how-to block ads
|
unmachine
@direcpc.com
| Satellite vs.ISDN: Personal Experiences
I'm currently connected via satellite, signed up with HughesNet and considering ISDN, but I have a few questions before I jump blindly in. Satellite could've been a prettier picture overall if I'd bothered to ask around before rushing on. I've been reading up on ISDN, but what I need is something more down to earth; less technical information (though don't be shy) and more personal experience with both satellite and ISDN.
How do speeds compare? Downloading/uploading?
Latency is obviously better with ISDN, but is it still noticeable?
What would I be looking at, if I were to go with ISDN? Equipment, pricing, monthly plans on average.
Most importantly: reliability. Barring understandable and occasional equipment failures, if I want a connection with ISDN, will I get one? This is the Big Reason I want to move off satellite; I only even have a connection 1/3 of the time.
Anyone have some experiences on both sides of the fence? Is the grass really greener or just a different shade? | |
fozngoof
Premium
join:2003-07-08
Temple, TX
 ·AT&T Southwest
| I have a friend with the Sat connection, and I had ISDN for years.
Your cost is going to be about 70-100 $$$ per month with ISDN. You may find better deals, but that is my experience.
The pings in ISDN are comparable to cable/dsl.... most of the time sub 100 ms (though dsl/cable will normally be lower) The latency in sat is considerably more. waaaaaaay to much to play any online shooter. There is a HUGE difference in latency between sat and isdn.
Most ISDN lines are considered business class, which has special provisions for uptime. Hence the higher cost.
If you have issues with your ISDN connection, they will usually have it resolved in less than an hour (in my experience, though once it took almost 2 because they had to physically change some hardware at the CO.....) in short the uptime is EXCELLENT in ISDN.
Sat not so much.
Equipment you can pick up on Ebay, or from members here. Usually range from less than $20 to $100 for the equipment.
Your download and upload will be 128/128. This is comparable to low end DSL/Cable upload....but no where close to the download. You will notice web pages loading at about the same speed as a DSL/Cable connection, but your file downloads will not be near as fast.
It depends on what you want to do with your connection, and how much you want to spend. In my experience it was worth the extra $$$ to have a fast/reliable internet connection.
If you like online game DO NOT GET SAT!!!!!
If you download large files, the increased download speed from sat may be worth it. (torrents suck with sat BTW)
hope that helps some
Foz | |
|
