep you at speed and charge you for the additional data moved on a per MB basis. Others like Spacenet do not. They will talk to
you about what you need and then put you in a service level that matches that.
Spacenet is a lot more tolerant about going over occasionally and are really looking at how you impact the network. If you occasionally go over they
won't care, especially if it's happening during off peak hours. However if a lot of your traffic is occurring during peak hours and you are
consistently exceeding what you told them and/or it's having a negative impact on their network, then they will make you go up to a higher service
level or tell you you have to cut back.
[Edited on 24-5-2009 by Bajabus]
[Edited on 24-5-2009 by Bajabus]
"Preventive war was an invention of Hitler. Frankly I would not even listen to anyone seriously that came and talked of such a thing."
Dwight David Eisenhower
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BCSTech
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Not for everyone...
It's the difference between consumer-grade and business-grade service. If you don't need a guaranteed data rate or rock-solid VoIP then you're not
missing anything.
My advice, if HughesNet/Starband continues working for you and you're happy with it, then stick with it.
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losfrailes
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Location: Ejido San Lucas near Santa Rosalia
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| Quote: | Originally posted by BCSTech
It's the difference between consumer-grade and business-grade service. If you don't need a guaranteed data rate or rock-solid VoIP then you're not
missing anything.
My advice, if HughesNet/Starband continues working for you and you're happy with it, then stick with it. |
Sound Advice Alan, and given with no rhetoric!
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BCSTech
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| Quote: | Originally posted by rhintransit
Any comments on the old modems? I have been assuming mine will just keep working. |
Pretty likely support
for the 6000s will eventually be phased out. The HN7000S supports some performance improvements such as adaptive inroute and outroute (DVB-S2)
capability.
Adaptive inroute capability dynamically changes your transmit rate code/error correction code. Inroute (or transmit /upload) is the weak end of the
satellite loop. DW6000s do not have either adaptive inroute or outroute capability.
Non-technically speaking, it's just better.
Hughesnet has not only stopped supporting older modems in the past, but also crowded remaining upgrade holdouts into fewer and fewer slots causing
more congestion and poorer service.
Just be aware that HughesNet may require some modem upgrades to have an antenna repoint by a certified dealer, something you may not want! It depends
on where your system is provisioned now. You can find out by putting in your Site ID here to see if you qualify:
https://sf1.hns.com/upgrade/index.cfm
You get your site ID by clicking here:
http://192.168.0.1
Click on the System Info button.
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flyfishinPam
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I used hughesnet then called direcway and has a 4000 system. download was great but uploads were slower than dialup, and these were ascii files.
when i switched to macs i gave the direcway system away.
now i am using telcel's 3g system and it is great. I would imagine if there's cell service the 3g option is available. 429 pesos per month
unlimited, uploads very quick no problems with voip or video conferencing and its faster than my dsl service in town was. i know that loreto,
constitucion, la paz and los cabos have this service and i even saw a 3g antenna in el cien.
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losfrailes
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Pam
Good advice, however, recognize that the 3g service in La Paz is really great but in other areas, not serviced by TelNet the 3g thing is not available
and in others where it is available it is there with less than dialup speed. ex., Santa Rosalia/Mulege area. Only in the larger metropolitan areas
does it come with anything near speed supported by satellite service, be it Hughes or Starband.
In most areas of Baja, the Telcel 3G is not a good option, check with the service provider before makiing a move.
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flyfishinPam
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if 3g not in mulege/santa rosalia yet it will be soon. i dealt with gprs speeds for a couple of months before the 3g was ready in loreto, very slow
downloads but uploads were lightning fast and it was better than nothing. telcel will have it all up and down the baja soon, probably by the end of
this year. coverage is already in place from the west side of the sierra de la giganta all the way to la paz and i think the entire loop to los cabos
is also ready as well.
if you have telcel service chances are that 3g is or will be soon in your area. look into it. a little usb antenna that's portable is way better
than the big dish and modem with all those cables that you can't even get a proper factura for anyway and its technically not even legal here.
429/month and that includes the iva can't beat that even at 10:1 exchange. I was paying $59Dlls/month for the direcway.
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BCSTech
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I agree. Given the choice between Sat Internet and good 3G coverage if available, 3G is a better deal for many users.
Downside is you can't share a connection without a heck of a lot of technical tricks and additional gear. Vonage/Net2Phone won't work at all, and some
users report they've had trouble with getting Skype/Magic Jack VoIP to work. This may be due to coverage. Just because you have good cell phone
coverage does not mean you have good 3G coverage.
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comitan
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This last time going north I took our laptop an 3G modem, first place I tried El Rosario it worked fine didn't try it any farther north but I'm sure
it would have worked fine. Coming back down we stopped in Asuncian tried it and worked fine I'm sure it would have worked at a lot of other places.
One note when I went to pay for the service it was 200pesos more, I guess they charge you for roaming charges like the cell phones.
Strive For The Ideal, But Deal With What\'s Real.
Every day is a new day, better than the day before.(from some song)
Lord, Keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth.
“The sincere pursuit of truth requires you to entertain the possibility that everything you believe to be true may in fact be false”
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MrBillM
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Poorer and Poorer Poor Me
Interestingly, I hadn't realized that I was receiving Poorer and Poorer service with my 6000 Modem until BCSTECH made that clear.
