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.

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 3^rd 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.

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.

Ka Band Advantages

- Generally higher frequency
- Smaller dish
- Generally lower latency
- Less Expensive Equipment
- Uses Spot Beam Technology

Ka Disadvantages

- More susceptible to rain fade
- More complicated instillation

Ku Band Advantages

- Less susceptible to rain fade
- Slightly easier to install
- US carriers offer higher bandwidth, but also cost more
- Available to more areas

Ku Band Disadvantages

- Larger Dish
- Equipment is more expensive
- Slightly higher latency

Although, there are clear advantages and disadvantages of each, in most cases they are not substantial enough to warrant basing a decision on.  When considering a satellite internet service it will prove to be much more beneficial to base the selection on the provider’s service plans, customer support, and monthly service costs.  However, there may be situations in which you should pay particularly close to the benefits of each of these satellite technologies.  The first is to check your location to see if you are able to get Ka band satellite internet service.  This service is available in most places, but because it uses spot beam technology, which is definitely a benefit, you might fall just in between two spot beams.  This happens very seldom, but it does happen.  In this case your only option would be Ku band technology.

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.

If you are a music lover the high speeds of satellite internet will allow you to purchase and download your music from the internet.  Most likely, on dial-up your download speed is too slow to do much music downloading which forces you to purchase your music from a retail store.  Often, you can save $5 on an album by purchasing it online.  If you buy only two albums a month this is $10 a month satellite internet has saved you.

You will no longer need the extra phone line you have to pay for with dial-up internet because Satellite Internet does not require the use of a phone line to browse the web or even download files.  In addition to saving you a great deal of hassle this will also save you close to $15 a month by not having to pay for an extra phone line.

Cancel your newspaper subscriptions.  Satellite Internet will be fast enough to enable you to view your newspapers online, which is often free.  In addition you will be able to get involved with social media which often produces news faster than any other source because it comes directly from people that have been involved in the news stories.  Depending on how many newspapers you subscribe to this could save you another $10 a month.

As you can see it is very easy to find ways to save money with high-speed Satellite Internet service, and these are only a few examples.  If you were to do some brainstorming you could most likely find several more ways to save money, which means you could be enjoying high-speed internet at the same price or less than you have to put up with your slow dial up internet.

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 

    As with all things, there are ups and downs to both WIFI and satellite internet.  However, from my personal experience with using both kinds of high speed internet and talking to countless WIFI subscribers, it can allow you to preform the same functions as all other broadband connections, if you are close enough to the tower from which you are receiving the signal.  Also, with wireless internet, you have obstruction issues not common with Satellite High Speed Internet (Wildblue or HughesNet) such as buildings, trees, moving vehicles – there are a multitude of animate and inanimate objects between your home and the tower which can dramatically effect your service. 

    With the recent acquisition of so many ‘mom and pop’ wireless organizations, who couldn’t handle the growth, once phone companies turned corporate conglomerates, such as AT&T, have put a lot of focus into the wireless internet realm hoping to reap what was sewn not only in urban areas but in the plains of rural America as well.  According to an article on fiercewireless.com, AT&T hit an all time high of wireless subscribers at 51 million + in the last quarter of 2009. Yes, all was well, until so many of those subscriber’s turned their backs on the Wireless heavyweight after finding out the hard way that they, like so many other rural area high speed internet providers, imposed strict limits and harsh monetary penalties for downloading content in excess of 5 gig per month.  Not only that but their speeds were reported on average to be around 100-600 kbps consistently, again, depending on how close you are to the device that is broadcasting the wireless signal.  

   So, in effect, wireless internet is good to have if you frequent different rural areas of the country where high speed is not available, yet you need to interact with mainstream America.  Maybe someone with an occupation such as a cattle ranch inspector or a Wildlife biologist who report their findings in real time from the field would benefit from this type of service. My advice is, if you do travel often (unless you have to pay $61 per month under a two year contract to be convinced otherwise) is to get a laptop that has a wireless card built into it, find a place of business or even the hotel you’re staying in when you’re out of town, and cross your fingers in hopes that someone is broadcasting a WIFI signal that you can use for free. 

