Satellite Internet often does not work well with the Etudes platform simply because of the latency involved with Satellite Internet.  To function appropriately the Etudes software needs a point to point connection with Ping times under 200 to work best.  Often satellite internet connections provide ping times of around 500.  This does not mean that your satellite internet service provider is not very good, it is just the way satellite internet is designed to function.

What does Satellite Latency Have to do with Etudes

Latency is a term that describes the amount of time it takes for your internet signal to travel from your computer up to the satellite and back down.  Latency is obviously much higher with satellite because the signal has much further to travel than other types of internet connections like DSL or Cable.  This is the same concept that makes it difficult for peer to peer gaming or a VoIP phone conversation to take place.  As a matter of fact the Etudes platform uses a VoIP like technology to communicate.

How Can I Improve My Etudes Experience With a Satellite Connection

If you are using Etudes and satellite internet as your only option for a broadband connection, often the case if you live in a very remote area, there may still be a way to improve your connection with Etudes.  This has to do with the type of satellite technology you are using.  Ka band and Ku band are the two primary types of satellite internet technologies.  The Ka band technology will most likely work better with the Etudes platform simply because the satellites are positioned closer to the Earth than they are with Ku band technology.  Ask your satellite internet provider if you have a Ka or Ku band satellite dish.  If they say that you have a Ku band satellite dish ask them if they can install a Ka band dish, as some providers do offer both types.

Backup Plans for Satellite Internet

If your provider does not offer a Ka band option there are likely other service providers in your area that do, however please do your research before canceling your current service, as depending on your area, it may not be possible to get Ka band service where you live. If you are forced to use Etudes with a Ku band connection you might want to travel to a friends house or a public library for any lessons, communications, etc. that require a point to point or VoIP type connection. You should not have any problems with any other aspects of the system.

One more option might be to purchase a pay as you go wireless internet card, if they are available in you area, to use for any VoIP communication that needs to take place and then use your satellite internet for all other communications and web activity. Wireless internet is often much more expensive than satellite internet, but it does not have the high latency issues, so this scenario might allow you to get the benefits of both.

“North to Alaska, They go North, The rush is on!” Johnny Horton wrote those song lyrics back in 1960 describing the great surge to the Alaskan gold fields in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. People from all over the world made their way to the harsh but startling beauty of the mountains and streams that would, for a few, produce a fortune.  Makeshift claims and towns started to dot the terrain in huge numbers. It is not too hard to imagine just how difficult a life this must have been with no phones, TV, or rural satellite internet.

Flash forward to the current day. People may not rush north anymore but many still head to our 49^th state to try their luck at panning for gold, fishing the waters, vacationing or permanently settling there.

Alaska has been called the ‘last frontier’ due to how inaccessible some areas are but with more conveniences coming to the state every year that nickname may no longer apply to its future. With the influx of modern satellite communications may come the next ‘rush’.  The push is now on to provide internet connections to those places that are still considered too rural to have this vital link to the world. Satellite broadband internet will open up these isolated areas to the new pioneers.

If you find yourself with gold fever there are many internet sites that will give you the information you need to get started. Step-by-step articles will take you from planning a budget for your trip to staking your claim and the actual tools you will need for the method of gold digging you choose. Besides panning, sluicing or dredging for riches, the common gold metal detector is being used very successfully and more easily than the more involved forms of searching for this treasure.

The early forty-niners needed this same information over a hundred years ago, so not much has really changed in that respect. They had to determine how much money to bring with them for supplies and figure out transportation in a time when the airplane and the automobile had not even been imagined. And of course, the internet had not yet been invented!

Cities like Nome grew because they were the starting place for these ventures and contained just about everything that needed to be purchased before a trek into the wilds. More fortunes were made by the suppliers than by those who risked their lives for perhaps a bit of gold dust.

Even those of us who do not have that pioneer spirit think it might be fun to go and pan for gold, but not the old way. I personally would want to be able to fly to Alaska, watch television, hike, search for valuable nuggets, and use the hotel or camp’s satellite internet service to proclaim to the world that I have struck gold! Then I would want to fly home and spend it. That’s my idea of roughing it!

You may be asking yourself “What is an Ocooch and where are these mountains?”  Well, that’s a pretty reasonable question, and one which you probably never expected to ask!  You might also wonder what this has to do with Satellites and Internet Access.

Over one hundred and twenty acres of hills and valleys, creeks and woods surrounded by miles of the same you will find a place called Eden Valley.  Steeped in local lore, it was once the site of a battle between two bands of American Indians.  With plenty of game and fresh water, it was a place worth fighting over.

Located in Southwestern Wisconsin, the valley is nestled deep into the Driftless Region which was spared by glaciers long ago, leaving the hills undisturbed for far longer than the rest of the state.  The land there is old, very old, and in the still of the evening you can feel it surrounding you.  Timeless, unchanging, eternal.  The same million stars you see now were there when Europeans still lived in caves.  On a starless night you can’t see your hand in front of your face, the darkness is absolute.

