"Peter Duniho" writes:

"Darrel Toepfer" wrote in message
. ..
500ms ping time minimum... So count on lots of lag...

Unless you are playing online computer games, you would never notice the
lag.

Call me on my Asterisk VoIP phone and let's talk about that.

Some don't network very well...

Not sure what that means.

Consumer satellite network systems have traditionally been closed. I
recall one (StarBand, I think) that had a USB interface but someone
figured out that it just went to a USB Ethernet adapter which would be
easily bypassed to get plain old Ethernet. Still, MS Windows is often
an official requirement and setting up a NATed network is not always
straightforward (because of special caching clients?).

None will work when it rains hard or the sun is in transit (summer /
winter
soltice)...

Why would you say that? The satellite data systems I've seen are based on
similar technology to that used for my digital broadcast satellite system.
At worst, data throughput drops *some*, and that's in the very worst
downpours.

The downlink is not as much of a problem as the uplink.

I have no idea why the solstices would have any effect on data transmission.
Perhaps you could explain that one.

Probably has something to do with naked people dancing in front of the
dish.

All end up with more customers than they can actually support (whether it
be
on the transponders, gateways or internet bandwidth)...

That may well be true. Though, of course, it happens with DSL and cable as
well.

Sure, but DSL and cable have comparatively huge data capacities. It
takes a tiny amount of usage to swamp a satellite uplink.

Make sure to check out some reviews of satellite services before jumping
in. Lots of people have gotten burned when they planned on using them
just like other high-speed services. (I'd still like to get one with a
folding antenna for plane camping someday.)

--kyler