question about hughesnet and skyfx

[titotito]

i need satellite internet and do not know which one to get hughesnet or skyfx. i would like any information or which way should i go.

thank you in advance

 

[HCI]

never heard of skyfx so I would say hughesnet.

 

[Stargazer]

Hughesnet receive and transmit through the satellite. SkyFx is essentually the same as SkyWay USA. It receives through the satellite and transmits through the phone line.

 

[titotito]

yes tate i am new here and dont see any talk about skyfx and was wondering if anyone had any input on skyfx. i have learned by browsing the internet that skyfx in a one way system and hughesnet is a two way. which system is better is one of my questions.

thanks

 

[titotito]

stargazer do you have or had skyfx or skyway and if so, how does it work.

 

[grohgreg]

Don't know whether you realize this, but SkyFX and Skyway are satellite receive-only systems. You have to use dial-up over a phone line for the send side. I wouldn't be caught dead with either one.

//greg//

 

[titotito]

grohgre, did you ever used skyfx or skyway. if so, how does it work.

 

[Stargazer]

I have a friend that has SkyWay and it works pretty good if there are no dense clouds or rain. When you start getting rough weather it turns to crap but the same goes for HughesNet (and WildBlue which is similar to Hughesnet). It runs $30 per month for the cheapest package but ties up your phone line like dialup does as it uses dialup as a return path. It is great for those on a budget though. A few advantages that the SkyFX / SkyWay systems have over Hughesnet is that you can install it yourself since you are not transmitting back to the satellite and the parts would be cheaper / fewer things to break down than Hughesnet. I use Hughesnet myself. It seems like SkyWay is affected more by weather than Hughesnet is for some reason. The signal meter received pretty good signal as well. I will have to check back to see if this has improved as he has increased the signal just a tad but it was almost at maximum before when he had that trouble with SkyWay.

These satellite systems are a LAST RESORT and only meant for areas where you can only get dialup. If you can get DSL/Cable/wireless internet service provider then you are way ahead to go with that instead. If you provided a zipcode or county that you live in then one of us could look up to see if you can get service through a wireless internet service provider that provides the service through towers and water tanks.

With satellite broadband you are limited to how much data that you can use whereas you have no limit or very few restrictions with the DSL/Cable/WISP (Wireless Internet Service Provider) options. If you go over your bandwidth on ANY satellite provider, they will cut your speed back so fast that dialup will see fast in comparison until the appropriate amount of time goes by to fill your "bandwidth bucket" back up.

 

[grohgreg]

grohgre, did you ever used skyfx or skyway. if so, how does it work.

Haven't used either one. Perhaps you missed the part where I wrote that "I wouldn't be caught dead with either one". I say this from the viewpoint of a telecommunications engineer who's worked with satellites for nearly 40 years. In the old days, yes. I had a one-way satellite internet connection. I hated the fact that it relied on dial-up for 1/2 of the communications path. Couldn't wait till the first two-way satellite internet hit the streets. Went two-way, never looked back. One way is dinosaur technology.

Those that sell one-way for a living will stress the lower cost. It's a sucker bet. Yes, you might get a lower priced connection. But as a long time dialup user, I consider it only half a connection. Yes one half's satellite, but the other side's still dialup. And the whole reason about getting satellite internet - is to get AWAY from dialup

If it matters, I'm a HughesNet customer. But that's not to say you can't get a reasonable connection from WildBlue or Starband either. And if you're willing to pony up the bucks, iDirect beats them all, hands down. I just didn't have the money at the time to go the iDirect route.

//greg//

 

[titotito]

stargazer, the area where i want to set up the satellite thier is no other service other than sattelite service, i have checked and the only service i can get is satellite. i have about a week to decide between hughesnet or skyfx, please get me all the info on these two systems in order for me to make a decision.

 

[titotito]

anyone out there please help me decide between skyfx and hughesnet please.

 

[grohgreg]

i have checked and the only service i can get is satellite.

Then it's a no-brainer. If you can't get dialup, neither SkyFX nor Skyway will work. Period.

//greg//

 

[titotito]

grohgreg their is telephone service, but no cable or dsl service.

 

[grohgreg]

Ok then. You can get HALF a satellite internet connection; SkyFX or Skyway. Or you can get a WHOLE satellite internet connection; HughesNet/Starband/WildBlue/iDirect.

