Wildblue - impressed so far (for out-of-town Internet)

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Jeff
Posts: 1827
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2002 9:31 pm
Location: Beaver Island
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Wildblue - impressed so far (for out-of-town Internet)

Post by Jeff »

Midwest Energy (www.wild-blue.coop) just finished my wildblue install on Monday. After using starband for 3 1/2 years, I'm extremely impressed so far. It's not as good as wireless in town due to the extreme distance from the dish to satellite to NOC, but it's the best Internet connection I've had out of town on the Island. And the Midwest Energy installers/technicians really knew what they were doing and were great people to deal with. I tend to be pretty critical, but I'm extremely happy with this system so far -- even though I've only had the system for a couple days, I thought I'd post in case anyone else is thinking about faster Internet where they can't get a line of sight to the school's roof.

Wildblue equipment costs $299. Monthly fees are $49, (~500 kbps down, ~100 kbps up), $69 (1000 kbps down, 200 kbps up), or $79 (1500 kbps down, 256 kbps up). Note that the quoted numbers are "up to" as with the other satellie offerings which have fallen short in the past. Right now Wildblue is totally new and unloaded so the speeds are GREATER than advertised, but as it's a new venture using spot beam ka-band instead of ku-band like starband and direcway, no one knows yet how it will perform once the system is fully loaded, so no gaurantees. But I'm definitely very impressed so far and the people at Midwest Energy, the NRTC, and wildblue have been extremely proficient, friendly, and have really gone above and beyond to help.

(I'm not sure why GLE isn't offering wildblue as they stopped mentioning direcway a while back, but I got no response on when they might be offering wildblue when I asked twice -- it's still early but I wanted to get it done while the weather is great. Midwest, though somewhat far away, really came through with the wildblue install for me, and I could not have hoped for better installers! Very very impressed with them!)

Image

:::.. Upload Stats ..:::
Connection is:: 250 Kbps about 0.2 Mbps (tested with 2992 kB)
Upload Speed is:: 30 kB/s
Tested From:: http://testmy.net/ (server2)
Test Time:: Wed Sep 14 2005 01:35:56 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
Bottom Line:: 4X faster than 56K 1MB upload in 34.13 sec
Diagnosis: Looks Great : 6.38 % faster than the average for host (123.151)
Validation Link:: http://testmy.net/stats/id-L92AXES68

:::.. Download Stats ..:::
Connection is:: 1544 Kbps about 1.5 Mbps (tested with 2992 kB)
Download Speed is:: 188 kB/s
Tested From:: http://testmy.net/ (server2)
Test Time:: Wed Sep 14 2005 01:33:35 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
Bottom Line:: 28X faster than 56K 1MB download in 5.45 sec
Diagnosis: Awesome! 20% + : 119.94 % faster than the average for host (123.151)
Validation Link:: http://testmy.net/stats/id-5ORWUG4KQ

:::.. Upload Stats ..:::
Connection is:: 239 Kbps about 0.2 Mbps (tested with 1496 kB)
Upload Speed is:: 29 kB/s
Tested From:: http://testmy.net/ (server2)
Test Time:: Wed Sep 14 2005 01:40:58 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
Bottom Line:: 4X faster than 56K 1MB upload in 35.31 sec
Diagnosis: Looks Great : 3.02 % faster than the average for host (123.151)
Validation Link:: http://testmy.net/stats/id-7UYOAKH5E

:::.. Download Stats ..:::
Connection is:: 1544 Kbps about 1.5 Mbps (tested with 1496 kB)
Download Speed is:: 188 kB/s
Tested From:: http://testmy.net/ (server2)
Test Time:: Wed Sep 14 2005 01:41:53 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
Bottom Line:: 28X faster than 56K 1MB download in 5.45 sec
Diagnosis: Awesome! 20% + : 101.3 % faster than the average for host (123.151)
Validation Link:: http://testmy.net/stats/id-0NZGXI819

Image
Real-world FTP download speed - 9 MB in under a minute

Image
Real-world FTP upload speed - 9 MB in about 5 minutes vs. an hour on dialup

For $79 a month, it blows my previous staband $69/month system out of the water which was delivering 500 down and 50 up. it's still not cheap by any means, but the $49 plan offers a nice entry-level always-on connection and you can bump it up as needed too.

Also three things that I always had great trouble with on starband: ssh, ftp, and secure https:// sites, are working very well so far on wildblue, much better than I would have expected they could work on any satellite connection.

ping -n 10 yahoo.com

Pinging yahoo.com [66.94.234.13] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=648ms TTL=48
Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=727ms TTL=48
Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=730ms TTL=48
Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=726ms TTL=48
Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=723ms TTL=48
Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=723ms TTL=48
Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=641ms TTL=48
Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=642ms TTL=48
Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=654ms TTL=48
Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=643ms TTL=48

Ping statistics for 66.94.234.13:
Packets: Sent = 10, Received = 10, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 641ms, Maximum = 730ms, Average = 685ms

ping -n 10 google.com

Pinging google.com [216.239.37.99] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 216.239.37.99: bytes=32 time=682ms TTL=238
Reply from 216.239.37.99: bytes=32 time=600ms TTL=238
Reply from 216.239.37.99: bytes=32 time=600ms TTL=238
Reply from 216.239.37.99: bytes=32 time=695ms TTL=238
Reply from 216.239.37.99: bytes=32 time=680ms TTL=238
Reply from 216.239.37.99: bytes=32 time=679ms TTL=238
Reply from 216.239.37.99: bytes=32 time=678ms TTL=238
Reply from 216.239.37.99: bytes=32 time=645ms TTL=238
Reply from 216.239.37.99: bytes=32 time=644ms TTL=238
Reply from 216.239.37.99: bytes=32 time=603ms TTL=238

