Satellite for Internet

[EPaulikonis]

Thanks for all the replies on the subject. Figured that most folks were focused on WiFi/MiFi type services.

Did some digging on the net and also called some of the satellite contacts I've worked with in the past. Hughes Net runs packages similar to the cellular companies. They offer data plans at many different rates, but the data package cost is much higher than a cell provider. I didn't even bother getting into the differences in antennas, but I know basic models start around $2,500 and mobile tracking ones can go for more than $20,000. Other satellite providers like Iridium offer service on per/minute cost; Iridium is just starting their Internet offering at $1/minute and it's basically dial up speed. Benefit of Iridium is there's no antenna pointing because the user's device has an Omni-directional antenna connecting to the constellation of satellites in low-earth orbit; satellites are zooming overhead taking ~7 minutes to pass from horizon to horizon. The satellites pass the signal between incoming birds so your signal from the ground is never dropped.

Guess I'll be shedding Netflix and getting into a Verizon plan. Thanks again for all the replies.

 

[SteveC]

Hi,
I see this was posted a while ago but thought I would jump in if not too late. I have had Hughes Net for home and had the power plan at $79 a month. I work from home and internet is a must. Hughes Net is terrible to say the best about the service. The speeds are very slow, and I did some testing as I have ATT Unite Pro and the speeds with it were faster then Hughes net, so went through the VERY tough steps to cancel Hughes net. Finally canceled them and using my ATT Unite and has been flawless, so far.

My wife and I are in the process of going full time, so needed to go through some testing. I have also looked for RV internet service and so far nothing has been available other than Hughes net, which I will NOT go back too.

Cheers and if you have better luck, please let us know.

 

[OldTanker]

Going to chime in here. For about 5 years I was an installer for Highesnet internet for rvers. I was also a hughesnet customer for 9 years and traveled the country with my mobile system using it for internet very successfully. We traveled everywhere from AZ to Washington to NY to the Carolinas and Gulf Coast. We even used it in Mexico. I no longer use hughesnet and stopped installing it last year. The reason is simple. Hughesnet was never supportive of mobile users. It was up to installers like myself to train folks how to properly aim the dish and get a good two way signal flow. I had a good track record in doing so and my customers didn't have problems until parts of the system broke requiring replacement. The other thing is that Hughesnet started to change their system to all spot beaming. The last modem that could be used for RVers was the 7000 series. They discontinued selling it several years ago and stopped supporting it a couple years later. Now all new (2009 and later) systems use a 9000 or later system and that is on the spot beam to a specific satelite. It cannot be moved to another location more than about 50 miles away and still connect. That makes it unsuitable for mobile RV use.

If you were a Direct TV subscriber and your hughesnret satellite was #99 you could get both TV and internet using a simple adapter on the same dish. Aim for internet and the TV signal was also in focus. That's what I was using for the entire time I was on hughesnet but satellite bandwidth limitations prevent every RVer from being on the same bird. My customers usually had to use 2 dishes, one for TV the other for Hughesnet. When I left Hughesnet I couldn't even GIVE my working system away to an RVer due to lack of interest. I ended up tossing all the equipment in a recyling operation.

At this time we use our phone as a modem by tethering it to the computer (desk top and or lap top system) via the usb charging cable supplied with the phone. It's far faster than hughesnet was and my costs with 15 gigs of data are about the same as I was paying for both voice only phone and Hughesnet combined. I use Verizon. We travel over 2/3 of the lower 48 every year and have had no problems getting online in this manner. As long as we have good signal we have both phone and internet. It may be slower in some remote areas (3G) but good enough for banking and e-mail. Over 99% of our locations get the faster 4G service.

 

[wdk450]

Old Tanker:
Thanks for your informed facts about RV Satellite internet. Just a couple of curious questions from me here.

What do the high end, million dollar range, motorhomes and stars' tour buses now use for mobile internet? Railroads and buses?

What systems do airliners use for in-flight internet?

 

[OldTanker]

Bill, I have no idea what the deep pocket folks are using on their rigs. I know that when Hughesnet discontinued the 7000 series modem Motosat went and bought a bunch of them to keep their auto seek sytems going. They use the same modem and hughesnet tranceiver equipment just slaved to their autoseek dish. Since I have been "out of the loop" for a couple years I have no idea if their stash has dried up or not. Eventually it will do so if it hasn't already. Besides there is a small battery on the "c-moss" portion of the modem, much like in a PC that keeps the system brain from forgetting the start up programing. I know from experience that after a few years, it dies and the modem becomes a door stop. Even Motosats' stash will run into that issue over time provided they haven't used them all up yet. Unfortunately because of Hughesnet's policies and changes they just won't be an option for RVers once all of the 7000 series modems are gone. Frankly speaking they never wanted or cared about having mobile users as folks who have to repoint the dish are more trouble than the accounts were worth to Hughesnet. Those of who did RV work did it on the side without the "official" blessing of the company. They knew mobile users were there and could see the movement when the systems powered up after a move, but as long as they didn't have to deal with problems it was OK. If there was a problem the customer had to rely on outside chanels, like independent installers, (me) for assistance in equipment matters. When my system died after about 5 years I had to hunt for equipment outside of Hughesnet direct even though I was an installer at the time.

Airline and train systems are something I never had any experence with. I have no idea what they use to keep their Wifi system going. For all I know they just depend on the cell towers they fly over or a constant radio signal to their HQ via the planes radio system.

 

[EPaulikonis]

OldTanker hit the nail on the head...working with mobile users is too much of a headeache, so industry doesn't bother.

Most of the airline industry was using Hughes at one point for airborne Internet service. I know when I worked with industry on the airborne mobile issue, the systems onboard the A/C were very expensive and the engineers were working on the back end designing the link so you could hop between satellites as the A/C worked it's route. Because we were working a fleet of A/C, we also had the advantage of buying a ton of bandwidth on many different satellites to support the mobile application. The dishes and back end gear were costing upwards of $25,000 per unit.

One to keep an eye on will be the Iridium folks. Constellation of satellites is designed to pick up and hand off a signal between the different birds as they pass overhead. The constellation is in Low-Earth Orbit, so they're passing from horizon to horizon every 7 minutes or so. They're just now offering mobile internet, but it costs $1/minute on the system. Data rate is also very low.

 

[wdk450]

I did some net searching and found 2 articles in Forbes Magazine on the railroad and airline internet connections. It seems Amtrak uses a mix of the cellphone carriers that switches carriers on the fly.
Railroad: http://www.forbes.com/sites/marcweb...kconnect-internet-service-on-a-speeding-train

It looks like GoGo Inflight Entertainment/Internet is the main provider for Aircraft. They use a mix of their own terrestrial tower system (1000 towers in the U.S.) and leased space on Intelsat and other satellites for Ocean areas coverage.
Aircraft: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gogo_Inflight_Internet

It looks like we (RVers) are already using components of the Railroad system for RV internet (Cellular providers), and the airline solution is not for us.

BTW, the railroad article linked has a link to another article (2011) about the data insecurities aboard public aircraft that is interesting, and valuable to anyone who uses public WiFi hotspots (like McDonalds).