July 30th, 2010
I recently came across a blog discussion about a young lady planning to move to a remote island for a teaching position. She wanted to be able to use Wikipedia while she was on this remote island, and was trying to find a way to gain internet access. As could be imagined the island did not have DSL or Cable internet and likely did not even have Dial-Up internet access. Naturally, my first reaction is to always suggest Wild Blue Satellite Internet Service. However, I realized that there was a slight possibility that on a very select few remote islands Wild Blue internet access might not be available (sort of a joke, ok to laugh). This could change with the launch of the new satellite next year, but that is beside the point. We had to explore other options for her to get internet access. Someone in the discussion suggested packet radio. Don’t worry, I had no clue what this was either, but I did do a little research. I found out that Packet Radio is a way of sending data through radio signals intended only for voice. It uses packet switching technology to convert the data into a format that can be transmitted via radio wave based electronics. Apparently, the conversion process is based on datagrams, which is basically the same technology used to transmit data via normal internet communications. To make a long story short it turns out there is a lot of licensing and regulation that goes a long with doing this, not to mention quite a bit of technical knowledge. I definitely think that satellite internet should be the first internet option considered when cable or DSL is not available. However, in some areas such as remote islands the primary residential satellite internet service companies might not be available either. There are several portable satellite internet options available that can operate anywhere in the world, however these are very expensive and are likely not affordable by the common person. In cases such as this, packet radio could be all that is standing between you and the internet.
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Tags: fast rural internet, Rural High Speed Internet
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July 28th, 2010
Many people are now well aware of the merger that took place between Wild Blue and ViaSat. This merger was important for several reasons, however the two primary reasons are to receive a greater amount of government funding and to allow Wild Blue to better utilize ViaSat’s next generation Satellite Technology. It is no secret that President Obama plans to make available over $7 billion in funding to make broadband internet a readily accessible resource to all Americans. Much of this funding is going to be made available as competitive grants to current internet technology companies to expand their networks. The merging of Wild Blue and ViaSat sets the company up as a much more likely competitor for this funding. The company has already received approximately $30 million dollars of this funding and has applied it to customer subscription subsidies. The next major endeavor is the launch of Wild Blue’s 3rd Satellite, officially known as ViaSat-1. Via-Sat-1 is a major advancement in satellite technology. In previous times that a new satellite has launched, a rush in subscriptions quickly followed. Within a very short amount of time the capacity was sold out in certain geographical areas. Even at this, current satellite technologies are not designed to handle many of the common demands of internet users such as VoIP and On-line gaming. The current Wild Blue system tops out at 1.5 mbps. ViaSat-1 will contain more capacity than all current North American satellites combined making the service available to more than a million additional customers. This new satellite will have 10 times the throughput of any other Ka-band satellite with only a fraction of the in-orbit costs of the current newest satellites. Best of all this satellite will increase download speeds from 512 kbps-1.5mbps to 2mbps-10mbps without increasing any costs. These speeds are faster than what many DSL providers offer. ViaSat-1 is currently in production and should be launched sometime in 2011.
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Tags: WildBlue Internet Speed
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July 26th, 2010

Satellite Internet Signal Comparison Between Ka Band And Ku Band Satellite Signal
I read a lot of discussion about whether Ka or Ku band is the better satellite internet technology. The two major satellite internet companies in the United States are Hughesnet and WildBlue. Hughesnet is based on Ku-band satellite technology and WildBlue is based on Ka-band satellite technology. There are several advantages and disadvantages to the service provider of using either of these technologies. However, in this article we will focus on these technologies’ performance in relation to the users. I have put together some advantages and disadvantages of both types of technologies that will hopefully help you decide which might be the best for you.
Tags: Ka Band Satellte Internet, Ku Band Satellite Internet, wildblue satellite internet
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July 23rd, 2010
Maybe you are living in an area that does not have access to cable or DSL and you are tired of the slow speeds of dial-up, but you are not sure you can afford the price increase to Satellite Internet. Did you know there are actually ways you could make your Satellite Internet service pay for itself. If you are on dial-up you are most likely paying close to $15 a month, and you can get WildBlue Satellite Internet Service stating at around $49 a month. So, you just have to save $35 with your satellite internet service and it will basically be paying for its self.
