When someone talks to you about a product or service, after all the sugar coating has been removed, there is one, two-part question that lies at the core and that must be considered before making what they call in the sales industry an “impulse buy”. An impulse buy, is when something is so appealing at first that you do not even consider how it can benefit you in the future.  The question you must ask yourself is how can this product/service benefit me and can I afford it at this time.

The combination of purchasing high speed Internet and a decent computer is probably the smartest and most profitable investment you will ever make.  For instance, the average pay for a full-time blogger (usually someone who works from home, maybe even in their underwear) per year is about $70,000+. And that particular occupation is usually just someone giving their opinion and getting paid at length to write about it.  Which, coincidentally, is why I am writing this article…BECAUSE I GET PAID TO DO IT! (I know I can’t believe it either)

Furthermore, it doesn’t matter where you are thanks to companies like mybluedish.com who provide a satellite high speed Internet connection to the rural parts of America that the 21^st century almost forgot.  Literally there are STILL over 20 million homes in the United States that are still using the stone-tool, horse and buggy style of Internet, dial-up. (it makes me nauseous just to type those two words)

So the point of the story, guys and gals is GET HIGH SPEED INTERNET, if for nothing else, to make yourself some EASY MONEY! If you live in the city, get cable or DSL  (that’ll cost you about $1.88 per day), or if you live in the sticks get WILDBLUE Satellite High speed Internet for about $2.34 per day at mybluedish.com and ease some of your financial pressures.

Virtual Private Network, or VPN as it is commonly referred to, is being used by businesses for their remote employees and far flung office locations.

It is very common for most companies, large and small, to have an “Intranet”.  An intranet is a secure network within the business for use by employees to share ideas and work together.

They are also used by company leaders to inform employees of company-wide issues, as well as contacting and sharing ideas with individual employees.  In a nutshell, VPN uses encryption and tunneling to connect users securely to the corporate network (remote access), connect branch offices (intranet) and finally to include partners, suppliers and customers securely to the corporate network, thereby creating what could be called an extranet. VPN is based on tunneling.  I like to think of it as a wormhole, others describe it as a packet within a packet, comparing it to a package within a delivery vehicle.

While the packet is on the public internet it is encrypted by use of the outer packet.  When the packet reaches its destination, the private network, VPN creates a secure “handshake” with the outer packet for identification purposes.  Once the packet has been verified the outer packet will reveal the inner packet to the company’s intranet. The description of VPN above is meant as a basic understanding of the technology.  Let’s go a bit further.  You have just moved from an urban environment to a rural one.

In the city and suburbs you had DSL or Cable service from your Telco or cable company, and your VPN worked just fine and you didn’t give it a second thought.  Now that you are in rural America you have discovered the only broadband solution for you is satellite internet.  The question now becomes “can I use VPN with satellite internet?” There is no clear cut answer to this question.  Understand two things:  VPN and satellite technologies were simply not designed to work together and satellite high speed internet providers such as WildBlue Corporation, do not support VPN.  WildBlue high speed satellite internet provider and others recommend against the use of VPN with your satellite service. VPNs require high speed bandwidth with low latency to function at its best.

Satellite internet services inherently have high latency built in.  This is due to having to send the packet from your computer to the satellite, from the satellite to a terrestrial Network Operations Center, back to the satellite and finally back to you.  Another issue is upstream speed.  Satellite high speed internet generally has low upstream speed, unlike its high downstream speed.  At times upload speeds for satellite are comparable to dial-up internet services. Other issues come into play when attempting to run VPN services over a satellite high speed internet service.  There are at least two security protocols being used.  One of these is SSL (Secure Socket Layer) and the other is IPSec (IPSecurity).  SSL is the simpler, but not necessarily the better of the two.  With SSL you have a public and a private key to encrypt and decipher.

The sender uses a public key (digital) to encrypt information and the receiver uses the private key to decipher it.  Basically it is a “handshake” that authenticates the server and the client. The other method used for security is IPSec.  It has been implemented to support secure exchanges of packets at the IP layer.  IPSec is widely used by VPN’s IPSec supports two encryption modes, Transport and Tunnel.  Transport mode encrypts only the payload of cache packets, but does nothing to the header.  The more secure Tunnel mode encrypts both the header and the payload.  When the packet is received, an IPSec Compliant device decrypts each packet.

