Satellite broadband - experiences and recommendations?
Discussion
I have recently moved deeper into the countryside and am struggling with internet and mobile signals from home. BT are allegedly bringing fibre here, but won't say when. I've recently added a gadget to create my own Vodafone hub at home but that is really, really poor. Had a security chap over today as I'm looking at installing comprehensive CCTV and he suggests I upgrade to satellite broadband to fix all my issues. Any thoughts? We mainly just browse from home but occasionally stream too - currently on unlimited plan with BT...
I haven't had any recent experience, but I don't think technology has moved on. The problem is the ping time, so browsing is not fun. Streaming is actually not too bad, as the initial request takes a while, but then it streams at a constant speed. BUT most of the plans I saw were very expensive, with limited monthly allowance, so you wouldn't want to be streaming anyway ....
MissChief said:
High setup costs and relatively low usage caps are the common complaints. That and the latency. It's fine for general browsing but don't hope to do anything that requires responses such as online gaming.
Very much this. For working from home only (no streaming or hefty downloads) I have a 20Gb account with
http://www.broadbandwherever.net for £40 pcm
The speeds have never lived up to the advertised packages.
Thankfully the installation cost were covered by the Welsh Assembly since we are in a not spot.
If you can get 4G that is a much better option. Some days we get a 4G signal in the garden, but it's not consistent, so I'd be worried about spending the, £250 for router and external aerial and getting a patchy service.
There is no mobile signal here either - let alone 4g! I have created a Vodafone hotspot in the house using my internet, but because the internet is so patchy the mobile barely works. I have found out that we are at the very end of our exchange - our neighbour has fibre but is on a different exchange and BT can't or won't say when it will become available to us...
We did a 2 - 3 mile wifi link for a client down to a village that had fibre and had a second infinity line fitted to a house there, then hopped it up to the house.
To be honest though, using some fibre media converters and a network connection (or a second line idea) to the neighbour would work, 400m in fibre isnt that far or that much.
V.
To be honest though, using some fibre media converters and a network connection (or a second line idea) to the neighbour would work, 400m in fibre isnt that far or that much.
V.
VEX said:
To be honest though, using some fibre media converters and a network connection (or a second line idea) to the neighbour would work, 400m in fibre isnt that far or that much.
V.
Cable cheap - it's all the routing/protection that could be an issueV.
If he has line of sight it will be easier
It may take years for BT to offer fibre and in very rural areas it sometimes can't be justified at all unless the residents contribute towards the costs. Realistically satellite broadband sounds like your only option for now. It's obviously not as good as fibre but it should be a decent improvement on what you have currently. Just be careful on the usage caps!
Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff