SatSig topic:

Ka or Ku band for Tooway service ?

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Jul 31^st, 2010 at 6:06pm

A few questions here....how do I find out if I am on Ka or Ku band ? and anyone any ideas when the new satellite will be launched? If I'm on Ku band now will I automaticaly be transferred to Ka band and will my current equipment work?

Jul 31^st, 2010 at 7:02pm

Hi,

Just check your modem, Tooway model numbers:

Ka = 2101
Ku = 1101

You can not swap systems Ku to Ka or Ka to Ku band.

Only Eutelsat can tell you when new Ka-Sat will be ready, it can be this year, next year or ....... Just watch this buletin board, we will publish info as soon we get it.

Jul 31^st, 2010 at 7:10pm

I'm on Ka. The dish is a nice snug 61cm/24" diameter. I believe the Ku is 1m diameter? But your service provider will be able to tell you.

Eric or Eu-sat will no doubt leap in and correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think the kit is dual-band. Mine isn't, anyway. So if you get Ka, that's where you stay. I'm happy with it as far as performance goes, but would like the Ku data allocation.

John

Jul 31^st, 2010 at 10:57pm

hi thanks for the replys guys, I have checked my modem and its sm 1101 so it Ku band if I understood correctly so does that mean if I wanted to receive the new Ka band I would have to buy different equipment?
so is there much differance between the two?

Jul 31^st, 2010 at 11:02pm

Also I am just a bit confused as on the tooway website it says its Ka band off Hotbird 6 13 east and Ku band of 33 east. My dish is pointed at 13 east, sorry if I am asking stupid questions but I am new to satellite broadband thanks for your help again.

Aug 1^st, 2010 at 3:39am

Satellite (Hotbird6 Ka band) location is 13 east, your dish is pointed close to 159.0

Address: tipperary ireland
Latitude: 52.4749
Longitude: -8.1572

Satellite: 13E HOT BIRD 6
Elevation: 26.9
Azimuth (true): 154.0
Azimuth (magn.): 159.0

Satellite (Eurobird3 Ku band) location is 33 east, your dish is pointed close to 138.0

Address: tipperary ireland
Latitude: 52.4749
Longitude: -8.1572

Satellite: 33E EUROBIRD 3
Elevation: 19.1
Azimuth (true): 132.2
Azimuth (magn.): 137.2

Aug 1^st, 2010 at 2:04pm

You would need to buy a new dish & LNB/PA, and probably the modem too. At least you could keep the cables! Wait for Eric or Eu-sat again.

John

Aug 1^st, 2010 at 3:57pm

ok thanks for the replies guys can you just tell me a bit more about the differance between the two? from what I have heard Ka will be faster cheaper and more allowance is that correct ?

Aug 1^st, 2010 at 4:28pm

Nobody knows till it is launched, so you have to wait. You can find more info on the net, just Google.

Aug 1^st, 2010 at 4:35pm

The whole thing is crazy. Presently if you are on Ka you get half the usage of Ku users for the same price. Its ridiculous and unacceptable we that we have to wait till they launch for the details of increased bandwidth etc.

Aug 1^st, 2010 at 4:40pm

ye i agree tortilla I've googled everything not much info out there at all. This was my last resort to find out some more info. There is nothing on skylogic website either. suppose we all just have to wait and see. I don't understand why my installer gave me Ku equipment if Ka will be better that means I will have to buy new equipment

Aug 1^st, 2010 at 5:34pm

A Tooway Ka-Sat promotion video, click here

"Both Hughes and ViaSat have ordered large new Ka-band satellites to keep up with demand. ViaSat-1 is scheduled for launch in February 2011, with Hughes Jupiter satellite scheduled for launch in 2012"

As far as we know, the new Tooway Ka-Sat satellite will be launched this year or maybe next year or maybe it will explode or not even work when it is in orbit! In other words if you are waiting for new technology to solve an existing problem you can wait forever. If you don't buy an ipad now (or any other IT related product) because there will always be a newer version you will end up with no ipad ever!!!

When Tooway was first launched it was on Hotbird6 Ka band first. When it reached its maximum capacity, Eutelsat launched also a Ku band service on Eurobird3. Because there is a huge capacity on the Ku band it doubled also the bandwidth volume, of course this is bad luck for user who had already a Ka system but as with any technology there is always going to be something new, better or cheaper - this is life!

Frits Blomsma

Aug 3^rd, 2010 at 11:29am

First and foremost Tooway are in the business of selling bandwidth and broadband speed to the customer. What infrastructure or technologies they use is of little interest to the end user unless you are technical and want to satisfy some curiosities or you work in the business. What network infrastructure does my mobile phone company use, I don't really care about. All I want to know is what service they can provide for me and at what cost.

