Satellite Broadband??

**king132** · 7th June 2004

Ive got a cable line and ive been looking around to get a good deal on broadband and found a site where they offer 1mbit for �16.99, its satellite broadband and theyre asking for �129.99 for equipment which includes:

Technisat Sky Star 2 PCI card
Stand alone 70cm Dish
including Bracket, LNB & Cable

Is there anywhere i can buy this equipment cheaper?

whats the pros n cons of satellite broadband?

are the offline braodband tv stations any good?

**lemaru** · 7th June 2004

can pick up a skystar 2 for about 30-40quid mate...

i did have 2 i got from the europeonline offer a while ago but ebay'd them for 30 quid each!

the dish can be picked up cheap enuff... if the satellite used is astra or hotbird an old sky analog dish will do.. or any cheap 60cm or bigger dish and a digital lnb..

i used to use an 80 cm dish and monoblock lnb... set me back about 60 quid if i remember correctly but i purchased a hauppage nexus satellite card for 165quid to as i used it for TV watching as well as broadband...!

pros and cons..... well the main con is that it is one-way so u have to remain connected with your phone line to an isp.. so u get normal 56k modem speed when uploading and then everything is sent back thru the satellite...

i only used it as broadband wasnt available in my area.... europeonline did have one nice feature and that was being able to request files in the file fetch thing and then it gets queued up.. then when its time for your file to get sent, make sure the pc is on and u can recieve stuff at upto 8mps.... and can also capture all the stuff other people requested all without needing to be logged on with your isp... then just a case of mooching thru everything and seeing what is worth having and what is crap!

i also used netsystem for my satellite broadband.. this wasnt too bad but i wouldnt to be honest recommend the sat broadband option... well unless adsl or cable isnt an available option...

go with the cable or adsl if i were u mate...

**kracken** · 7th June 2004

Is there anywhere i can buy this equipment cheaper?

try ebay , there are sum bargains about

whats the pros n cons of satellite broadband?

there are too many to list but heres a few ( these apply to me in particular so maybe not you) ...... seperate PC for satellite setup (could be a pro or could be a con) , online gaming is a waste of time as the sat signal has to goto 36000km above the equator and return , ie geo-stationary orbit (con)

are the offline braodband tv stations any good?

depending on what app you use to watch it with and what plugins you use with it and depending on which satellite you are pointing at then the tv stuff is good (pro).

Is it for you ? hmmm tough one . If it was my only form of connecting to the net / downloading files then i gotta say id be slightly dissapointed (5/10) , but as it isnt i gotta say id give it 8.7/10 for the overall service , 9.5/10 for speed , 8/10 for ease of use .

Please remember that the *service* is only as good as the ISP that you are signed up with and id say nearly all have some sort of monthly data transfer limits in the smallprint so read them carefully before you sign up.

checkout www.net4nowt.com ( broadband-satellite area ) and see whats on offer