Satellite Dish??

Post by **gmattson** » Fri Sep 22, 2000 8:07 pm

A friend of mine in KY just called, asking me if I knew anything about the use of a dish for the Internet. I told him I'd check.

The salesperson told him they would guarentee 400 bps and the service would cost only $40/month.

Anyone familiar with this?

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GEM

Post by **gmattson** » Fri Sep 22, 2000 8:16 pm

I just did a little research on the subject. The technology is called Direct PC. You still need your ISP. Incoming signal is 400kbps, but your outgoing signal goes through your 56k modem!

Sounds like a gimmick for kids who download music and video.

Allen M. · Post by **Allen M.** » Fri Sep 22, 2000 10:14 pm

Most satellite communications work marginally at best in severe weather.

Scott Danziger · Post by **Scott Danziger** » Fri Sep 22, 2000 10:24 pm

Definatly wouldn't do me any good. I need more speed to upload, like video clips, not download what I already have on the hard drive. I agree that it sounds like a gimmick. Especially for $40 a month.

Tony-San · Post by **Tony-San** » Sat Sep 23, 2000 6:14 am

They are developing a low power transmitter for home dish systems, soon you'll be able to upload and download at 400K, when the weather is nice...as Allen stated.

Allen M. · Post by **Allen M.** » Sat Sep 23, 2000 9:59 am

What they need is to transmit signals through the earth.

Tony-San · Post by **Tony-San** » Sat Sep 23, 2000 1:34 pm

wow. now theres an idea! Do you mean electrical signals? Or like a big tamper which stomps the earth to create a carrier and then modulate it with a smaller tamper?

Valkenar · Post by **Valkenar** » Tue Sep 26, 2000 9:56 pm

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by gmattson:
I just did a little research on the subject. The technology is called Direct PC. You still need your ISP. Incoming signal is 400kbps, but your outgoing signal goes through your 56k modem!

Sounds like a gimmick for kids who download music and video. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Actually this isn't nearly as bad as it seems. In fact, for most web users this ration is okay, and will seem as if the 400k is throughput enough. If you're using dialup with a PC, then you can look at how much you've sent and receieved. For me it's usually at least 10/1 (If I'm just browsing the web).

Obviously if you're uploading clips to the site, it won't help too much. But for most tasks you retreieve far more information than you send.

Tony-San · Post by **Tony-San** » Wed Sep 27, 2000 6:37 am

Fast upload speed is great for Webcam conferencing as well as telephony calls. I get an average of 40k upload and can make an almost clear phone call with my pc over the net (www.dialpad.com).