Tags: Rural Satellite Internet Service, Satellite Broadband, WildBlue Satellite Internet Service
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July 21st, 2010
If you live in what we in the Broadband industry refer to as a “dead zone” ( an area where cable and DSL internet aren’t available) then in order to fully participate in the 21st century you’re looking at two options; Wireless (Radio Frquency) service or Satellite High-Speed Internet.
Pro Cons- Wireless internet’s Yin & Yang
Tags: High Speed Satellite Internet Service, Rural High Speed Internet, wildblue satellite internet
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July 19th, 2010
We are all aware of President Obama’s highly publicized $787 billion economic stimulus plan. Vice President Biden announced last December as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that approximately $2 billion in grants and loans of this act will be aimed specifically at bringing broadband internet services to communities that up until now have been forced to do without because of lack of availability. President Obama announced just this past week $795 million in Internet projects, saying that these projects would affect more than 685,000 businesses, 900 healthcare facilities, and 2,400 schools. The President was also confident that that these projects would lead to hundreds of thousands of new jobs. We know from previous reports that some of the government funding from the rural development package has already gone to the satellite internet industry in the form of grants to help develop better technologies to provide more high-speed internet access to rural citizens. It is most likely that a good portion of the available funding mentioned last week by President Obama will also go toward the further development of satellite internet technologies. Another option would be to provide subsidies to rural citizens in a certain income bracket that has no other access to broadband internet other than satellite internet. Many of the new developing technologies mentioned in previous posts will be a direct solution to providing more rural areas with high-speed internet access. Any government funding that could be made available to the satellite internet industry would only speed the development and implementation process up and allow customers to get internet access faster. It only makes sense that the satellite internet industry would be the best place to spend the majority of this funding because of the exponential impact it could have. Any developments that are made with DSL, cable, or even fiber optics can only be applied to the immediate area in which the developments took place. Any improvements made to satellite internet will benefit the entire United States network.
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Tags: Rural Broadband Internet, rural satellite internet, Satellite Internet Funding
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July 14th, 2010
In light of recent legislation and President Obama’s plan to create a better broadband network for rural Americans I have decided to start a series dedicated to satellite broadband networks in other countries. Today, we will take a look at what Japan is doing with their satellite internet technology. Japan is unique to the U.S. in that it suffers a significantly larger amount of earthquakes. Therefore, it is very important for the country to have a communication infrastructure that can withstand such major natural disasters. Also unlike the United States the Japanese Government directly funds their satellite internet networks. A couple years ago Japan launched what was known as the KIZUNA satellite, with the primary intent of creating a backup high-speed internet networking system that would replace its ground network during natural disasters. As it turns out this satellite is quite capable of facilitating a stand-alone high speed internet network. This satellite contains two antennas, one of which will be dedicated to other Asian countries and will permit high-speed internet communications via satellite between Japan and neighboring countries. Of course the other antenna is dedicated to serving Japan. Dividing the satellite into two multibeam antennas allows it to efficiently divide up the satellite’s signal so that the limited frequencies can be made available and reused by many different areas. This new satellite will provide high-speed internet with download speeds of 155mbps and upload speeds of 6mbps. The satellite will be able to provide download speeds of up to 1.2gbps to commercial customers. These types of speeds are significantly faster than what even today’s fiber optics internet networks can provide and are unheard of speeds for the satellite internet industry. In addition to functioning as a communication network backup system this new satellite internet service will also target Japan’s rural citizens that do not have access to the country’s fiber optic network and have been forced to receive internet service via DSL.
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Tags: Rural Broadband Satellite Internet, Rural High Speed Internet Service, Rural Satellite Internet Service
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July 12th, 2010
Dog breeding is a competitive business, which means the dog breeder must stay on top of the game. This means knowing what competitors are doing, working with the best studs, having access to all types of information, being able to research, and so on. In addition, you find many dog breeders in remote areas where they have room for the dogs to live and grow in a healthy environment. However, because of the remote location, a problem arises in the form of internet service.
Tags: Rural Satellite Internet Service, Satisfied WildBlue Customers, WildBlue Satellite Internet Service
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July 9th, 2010
Are you a stay-at-home mom, loving the joy of raising kids? If so, then you have one of the most important jobs a person could have. However, if you were like many stay-at-home moms, there are times during the day when the children are napping or in school that you would like to do something for yourself. If this is your situation, why not consider online education while being a stay-at-home mom. To help you get online quickly, easily, and affordably, Wild Blue internet service is an excellent choice.
Tags: Rural High Speed Internet, wild blue satellite internet, WildBlue Satellite Internet Service
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