Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
•
Power 200
—2.0Mbp/0.3Mbps
Gen4
•
Power
—10Mbps/1Mbps
•
Power Pro
—10Mbps/2Mbps
•
Power Max
—15Mbp/2Mbps
Note
HughesNet has download limits per day that vary by service level. See
http://legal.hughesnet.com/FairAccessPolicy.cfm
for details.
There are equipment costs in addition to the monthly fees. There are options for larger dishes and
more powerful transmitters for more robust performance and fringe areas, as well as business plans
with higher speeds than available for residential.
WildBlue
WildBlue is the newest of the major satellite providers, with service beginning in June 2005.
WildBlue offers satellite service to the 48 contiguous states and southern Canada using two satellites
in geo stationary orbit above the equator, along with multiple gateways acting as up/down links
between the satellites and the Internet. WildBlue uses the Ka band exclusively and covers the target
area with spot beams instead of a single broad beam, as with the older Ku band equipment used by
others.
The WildBlue hardware consists of a 28 inches × 26 inches (50.8cm ×66cm) dish plus an external
satellite modem. The modem has an Ethernet connection, which should normally be connected to the
WAN port on a router, allowing Internet access to all the PCs on the network.
Note
WildBlue's Fair Access Policy (FAP) covers both download and upload traffic during a
rolling 30-day period, with amounts that vary by service. For more information, see
WildBlue offers several plans with varying download/upload speeds as follows:
•
Value
—0.512Mbps/0.128Mbps
•
Select
—1Mbps/0.2Mbps
•
Pro
—1.5Mbps/0.256Mbps
There are equipment costs in addition to the monthly fees.
StarBand
In April 2000, StarBand—the first consumer-oriented two-way satellite network—was introduced
after being tested as Gilat-At-Home. In 2005, StarBand was acquired by Spacenet, which also
provides business satellite services under the Connexstar name.
StarBand offers satellite service to the 48 contiguous states as well as Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico,
and the U.S. Virgin Islands. StarBand uses the Ku band and covers the target area with a single broad
