Re: The Best LNB for Sat Internet

Judging by your questions, I believe you may be biting off more than you can chew. This is not exactly a do-it-yourself job for the novice. Setting up a two-way satellite internet circuit - then networking it - isn't anything like throwing up a dish to catch a TV signal. And you can work KA - or you can work KU. But not both at the same time.

You also don't seem to realize that a transmitter (BUC) is involved. And the BUC and LNB connect with the modem via IFL (typically L-band over coax). Any Ethernet connectivity would be on the DC side of the modem. Some modems have DHCP capability, but few have routing - or even hub - features.

No offense, but you might want to either buy a pre-configured system - or simply have one built to your specifications.

//greg//

You need a APA and  regular satellite meter to aim a wildblue system not a birddog.

Sure you can lease bandwidth on a satellite, got about 20K a month to spare?

Like Greg says, you need to look at the systems that are currently available and go from there.

Quote:

You don't have the big picture here. A satellite is little more than an orbiting radio relay. All it does is bounce your radio signal to and from another earth terminal. To do that, you'd lease transponder space on a satellite with which your equipment is compatible. But that only gets your signal back to earth. From there, the distant earth terminal has to hand off your signal to an internet provider (networking facility). So - not including your one time hardware purchase price - you're looking at two recurring bills here; one for satellite access, another for network time. A pre-configured package provides both on one bill (and some subsidize the up front hardware cost as well).

But the Wildblue/XploreNet equipment you cite is proprietary. It won't work with any other provider. Those folks just sell pre-configured packages. Besides, that equipment is Ka-band - and there are comparatively few Ka-band satellites over which to pass an internet connection (I can only think of 4 with North American footprints right now). And as two of us have told you now, it's not like grabbing a TV signal outa the ether. Special knowledge and (again) proprietary pointing aids are required to do it correctly (and legally). Only installers that have received training certification from these proprietary systems are authorized to install them. Circumventing that little detail could even result in the provider denying service to the offending connection.

You could however, buy a Wildblue or (depending on your location) XploreNet system - have it professionally installed - and use THEIR network. Be advised though, less than satisfied customer feedback makes it clear that neither VoIP nor VPN are very viable through Wildblue. XploreNet on the other hand seems to have gone to greater pains to acommodate the VoIP requirement. Understand that the standard WB dish is quite a bit smaller than your specified 36". If you elect to go this route in the higher latitudes, specify your need for their optional 1.2m system. With HughesNet on the other hand, I believe up to 1.8m (Ku-band) systems to be more readily available

//greg//