Here it's been working just great with no problems.
Like so many things in life, we THINK things are fine until an EXPERT tells us differently.
BTW, IF Hughes tells you that you are eligible for the "Self-Install" kit, there will be no necessity to call a tech for a repoint of the antenna
assy. Until you screw it up, that is.
For those interested in finding out more from sites not invested in providing service for a price, there are numerous forums available via a search.
Some choices are:
www.dslreports.com
www.sadoun.com
www.tech-forums.net
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flyfishinPam
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I mention the 3G in case anyone is considering buying and setting up a satellite system like hughes or starband. it is better to wait a little while
or investigate to see if 3g is available in your area than sink all that $$ into a new sat system, no?
3g and roaming. if you notice on your 3g contract, you actually have a cell phone number attached to the account, with sim card as well. when you
roam out of your area code you incur roaming charges. that's why your bill was higher the month you used it in other locations. also remember the
billing cut off date (corte del mes) is on the 11th of each month so any roaming taking place before the 11th gets billed that month and any roaming
on or after the 11th will get billed in the next cycle. I notice that when you roam there's a charge then they charge per kb as well.
i have no problem with skype or iChat. since I am off the grid as far as phones are concerned magic jack it not something i'd use anyway. routing 3g
is easier on a pc than a mac but i have been able to do it on the mac with an airport extreme and an airport express combination.
edited to add: if you will do a lot of roaming I would suggest get a sim card for the area code you plan to roam to, or do the 3g amigo plan with a
sim card from the desired area code.
comitan's report of 3g in El Rosario is encouraging. I know that they wre behind in installing the 3g in Loreto but telcel has really jumped on
upgrading and installing this system. if you have cell service but are still waiting for 3g that wait likely won't be very long. I'd rather go this
way than send the $800USD for a new sat system plus $59/month and then not be able to write it off in Mexico.
[Edited on 5-25-2009 by flyfishinPam]
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BCSTech
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MrBillM, I'm not sure why you're sniping at my comments, nor can I see where I wrote you were receiving "poorer and poorer service."
It's a fact HughesNet no longer supports the 4000 series, and it's a fact they squeezed remaining 4000 users into fewer and fewer slots. It's also a
fact they no longer allow new subscribers on 6000 modems, which is yet another reason for upgrading I had forgotten. If someone thinks they might sell
their HughesNet system someday, they should upgrade it so the next person has a better chance of setting up their own account.
Also, nowhere did I tell people to contact me for an upgrade, or anything else for that matter. They can get the upgrade from HughesNet and install it
themselves. And nowhere did I offer to sell anybody anything.
Everything I said can be verified if people want to take the time to research this issue. Since I've been in the satellite industry and have made my
living from it since 1980 and still do, I write with some degree of expertise. If you're saying that somehow I shouldn't respond on this topic
because I'm in the Satellite Internet systems business, well, that just doesn't make much sense.
You may be right that your 6000 may go on working forever. If you want to stick with your 6000, then fine, no one's asking you to change it. My reply
was to rhintransit's question about upgrading. It's just information. If HughesNet can't build a better modem than they never would have changed from
the old 4000s. Readers are smart enough to read my comments and yours, then decide for themselves what to do.
All the way through this thread, I've told people if they're happy with their service then there is no reason to change it, That goes for you, too,
Bill. Once, again...
| Quote: |
My advice, if HughesNet/Starband continues working for you and you're happy with it, then stick with it.
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losfrailes
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Alan,
From another involved with the installation of Hughes systems, I am in total agreement with you.
If what you have, be it Starband or Hughes, is working. Don't change. I also agree that if you have the opportunity to upgrade from earlier modems to
the HN7000S, do so. There is no longer any tech support for earlier modems.
As far as the 3G availability, my advice to all is that if it is available with sufficient bandwidth, it is worth of consideration, however, as you
say you must resort to some manipulations if you intend to provide service to others. In the Santa Rosalia/Mulege area, the bandwidth is not even
adequate to match dialup, consequently, even the local provider of the 3G in this area will verify this. SCMY in Santa Rosalia, ask for Antonio or
'Colon'.
People should take note that you do not take shots at any system out there, no rhetoric no bias in your posts or comments. If others take offense at
what you say, advise or suggest, they should seek help elsewhere.
[Edited on 5-25-2009 by losfrailes]
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rob
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Location: Pacific Coast, BCS
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Great advice! Two data points.
- re 3G. I have a friend who installed a YAGI antenna (www.cellantenna.com model CAY1912) and can now receive 3G on the Pacific coast into the external antenna port on her NOKIA cellphone. this is
plugged into the laptop, and serves as a 3g modem . . . . cool!
- when you switch to 3G, remember there are a growing number of US sites (mainly music, video etc) that will NOT download to a Mexican IP address.
This may be a reason to hang onto your Hughesnet/Starband.
- ref above - on Starband I can no longer access my Starband email away from my own system (that is on any other Mexican IP address). Real bummer when
travelling. Switched to gmail - which works better for any number of reasons. Yeah - I'm a tad slow ..
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