Brad R
join:2007-05-06
Collingwood, ON | I switched from the Ku service (purchased through Galaxy Broadband) to the Ka service, and I would not switch back. The Ku service has an extremely restrictive "Fair Access Policy" (FAP) -- make sure you understand this before you buy! On the cheapest Ku plan, you can transfer only 200 MB in a 24 hour period; if you exceed that limit, your service is essentially shut off for 24 hours. You'll find that with just light browsing and email, you can hit 100 MB easily -- any downloads at all will push you over the limit. There is an "unlimited download" period from 3 am to 6 am.
On the Ka service, the FAP is applied hourly. The differences are (a) if you exceed the FAP limit (typically 10-20 MB, depending on time of day) your speed is reduced to 40% for one hour, and (b) you return to normal speed after one hour. I find this a lot more tolerable...it may slow down, but it doesn't cut me off. Also, on Ka you can download without limit from roughly midnight to 7 am.
I find that the Ka unit is more sensitive to precipitation (rain and snow). But either one will stop working once snow accumulates on the dish. Whichever you buy, make sure you mount the dish someplace where you can reach it in the winter to (gently!) brush the snow off.
There's lots more info at »www.xplornetsucks.com/forums |
