Anyone have satellite internet access?

Just curious if anyone does and how you like the service? I need to get internet access at my house, but no high speed connections are offered in my area. The joys of living in South Carolina. Anyway, DSL is not even available to me.

I have Dish Network and I'm looking into their satellite internet.

I have a collegue at work who has what was Direct Way, and has been changed to Hughes Net. I'm in pretty mush the same boat as you, but I'm too cheap to spring for the system. Over all he says the system is pretty good. You wont be able to play games online however, so if that is your intention, I'd have to say pass. The up front cost is about $600 for the equipment but there are rebates. Monthly costs depending on the package you choose run from $65/month to over $100.

My intention is not for games but general internet usage. I have a T1 line here at work, so I'm spoiled and can't deal with dial up...

Anyway, Dish Network is offering satellite internet. One flat fee of $199 for "equipment lease" and they have 3 different packages ($49.95, $69.95, and $79.95 a month). I'm thinking of going with the $69.95 a month package.....that's 1.0 Mbps downloading and 200 kbps uploading.

I'm still going 'round and 'round with Bellsouth on why DSL is not available to me. There are 2 people within 500 yards of my house that has it.....Yesterday they said it was available at my house, I ordered it, and today I got an e-mail here at work saying it's not available.....I don't get it. :confused:

I once had a construction office that we supported that was setup with the hughes satellite, and it really wasn't that bad. I expected it to be much worse. It's no where near as reliable as terrestrial based service, but it'll do in a pinch I guess. We also have a few emergency management type RVs that travel across the country when/where there's disaster that have the dishes on their roofs. Again not the most stable connection, but it beats dial up. What type of cellular service do you get out there? It may be worth checking into a cingular or sprint based wireless internet card. I have one in my truck (don't ask) that I love that gets awesome speeds when I'm in areas that have good coverage.

Well I guess we are not in the same boat as I live 6 miles from the closest high speed (aside from sat hi speed)

He seems very happy with the service. They will throttle you down quite a bit (read the fine print) but aside from that it works very well. I'm sure that if you did encounter a really bad storm you'ed probably lose you connection for some time. Other than that I'd say bitch some more to the DSL peeps (again fine print requires a two year commitment unless you outright purchace the equipment) Then if all else fails get the sat system. Also, I'm not sure about Dish rules but there is no home install. The sat uplink requires a somewhat powerful microwave transmitter. This is somewhat dangerous (hey a hot water tank can explode sometimes) but also something that they don't want any Tom, Dick and JFRick doing in their back yards. Best of luck to ya how ever it goes.

Signed Always on Dialup till the last mile is run :)

Satellite internet service is pretty horrible in my experience, and EXTREMELY overpriced! Be sure to read ALL fine print... it might prove that dial up will be just as good :rolleyes:

Thanks for all the input....I'm still working on Bellsouth about offering DSL. I can get them 3 new customers for it right now, including myself. All they would have to do is run a line about 300 yards....

Dishnetwork does offer the satellite internet for home use now. Check it out at www.dishnetwork.com.

I don't know what the costs are like (as I don't pay them ;) ) but just as a suggestion, I have a laptop running 3G which gives me internet on the move.

Not sure if it would work for you, but a possible alternative....

Well, I don't have a laptop. If I did, I would check into that...