New Satellite Internet setup

{tpc} wrote:
I ran into these guys at a race I was at earlier this year...http://www.exede.com/

I inquired about using it with a trailer or at a cottage. They seemed receptive to both ideas, though I probably spent about 3 minutes talking to them. But as far as sat internet service goes, its much cheaper and faster than this other one.

Exede uses multiple geographically small spot beams to cover those parts of the country where they provide service. Their primary coverage areas are the eastern half of the country and west coast. Changing locations is not as simple as a phone call or chat session such as can be done with Dish TV service since not all locations use the same equipment, making the service not practical for RV'ers that travel outside of their "home" territory.

I ran into these guys at a race I was at earlier this year...http://www.exede.com/

I inquired about using it with a trailer or at a cottage. They seemed receptive to both ideas, though I probably spent about 3 minutes talking to them. But as far as sat internet service goes, its much cheaper and faster than this other one.

That said, I'm sure the dish would have to be mounted on something else, and isn't truly "mobile" seems the one here would be added to the roof and be able to be controlled from within the coach. Still at the cost of all that, would just depend on how mobile you really need to be. For me I would take the additional savings and deal with the pita of setting it up on homemade tripod and positioning it.

As mentioned, the cell service is getting very reasonable in this area, and most of the new plans allow for tethering as well so you may not even need to have a hotspot. I'm guessing the dedicated hotspot works better than the tether, but I've tethered to my ipad and used my slingbox in a pinch, and works pretty well.

I dealt with Mobile Satellite Technologies (MST) for over 5 years. They were a Hughes Net reseller that I chose because they could get me on a particular satellite so I had reception from Florida through Arizona and up to Alaska. Unfortunately when Hughes came out with their Gen4 setup, support and access to their standard setup went into the toilet. I worked with MST trying to come up with a reasonable substitute and iDirect was the only reasonable choice if I wanted to expend approximately $10,000 for the hookup I needed. Since that wasn't going to happen, we parted company on excellent terms. When it was obvious that I would not go for a system of that cost they recommended I consider a Verizon Jet Pack mobile hotspot.

After contacting Verizon I ordered a MIFI 5510L Jet Pack. This unit had the ability to receive 4G, 3G, and 1X signals, with the unit automatically dropping back to the best speed available. Not all units will do this, and you need to be insistent about getting this ability. We paid $50 for the unit which is about the size of a small deck of cards and has it's own cell number. We got a $50 rebate and the cost of 5 GIG of data a month is another $50 a month. This is more than we need but additional data is available at reasonable cost if you need it.

Since we boondock a lot from Delaware to the southwest to Alaska I was concerned about the availability of getting an acceptable signal. I was most pleasantly surprised, however, as we have actually gotten connections where we could not get the old Hughes Net reception. In addition, speed is good and I have had no service problems. I'd highly recommend this setup to anyone.

You can upgrade your F3 to work with this service for much less than buying a new mount. However, I am not sure that the iDirect service is available outside the US.
As an aside, the last I checked there still was month to month Hughes service available from a couple of resellers. Either Don Marr (OR RV satelllite) or Montana Satellite "had it" available at a slight premium.

Bill.Satellite wrote:
For those who don't have a cellular connection as an option (too far out in the boonies, etc.) I think it's great

Mmmm . . . I bought a portable DirecWay F3 and modem for possible future use in Canada/Alaska and Mexico, but there is no pay-as-you-go service. As soon as I turn it on, I'm in it for 24 months @ $90 a month I think now.

For those who don't have a cellular connection as an option (too far out in the boonies, etc.) I think it's great. The iDirect service is well known for its reliability and dependability and with uploads around 500K and downloads in the 4MB range it will be much more usable than any of the previous mobile consumer Hughes type systems. 5GB/$125/month sounds high until you consider that NO service is your only other option.
As to self-provisioning, it just means that everything is sold "active". Plug it all in and it simply works. If you run out of time or data you just let it sit idle until you need it again or buy more (online) and continue on. There is no human intervention required and none of the setup PIA like our old Hughes systems had.
I think it's going to be great for those that need it. Unlikely the Hughes 7000 service, the iDirect service is even capable of good VoIP service.

Bill.Satellite wrote:
The antenna does cost $5995 PLUS installation. In the old Datastorm days that was an additional $500-$1000 depending upon the work required. If you are handy on the roof drilling holes and running cables it could likely be self-installed with all of the hardware being self-provisioning.
The service plans are as follows:

5 GB/$125 and you have 30 days to use the data.

25 GB/$400 and you have up to 3 months to use the data.

50 GB/$600 and you have up to 6 months to use the data.

100 GB/$1,000 and you have up to 1 year to use the data.

You've been into this stuff for a while, Bill. What do you think?

BTW, what does "self-provisioning" mean?

The antenna does cost $5995 PLUS installation. In the old Datastorm days that was an additional $500-$1000 depending upon the work required. If you are handy on the roof drilling holes and running cables it could likely be self-installed with all of the hardware being self-provisioning.
The service plans are as follows:

5 GB/$125 and you have 30 days to use the data.

25 GB/$400 and you have up to 3 months to use the data.

50 GB/$600 and you have up to 6 months to use the data.

100 GB/$1,000 and you have up to 1 year to use the data.

TechWriter - Thanks for the $6000 cost of the Dish which probably includes the SAT RCVR and Dish position controller etc Now it is getting expensive haha...

Roy Ken

Chris Bryant wrote:

Very expensive, but for someone who makes their living via the web, could be a lifesaver as a backup.

$6000 for the .84 meter dish, right?

Those aren't bad iDirect plans.