Starband Model 180 Review
This document is a review of my personal impression of the Starband 2-way internet connection, as used by my company. I do not work for Starband, nor am I being paid for this review.
That said, I had a StarBand Model 180 Satellite Internet Connection set up at our company. The reasons I choose this solution is that DSL is not available in this area, Cable Modem service is not available in this area, T1/Frac T1 is too expensive, and ISDN is too slow. The starband solution is cheap ($60 a month), and advertised at 150-300kbps. I had heard some bad things about it, but I decided to give it a try anyway.
Installation by ICSI, Kansas City, KS.
The system was installed on the roof, and all cables run without any problems. When the installer tried to connect to the internet, we found that the dish was pointed at the wrong satellite. After several calls to the Starband 'Hotline', the installer finally got the dish pointed correctly. The process took about 4 hours.
Getting the connection to a single PC.
The starband system, by default, connects to a single PC via USB cable. In order to use the system, you have to install a software package on Windows that comes with the dish. Once the dish was pointed correctly, the Windows machine connected just fine. I ran a few generic bandwith tests at that point, the system was running between 320kbps and 410kbps. Time to have some fun.
Hacking the box
I enabled the ethernet port in the unit, (link is to a howto that I put together on this process) and got the thing working via a Linux (Redhat) firewall box. Once I had this set up correctly, all the internal network machines (about 18 of them) started working. Slowly. Checking the same bandwith tests, I was now running between 120 and 250kbps. I found a utility that emulates starband's 'Mission Control' software, without requiring the USB connection, and installed it on our windows clients. The speed came back up to the 320 - 400kbps range. This software, called IPA can be downloaded from http://www.geocities.com/starbanduser/soft.html. I make no claims about this software, other than it works for me.
The bad news
Because this IPA software is Windows only, 'Nix clients can't use the compression technique that speeds starband up. The software works fine on a windows client using a linux firewall to access the starband, but there is not a 'nix client (that I can find). Linux speed using this system is about 120 - 200kbps. The author of the IPA software might be persuaded to provide some info for a 'nix port... anyone need a new project?
Reliability
With the storm that came through here on Tuesday, I had the chance to see what the system would do under bad conditions (hail and heavy rain). If you have ever watched dish TV during a thunderstorm, it's about like that. Connection was unstable throughout the morning. It would come and go with the worst of the storm. During 'normal' operating conditions, the system is quite stable. The original installation was over a week ago, and the only interruption I have had was during the storm.
Speed (Latency is a pain)
I am getting 320 to 400kbps on downloads (from a known fast server, straight FTP transfers). I'm getting between 30 and 60kbps uploading (as before, FTP). When browsing, the latency really shows. Seems like it takes 1-2 seconds to resolve the name and start retrieving the page. I have not tried Q3 (or any other online games), but I would imagine that a dial-up would perform better for this type of application. I have tried streaming some RealAudio content, it's pretty lame. Performance is on par with a 28.8 connection.
Conclusion
If DSL or Cable Modem service is available, go for it. If not, the starband system does provide a full-time internet connection, with reasonable download speeds. You get a static IP address, but I sure wouldn't want to serve anything. Overall, the price is right, and it's a viable alternative to dial-up or ISDN connections. Your mileage may vary.