For IPSec to work, the sending and receiving devices must share a public key.  Bottom Line:  If you need per-user, per application access control you will most likely go with SSL.  If you need to give trusted user groups access to entire private servers and subnets, IPSec is the way to go.  Most VPN’s are IPSec, which tends to slow your access via satellite by 50-75%.  THAT is a very big hit, but mostly unavoidable due to the technologies involved.

Satellite broadband internet providers like WildBlue, also understand that the Network Administrator can have a huge effect on the efficiency of VPNs.  Obviously this is something that the satellite internet provider has no control over.  SSL-based VPNs use a standard browser, rather than having to install client software.  However, IPSec does install client software, which enhances the VPN experience but the tweaking of which can cause a myriad of problems for satellite broadband internet connections and their providers.

So…here we are, back at the beginning.  If you use VPN for uploading and downloading files it will work better than if you use VPN for live server data editing.  This is due to the multiple variables of VPN type, what is being done with the VPN, and how the IT department tweaks the VPN.  All of these variables control how VPN will perform over WildBlue and is also why we are not able to support VPN.   WildBlue high speed satellite internet service can and will allow you to use VPN, but be aware of all of the variables mentioned that can and will affect the performance of VPN over satellite broadband internet service.  We have customers that are very happy with VPN over WildBlue, and at the same time we have some customers that have reported poor performance. We are providing this information so that you can make the best choice for your particular situation.

We are all concerned about the high price of gasoline.  However, did you know that your WildBlue Dish can help you conserve gasoline and save money?  WildBlue, by providing you with reliable, High speed Satellite Internet service gives you the power to do from your home what you used to do from your car.

WHERE IS THE CHEAPEST GAS IN YOUR AREA!

With dial-up internet service it would take an inordinate amount of time to find the best places to purchase gasoline in your area, and time is money.  WildBlue allows you to browse quickly and reach the sites you are looking for.  Here are a few suggestions that will

help you find the cheapest gas.

Gas Buddy

MSN Gasoline Prices

Automotive.com

AAA Fuel Report

Fuel Me Up

With WildBlue you can check these sites before leaving your home.  The pages will load quickly and you can be out, in your car and filling up in a matter of minutes.  If you are using slow dial-up the price could change by the time your browser loads the page.

COMPARISON SHOPPING!

Using your new WildBlue Satellite connection you can comparison shop for items at places likeHome Depot, Sears and Wal-Mart from the comfort of your home.  There is no need to drive from store to store, take notes and waste gasoline.  Many major chain stores have sites located on the World Wide Web.

Perhaps you are looking for a Lawn Tractor.  By going to the Sears web site, all of their Lawn Tractors will be listed, along with Price, Specifications, features and benefits.  At this particular site you can compare up to 4 items side by side and find the one that suits your needs for the price you want.  Once you have chosen one at that site you can travel over to Home Depot and do the same thing.  After a short period of time you will know what you want, where it is, and you can then either order on-line or drive to the location to make the purchase.  You have eliminated hours of driving time and saved gallons of gasoline.

FREE SHIPPING AND IN-STORE PICKUP!

In an attempt to gain your business, many on-line shopping destinations provide Free shipping if you make a purchase totaling a certain dollar amount.  This can be as little as $50.  Some on-line merchants use a basic shipping charge, such as $2 or $3 for shipping via ground.  If you need an item more quickly you have the option of choosing another method of shipping.

BANKING ON-LINE!

Banking on-line can save you time and gasoline.  Use Direct Deposit for your paycheck and have the money automatically deposited to your account on payday.  You can then keep track of your accounts, move money to savings accounts and perform all of the functions that would normally have you driving to the bank.

RESEARCH, READING AND OTHER DAILY FUNCTIONS!

We are all used to hopping into the car to do small chores throughout the day.  With the price of a gallon of gas we need to find other ways to accomplish these chores without using our cars.

