Anyone with current generation satellite internet?

Waorani

Waorani

Crusty Caballero
Full Member
Minuteman
Feb 14, 2017
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Greenbow, AL
#1
Looking at a possible move to a place w/ no internet access and weak cell signals. Had HughesNet a couple times years ago and it was just a little better than useless. Surely it's improved over the years and looks like at least one other provider - Viasat? Any current experience?
 
#2
Nope. Satellite internet still sucks. I have a Verizon hotspot but I am grandfathered in the pre-pay unlimited and unthrottled internet. It got axed about mid 2019.
 
#3
I have a couple of customers on it, and it's actually way better than it was 2-3 years ago. Data caps are still the biggest issue, but speeds are impressive on the download side. You still want get much upload, so your results with cloud services could be less than desirable.
 
#5
Make sure you read the fine print of the contract. When my brother canceled his contract, his last bill was over $700 because of "termination fees" and "hardware fees". He had the service for almost 7 years so it wasn't because of early termination. Those fees are in every contract. This was with HughesNet.
 
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#6
I have HughesNet and am able to stream Netflix without issues. Occasional problems loading, but in my opinion it seems like a Netflix problem usually.
 
#7
RUN!!!

Well, if it's all you can get, it's you're only choice (Viasat here, that and Hughes are our only options). My neighbor has Hughesnet and hates it as much as we hate Viasat. Unlimited data, but they throttle the crap out of it after 60GB, and I'm absolutely certain they are doing it way before we hit 60GB. We don't stream anything, only watch the occasional YT videos (like when one is posted here) and we're throttled halfway through the month.
 
Last edited:
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#8
Anb618 said:
I have HughesNet and am able to stream Netflix without issues. Occasional problems loading, but in my opinion it seems like a Netflix problem usually.
Click to expand...

Do you not have any issues with throttling? How many gigs before they throttle your account?
 
#9
vh20 said:
Do you not have any issues with throttling? How many gigs before they throttle your account?
Click to expand...
Haven’t noticed a problem yet. Been using them for about a year now. I actually go over my data plan most months and when we signed up HN told me the service would just slow down whenever I do. Never noticed a difference once I’m over my monthly high speed allotment.
Prior to using HN, we didn’t have internet at our house for over two years. Snapped up HN as soon as they offered coverage to my area.
 
#12
#13
barneybdb said:
Coming soon.....

www.zdnet.com

Elon Musk's internet from space: 60 new SpaceX satellites bring US service closer

SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch on Monday carried another 60 Starlink internet satellites to low Earth orbit.
www.zdnet.com www.zdnet.com
Click to expand...
Hollywood 6mm said:
They recently announced plans to prioritize getting services up and running for the US by the end of this year, ideally by hurricane season. Last update I saw, they're planning for 20+ launches of 60 satellites each this year.
Click to expand...

Interesting, wonder how much it will end up costing?

Truth be told, no internet would probably be a blessing and save me way more money than just the cost of the service.
 
#14
Waorani said:
Interesting, wonder how much it will end up costing?

Truth be told, no internet would probably be a blessing and save me way more money than just the cost of the service.
Click to expand...

Last I heard, hardware was going to be $200-300 and monthly service was supposed to be pretty competitive to traditional broadband, and much cheaper than satellite.
 
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#15
If you have weak cellular signal a booster installed on your property might help. These are couple hundred dollars I think.

If I went that route I'd only have it on while using to prevent any residual effect from living directly under a cell tower.
 
#16
MTN said:
If you have weak cellular signal a booster installed on your property might help. These are couple hundred dollars I think.

If I went that route I'd only have it on while using to prevent any residual effect from living directly under a cell tower.
Click to expand...
Already thought about that but haven't done any research yet.

I've recently switched from Verizon to Old Folks (Consumer) Cellular just because I don't use my phone for anything but a phone and the occasional text response. Also only rarely stream a movie/etc, but do like a fast connection for just general surfing. So I'd probably have to go back to Verizon.

The Starlink thing is interesting, sounds like they've already got a bunch of sats up and talking mid-2020 to go live.
 
#18
Waorani said:
Already thought about that but haven't done any research yet.

I've recently switched from Verizon to Old Folks (Consumer) Cellular just because I don't use my phone for anything but a phone and the occasional text response. Also only rarely stream a movie/etc, but do like a fast connection for just general surfing. So I'd probably have to go back to Verizon.

The Starlink thing is interesting, sounds like they've already got a bunch of sats up and talking mid-2020 to go live.
Click to expand...

You may want to take a look and see if T-Mobile has coverage for their new bands planned for your area.
Some years back they bought a bunch of nice old TV bandwidth to enable data to rural areas.
 
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#20
From what ive read current gen is fast, however a cloud will still knock out signal easily. In remote areas though, its the only option. If youre not bothered by occasional outages due to weather (region dependant), or solar flares, its great.
 
#21
wade2big said:
Nope. Satellite internet still sucks. I have a Verizon hotspot but I am grandfathered in the pre-pay unlimited and unthrottled internet. It got axed about mid 2019.
Click to expand...
Man that is sweet. I looked into dumping cable and doing Yootoob.tv....they just jack the price up if you do Verizon Fios only so it would cost me more to cut the cable. Our cable provider same thing.....internet only rape job....oh and a $200 non-negotiable setup as if I need someone to show me how to screw coax into a box and plug it in.
 
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