Reviews:
 ·WildBlue
2 edits | New "Data Allowance" packages Plan 1 $49.99 7.5 GB cap
Plan 2 $79.99 15 GB cap
Plan 3 $129.99 25 GB cap
This is what is rumored to be the new data allowances. It gets even better. It is also said that this is DL & UL combined. If they come out with these packages I will laugh all the way to my local Hughesnet installer. Then I will laugh again when Hughesnet buries them. Seriously I hope this is a joke, because these caps are a joke. They better come out with something better than that, because Hughesnet is bringing something better than that to the table right now without Jupiter. Their idea of revolutionizing satellite technology is shaving 2GB off the $79.99 package and on top of that making the upload count against it too? Are they nuts? I am seriously hoping the people posting this have got wrong information, because these packages are utter and complete crap.
--
[IMG]»img218.imageshack.us/img218/2636···3dg6.gif
Windows 7 Pro 64-Bit / Core i5 - 760 / GTX 460 1GB SLI / 8GB DDR3 RAM / Vertex 2 120GB SSD |
|
| As you know, those packages and prices were pulled directly off of the wilblue.com site. Let's hope they change it. |
|
Reviews:
 ·Millenicom
·HughesNet Satell..
1 edit | reply to Sircolby45
I hope so too for you all's sake. It seems like every time Wildblue has a chance to do some good, they drop the ball. Those plans suck. Heh, was just figuring and that highest plan at 25 GB just adds 8 GB over the current 17 GB, thats just a 267 MB per day gain and if they combine the download and upload and make the upload count against that, then it is going to eat a good chunk of that gain.
Doesn't make a bit of sense to me. |
|
| Even if Plan 3 had the Plan 2 price it would still be crap IMO. |
|
| reply to Sircolby45
That pretty much matches what TooWay over. »www.toowaydirect.com/purchase/ They use the same type of new satellite.
I don't know if these are the real plans for wildblue but I hope not. I have been waiting to see what packages they offer and if they can't do any better then that then they have wasted their money and everyone's time. |
|
Reviews:
·Millenicom
·HughesNet Satell..
| reply to Sircolby45
Not so sure now that the person that posted that on the other forum knew what he was talking about since the article out front was released this morning. They didn't release caps but the did say that Wildblue was raising their speeds up to a max of 12 Mb/s down and selling it currently in Colorado for $50 a month. That would mean that if that is the top speed plan then it should be the most expensive unless they are simply charging for usage and keeping the speed constant over all the plans. I don't really see them doing that when they have to know that HN is already raising speeds AND allowances before their new satellite even launches. That article say now they are planning on having nationwide coverage out of Viasat 1 instead of partial coverage and it says they are now predicting the coverage to go online by Feb. instead of the first of the year.
--
HughesNet elite plan/.74 dish w/1watt trans. / 9000 modem / 3 computers on a linksy's wired network |
|
|
|
 BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | reply to Sircolby45
I feel sorry for you guys where this is the only option. |
|
| reply to Sircolby45
All plans are the same speed, they are charging for the data difference only. Up to 12 in Viasat-1 areas, 5 in non-VS-1 areas. VS-1 does not cover the entire country, maps are available. It does look like those are the plans for us on the old sats. They are saying that plans for VS-1 have not been announced yet, they may get higher caps than us. I wouldn't be surprised if VS-1 had higher caps, they already have double speed, and we'll be stuck where we were with the same cap, and the same price. Wouldn't shock me at all. |
|
| reply to zeddlar
said by zeddlar:They didn't release caps [blockquote]The company is still refining policies related to data caps, but it "might start slowing down things that consume large amounts of data," he said. Subscribers who exceed the cap will be able to buy additional buckets of data.[/blockquote]
»www.denverpost.com/business/ci_19526368
"A “soft launch” is expected in neighboring states of Nebraska and Wyoming in coming weeks, according to a Denver Post report." |
|
1 edit | reply to Sircolby45
Rumor asserts that if those caps are exceeded, then there will be overage charges instead of a period of punishing slow speeds and dysfunctional service. Wildblue's plan seems to increase the price based on a customer's usage.
From The Denver Post article, Satellite broadband service gaining speed, coverage (December 12, 2011):
quote:
The new satellite can serve up to 1.5 million customers at the faster speeds.
If accurate, this is a clue to their plan.
