New high speed internet you can use on your bus.

Steve · 02-10-2005, 12:39 PM

http://www.wildblue.com/

SeanF · 02-11-2005, 09:05 AM

Most satellite-based internet service can boast great download speeds, but upload speeds are usually on par with dial-up.

WildBlue conveniently omits upload speed info from it's website.

But if upload speed is not a concern, it'sll probably be a good deal vs. Datastorm, et al.
Sean

glock17 · 02-11-2005, 01:48 PM

The company I work for will be selling that in May. I've heard that the hardware will be several hundred dollars, they may spread that out over a 12 month period but still, you buy some pretty expensive hardware. We should be getting our demo system 2 weeks before we can start selling it. I'll let you know how it works. We also were thinking about selling DirecPC when it came out a few years ago, that was so bad we sent it back and never sold any.

skoolie_grease · 02-21-2005, 08:09 PM

Nothing beats your own line in/out, like a private dish...

But if you want to go on the cheap, get a little wifi card (802.11b or 802.11g), plug it into your laptop, and pull up to anywhere offering free wifi. Lots of coffee shops, motels/hotels, campgrounds, and more offer free wifi.

Here's a site with a growing directory:

http://wififreespot.com/

glock17 · 02-25-2005, 11:19 AM

Can I get WildBlue service in a mobile vehicle like an RV or boat?

Not at this time. WildBlue service was designed for stationary locations like homes and small businesses. We do not offer broadband service for mobile vehicles at this time.

frey2 · 03-03-2005, 09:47 PM

why not a directional wifi antenna? very cheap to build.

Steve · 01-17-2006, 01:14 PM

My dad is most likely going to get this service for his house, I will let you know how well it works.

glock do you have any experience with them yet?

whitedog · 01-17-2006, 08:21 PM

At last! A topic I can contribute to even though I don't have my bus yet.

First of all, though, a caveat. I work for RioLink Internet, a locally owned and operated ISP in Truth or Consequences, NM and we are agents for the system I will be talking about.

One of the troubles with using Satellite internet on the road is the fact that the two way satellite systems are required to be installed by a licensed installer as they are transmitting data out to the satellite. Now, the requirements to become a licensed installer are not very difficult but you do have to go to a class and pass a test to become official. One way around this is to utilize a hybrid system where you are using a satellite downlink and a non-satellite uplink. This type of system works very well for the majority of the internet traffic you would expect, i.e browsing web pages and reading your email. It provides only dial up speed for uploads so if you are sending that 20MB video of the entire roof raise on your skoolie project be prepared to wait a while.

Hybrid satellite systems are not required to be installed by a licensed installer since they are receivers only. They do require some other type of internet connection (telephone, cell phone etc.) to provide the uplink. The equipment is quite inexpensive since there is no transmitter in the system. Our system, for example, is $169.00 for the antenna and satellite connection equipment. This includes installation if you happen to be travelling through T or C.

To orient the dish, you will need a device called a "bird dog." this is basically a meter that connects in the antenna line to the satellite dish to let you know that you are receiving a satellite signal. Once you have the dish pointed, it's just a matter of setting up the software. Using one of the internet accellerator packages (such as SlipStream) I've seen almost 1MB speeds on our test dish at the office. 400K to 600K is more the norm, however.

Monthly charges for this type of service are commensurate with the other satellite internet providers but we have a number of customers who are full time RVers and carry their internet around on a tripod that they set up on stops.

WiFi antennas are great and there are any number of free hotspots around the country but you have to be where you can get the WiFi signal, which means RV parks or truck stops or some other commercial establishment. Even if you are wardriving and find an open hotspot somewhere, that means that you are likely in some type of urban environment. With a hybrid satellite system you are only restricted to where you can see the satellite and where you can get, for example, a cell phone signal for your uplink.

Hybrid systems are not for everyone; but, if you are trying to build an inexpensive system while staying off grid as much as possible, they may be worth looking into.

Regards,

whitedog (maybe whitedognose one of these days)

busone · 01-20-2006, 09:28 PM

The website says it has upload speeds of up to 256. The sure have a good price compared to some other high speed options out there. We might be moving to the country soon so this is great for me to hear about. I have been thinking a lot about how I will get internet service if we move far out.

glock17 · 01-20-2006, 10:38 PM

I'm now a certified installer for wildblue, it works as advertised and the speeds are decent; however it is a pain in the ass to point the dish. It's not like a dishnetwork or directtv dish, it has to be much more precise and you need a satellite finder to do it. It's not impossible but I would not want to do it every time I wanted to use the internet. You would have to be hard core to want to point that all the time.

busone · 01-21-2006, 03:32 PM

Anybody ever tried VOIP over a satelite connection? I used to have Vonage and loved it. They say it does not work very well over a satelite connection. I would love to talk to somebody who has tried it though.

