I'm likely to be moving to an area where the standard broadband is likely to be quite slow, with no option currently for any fibre connection. I'm looking around at alternatives in case the broadband really is unworkable - there's no heavy gaming going on but the potential grief if the kids can't watch their banal Minecraft YouTube videos or SWMBO can't get on to Netflix could be bad.
Does anyone have experience of satellite broadband, I know it's relatively expensive but can it deliver speeds anything near what it claims? We're likely to have a standard Sky dish, would it work through this?
I think you need a correctly aligned dish (not to 28.2e) and special LNB.
AIUI it is very much a solution of last resort. An ADSL line that syncs at say 1500 kbps is better, though I would not claim that is good enough for Netflix and just about tolerable for YouTube.
If you describe where it is you are moving to it is possible for a local expert to look up what capabilities are available there.
Netflix could easily be marginal to non-existent on rural broadband.
There are local microwave based links in various rural communities NYNet in North Yorkshire run several with coverage theoretically where I live but in practice the requirement for strict line of sight prevents me from getting it. It piggy backs onto schools broadband.
I could use 3G with an external aerial here (and I do as a backup when my fixed line is down). Data charges sting a bit on 3G typically ~£3-4/GB depending on whose you use. The 3G is faster than fixed line.
Satellite tends to have terrible latency and these days is a solution of last resort. Most rural lines can support at least ~1Mbps. There are a few dead spots where 256k is pushing it on corroded old aluminium.
Ballpark you need streaming at >1.5M for basic TV and ~4M for HDTV.
THREE has the fastest 3G HSDCP signal in the UK. I regularly get between 10 and 20Gbps down and 3+ Gbps where I live(indoors). They are also one of the cheapest for unlimited mobile broadband. My landline broadband speeds are 6.5 Gbps down and a paltrey 0.7Gbps up.
Yes, all that and of course the back channel is through the phone line so no mga uploads, Most wireless alternatives have the latency problem, but sat based home systems are by far the worst due to the speed of light and the distance to the downlink sat. Might be worth testing 4g if it exists where you are going, but I doubt it. and 3g would be a bit slow. Unless you can find some other way, I think you are sunk basically. Brian
As others have mentioned its not that bright for latency so that rules out such as VoIP and gaming.
Have you get anyone nearby that can get faster broadband?, we have done a few fixed wireless links using the 5.8 Ghz band an as long as you have line of sight or near enough it can work remarkably well. We have a few that are running up to 10 meg over 10 miles but thats an exception, we have a local link here 3 miles and thats fine.
Have you been hood winked by the marketing? Outside of relatively small areas that Virgin Media do actual Fibre To The Premises (FTTP) nearly all so called "Superfast Fibre Broadband" is really Fibre To The Cabinet (FTTC).
Wander across to the availability checker that ought to be found on the County Council/BDUK website for the area in question. If the copper line distance from the *cabinet* to the premises is < 1 km you should get superfast downloads, ie > 24 Mbps, rising to 76 Mbps if the line is less than 300 ish m.
The above should tell you which exchange you are likely to be connected to and where it is located. Feed that into Sam Knows
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and see what ADSL services are available. ADSL runs from the exchange.
ADSL2+ (up to 24 Mbps) should give > 20 Mbps over about 1.5 km, > 10 Mps to just under 3 km.
ADSL2 (up to 8 Mbps) should give 8 Mbps to about 2.5 km, 2 Mbps to about 4.5 km.
2 Mbps is the minimum "universal access" speed that *everyone* should be able to get and is just about enough for SD Youtube/iPlayer.
Speed depends how many arms and legs you want to cut off. B-)
No almost certainly a different satellite and the signal is much weaker than the TV ones. Larger dish, maybe 24" dia, pointing different way.
3G or 4G mobile? More arms and legs...
Looking at the link below the rentals are reasonable. But you don't get much download allowance at the cheap end.
