old1 Posted March 29, 2009 CID Share Posted March 29, 2009 I've recently installed a Skywayusa satellite dish for receiving data which uses the phone line for sending. I'm in the country side in the UP of Michigan. It seems to work well for me, although at times the responses are slow, which I think is due to phone connection. I know just enough to be really dangerous, I build my own systems and help friends with their problems, but haven't gotten into changing network settings, buffers, etc. I don't want to be a techie, I want to have reliable systems (2 desktops, 1 laptop, Linksys wireless router), all running XP Pro SP3, current on all updates. My question is; How can I increase the receive buffer size as recommended by one of the tests? Thanks for any help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudmanc4 Posted March 29, 2009 CID Share Posted March 29, 2009 You can install cablenut, and just change that area, I say this because you don't want to be a techie, and it might be the most simple way to go about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommie gorman Posted March 30, 2009 CID Share Posted March 30, 2009 Satelite in and dial up out? Different. Welcome aboard. What are the speeds like? Maybe run a speed test? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old1 Posted March 30, 2009 Author CID Share Posted March 30, 2009 To Tommy Gorman re speeds on satellite/phone system Testmy,net shows upload at 19.4 which is a little low at this time because we have underground lines and spring always degrades line quality. Usually is 24 or thereabouts, that's why dial-up is miserable here. We live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, 9 miles out from a small city (Menominee). We are so sparsely populated that AT&T uses DSL just to get POTS (plain old telephone service) this far out, but we're too far for it to reach us as a subscriber. We've been here 10 years and have had to have 3 new sets of lines hooked up to keep operating at this level. But we're on a river and have a great quality of life otherwise. Download to me shows 276 Kbps, which is lower than normal, earlier tests have been closer to 450. This is probably due to the post on which the satellite is mounted having shifted slightly as the ground thaws. We have so many trees that I can't mount the satellite on a building, the only clear view is down by the river on a 4" x 4" post, just above where the ice shoves reach. I'm planning on building a stronger mount to eliminate this problem. The reason for the hybrid is that bidirectional satellite is expensive to purchase ($300), install professionally ($300) and pay monthly depending on speed up to $395/ mo. The professional installation is necessary to transmit a very low strength signal to a very small satellite target, whereas with hybrid, this is eliminated since I'm using 2 tin cans and a string for relatively small amounts of data. With mine, I got it for $50 after rebate, plus $50 shipping. It is easy to self install and gives adequate speed for streaming radio and (generally) streaming video at $50 month. I'll use Cablenut and see what that does for me. Thanks for the advice. Hope I wasn't too verbose, but generally people ask all these questions anyway. Old1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommie gorman Posted March 30, 2009 CID Share Posted March 30, 2009 To Tommy Gorman re speeds on satellite/phone system Testmy,net shows upload at 19.4 which is a little low at this time because we have underground lines and spring always degrades line quality. Usually is 24 or thereabouts, that's why dial-up is miserable here. We live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, 9 miles out from a small city (Menominee). We are so sparsely populated that AT&T uses DSL just to get POTS (plain old telephone service) this far out, but we're too far for it to reach us as a subscriber. We've been here 10 years and have had to have 3 new sets of lines hooked up to keep operating at this level. But we're on a river and have a great quality of life otherwise. Download to me shows 276 Kbps, which is lower than normal, earlier tests have been closer to 450. This is probably due to the post on which the satellite is mounted having shifted slightly as the ground thaws. We have so many trees that I can't mount the satellite on a building, the only clear view is down by the river on a 4" x 4" post, just above where the ice shoves reach. I'm planning on building a stronger mount to eliminate this problem. The reason for the hybrid is that bidirectional satellite is expensive to purchase ($300), install professionally ($300) and pay monthly depending on speed up to $395/ mo. The professional installation is necessary to transmit a very low strength signal to a very small satellite target, whereas with hybrid, this is eliminated since I'm using 2 tin cans and a string for relatively small amounts of data. With mine, I got it for $50 after rebate, plus $50 shipping. It is easy to self install and gives adequate speed for streaming radio and (generally) streaming video at $50 month. I'll use Cablenut and see what that does for me. Thanks for the advice. Hope I wasn't too verbose, but generally people ask all these questions anyway. Old1 Thats not too bad, but I'd think a bigger provider could give you better all around for less per month, but no not on equipment charges though. Have you ever checked