DigDug · 01-26-2006, 10:12 AM

Voip doesn't work over satellite because of latency. While satellite is fast, it takes a second to load. That is because the data you requested is being "bundled" at the NOC before it "beams" it to you. There is no real time data stream, which is required for Voip (or vonage).

Furthermore, access to secure sites (HTTPS), such as banks, etc are slow. Since the data is encrypted, the NOC has no way to bundle the data.

VPN's do work, however they are slow due to encryption problem described above.

Been using Direcway for about a year.

HTH.

runnysucklehose · 01-31-2006, 02:42 AM

Verizon wireless offers data plans, but if you don't need to be online a lot during business hours and you have free nights and weekends included in your plan, you can surf via your cell phone for free. Air time charges apply only during weekdays.

The speed is not bad, I usually operate at about 14.4 kbps, but not good ether.

You can get the software and adaptors through smith micro for about any phone for about $50.

I am only limited by service area, but it is way easier to set up than a dish, and more or less free to use. I have been full time on the road for over a year now and it has done me well.

fmtaylor · 01-31-2006, 07:22 AM

My personal preference for Internet connectivity is wardriving. There are LOTS of open access points. I spent 3 months at an RV park that had a BestWestern a block away that offered "Free Wireless Internet". I could connect to them with no problem.

There are a large number of places you can get Free WiFi, and a few places that require a credit card before you can get out. If you can handle preparing all your work in advance and have software that can handle it, in many cases you can dump your data and pick up waiting messages as you drive past an open access point.

I have a Linux based PC with a wireless card that constantly is looking for something to hook to, and if I am anywhere close to an urban area I usually find something.

The best solution would be an autotracking 2-way satellite system, but until someone perfects one for consumer use, I will stick with WiFi. Its free (mostly), Its easy, and its fast.

DigDug · 01-31-2006, 07:28 AM

That's a good point fmtaylor. The only thing to note is that typically, your email login and password is sent in clear text. It is possible for someone log that information. On the other hand, if you use yahoo or hotmail, you should be ok.

What flavor of linux do you run? What kind of wireless card? Do you use an external antenna?

I run Suse linux on a notebook, but haven't found anything to easily connect to hotspots with.

fmtaylor · 01-31-2006, 08:09 AM

It is true, my username and password could be sniffed or logged. But it is no more of a concern to me than if I had a direct connection. I use a cable modem at home, now there is a real security risk. However, I do use a firewall (netfilter) on my gateway.

I am looking for an external antenna, cables and connectors so I can mount an antenna on the bus when I am doing the conversion. I was running it out of my RV with the antenna that came with the card.

It is worth noting that in some locations I could get an access point while my traveling partner with her laptop and PCMCIA card could not.

I run Slackware Linux on a full sized PC with a D-link wireless G PCI card. I have the wireless tools package installed (which I had to download and compile), and a few scripts I wrote.

The wireless tools package will allow you to "scan" for access points.

I have a script that checks for a connection (to my isp), and if there is no connection it scans for access points. If it finds more than one, it tries each one in order of signal strength until it makes a connection to my isp. When it has a connection it tells all the other programs to send/receive. I hacked it together with an axe, and it is not pretty, but it functions (sometimes)
.

DigDug · 01-31-2006, 02:44 PM

I bought some antennas from http://www.fab-corp.com

Pretty happy with them.

wmah · 02-01-2006, 05:18 PM

After this topic started I decided to go out and buy a new wireless card. I had one already but it was an older card. I used to have a wireless router in the house that was hooked up but something spiked it and it quit. So I just sort of put the card in the drawer and forgot about it. So I got a linksys wpc55ag which works alright. I'm thinking about getting one with an external antenna. Can anyone recomend one that has worked good for them?

Well anyways I'm a little surprised how many free spots there are around the south metro here. (Minneapolis/St. Paul) There are well more than what them list site show. I think I heard somewhere that there are over 700 spots in the mpls/stpaul metro area.

Also fmtaylor, can you tell me what the term wardriving is? I've seen the term on another site but I don't quite understand the concept of it. My first thought is a few buddies on a road trip in seperate cars playing somesort of game using a wireless link while driving down the road. But I know that can't be it.

fmtaylor · 02-01-2006, 06:29 PM

>>Also fmtaylor, can you tell me what the term wardriving is? I've seen the term on another site but I don't quite understand the concept of it.<<

Wardriving is a variation on the term WarDialing, which originated from the movie WarGames. Basically it is the act of driving around with your wireless equipment searching for open access points to use without authorization.

lapeer20m · 02-01-2006, 08:59 PM

Holiday Inn Expresses are good for wireless internet that does not require a password.

Iowa and Michigan both have at least one rest area with free high speed internet also

on a trip i took last year, i found mulitple hotels that used the same login and password to access their internet. I assume the same company was in charge of internet access

You may also like: