On 3/28/06, Bob Goodwin <bobgoodwin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > Has anyone used Direcway/Hughes Net satellite ISP service who can tell me > what data speeds they attained? > > They publish a lot of hype about download speed but are pretty vague about> upload which is a consideration in our case. > > Apparently there are no Linux related problems that I have been able to > find? > > I would appreciate receiving any information. I've been using Direcway for about a year now. It's my only internet connectivity option besides dialup where I live in the middle of 50 acres in rural south Mississippi. Speeds vary somewhat depending upon weather conditions at my home and at the NOC (in Maryland), but if the weather is bad enough at home to adversely affect my satellite service, my computers are shutdown and unplugged anyway (lightning is frequent during stormy weather here). I typically get about 800kbps down and about 100kbps up. With dialup, I most frequently got 33kbps connections. Latency with satellite service is an issue. A VPN connection basically won't work, so if you really need that, a satellite ISP isn't for you. Direcway also enforces a fair access policy (FAP) that restricts your full-speed download quantity to 169 megabytes over a four hour period. If your downloaded quantity exceeds 169MB in four hours, your download speed is throttled and is restored gradually over a few hours. I hear Direcway's customer support is dreadful, but I've never had to use it. I have 6 computers in my home NATted and using the satmodem through switches and a Smoothwall box. It's all wired ethernet. (I built the house about 2 years ago and ran Cat5e throughout.) All in all, for me Direcway better than dialup, but certainly not as good as cable or dsl. I explored getting a dedicated T1 line about a year ago, but that costs US$600/month. Hit me off list if you have more questions. I'd be happy to answer. Jay
