Super-speed Internet satellite blasts off in Japan

CNN ^ | 2-23-08

[Snickering Hound]

Japan launched a rocket Saturday carrying a satellite that will test new technology that promises to deliver "super high-speed Internet" service to homes and businesses around the world.

The Associated Press said the satellite would offer speeds of up to 1.2 gigabytes per second.

The service initially would focus on the Asia-Pacific region close to Japan, a JAXA news release said.

[Jabba the Nutt]

Iran claims they will soon launch a satellite.

[sig229]

WiMAX????

Tell me more. Wildblue contract is up this summer. Thought about Alltel’s wireless card for home.

[sig229]

I have been on 28000 or lower dial-up since 1995. Wildblue “was” blessing. Oh, they keep reminding me it’s a “Shared” network. Oh how I hate to hear that term.

[Kieri]

WiMAX???? Tell me more. Wildblue contract is up this summer. Thought about Alltel’s wireless card for home.

I'm still doing a lot of research myself, but here are a few good starting places:

How WiMAX Works: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/wimax.htm

WiMAX FAQ: http://www.wimax.com/education/faq

From what I've read so far I am very impressed. A local company put up an antenna/transmitter *after* I re-signed with Wildblue, and FreedomNet has plans to expand further because of the growth. WiMAX is intriguing because it's a LOT lot cheaper to expand and upgrade than a satellite or cable system.

The tough part is actually finding a carrier with a tower close enough for LoS (Line of Sight). I found mine through a rather twisty Google search using terms like the nearest town, WiMAX, broadband, etc. Your state website may also have links to resources so don't count them out.

WiMAX is growing so if you don't have access this month, it could be a whole different story the next one.

Good luck hunting!

[Boblo]

Hi:

I am confused about this. Doing many searched on WIMAX etc I got hits on services for ISP not on something I can use at my home. Am I not understanding this? Can you post the name of a provider that offers service to a residential customer. Doesn’t matter where, just an example.

[sig229]

Did one of those line of sight ISP, also shared network!
sucked!

[Kieri]

I am confused about this. Doing many searched on WIMAX etc I got hits on services for ISP not on something I can use at my home. Am I not understanding this? Can you post the name of a provider that offers service to a residential customer. Doesn’t matter where, just an example.

Here is the WiMAX provider I'm hoping will work for me:

http://www.fnw.us/about/

Click on the broadband tabs along with the FAQ section. A lot of sites have old information, this field is growing so fast. You may want to watch your local newspaper ads, too.

[kidd]

I would imagine that security is an issue with satellite internet

[BJungNan]

That has to be the lamest photoshop job I’ve seen on here but I love it.

[Kieri]

FreedomNet does a site evaluation to make sure it WILL work. Here’s what they’re offering:

Basic

* 24-month contract
* 20MB of web hosting space
* Up to 5 e-mail accounts
* DHCP address
* Access to MyFNW
* 2Mbps Download, 512K Upload
* $44.95/month plus installation

Advanced

* 24-month contract
* 20MB of web hosting space
* 5 e-mail accounts
* DHCP address
* Access to MyFNW
* 3 Mbps download, at least 512K upload‡
* $89.95/month plus installation

Premium

* 24-month contract
* 20MB of web hosting space
* Unlimited e-mail accounts
* Six (6) Static IP address available
* Access to MyFNW
* 3Mbps download, at least 1024K upload‡
* Bursting as needed
* $249.95/month plus installation

Custom solutions

* Up to 45mbps Available

‡ This is a committed information rate package and guarantees the stated upload speeds.

____________________________________________

Installation with equipment is $199, which is what I paid for Wildblue. I go through a co-op (their service is a million times better than dealing with WB direct) but I have to pay extra for a very basic warranty that doesn’t cover equipment.

Here’s a little more info:

FreedomNet Solutions delivers IEEE 802.3-compliant Internet services via point-to-multipoint wireless broadband technology that takes advantage of the U-NII unlicensed spectrum.

Our standard subscriber systems can sustain speeds up to 3.5Mbps, using standard traffic shaping and Quality of Service (QoS) techniques to ensure performance. Over-the-air DES encryption and 128-bit authentication provide secure connections.

All FreedomNet Solution packages are compatible with standard Internet protocols, including IPv4, IPv6 tunneled and Switched Layer 2 Transport, as well as all common Ethernet protocols, including NetBIOS, DHCP, IPX, UDP, TCP, ICMP, SSH, HTTP, HTTPS and SNMP.

Subscribers connect to our service using a standard subscriber module (SM) with a UL-approved Power of Ethernet (PoE) power adapter. To achieve optimal signal strength, a small dish, similar to a DirecTV or Dish Network satellite dish, may be attached to the SM.

__________________________________________

I’m still pretty new to all this tech-geek stuff, but I’m willing to learn a lot to get rid of that $55 a month @(#*&$ FAP!

If anybody has used or is currently using WiMAX, I’d love to hear about it.

[Xenophon450]

Hmm are they sure it isn’t Gigabits? 1.2 Gigabytes would be insanely fast.

[Balding_Eagle]

You might get higher transfer speeds, but you’re still looking at a minimum 250ms or so latency which will screw anything that involves streaming

That was one of the reasons I quit DirecWay as soon as DSL became available. It doesn't seem like much lag, but it gets really annoying.

[sopwith]

don’t bother. its a waste of$$

[m1911]

According to the FAQ they’re using Motorola U-NII. That means that unless you’re in a lot of hardscape (city), you’ll need line of sight to a broadcast point, or you’ll need to be very close.