WildBlue Satellite internet service gives us the opportunity to change our habits and save gasoline, the environment, and money.  Many of the functions we can do on-line with WildBlue would be much too time consuming with a slow dial-up service.  But with fast WildBlue Satellite internet service they can now be accomplished in very little time.  This gives us back the time and the money we used to spend driving our automobiles all over town, and use that time to spend with our families and friends.

Don’t wait.  Investigate WildBlue Satellite internet service and see what we can do to enhance your quality of life.

So far in our Satellite Internet Around the World Series we have covered every continent with the exception of South America and Antarctica.  Yes, we do plan on covering Antarctica, although we must admit we will have to be a bit creative.  Since most of our blog articles are directed toward satellite internet in North America we most likely will not devote an article to a country in North America, although you never know.  So far we have covered what kind of satellite internet technology is available in the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, and throughout Africa.  Today, we will take a look at Brazil.

One of the major satellite internet providers in Brazil is Hughes, which is considered to be a part of Hughes Network Systems LLC, also known as Hughesnet.  The company utilizes a Ka-band SPACEWAY satellite to provide internet access throughout the country, which is unique to its service offerings in North America, in which it utilizes a Ku-band satellite network.  The company has made a great effort to bring high-speed broadband access to rural communities throughout the country, even the Amazonian jungle, which has proved to be extremely difficult to access with the necessary network setup equipment.  For many rural citizens, satellite internet will be the only internet access available as DSL, Cable, and often even dial up do not reach some of the more rural areas of Brazil.  Hughes has especially focused their efforts in providing the country’s educational sector with internet access.  The company has been working in conjunction with the Amazonas Board of Education to provide educational material via satellite internet to approximately 10,000 students in rural communities.

Another company in Brazil that offers a competitive satellite internet solution is Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd.  A few years ago Gilat received $23 million from Brazil’s Communications Ministry to provide a two-way satellite internet service to 3,200 new sites.

In recent years, we see a trend in families leaving the big city, choosing smaller, remote locations to raise families.  With this, families enjoy a more natural environment, fewer influences from the big city, and the opportunity to have a quiet home life.  Sometimes families move to residential areas on small plots of land while others build on large acres.  Regardless, living in a remote area usually comes with trade-offs.

For instance, if you are thinking about moving to the country, you will have room to roam and a lot of peace and quiet but you might also find that you no longer have internet access or the access available is not reliable.  Obviously, this could be a real problem when wanting to stay connected to family and friends.  The good news is that you can have your place in the country and internet access that is both reliable and affordable with Wild Blue satellite.

Wildblue internet service is unique in that there are no cables and no dial-up.  Instead, a mini-dish measuring 26×28 inches is affixed to the house or ground, which then receives and sends signals via a  satellite that was actually developed by Boeing!.  With this, you have internet access even in a remote location as soon as you log onto your computer – every time!  This means you can email family and friends, play games online, conduct research, or do anything you want with reliability and convenience.

To give you an idea of the packages you will get with Wildblue satellite service, consider this.  For a starting price of just $49.95 a month, you would get up to 512Kbps download speed, five separate email addresses, each with 10mb capacity, spam and virus filtering, 10mb web space, and many other things such as 24×7-hour technical support, equipment warranty, and WildBlue portal.  No other internet services offers so much!

Then, you could upgrade to Wildblue Select, which is still just $69.95 per month.  This includes up to 1.0Mbps download speed, five email addresses, again with 10mb capacity each, 10mb web space, and all the other freebies you get with the basic plan.  Now, you have yet another option with Wild Blue satellite service that is just $79.95 a month.  For this, you would receive up to 1.5Mbps download speed, 10 email addresses with 15mb each, 20mb web space, spam and virus filtering, WildBlue portal, 24×7 technical support, and more.  As you can see, all of the plans are affordable and they work.

The mini-dish installation takes between two and three hours, is noninvasive, and working before you know it. It uses the latest microwave receive and transmit technologies.  Best of all, Wild Blue satellite service is only minimally affected by the weather and then, only in extreme conditions.  That means even when it rains or snows, you have connection to the world outside.  Therefore, if you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the big city, moving to a rural setting for your family can be made possible while still enjoying top quality internet service with Wild Blue.

