OT DirecPC internet connection experience.
Apollo:
Direct for Internet Access: I've had it here for the last several months and here's my take...
1> It has performed just fine for me. Perhaps I'm happy only because I can't get over 28.8 given the phone connections where I am <G>.
2> Snow stops it from receiving. You can switch on the fly to "terrestrial line only" and keep going at your old pace. Unsatisfying, but it keeps you going.
3> Service has been quick and competent when I've called.
4> Ya gotta understand the system. It is an asymmetric system, meaning that the outbound requests travel out your phone line to your ISP and the response comes back via the satellite. Depending on the page being displayed, this is more or less painful. The structure of HTML is such that there can be many round-trips to display a page. Many of the icons etc. are actually a separate request. So, loading a page can either be really snappy or not much different from your old ISP line, depending on the structure of the page. Displaying large graphics files or downloading programs is where the speed of the download from the satellite shows to its best advantage. I'll download program updates that I wouldn't have dreamed of doing before.
5> "Fairness of use" rules. Direct will slow you way down if you use excessive bandwidth. This is to prevent folks from reselling the service. I've never been hit with this, even when I download a ton of programs earlier this year when bringing up my new computer. Hasn't been an issue for me.
6> Since the plan I use is time-based, there is a 15 minute time-out. That is, if you haven't transmitted data for 15 minutes, a screen pops up and asks you if you want to stay connected. If you aren't around, it hangs you up 30 seconds later. This is probably configurable, but I prefer to keep it.
Overall, I'm very pleased with the performance and service. It's expensive ($35/mo for the service I use, PLUS the $20/mo ISP). Since it's my only choice, I decided it's worth it.
That said, I will very seriously consider a two-way satellite connection whenever it becomes available. However, as already pointed out, the transmission delay will form a limit to the user experience. Again, whether you notice it or not depends on whether what you are doing requires a lot of back-and-forth.
BTW, the fairness of use clause really inflames some folks as evidenced by one of the message boards I looked at...
Hope this helps
Erick |
