SKU: EN-L10025
As a result of all this bureaucracy, there's just one problem with satellite Internet access: It sucks. It really, really sucks. Let's start with the costs. Generally, satellite Internet is offered in three usage tiers. Different resellers offer slightly different packages, but in my case, the top-tier package from my co-op offers up to 1.5Mbps download speeds, 56Kbps upload speeds (not a typo, it's actually dial-up speed), and a 17GB cap for the last 30 rolling days of use, all for $89.95. That's more than $5 per gigabyte downloaded -- you'll get a much better data deal renting a Blu-ray disc from Redbox.
Adding insult to financial injury is the dreaded FAP, or Fair Access Policy, All heavy satellite data users fear the FAP, The FAP says that if you exceed your data cap, you will be throttled with a fury, Generally, FAPs say this throttling will continue until your 30-day rolling usage falls back down to about 70 or 80 percent of your cap, iphone screen protector se In practice, this means that if you go beyond your cap you can expect to have your Internet access essentially shut off for about 7 to 10 days, If the kids get ahold of your broadband and have a 17GB movie marathon in one day, you could end up waiting a full month to get that access back..
The problem, of course, is that satellites have much more limited capacity than say, a terrestrial fiber-optic network. And because the service is subsidized just to get it to the "affordable" prices currently offered, there's little incentive for providers to invest in it -- my co-op tells me it makes no money off of satellite, offering it only to keep far-flung members and the NRTC, a member organization made up of co-ops, happy. This lack of investment, coupled with the use of satellite as a default means of bridging the Digital Divide, only degraded the service further over the first few years I was a subscriber. The 1.5Mbps top download speed would often be reduced by 70 percent or more during peak usage hours, frequently making any kind of media streaming impossible. Even text-chatting through Skype became unbearable at times.
I know this may all sound like so much whining from someone who should know better, After all, I chose to live way out in the sticks, right?, That's kind of the point, though, Most people who live in this economically depressed mountain valley don't have near the technological expectations that I do, but maybe they should, How can we expect to usher all of our citizens into their new roles in iphone screen protector se an information-based economy without giving them affordable access to information? If two guys at a radio station in Alaska can build a cell phone network, there must be a way to do this..
The first time I was FAPped (about a year after moving here) and lost my home office Internet access for almost two weeks, I resolved to find a better way. In the next installment of this series, I'll begin to outline some of the roadblocks I encountered along the way. Next up: Eric digs into the DSL under his neighborhood and explains why it's almost totally worthless. It took years, but Crave writer Eric Mack can finally Skype from his home office in rural New Mexico. In part one of a weeklong series, he leaves city life behind.
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