These are the Ocooch Mountains, named by native tribes which had lived in the area for longer than history records, when the only satellite in the sky was the moon. The natives were there when a mammoth was killed nearby by a stone-tipped spear, discovered still wedged into bone ten thousand years later.  They were there when they raised a mound in the shape of a fish, perhaps to draw the fish to them.  This is an ancient land.

Today the region is mostly farmland, known for its dairy farms and cheesemakers.  Plenty of forests remain, and Eden Valley was saved from grazing and returned to woods and meadow by a couple from Illinois.  At an age when most folks are thinking about retirement, they moved there and carved out their small part of Heaven they called Eden Valley.  Miles from the nearest town, for years their power and telephone lines were draped along a barbed-wire fence then strung through trees to their house.  There was no fancy  high speed satellite internet; the TV picked up only one channel, barely.  In the winter those hardy folks hiked through a half mile of snow to reach their home on top of a hill.

They cleared the land of brush and thorn trees by hand: machete and ax.  They bridged creeks with fallen tees and carved a crude road to get in.  They built their home, their dream, tapped Maple trees for syrup, canned wild fruits, and started a shelter for unwanted animals of all sorts.  They were pioneers in the midst of the twentieth century!

Then, after nearly three decades of labor and love, the world came to them.  News from back home, their distant children and grandchildren, friends and relatives they hadn’t seen for years all showed up on their doorstep one day when they finally got Satellite Internet Access! They even found a son through the internet, lost for over sixty years.  Their dream was finally complete; they could live their lives in Eden without having to leave the world behind!

And the Ocooch Mountains?  Oh, they’re still there and will be for a long, long time to come.

Are you by chance one of those people that just started using Facebook?  If so you may want to brace yourself for a big change in the social networking world.  I know you are probably thinking “But I just figured out how to use Facebook and finally started finding some friends”.  The truth is that it may be to your advantage to change.  Have you ever thought about where all that personal information is going that you give to Facebook, and furthermore who owns that information?  The answer is Facebook!  That’s right, Facebook actually owns any information posted on their site, and could potentially do whatever they wanted to do with it.  Of course they tell us that they would never abuse our information, but just the fact that one company has that much access and control over our personal information is frightening.

This brings us to the change that is about to occur.  A new startup by the name of Diaspora claims to be creating a social networking platform in which the users retain the rights to their own information.  In fact they will even let you host your information on your own server.  They claim that their social network will allow users to control the parameters of how much access to their personal information will be given to the public domain.  This may not be something that you currently have a great amount of concern for, but 10 or 15 years down the road you may wish you had been more aware of who is in control of your information.

In order to utilize this new social networking technology you are going to need access to a high speed internet connection, however.  I bet you would be surprised of the number of people that still only have access to dial up internet.  Several people in the area where I live are in this situation, and they are considering WildBlue satellite internet service simply because they are beginning to realize how much they are missing out on by not having high speed broadband access.  So, if you are in this situation get some satellite internet and start taking control over your data.

You are pretty sure that you have got the next big idea worth millions of dollars, but there seems to be one small problem standing between you and exponential success, MONEY.  Does this situation sound familiar?  If so you are in luck because there is a new website/social network that is dedicated to helping people fund their startup ideas.  The website is called KickStarter, and the best part about it is that you do not have to give up any control of your company.  The website is based around the premise that a lot of people are willing to donate a small amount to see a project that they like become successful.  This website is for projects of all sizes, regardless of how small or how large.  It is customary to give something in return for donating to a company, but not necessarily required.  Often startups agree to give away a coffee mug or some other small symbol of appreciation if their funding round is successful.  The startups are required to receive 100% of their set budget or they are not able to receive any of their funds.

There is however, one prerequisite you need to meet to be able to effectively interact with the website, which is having access to a high speed internet connection.  If you are in a rural area and only have access to dial up internet service it is going to be difficult for you to be able to use this service.  If you are in this situation you are going to need to invest in WildBlue Satellite Internet service, which can work even if you are in a rural area.  This could possibly be the best investment you have ever made if this is the only thing that stands between you and launching your multi-million dollar idea.  So, get some high speed internet and get started on your path to success.

It seems like every time we turn around another major cell phone provider is launching some sort of new innovative mobile technology.  It seems the latest fad is video calls.  It is apparently no longer sufficient enough to just hear someone’s voice; we need to actually see them now to be able to communicate.  Apple’s iPhone, Google’s Android, Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 7, and many more major cell phone providers are adding some kind of support for video calling features.  The catch is that, right now, many of them will only work while on Wi-Fi, including Apple’s Face Time application.  This means that those of us in rural areas are out of luck.  We can’t even use wireless 3G to use these features, but wait, maybe there is one option.  The only option we have is to actually use a satellite internet connection to access high speed broadband.  The best and most affordable satellite internet option out there is MyBlueDish.

