Re: [VAL] On Road Computer/E-Maill

[Rick Kunath <k9ao@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

There is this perception that satellite Internet access is fast. It 
isn't. At least not as compared to terrestrial wired connections.

With the higher speed options available from wireless carriers these 
days, it is hard to justify the grief of a satellite feed.

There are dedicated high-speed modems (not hand-held cell phones or 
PCMCIA "air" cards) available for the modulation protocols used by any 
of the carriers. I've personally used Sierra Wireless and BlueTree 
equipment on Cingular's and Verizon's network with excellent results (a 
separate modem with the appropriate capability is needed for each of 
these carriers as they use incompatible modulation methods), and the 
gear is available for other carriers as well. It is a lot cheaper than 
satellite equipment is, and uses the standard Internet digital access 
plan pricing for a given carrier, plus the performance, receive 
sensitivity, and transmit power output is superior to the other hardware 
available. Remember that cell carriers use incompatible modulation 
schemes and something that will work on one won't usually work on 
another. It isn't like the old analog days when a phone was a phone.

One of the big drawbacks of satellite access is the latency. There is 
such a time-delay because of the round-trip of the signal to space and 
back that actual page loads really don't appear that much faster than 
ordinary dial-up. One other thing to be aware of is the really strict 
download and upload caps on satellite service. If you think that you 
need the service because you can't get wireless terrestrial access, 
that's one thing. But if you are considering it because you think you 
need a faster feed and actually have use for the bandwidth, forget it. 
If you actually use it, even a modest amount, you'll be throttled to 
dial-up speed as punishment for a while. Additionally, you'll be 
double-NAT-ed (Network Address Translation - a way to share an 
insufficient number of real IP addresses) and won't have control of the 
port-forwards at the satellite provider's terraport, so some things that 
used to work with a traditional terrestrial Internet connection, won't, 
and you'll have no way to get them working. (Most of the wireless 
carriers now have this issue with their service too, but at least it's 
low-latency and cheap. The older CDPD service didn't have this problem.)

It really isn't much of an alternative unless you are in an area where 
there is no other way to get to the Internet.

I tested a whole lot of equipment from various providers here for use as 
a backup to an Emergency Operations Center, and found all of it 
problematic. What I am going to do to get the backup I need is beyond 
what might be appropriate for discussion relative to on-the-road use of 
the Internet, so I'll not elaborate.

There are a lot of pieces of advice floating around the Internet about 
how to do this. Make sure that you get professional advice before you 
spend your hard-earned cash. I have seen far too many inaccuracies and 
misconceptions even in our own magazines lately.

You can get this going, just do your research, talk to professionals 
(not someone at a cellphone store) and then have fun. It isn't that hard 
when you have a plan.

Rick Kunath
WBCCI #3060