[Eug-lug] OT: Looking for suggestions for broadband (in Eugene)

[Allen Brown]

Would an antenna tower reach over the trees that are blocking
line-of-sight?  If something like 50' will do it, perhaps an
affordable tower will be a good option.
-- 
Allen Brown  abrown at peak.org  http://brown.armoredpenguin.com/~abrown/
   Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.
   --- Oscar Wilde

silver wrote:
> For some satellite is the only "broadband" option known to be available.
> 
> An associate of mine has Starband satellite service (model 360). Account
> owner uses Starband for basic email and web surfing. Service has been horrid
> and has recently become worse. Service is always giving out, not just when
> it rains. The Gilat software and some of the network protocols are
> proprietary (not standard TCP/IP). The number of services required to be
> running by the Starband driver software is just wacko. Appx fifteen
> proprietary services required to be started-up on a Windows box
> (MissionControl, NettGain, RPA, etc). And issues running your own firewall.
> Upload speed is same with 33K dial-up. The Starband NOC is always having
> issues (e.g. thunderstorms in Atlanta) so no matter if your link to the bird
> is fine.
> 
> About a month ago he downloaded a backup of his webhosting account (appx
> 30MB). Day later received notice from Starband stating his account has been
> throttled and will remain that way for the next week since he went over his
> peak bandwidth/transfer limit. For a week (until his transfer "average" went
> down) his account was basically unusable, always losing connectivity (more
> than normal ongoing issues). And tech support has narrowed down support
> hours, closing at 5pm EST. No email support (if you want to contact
> electronically have to go through a purposely hard to find and convoluted
> contact form).
> 
> Portion of the Starband bird which serves the western US burned up over a
> year ago, so I suspect that has had major impact on service and profits. I
> suspect Starband is just cash cowing it, since taken over by SpaceNet/Gilat
> and the service is now on it's last legs and they are just hoping their last
> remaining accounts supposedly locked into three year agreements continue to
> hold on. My thought is with the reduced quality of service now provided by
> Starband the terms of the original agreement are no longer being met and the
> three year "contract" is therefore no longer valid.
> 
> At the same time Starband has been pestering to "upgrade" again (he went
> from 180 to 360 already, costing an additional $300 plus for the modem) to
> either their 480 model or their new Nova service (of course, which requires
> a different new modem and another three year contract). I've been
> recommending ditching them.
> 
> But what are the other alternatives?
> 
> In hills west of Fern Ridge there are limited options.
> 
> CountryVision, cable provider in Cheshire, wants to charge $5000+ to run a
> trench/cable 1000 feet so can tap into cable broadband. ugh.
> 
> Unwired Online has a microwave antenna on hill behind Fern Ridge Dam, but
> that requires line of sight. Due to neighboring trees, this option is not
> happening.
> 
> Qwest continues to reports DSL service is not available in his area (checked
> Qwest website and called customer support).
> 
> Out of range for ClearWire.
> 
> WildBlue satellite website and states they are no longer accepting new
> accounts in our area. And Peak, which previously marketed/supported
> WildBlue, is apparently is not any longer.
> 
> So is HughesNet the only other satellite service in this area ? Anyone have
> info on them as to quality of service in this area. Basically just email
> (pop/smtp) and web surfing is needed. But if HughesNet is anywhere near as
> bad as Starband, will stay with dial-up.
> 
> After reading this thread will contact Speakeasy/Covad and Integra to ask
> about extended DSL service but I don't hold out hope as the phone lines in
> the area are crusty and only obtain a 22K dial-up connection. His fax
> service is bad, always dropping connects. (PUC where are you?).
> 
> How to motivate Qwest to support DSL in his neck of the woods?
> 
> What are the other ISP options?
> 
> If Intel, Sprint, Motorola, or McCaw need WiMax testers send me email ;-)
> 
> Woody
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Mr O" <notanatheist at yahoo.com>
> To: "Eugene Unix and Gnu/Linux User Group" <euglug at euglug.org>
> Sent: Saturday, August 11, 2007 10:41 AM
> Subject: Re: [Eug-lug] OT: Looking for suggestions for broadband (in Eugene)
> 
> 
> Don't go with any satellite provider if you plan to move stuff *through*
> your connection. They typically block EVERYTHING
> unless you upgrade to the business package.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> EUGLUG mailing list
> euglug at euglug.org
> http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug
>