Ping statistics for 216.239.37.99:
Packets: Sent = 10, Received = 10, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 600ms, Maximum = 695ms, Average = 650ms

ping -n 10 boatdesign.net

Pinging boatdesign.net [67.19.227.229] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 67.19.227.229: bytes=32 time=642ms TTL=48
Reply from 67.19.227.229: bytes=32 time=606ms TTL=48
Reply from 67.19.227.229: bytes=32 time=603ms TTL=48
Reply from 67.19.227.229: bytes=32 time=644ms TTL=48
Reply from 67.19.227.229: bytes=32 time=646ms TTL=48
Reply from 67.19.227.229: bytes=32 time=604ms TTL=48
Reply from 67.19.227.229: bytes=32 time=605ms TTL=48
Reply from 67.19.227.229: bytes=32 time=615ms TTL=48
Reply from 67.19.227.229: bytes=32 time=654ms TTL=48
Reply from 67.19.227.229: bytes=32 time=646ms TTL=48

Ping statistics for 67.19.227.229:
Packets: Sent = 10, Received = 10, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 603ms, Maximum = 654ms, Average = 626ms

Latency is in the 625-750 ms range which is very respectable for consumer satellite; while there is obviously a little lag, it's been very consistent for me and much better than my previous starband system. It still takes a minute to kick in, especially for dns lookups, but after a few seconds, pages -- small or loaded with large pictures, etc. -- load very very fast.

Thanks to Wildblue and to Midwest Energy for a great system, great install, and great service!!


If anyone has any questions or wants to see for yourself, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer.

My contact is Nicole McQuade at Midwest Energy (269) 445-1112 or www.wild-blue.coop

P.S. and special thanks to Richie for last minute help with the steel so I could get the pole set in time!
Rich

Post by Rich »

Jeff, You sound happy and that is good, as much as you use the web it will be a great benefit to you. Can you run a wireless network from the system (or do you). Rich
Jeff
Posts: 1827
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2002 9:31 pm
Location: Beaver Island
Contact:

Post by Jeff »

Me? Barely use it :mrgreen:

I don't have a wireless network setup yet because I don't have a notebook yet - still on the wish list but keeps getting pushed back by camera gear.

But it would be really really easy - I do have a wired router plugged directly into the wildblue modem that connects 3 computers here. No special software to run or requirements for windows boxes, etc. Putting a router inline with wildblue took about 2 minutes and just worked without any effort - nice for a change!
forrest
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2005 11:29 pm

good to hear

Post by forrest »

It's good to hear that there is finally an alterative to Starband and limited piece of junk known as Direcway. How has the software preformed so far, is it better than starband? Any deterministic network enhancer? I cringe at the days of our first starband system that ran off of two pci cards.

Richie: dont switch your internet setup just yet.
forrest
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2005 11:29 pm

Post by forrest »

so I didnt actually read the message about there being no software installation required. oops
Jeff
Posts: 1827
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2002 9:31 pm
Location: Beaver Island
Contact:

Post by Jeff »

Yes - no software, no glitchy proxy. The only thing I miss even slightly is there is no interface to the modem so you can't check your signal strength, but so far, it's worked perfectly so no complaints at all (even only dropped for a few minutes during the downpour this afternoon, while starband was down for a few hours). Everything just works, and works well. Very nice to have reliable and fast up/down ftp again, fast secure sites, not a single rebuffering glitch yet for music, and even acceptable ssh - haven't been tempted to dialup since getting wildblue last week. Probably no comparison to wireless for in-towners, but a big big step forward from starband and finally no comparison to dialup. Hopefully as they load up the satellite, things will continue to be as great as they are right now... if so, I think wildblue will be a real winner.
Gillespie
Posts: 1563
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2003 1:43 pm
Contact:

Post by Gillespie »

Forrest, I am on the wireless modem, no problem :D :shock: :roll:
Jeff
Posts: 1827
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2002 9:31 pm
Location: Beaver Island
Contact:

Post by Jeff »

A few people have asked now whether I'm still happy with Wildblue, so I thought I'd post a follow-up since it's been 30 days since I got the install. So far everything has been great - not a single complaint, and no comparison at all to dialup or my previous starband system. Night and day difference. And best of all, not a single glitch or problem so far... everything just works :)

:::.. Download Stats ..:::
Connection is:: 1786 Kbps about 1.8 Mbps (tested with 2992 kB)
Download Speed is:: 218 kB/s
Tested From:: http://testmy.net/ (server2)
Test Time:: Thu Oct 13 14:17:20 EDT 2005
Bottom Line:: 32X faster than 56K 1MB download in 4.7 sec
Diagnosis: Awesome! 20% + : 65.52 % faster than the average for host (184.220)
Validation Link:: http://testmy.net/stats/id-JHN05G9WY

:::.. Upload Stats ..:::
Connection is:: 250 Kbps about 0.2 Mbps (tested with 2992 kB)
Upload Speed is:: 31 kB/s
Tested From:: http://testmy.net/ (server1)
Test Time:: Thu Oct 13 14:19:41 EDT 2005
Bottom Line:: 4X faster than 56K 1MB upload in 33.03 sec
Diagnosis: Looks Great : 1.63 % faster than the average for host (184.220)
Validation Link:: http://testmy.net/stats/id-NPKRZBOY5
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