Eager to escape the hassle of the big corporate world, we now see a growing number of people taking their skills and choosing to freelance from home.  With this, these people have the opportunity to work their own schedule, make an excellent income, and enjoy being their own boss.  Because of all the benefits of freelancing, the trend is becoming quite popular for writers, computer programmers, retailers, and more.

Now, to be successful at freelancing, the most important tool is the internet.  Without having direct access to the outside world, freelancing would be impossible.  The problem is that some freelancers live in areas where quick and reliable service is not offered or they may have access to such services but for a price far too much to pay.  If this sounds familiar, we want to share a secret with you called Wild Blue.

Wild Blue satellite is becoming the number one choice among freelancers for several reasons.  This internet service is unlike any others in that it uses a special satellite built by Boeing to receive and send signals.  However, Wild Blue internet is also different because it is faster, in fact up to 30 times faster than traditional dial-up, the system never goes down, the customer service is impeccable, the service convenient, and all you need is a small mini-dish that attaches to the house, roof, or ground.

Being a freelance professional means gaining information about your competitors, sending files to customers, receiving information, and having the ability to be available.  Probably the most important aspect of working as a freelancer is being there for the customer when they need you.  Unlike a normal work environment, often customers will expect you to answer messages at all hours of the day.  Although this is a downside to being a freelancer, it pays off in the end.  However, if you do not have an internet connection that will allow you to connect anytime, your business will suffer greatly.

What Wild Blue offers is an affordable service that puts you online as soon as you turn on the computer.  Without cables that can break, or become damaged, you enjoy uptime, all the time.  To use Wild Blue’s internet service, all you need is a computer that runs on Windows.  This would include a minimum of 300+ MHz processor, 128mb RAM, Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, or XP operating system, 100mg free hard drive space, and an Ethernet NIC card.

Now, if you are a MAC user, Wild Blue can still work for you.  In this case, the minimum requirements would include 300+ MHz processor, 128mb RAM, OS9 or OS10.2+ operating system, 100mb free hard drive space, and an Ethernet NIC card.  With the appropriate system, your computer would connect via Ethernet to the Wildblue modem.  Then, you turn the computer on and have immediate, high-speed internet access.  The only thing you need to remember is that you would be responsible for keeping anti-virus protection on your computer.

If you have been thinking about leaving the corporate world to become a freelance professional but because of where you live and the high cost of standard internet service have put it off, now you know about another solution that is far better than other services.  The advanced technology used by Wild Blue and the low cost structure gives you a huge advantage over other freelancers in your area of expertise.

The availability of high-speed internet service throughout parts of rural Africa seems to be scarce.  Satellite Internet is not as readily available in countries throughout Africa as it is in other places throughout the world.  This is largely due to the fact that Africa is fragmented into many small national markets and has a minimal economy of scale.  Low income levels also factor in to the harsh market conditions.  Since there is not an expansive market in Africa, and the market that is there is so spread out that the satellite solutions that are available are often several times more expensive than even the services throughout Europe in North America.  This obviously does not sit well with the extremely low-income population.  However, it seems that relief may be on the way through the utilization of new satellite technology. 

According to the IDRC Pan-Africa Satellite Survey systems using the new high-power satellite over Africa are enabling Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSATs) to be utilized for under $2,000 with monthly charges as low as $150.  By using satellites that are capable of broadcasting signal to the entire country and not just certain segments VSAT prices could reduce to $750 and monthly service charges under $100.  These rates are much closer to that offered in North America and throughout Europe.  With a little help from government subsidizing, countries throughout Africa could enable their rural citizens to have access to high-speed internet that would have been next to impossible before.  Given that so many families throughout Africa are low income; until these government subsidies are in place the most likely target for these new advances will be small to large businesses, educational institutions, and public access points such as cyber cafes.  As a matter of fact, a company called MenaNet has launched the first chain of internet cafes in Egypt.  The cafes are stocked with 10 computers that are ready to surf the web at a charge of the equivalent of $2.38 per hour.  The company also offers other pre-paid packages that allow for a cheaper rate.

