Satellite Broadband - a question....

[Ali]

Does anyone use it?

If so any recommendations as to which 'supplier' is overall 'better' or if you do use it are you happy with your supplier and who is your supplier?

I visited an elderly couple living just outside a small village here last week (in the course of my own work) and they can only get dial-up ! There is no adsl on their line at all which I found amazing because they're only about 15 mins from here. They are finding dial-up slow and expensive, I mentioned sat broadband and said I'd try to find out a bit more for them.

Thanks for all replies, would like to hear from both experts and non-experts please.

[BartyB]

well.... after a bust up with FT I put my money where my mouth is so to speak and got rid of landline and cabled broadband.
waddaya want to know?
Theres broadly 2 providers for satellite BB for domestic users, Astra (Astra2connect) which is marketted in france by Nordnet (owned by Orange), Viveole and others and Eutelsat (TooWay) marketted by Sat2Way, SFR. In terms of price and performance there's little to choose between the products. The hardware for both providers is from long established companies and costs around €400, expect to pay between €150 and €200 for installation although bost systems are designed for self install.
Monthly costs start at €25-€30/month
Nordnet steal a march over other providers as they offer a 2 year payment option whereby you pay €50 at the start and then an extra €10 a month for 2 years.
If they're English and worried by using a French company then I can supply either system at similar prices all in English.

[Ali]

Thank you Bart - I'd only just noticed your reply !!

I'll pass the info on (and of course would recommend you as a matter of course)

I guess for them it's a simple maths calc - how much their phone bill is now versus the set up and on-going costs of Sat broadband. So a landline isn't needed either? Calls can be made in and out of the Sat sys?

What is the download speed like?

[BartyB]

I don't have a landline anymore, but we never used it anyway 'cos we always use skype or mobiles. Phone over the satellite takes a little getting used to as there is a small but noticable delay, in truth I barely notice the delay after about 30 seconds chatting. I also have a "real" VOIP connection using a commercial paid for provider and for simple phoning it knocks Skype for 6 for audio quality. (just to reitterate you need to make 3rd party arrangements for phone calls over satellite BB)

speeds are pretty good and reasonabley close to claimed speeds. Again the thing that takes a little getting used to is the time delay, there's a minimum 650ms delay from pressing the send button to getting anything back. Speeds available start at around 3mbps up to 10mbps obviously with increasing prices.

To keep prices acceptable both services are subject to fair access/usage policies which are slightly sifferent but for a light user who's been used to dial up it's unlikely to become an issue.

[Ali]

M'off to see them in a couple of weeks time (they're away at the mo) will print and take