Soon it appears that a typical mobile phone call is going to consist of visually interacting with not only the person on the other line but their surroundings as well, as many phones allow people to switch to a view that lets the other person see what you’re seeing.  I cannot help but to wonder what will be next in the communication industry.  First we could read written messages sent to us via telegraphs, next we could hear people speak, now we can actually see the other person.  It seems like the only next logical progression would be able to touch the person we were talking to, maybe via a hologram, or who knows maybe we will be able to teleport through the mobile phone by that time.  This level of communication seems unbelievable, but just think how unbelievable video chatting would have been to people 200 years ago.  Regardless of how advanced the communication industry gets you are still going to have to have a high speed broadband connection.  So if you are in a rural area that only gives you access to dial up give MyBlueDish a call and chances are they can help you out.

In this post, we are going to shift our focus to how we can get the government, (believe it or not), to pay for our green energy ventures and lessen the start up cost for something that’s going to save you money (what a concept!).

Certain states, even regions of the country are more “green energy” oriented than others I guess you could say.  In Colorado for instance, if you buy a green product (everything from light bulbs to electric vehicles) you can fill out the necessary paperwork and get back 50% of your purchase price. Half! So if you spend $10,000 on a new 100% electric motorcycle, you get (that’s right) $5000 back!  There has never been such an incentive to go green.  No one, especially the government, LIKES giving out free money, henceforth, you may have never heard of these grant programs until now because it’s not that hot of a topic amongst the government’s economists, and it’s not like they advertise it in between episodes of The Simpsons.

So where, then, is this secret free money information kept?  On the Internet, of course (check out governmentgrant.com/green-grants)!  I realize that many people that need these types of grants are in rural areas and may not have access to a good broadband connection.  Obviously if you do not have a way to find out about the grants, it is going to be very difficult to apply for them.  Fortunately if you happen to be one of these individuals there are some options for you. WildBlue satellite internet service can provide high speed access to individuals and businesses even if they are out in the middle of no where.  The best option is to gain access to either a cable or DSL connection.  However, if these are not available WildBlue will be there for you.

We’ve heard a lot in the past few years about “Going Green”. The green initiative seems to have swept through our society, and rightly so. I have therefore found it fitting that we do a series of blog posts that focus on this green initiative. The things we can do for the welfare of our environment and our bank accounts through the use of green energy are limitless. There are countless sites on the Internet which are able to provide you with the necessary information to do these kinds of things.  Today, let’s take a look at what we can do for our health using the most natural of foods; 100% organically grown fruits and vegetables.  “Organically grown” means that these most wonderfully tasting and nutritious gifts of nature have not been exposed for the duration of their natural lives to any kind of unnatural pesticides and/or chemicals to enhance growth.  Now, not only does this make them more appealing to the ever-expanding health conscience public, but it also provides actual benefits to one’s heath compared to consuming store bought produce. You can learn about these benefits to your physical and mental well being by researching more about organically grown produce on the internet. If you live in an area where high speed internet isn’t available (everyone knows using dial-up is worse for your mental health than eating mass produced celery sticks) then check out WildBlue Satellite Internet.  They provide high speed internet to thousands of rural area farmers who produce these wonderful works of nature and can do the same for you.  Not only that, but having high speed internet service can help you network with local farmers to help you locate the best prices.  Through high speed internet you might be able to purchase produce from your next door neighbor, who you never knew was an organic farmer, and save money by not having to drive to the grocery store.

Google’s new web browser, CHROME, is probably the most user friendly browser that I’ve ever experienced, especially for slower than cable internet connections. Running on all cylinders at all times, Google CHROME zooms past IE and Mozilla in terms of pulling up pages and giving you what you want instead bogging your connection speed down with of a bunch of insignificant toolbars and buttons you don’t use.   Most people that have internet, have, at one time or another, been frustrated because of slow page pull up or one website that “weighs” more than others, dragging the rest of your sites down.  Now, not many people know this, but Wildblue, the high speed satellite internet provider, has a tight knit affiliation with Google.  Wildblue’s email is powered by Google’s Gmail and many of Google’s online applications run silky smooth when used in conjunction with a reliable internet provider with consistent speeds like Wildblue.      

    Using CHROME alone will definitely speed up the rate at which you move page to page, but to maximize your potential internet speed here are a couple of things you can do that take minimal effort and give you astounding results: First, if you’re using any version of Windows as your operating systems you’ll want to go to the start menu, choose ‘Control Panel’, then click ‘Internet Options’ ( some versions of Windows require you click one step before this called ‘Network and Internet Connections’). Then towards the middle of the screen labeled ‘Internet Properties’ on the ‘General’ tab, you will see an area with the words ‘browsing history’, ‘cookies’, or ‘temporary internet files’ that has an option to either ‘Delete’ or view ‘Properties’.  Click delete and get rid of all your cookies and temporary internet files if you have never done this, but have been using the internet for an extended period of time.  This should speed up your surfing and downloading speed significantly.  If you have or have had someone do this within the last month or two it may only help slightly, but any is better than none.  

    Next, you’ll want to download the Wildblue Optimizer to your PC. According to Wildblue.net, “the WildBlue Optimizer is a software tool designed to enhance the web surfing experience of computers connected to the WildBlue network.” Do these two things and you’ll find that the next time you’re cruising down the information superhighway, your Wildblue does, in fact, ride smoother on CHROME.

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.