Online gaming is one of the fastest growing trends in the world right now. With games such as Runescape boasting subscriber numbers of around a million and World of Warcraft exceeding 7 million active members, the total number of MMOG subscriptions is verging on the absurd, quickly approaching the 14 million mark worldwide [6/06, mmogchart.com]. This tremendous growth in the popularity of the online gaming industry has, in part, been fueled by the accessibility of high-speed broadband internet.  A high-speed connection allows for a much more enjoyable game-play experience. Everyone knows that online games work exceptionally well on DSL and Cable internet connections, but what about the newer high-speed service, satellite internet? 

As satellite internet is becoming more readily available and cost effective more and more rural dial-up customers are making the switch to cash in on the faster speeds and always on access.  But, when it comes to online gaming many are concerned that their game-play experience will be less satisfactory, if they can even connect to play at all.The reason for this concern is the issue of latency. Latency is an expression of how much time it takes for a packet of data to get from one designated point to another. This is very important when it come to on-line gaming in that latency translates into the time that it takes from the moment that a button is pushed to when the action is performed in the game. Often this can mean the difference between life and death.With DSL and Cable the response time is almost immediate, being between 50milliseconds-150milliseconds. The latency for satellite internet is between 600 milliseconds and 800 milliseconds. This may sound like the end of online gaming for someone who has just made the switch to satellite internet but it is not.   

Although this degree of latency does all but rule out first-person shooters there are a good number of MMOGs that operate well over a satellite internet connection. And, although the effects of latency can never be completely eliminated, there are ways in which to improve upon them. The simplest way to do this is by speeding up the way that one’s computer handles and responds to information being transferred through the connection and by increasing the total amount of available bandwidth. Some operating systems have built in reserves on bandwidth that are non-essential to the functionality of most web applications, see link for a tweak http://www.wildblue.cc/wbforums/showthread.php?t=3323. By eliminating non-essential services i.e. bandwidth hogs that the average user never utilizes and dedicating more physical resources to the most used application can help tremendously. Minimizing the effects of latency down to the bare minimum allowed by the laws of physics enables one to play more online gaming than he or she was able to before and also speeds up the responses of other games that already work. So, although there are limitations to on-line gaming over satellite internet there are also ways to improve upon game-play responsiveness and many games that will play well without operating system tweaks. Below is a list of online games for both console and PC that, according to subscribers that have tested and played them, do and do not work over satellite internet. This is not a definitive list of games guaranteed to work, so be cautious as results may vary.    What Works Xbox/Xbox360/PS2/Handheld Games: 

Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter Battlefield 2: Modern Combat(for me anyway doesn’t for some others)   

Perfect Dark Zero 

All Tony Hawk games   

Mario Kart DS 

Call of Duty 2   

Medal of Honor: Rising Sun 

Socom 3(mixed results)   

Socom 2(so-so) 

Nascar 06 total team control(works kinda)   

Rainbow Six Series(Host boots for high ping usually, But CO-OP and 2 V 2 work well) 

Splinter Cell: Double Agent   

PC Games: 

Runescape   

Asheron’s Call 

Everquest   

Everquest 2 

World of Warcraft   

Star Wars Galaxies 

Dark Age of Camelot   

Roma Victor 

Eve Online   

Star Wars: Empire at War 

Dungeon and Dragons online   

Warcraft3 

GuildWars   

City of Heroes(very difficult to connect to the patch server..other than that it works fine) 

Final Fantasy XI   

Contract Jack 

Auto Assault   

Aces High Online flight sim 

Trackmania   

WarRock Beta 

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Outcast    

StarPeace 

America’s Army   

Red Orchestra 

Diablo 2   

Titan Quest 

F.E.A.R.   

