Satellite internet access

paulcardoza wrote:
I guess it all depends on one's performance/cost expectations......

If the choice is between no Internet or slow Internet via sat dish, I expect that I'd choose the latter.

BTW, I keep a tripod HughesNET system handy for those occasions.

I guess it all depends on one's performance/cost expectations......

Bill.Satellite wrote:

paulcardoza wrote:
Satellite Internet is a terrible option, unfortunately. If those CG's you refer to have poor cellular service, maybe some type of external cellular antenna/booster will get you acceptable cellular service. If there's no service at all and you MUST have internet, your probably better off finding somewhere else to go.

That's simply not true. Satellite internet is still an excellent solution when no other service is available. It's also an excellent solution is you are a US citizen and like to travel to Mexico or Canada where cellular service can be extremely expensive. I ran a business for over 10 years using the Hughes HN7000 service. I could do everything I needed on the internet. I often had better service than what the campgrounds were providing with their free wifi. No, it's not as good as a good cellular connection but with speeds around 150K up and 1.5 MB down it is a very usable service.

wa8yxm wrote:


First there is a company that makes dishes for Hughes 2-way Satellite that aim themselves.. RF-Mogul as I recall but memory is fuzzy.

MotoSAT used to make the Datastorm for satellite internet but they are now out of business and while RF Mogul is run by the former owners of MotoSAT, they do not build the Datastorm or any other satellite internet antennas. There are still some used Datastorms out there for sale but they are no longer built.
Winegard builds an internet dish as well as a couple of smaller providers.

paulcardoza wrote:
Satellite Internet is a terrible option, unfortunately. If those CG's you refer to have poor cellular service, maybe some type of external cellular antenna/booster will get you acceptable cellular service. If there's no service at all and you MUST have internet, your probably better off finding somewhere else to go.

That's simply not true. Satellite internet is still an excellent solution when no other service is available. It's also an excellent solution is you are a US citizen and like to travel to Mexico or Canada where cellular service can be extremely expensive. I ran a business for over 10 years using the Hughes HN7000 service. I could do everything I needed on the internet. I often had better service than what the campgrounds were providing with their free wifi. No, it's not as good as a good cellular connection but with speeds around 150K up and 1.5 MB down it is a very usable service.

Lwosten wrote:
I called Hughsnet and they said they can not guaranty a good 2 way connection if i aim the satellite myself

Two answers:

First there is a company that makes dishes for Hughes 2-way Satellite that aim themselves.. RF-Mogul as I recall but memory is fuzzy.

Used to be Motosat did that, this company is made up from ex Motosat folks.

Second, even if you get a manual dish, Using the tools provided in the manner your installer will train you to do (Takes like 30 minutes) you will do a professional job of aiming.

I will describe the basic procedure.

First go to your MODEM and access it, Feed it your Lat and Long (From your GPS) and it will give you some numbers, Azmuth, Elevation and Skew,, Write 'em down.. NOTE: there are computer programs that can do that for you as well.

Now UNPLUG the modem and hook things up. Make sure the mast for the antenna is PLUMB. (Straight up and down)

Pre-set elevation and SKEW on the dish.

Plug in and access the modem from your laptop.. or smart phone, Set it to "AIM" (Not the actual menu choice but you get the idea)

Slowly swing the antenna through the azmuth (Direction) indicated till the meter peaks... When you peak play a bit with elevation to maximize the peak, NOTE, these may interact so re-check direction.

Switch to the 2nd aim mode.

Adjust the SKEW to peak that reading.

Lock it down

Unplug modem

Remove in-line meter

Plug back in

NOTE: be sure to tell the modem where you are.. IF you fail to do this it may not work properly. This is part of the set up menu tree.

Satellite Internet is a terrible option, unfortunately. If those CG's you refer to have poor cellular service, maybe some type of external cellular antenna/booster will get you acceptable cellular service. If there's no service at all and you MUST have internet, your probably better off finding somewhere else to go.

Lwosten wrote:
Some parks have poor or no 4g/3g phone access so a phone cant be used to access the internet and/or be a hotspot . So a satellite is a good solution for internet access I assume I called Hughsnet and they said they can not guaranty a good 2 way connection if i aim the satellite myself they say if i try and dont get it aimed just right it will burn out the "arm" and require a $400 repair. Apparently 2-way communication required for satellites used for internet have to be aimed exactly, unlike satellites used for tv which are only 1way communication
So what is the option people use to get internet access in places with no/poor phone service
Thanks, Bill O

Bill.satellite summed up the current situation with sat internet pretty well. I have a Motosat F1 internet dish on top of our motorhome that aims at the satellite automatically, most of the time. It does work anywhere. But the speed is slow. I tried to increase the speed about two months ago and they said I could not, so I did not renew the service. The speed is normally more than 1/10th as fast as 3G, but it is usually slower than 3G. All the internet services speed is dependent on how many users on it. If they wanted to Huges could give lightening fast sat internet, but they don't want to at this time. So could Via Sat, which is another high speed provider. We could get very high speed sat internet at our house, but not at our motorhome.

If you absolutely have to have internet connection get a satellite internet dish. If your need is less than that get a good smart phone with a hot spot feature. I personally use Verizon which has good coverage. Not everywhere though.

Just a little note here.....we have Verizon cell phone service and AT&T MiFi...... why 2 different ones, I don't know (sigh). BUT, we've been traveling down the east side of Utah and now in Quartzsite, Az......in all, we've had wonderful service on the internet (4G with 4 bars).....even when we didn't have good cell phone coverage! :)

Lwosten wrote:
So what is the option people use to get internet access in places with no/poor phone service

Take a drive to somewhere that does.

The current Hughesnet satellite internet service in not mobile at all so forget about that (the Gen4 service). However, the older Hughesnet service which uses the HN7000S modem is still a workable and usable service that will not be damaged in any way if the antenna is not properly pointed. If it's not properly point you just can't get online. The service is fairly slow but way better than nothing at all and the equipment required is large and bulky but easy enough to deal with with a bit of practice. Plan to pay $60-$80/month with a 2 year contract for service that is 1/10 the speed of 3G cellular and complete incomparable to 4G.