So if my neighbour is paying 40 euros to Tooway and getting 2GB of data usage and I am paying 40 euros to Tooway and getting 1.2GB it is only fair that I feel this is unjust. Rationalising that discrepancy by discussing the differences between technologies Ka and Ku is akin to talking about the backend of an ISP's network infrastructure. It is not in my eyes a valid way of justifying the obvious inconsistent service levels that equal paying Tooway customers are availing from. Hopefully Tooway are listening!

Aug 3^rd, 2010 at 6:58pm

thank you for all your replies and answering my questions i appreciate it.

Aug 4^th, 2010 at 4:45pm

Dear Mr. Lucey,

I don't think Eutelsat will listen to people who call them "Criminals". Stop moaning about this subject on this board, send an email direct to Eutelsat HQ in Paris or to Tooway/Skylogic Turin. I believe we have advise you this also months ago!

I have seen a post from you 2 weeks ago offering your installation service/skils to other companies. Reading your comments (incl. those deleted by Eric) I don't think it will be a great success !

This board is for technical help and support, not a place to ventilate personal frustrations.

Again, contact Eutelsat HQ in Paris or to Tooway, they are the only one who can answer your question and maybe help you.

Or buy a new Ku system today but dont start this campaign next year again when Eutelsat launch the new Ka-Sat because the story will be the same ........ you have an old Ku system and there is a new Ka system on the market with much better performance, more bandwidth for same price or even .... less etc. etc. etc.

Aug 6^th, 2010 at 12:03pm

One upside of the new KASAT - I'm told they are releasing it with TV too. However pricing, download packages etc etc all unknown.

I'm afraid it's a wait and see .... and that's if the satellite gets up in the sky as scheduled and with no issues.

We will not be installing until it's properly tested and we have assurances from Skylogic/Eutelsat and Tooway that we wont get the same problems as everyone has been having on Ku band since March - fingers crossed now resolved .....

Aug 6^th, 2010 at 12:34pm

Quote:

One upside of the new KASAT - I'm told they are releasing it with TV too. However pricing, download packages etc etc all unknown.

I'm afraid it's a wait and see .... and that's if the satellite gets up in the sky as scheduled and with no issues.

We will not be installing until it's properly tested and we have assurances from Skylogic/Eutelsat and Tooway that we wont get the same problems as everyone has been having on Ku band since March - fingers crossed now resolved .....

You can be sure system will be tested long before it will be available on the market, we tested Tooway Ka together with Skylogic long before it was launched.

"The Tooway service was launched in 2008 but it will be further consolidated after the brand new and innovative KA-SAT will be deployed to 9 East*; its launch is scheduled in the period November 2010 to January 2011. The objective of the KA-SAT programme is to deliver efficient resources for mass-market delivery of Tooway to users across Europe and the Mediterranean Basin located beyond range of ADSL networks. With a throughput of over 70 Gigabits per second, KA-SAT will be capable of serving over one million users who expect bandwidth and prices comparable to ADSL2 performance. It will consequently make an important contribution to public objectives for digital inclusion."

*Beside other system specifications (not published/known yet) it is already clear existing Ka users pointed to Hotbird6 13 East has to repoint the dish to the new KA-SAT 9 East if they want to use this new service from Eutelsat/Skylogic.

A bit more info about Skylogic, click here

Above a picture of a Hughes HX vsat hub.

Latets problems (except a transponder (hardware) problem) on the Ku band where not a result of a fast release of a product but a result of a unforseen very fast grow of the network. Ku satellite systems are already on the market for years, it is not a new technology and used components are all standard Ku low band components, the modem is a router based on Docsis protocol. For more info about Docsis click here

For more info (we have post this info earlyer on this board) about the new Ka-Sat Satellite and bandwidthclick here

Press release on Space News about Eutelsat Tooway Ka-Sat, click here (WildBlue is the USA version of Tooway).

A Tooway Ka-Sat promotion video, click here

You can receive already TV on Tooway Ka and Ku. System needs a bit of modification, thats all. This can be done with standard parts available in every TV/Electronics (www.maplin.com) shop and a little bit technical knowledge. We dont promote/publish/provide info about this because we like to concentrate on the data part of the system and we dont want to get involved in TV signals and/or modificated systems etc.

Aug 6^th, 2010 at 8:16pm

on the subject of tv i would be interested in receiving the channels from hotbird 13 but how would i attach another lnb to that dish as its not like a normal dish as you know.