Postal 2 

What doesn’t work or is not enjoyable   

Xbox/Xbox360/PS2/Handheld Games: 

Far Cry Instincts Predator   

Halo 2 

NBA Live 2006   

Quake 4 

Prey Demo   

Ratchet and Clank: Deadlocked 

PC Games:   

Star Craft 

BattleField 2 Demo   

Call of Duty 1&2 

Battelfield2   

Band of Brothers 

C&C Generals   

UT2004(playable..not enjoyable) 

Ragnarok   

Prey Demo 

Civ 4 Battlefield 2142

Continuing on our Satellite Internet Around the World Series, we want to visit Satellite Broadband on the Australian Outback.  As would be expected there is a relatively large market for rural high-speed internet solutions given the immense size of the country in addition to the fact that a large portion of the country has not been highly developed.  This also leads to higher degree of competition between satellite internet service providers compared to what is present in most countries.  An added benefit to Australian citizens is the fact that the Australian Government has publicized an Australian Broadband Guarantee that makes service subscriptions cheaper for many citizens. 

Australia’s Department of Broadband, Communications and Digital Economy Website states that the Australian Broadband Guarantee is an Australian Government initiative designed to help residential homes and small businesses access a high quality broadband service regardless of where they are located. The program targets individuals, families, and businesses that are unable to access commercial metro-comparable services, particularly those living in remote parts of Australia.  A metro-comparable broadband service is considered to be any service that offers a minimum of 512kbps download and 128kbps upload data speed, as well as 3GB per month of data usage at a total cost of $2500 inclusive over three years (including installation and connection fees).  The Government has allocated $237.7 million over four years that will go through 2012 to fund the Australian Broadband Guarantee to subsidize access to high quality broadband services where it might otherwise not be available.

One of the popular Satellite Internet Service providers in Australia is known as HarbourSat.  HarbourSat advertises service plans starting as low as $9.95 a month due to the aid from the Australian Broadband Guarantee.  Basic plans include download speeds of 256kbps and upload speeds of 64kbps, whereas more advanced plans include download speeds of 1,024kbps and upload speeds of 256kbps.

More than any other time in the history of the internet, staying up and running without any downtime is crucial.  When companies have their internet access go down, they lose thousands and thousands of dollars every hour or every day.  Our society has become so reliant on the World Wide Web, without it, we would be in big trouble.  The internet keeps businesses connected with vendors, suppliers, competitors, market information, employees, and so on, meaning without it business would die! 

To ensure your company stays online 100% of the time, you might consider using a reliable service as a backup.  In fact, you will now find most companies routing their business through an internet center for this very reason.  With this, should their own equipment fail or the connection be lost for some reason, the internet backup service housed in the internet center picks things up immediately so service to that company is never down. While using the services of an internet center would be an excellent option, they are also very expensive.  For smaller companies or for companies just getting off the ground, funds are not always available to enjoy the benefits offered by an internet service.  That means those companies have to cross their fingers, hoping nothing goes wrong that would take their internet service down.  Well, if you are a smaller or start-up company on a budget, you have options to enjoy the same type of internet backup through Wild Blue satellite internet service. Wildblue internet is run through a state-of-the-art Ka-band communications system. With WildBlue You have the peace of mind knowing that should there be a power outage, something that goes down within your own system, your internet connection will remain up and running. If you want to compete in this world today, you have to have internet connection all the time.  Even being down five minutes could be the difference between success and failure.  What Wildblue satellite offers is just that – reliability.  However, Wild Blue offers more in convenience and affordability.  With this efficient and effective technology platform offering broadband satellite, you can choose from different plans that fit in with your current financial situation. Just as an example, let us say you started a day trading company.  Your success depends on the internet not just being up, but being quick.  Things in the stock market can change within a second.  Having the ability to be on line and see what you need to see quickly, is what will help you succeed.  If you should be watching a particular stock, just waiting for the minute when you need to make a move, and suddenly, you lose internet connection, you could easily lose thousands, tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of dollars, for your client and for you. Using Wild Blue as your internet backup solution allows you to run your business with 100% confidence.  You know that should something on your end go wrong, Wildblue has your back.  Best of all, you get this type of backup internet service at an affordable cost, something that will help you to continue growing your business.  There has never before been anything so incredible for internet backup than what you would get today with Wildblue.  Enjoy your business, knowing you can stay competitive without breaking the bank.