Your choice.

//greg//

 

[titotito]

yes grohgreg, that is exactly the two choices i want to install skyfx or hughesnet. thats where i would like some advice of which one to get. the place where i want to install the service is a vacation place where i go with the wife and kids at least 3 times a year. i got this place like 5 years ago and i have been trying to get internet service. i did not get sattelite service before because i did not want to be commited to a one or two year contract and be there only 3 times a year. now i find out that i can get sattelite service wthout any contract. i dont mind using the phone just for internet propose. i have cell service and can use that for phone service. to all this the big question is what should i get hughesnet or skyfx. like i said before i have one week to decide due to the fact that in 2 weeks i plan on going back on vacation.

 

[grohgreg]

now i find out that i can get sattelite service wthout any contract. .

Be careful about accepting that claim at face value.

Not sure how Starband works it, but both HughesNet and Wildblue make certain allowances for people in your situation. Wildblue will set up two accounts at location (a) and location (b). With a phone call, you can turn one off and the other on. Faithful compliance to their dual account procedures means you can have two part time subscriptions for as little as the price of one. That requires two complete sets of equipment however. Hughes on the other hand, makes concessions about permitting one modem to be reasonably moved between/among multiple locations without penalty. Service contracts are still required by both providers, but compromises for 2nd homes can be arranged. But you do this with the provider, not with the installer. Neither Hughes nor WB charge for a standard installation, and both offer subscription plans that require no money up front. Under those plans, the equipment costs get factored into the monthly subscription price. Pretty sure in both cases we're talking about no money up front.

SkyFX does in fact tout "no service contract". But you have to pay - up front - $259 for the equipment, $40 freight, and $150 if you want it "professionally" installed. Then you have to hope that they have a reasonably number of dial up numbers in your calling area (or a toll free dialup number that's not constantly busy). Otherwise you're going to have to arrange for a local dialup account in addition to the one-way satellite account.

To me, one-way satellite just ain't worth it. It's 20th century technology that's trying desperately to stay alive in the 21st.

//greg//

 

[titotito]

grohgreg that make a lot of sence about the 20th century tecnology trying to keep up with 21st. i think i will go with hughestnet. besides i am going to be their for 17 days and dont have much time to mess with the phone system. if i have my own equipment do you know how much the installer will charge to install the system with a pole.

 

[Stargazer]

SkyWay has a one year contract and Hughesnet has a two year contract. SkyFx is pretty well the same thing as SkyWay as far as how the system works but the customer service and billing might be from someone else, so maybe there is no contract with them but I thought there was.

With one-way satellite, you would be twice as likely for something to go wrong, either with satellite receive path or dialup return path. It is supposed to be a hybrid system so if the satellite service goes out, it is supposed to automatically go to dialup until the satellite signal returns if bad weather hits and knocks your signal out.

If you had line of sight to someone that has DSL/Cable then you could buy a pair of radios and receive the bandwidth from them. A radio is like a router only being more powerful being able to travel for miles.

 

[grohgreg]

if i have my own equipment do you know how much the installer will charge to install the system with a pole.

Typical polemount charge is $125, more if the guy has to come a long ways (set pole first day, come back to install dish 2nd day). But if you're already making plans to obtain equipment, why not get the pole and a few bags of Quikrete while you're at it? Get an 8 foot Schedule 40 two inch (ID) galvanized steel pipe. Two inch Sch40 has a 2.375" outside diameter, which is a perfect fit for the HughesNet mounting bracket. Planted 3 feet deep also gives you the minimum 5' mounting height required by Hughes.

Dig your own hole. Drill 1/2" holes through the pole about a foot from the bottom. Insert a steel bar through the holes (rebar works fine). Without that foot, a strong wind can actually turn the pole right in the concrete. Anyway, set up temporary braces to hold the pole plumb and level in the hole. Use a spirit level to ensure it's perfectly vertical. Fill the hole with water, then wait for the soil to soak it up. Then pour in a few bags of Quikrete (right out of the bag). Put enough in to fill the hole to maybe 6" from the top. The water that was soaked up by the soil will leech back into the Quickrete, you shouldn't have to add any more water. Backfill the last 6" of hole with dirt.

//greg//

 

[titotito]

stargazer, where do you get these radios and what brand are they.