http://www.wildblue.com/ or http://go.gethughesnet.com/ There is good and bad about both of course. But the speeds would be better some. Just some thoughts. I have spent a bit of time on dial up and sat is why I wondered on the setup. Presently on EVDO. Beats both those. And I live 5 miles from civilization also. But not as secluded as you. Not that fond of the city either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banjoboy Posted March 30, 2009 CID Share Posted March 30, 2009 I know someone had mentioned wild blue or hughes net. I live in a rural area of central Ontario and had Hughesnet installed last August. It works well after some intial glitches,but with the prices your paying--you should consider changing over. I am on a 2mb down and 300kps up package for 200.00 a month with 3 years contract. Speeds are constant nite and day, and so far weather has not affected service. I too have had some problems with my home phone service which made the already painfull dialup, almost unbearable,we are in a similar area too you --(cottage country?? lots of hunting and fishing) The KA band satellite service seems to be best. Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shug7272 Posted March 30, 2009 CID Share Posted March 30, 2009 Satelite in and dial up out? Different. Welcome aboard. What are the speeds like? Maybe run a speed test? I had the same setup when I had old DirectWay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
localpeon Posted March 30, 2009 CID Share Posted March 30, 2009 Welcome to the group, i am sure you will enjoy. local.peon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommie gorman Posted March 31, 2009 CID Share Posted March 31, 2009 I had the same setup when I had old DirectWay. Really? You had dial up outbound? That sucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
localpeon Posted March 31, 2009 CID Share Posted March 31, 2009 I am on wildblue and I just went from their basic package at 49.95 ( had real difficulty with the advertised speeds of 500k down and 128 up) to their next level for a month and I have been getting consistent speeds of 1 to 1.2M down and 150 to 160 up. So I went ahead and switched. I am in a valley in Texas and nearest towns are 10 miles and 18 miles and no wireless or landlines to us. I still can't believe my sister gets 54 to 58M wireless in Newport Beach,CA . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shug7272 Posted March 31, 2009 CID Share Posted March 31, 2009 Really? You had dial up outbound? That sucks. Hell yea it sucked. I lived in the sticks.... it was much better than dial up both ways though. I am on wildblue and I just went from their basic package at 49.95 ( had real difficulty with the advertised speeds of 500k down and 128 up) to their next level for a month and I have been getting consistent speeds of 1 to 1.2M down and 150 to 160 up. So I went ahead and switched. I am in a valley in Texas and nearest towns are 10 miles and 18 miles and no wireless or landlines to us. I still can't believe my sister gets 54 to 58M wireless in Newport Beach,CA . You sure she gets that wireless? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
localpeon Posted March 31, 2009 CID Share Posted March 31, 2009 I am positive, ,I was out there in Jan,2009 and She and my mother both have laptops, one is hardwired to local cable and the other is a wireless connection. i checked speeds on them regularly while I was there and that was the range for five days. Both cable and wireless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shug7272 Posted March 31, 2009 CID Share Posted March 31, 2009 Nice! What do they pay for that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
localpeon Posted March 31, 2009 CID Share Posted March 31, 2009 around $120 to 140 but that includes all channels on TV as well as high speed internet. My mother doesn't pay anything, she is riding a free horse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shug7272 Posted March 31, 2009 CID Share Posted March 31, 2009 Thats a great deal! Good for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommie gorman Posted March 31, 2009 CID Share Posted March 31, 2009 JUST WOW> thats some wireless speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intheboonies09 Posted April 1, 2009 CID Share Posted April 1, 2009 Wildblue is a good bet when you're stuck between a rock and a hard place. Cable stopped at the corner of one road and went down to the lake. Cable company stated that if we wanted to pay $2500.00 they would run the line to our house and we could have cable and the internet service, now mind you this was at least ten years ago. I was looking to hookup with what was Directway when I saw the ad for Wildblue in one of the mag that I get called country living. We live in middle of nowhere on 28 acres 13 miles from town in Coldwater, MI. If you time it just right Wild blue sometimes has their equipment on sale as well as the installtion. I got both for less than $300.00, and I'm so glad cause it sure beats dial-up, though we have dial-up for emergencies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommie gorman Posted April 2, 2009 CID Share Posted April 2, 2009 So you have not checked back on cable in 10 years intheboonies09? Never know, and like computers it likely went down and got a lot closer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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