Satellite stays Stationary yet Remains Spectacular 

    After doing some personal research that included calling some of the big names in wireless internet and pretending to try and sign up for service, i was utterly shocked at their lack of knowledge, not only about their own products (which was scary enough), but also about their ONLY competition in rural areas, satellite high speed internet.  I won’t name any names but, i called every major wireless provider in the book as well as on the web and the only comparison that any of them could give me was “satellite internet is slower because it’s new” (after a rep asked his supervisor, as the rep could alone not answer my question).  The truth is, in hard science, that a microwave, KA-band signal (used by satellite internet) is exponentially stronger and therefore more consistent than the RF (radio frequency) signal used by wireless.  Also, with a two-way satellite internet connection (Wildblue or Hughesnet), the only obstruction issues you would encounter would be those between the dish that is mounted on your property and the satellite(s) orbiting the Earth which reside in the southern sky above the Equator.  Because of the turbo-charged power of the signal sent out from the satellite, light clouds and light rain effect service only minimally. Different than satellite television, as a storm gets progressively worse, conversely your speed starts to decrease.  Now, if its the kind of storm that makes you want to unplug your computer, take it from someone who has lost a nice laptop to a lighting storm, and go with your gut.  

    The only bad news (for some), is that satellite internet is not a mobile unit by any means.  For R.V.ers, traveling sales people and the like who require or desperately need a high speed connection on-the-go, a mobile broadband card is probably their only option.  For the rest of the us in rural America who have a designated location where their computer stays most of the time, i can tell you with great confidence, that overall satellite high speed internet IS better than wireless. 

Why the limitations?

    When too many subscribers are added to either kind of service or when a number of those subscribers download too much, it effects everyone using that service dramatically. 

    It was originally thought that there was an infinite amount of bandwidth, so when satellite and wireless were first made available to the public, there were no download thresholds to protect the average user’s internet connection from being bogged down by all-day-everyday downloading internet junkies.  Once this problem was discovered, something had to be done and strangely, with the same goal in mind (to limit user’s downloading habits) the two internet mediums took different approaches to accomplish the set goal.  The Wireless companies decided to do what had worked for both landline and cell phone companies in the past. Charge overages ( i.e. most wireless companies allow 5 gig per month).  Like signing up for a specific amount of long distance minutes per month and then exceeding that limit, the wireless companies started (and still do) charging through the nose, per Megabyte of information downloaded, those who exceeded their limits without notifying the user at the time the threshold was reached.  This resulted in, just like on phone bills of past and present, gargantuan monthly invoices with no explanations as to why they were so huge. You can imagine the outrage and betray felt by the uninformed users of early, restricted wireless internet.

    The satellite internet companies chose a different, smarter, and yes more pocket book friendly path. Instead of charging overages, both Wildblue and Hughesnet decided to simply notify the users when or before they reached capacity and slow the connection speed down for an interval to ensure the users could not continue to download massive files such as full length movies or high-quality video thus leaving bandwidth available to the lighter users and keeping their speeds consistent.      

The Bottom Line: Which is cheaper?

    A hyper-relevant and probably the most frequently pondered question by those in the market for a rural high speed connection is one of pure economics.  Which one is cheaper, or between wireless and satellite, which gives you the most value? 

     Because the question is relative, both to what is available to you and what your budget looks like, the answer cannot simply be one or the other.  In some areas wireless may be cheaper, but you have to consider that you are not getting the same amount of speed satellite offers and you are limited much more on the amount of data you can download in a given period (which with wireless can actually result in a higher priced monthly bill if you exceed the limits imposed upon you).  Satellite Internet can run (depending on your location and the speed you choose) anywhere from $39-$99 per month for anywhere from 512 – 2000kbps while wireless usually runs between $35-$89 per month for (again, depending on your location and the speed you choose) 100 – 1500kbps.  

So in a nutshell, wireless can be cheaper in some places, but as the old adage goes, “you get what you pay for”.

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.

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.

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. 

If you are or have considered becoming a dog breeder, you need to do all you can to understand the business.  One of the most important tools you can use is the internet.  However, if you live in a location where internet access is non-existent, unreliable, or expensive, then WildBlue internet service is the answer.  This particular system is different from traditional DSL in that a special satellite built by Boeing is used to keep you online, all the time. 

This service is not only advanced, meaning you can gain access to any internet site needed, it is also affordable.  With this advantage, you can grow your dog breeding business without the added expense.  To stay on top, you can create a wonderful website, upload photographs, and information about the dogs you breed, and then send the message out to the world, flawlessly, reliably, and conveniently.  Wild Blue understands the importance of having access to information, which is why this satellite system was designed.  The results have been incredible. 

The process of getting you set up with your own Wild Blue service typically takes between two and three hours.  Then, the satellite links to your personal computer then to the internet, at incredibly fast speeds.  In fact, if you live in a rural location, chances are you have been limping by with the old-fashioned dial up system.  In comparison, Wild Blue satellite runs up to 30 times faster, keeping you online all the time.  Using a 26 or 28-inch satellite that affixes to the house or ground, you will have your dog breeding service up and running in no time. 

As you can imagine, using Wild Blue means better advertising for the breeds you offer.  As more and more people become aware of what you have to offer, your reputation will grow.  Best of all, the bottom line will begin to climb.  With just a satellite and small modem, you will have your dog breeding business on line in no time.  Should a customer ask for a photograph of a particular dog, you could comply with an uploaded photo in minutes!  That type of customer response is what sets you apart from other dog breeders. 

Other benefits of using Wild Blue satellite service for your dog breeding business include the research aspect.  You can look at other breeder sites to see the price they are offering, track down bloodlines of various dogs, locate dog shows or breeder conventions, and simply connect with other dog breeders, providing you the opportunity to expand your knowledge.  By allowing Wild Blue to help you access the internet quickly and reliably, you gain the advantage.  However, considering that Wildblue satellite is so affordable and easy to use, you get the best of all worlds.

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. 

The nice aspect of using Wild Blue is that you can get online to conduct research, take tests, download class materials, and even join forums with the teacher or other students as if you were there in person.  With a reliable Wild Blue satellite connection, you can achieve your own personal goal of completing college while still having the opportunity to stay at home with the little ones.  Okay, so how does Wild Blue satellite service work? 

There are five key components of this system, which are described below: 

Gateways
Wild Blue has five unique gateways, each located throughout the United States and Canada.  These gateways connect the Wildblue satellite access network with the internet, effectively and efficiently.  Now, each of these Wildblue gateways is comprised of various things that include microwave, internet, and other types of broadband equipment.  With this, your connection to the internet for classroom study is fast and easy, routing the traffic from your computer to the internet and then back again.  Supporting the gateways connection to the internet is a state-of-the-art fiber backbone. 

Satellite
Wildblue satellite is designed using a Ka-band communication system that uses technology designed and developed by Boeing.  This satellite covers the continental United States with 31 separate spot beams, the most efficient and effective technology platform available.  Best of all, this high-tech solution for Wild Blue internet access offers a low cost structure so you can enjoy high speed for school without paying a fortune. 

Mini-Dish
The mini-dish is just 26×28 inches, designed to receive signals from the Wild Blue satellite, which are then sent from your computer to the satellite.  This dish is small but powerful, affixing to your roof, outside wall, or ground.  Getting yourself up and running for classes takes no more than three hours of labor. 

Modem
To connect one or more computers within your home, you will need a WildBlue modem.  Using a standardized modem technology, you enjoy two-way satellite internet and low cost.  This means while you are in a real time forum with other classmates, your spouse or children could be in another room on a second computer, playing games, listening to music, shopping, researching, and so on. 

Computer
Finally, your computer would be connected to the WildBlue modem with an Ethernet card.  This is what allows you to gain access to the high speed of Wildblue internet.  Whether using a permanent computer location or a wireless computer, the system works exceptionally well.