Compared to what? The speeds I see on the link below knock spots of my ADSL2 (ADSL2+ in not available) of 5 Mbps down 0.5 Mbps up.
Yes, the latency is bad.
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Other suppliers are available.
The biggest snag I can see with satellite and 3/4G is the restriction on use. If wifey watches one Netflix movie (~90 mins) an evening that'll be in the order of 2 GB download or 60 GB/month, add on kids YouTubing and > 100 GB/month is on the cards.
We (2 + 1) normally manage to be just under 100 GB, (plenty of Youtube from the +1, maybe 5 hours of iPlayer downloads week, normal browsing/email is nothing). When it becomes 2 + 2 and Netflix gets a hammering 200 GB can be tight.
3G+ will do ~20Mbps iff you have a decent high gain directional aerial and are prepared to work at setting it up exactly right. Contention ratios at busy times of day and data charges are an issue though.
Likes of Solwise have kit that will support doing this sort of thing.
Typically Sat-DSL can offer speeds of up to 20Mbps download, and 6Mbps upload with business grade services supplied with static IP's and offering priroritised throughput.
Latency (on average 700-900mS) meaning it's a non-starter for any 'real time' requirements like Terminal Services games etc.
Some providers will be able to offer services from ~£50/month - however that is typically only for 25GB of traffic / month - after that rate throttling kicks in. (more expensive packages offer more data - but expect to pay approaching £100//month for 100GB)
No. You will need a KA band parabolic dish - typically 72 x 68cm
Find out if there are any better connectivity options available elsewhere within line of sight. Buy someone else broadband and hookup a long range wireless link between the properties.
If that is a non starer, and there are no "community" broadband schemes you can joint, then EFM & 4G are two worth looking at.
If an area has 4G coverage - then that can be cheaper with a data only SIM and suitable hardware (perhaps with an external aerial).
"Ethernet First Mile" is a business grade symmetric broadband service that like a leased line - but cheaper. Often available in places normal broadband can't reach.
Install may be expensive (~£1k), Price can be ~£180/month for a 4 pair circuit. You might get 15Mbps out of that. Its symmetric (upload and download same speed), uncontended, No rate or use caps (i.e. run it flat out 24/7 and no one cares). Lead times can typically be 4 to 6 weeks.
Beyond that you get into the realms of Ethernet over Fibre - more expensive and longer lead times than EFM, but headroom to go up to 100Mbps.
-----Original Message----- From: Endulini Sent: Monday, May 04, 2015 11:10 AM Newsgroups: uk.d-i-y Subject: OT: Satellite broadband
Hi Folks,
I'm likely to be moving to an area where the standard broadband is likely to be quite slow, with no option currently for any fibre connection. I'm looking around at alternatives in case the broadband really is unworkable - there's no heavy gaming going on but the potential grief if the kids can't watch their banal Minecraft YouTube videos or SWMBO can't get on to Netflix could be bad.
Does anyone have experience of satellite broadband, I know it's relatively expensive but can it deliver speeds anything near what it claims? We're likely to have a standard Sky dish, would it work through this?
So on a par with Fibre to the Premises on demand (FTTPod) that is if BT ever sort out the pricing out for FTTPod. One of the major costs is the distance related one based on you and the nearest fibre agregation point. A fibre agregation point is where there is a joint in the fibre cable(s), this can be considerably nearer than the distance that is used for "normal" FTTP connections.
FTTPod offers 330 Mbps down, can't remember the up.
Also BT are starting to roll out Fibre To The Remote Node (FTTRN). This is a variation on FTTC, except the DSLAM is smaller and weather/water proof so can live up a pole or down a hole. It is also powered over the copper from the connected customers so no need to involve the DNO in getting power laid in. These are likely to be only fitted to "fill in" gaps of Superfast Broadband between cabinets along the route that the fibre to the cabinet takes. The smallest fibre cable BT install has 96 cores, there is some 48 but not much as the cost difference is minimal. So there is plenty of capacity for all this stuff...
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