1. Wildblue claimed that Wildblue-1 could support 1 million customers. In reality it can support about 250,000 customers with massive prime time slowdown on most spot beams. Wildblue may be exaggerating the maximum number of customers again to attract investors (drive stock value up).
2. If Wildblue actually intends to pack 1.5 million customers onto Viasat-1 (6 times more than on WB-1), then they intend to cram customers onto the spot beams until they slow to a crawl to maximize their profit.
Viasat also intends to use AcceleNet in the Surfbeam 2 modems.
quote:
In 2011, the technology will also be embedded in ViaSat SurfBeam® 2 ground systems for high-capacity Ka satellites,...
Apparently it compresses the data stream. Maybe this will replace DAMA and allow ping times to be around 600 ms. We Wildblue customers will be the test monkeys.
--
Value Pack, beam 31, Riverside gateway |
|
| reply to Sircolby45
AcceleNet: Software Accelerator for Enterprise File Shares, E-mail, and Web, Enterprise IT Planet, June 9, 2008.
A compression scheme will not be able to do much with data that has already been compressed, such as JPG images and video.
--
Value Pack, beam 31, Riverside gateway |
|
 dbirdmanPremium,MVM
join:2003-07-07
Eureka, CA
kudos:5 | said by Spice300:A compression scheme will not be able to do much with data that has already been compressed, such as JPG images and video.
Not really true. All you have to do is to use higher-loss compression values. I can, and do, take GB-sized mpeg-4 video and push it under 100MB for upload to YouTube, while still retaining 1080P resolution. Quality is mediochre, but at least it is possible to get it uploaded without a huge pipe! For experiment I forced one down to around 25MB, but it was really, really bad!
Similarly I just took an 8 megapixel image as it came out of the camera as a JPG at 2212KB and saved it three times (using a program that I wrote that has a particularly good JPEG engine - I didn't write the engine, just the interface). Using the highest-quality, lowest-compression setting it was 1503KB. Using the setting I normally use for web images, which is a 75% quality setting, the result was 451KB. Using the ridiculous maximum-compression setting (5% quality) the result was 143KB and was a mass of pixelation.
What you may have been thinking of were lossless compression types, which aren't common over the internet except for data files. An example would be .zip - if you recompress a Zip file you will tend to make it slightly larger.
--
Motosat self-pointing dishes: 1.2-meter XF-3 on 127W, .74 meter G74 on 127W, SL-5 HD DirecTV|idirect 3100|Hughes HN7000S|Verizon UMW190 Air Card|1990 Blue Bird Wanderlodge Bus "Blue Thunder"|Author of hnFAP-Alert, PC-OPI and DSSatTool |
|
| Yes, I was thinking of a lossless compression algorithm. If Wildblue implements a lossy compression algorithm, then it will be a disaster. I remember the lossy compression option used by AOL in the 1990's which ruined downloaded images. I also doubt that a Surfbeam 2 modem would be fast enough to receive and decompress an AcceleNet packet and compress it back to an mp4 H.264 video stream in real time. Neither the gateway nor the modem could decompress a password protected archive whose file must be transmitted unaltered. Altering our data for the sake of download / upload speed is a bad idea.
--
Value Pack, beam 31, Riverside gateway |
|
2 edits | reply to Sircolby45
I did not see a link to WildBlue Retail Dealer Features and Benefits Job Aid, October 2011 (PDF warning), posted here. It might clear up some of the confusion.
Current Value Pack customers in the blue areas (Anik-F2 and WB-1 coverage) will have their speeds increased from up to 512 / 128 kb/s to up to 5 / 1 Mb/s for a 4 cent increase in the package price ($49/.95 / month to $49.99 / month). Select Pack disappears and a package 4 cents / month more expensive replaces Pro Pack with speeds about 3 to 4 times faster. A new more expensive package with a 25 GB / month cap is added.
Areas with Viasat-1 coverage will get 12 Mb/s download and 3 Mb/s upload speed.
$7.99 / GB for overages is expensive.
If the usage cap includes both the download and upload usage, then we will be short changed on our usage. In my case it would not make much of a difference because my upload usage is usually ~3% of my download usage. Because the usage cap is a more severe restriction than the speed, these packages suck. I would rather have 512 bits/second download speed and a 15 GB rolling 30 day cap.
The lease fee is rumored to be $10 / month, but I have not heard for how long it must be paid.
I'm thinking a speed increase to 5 Mb/s for existing installations will reveal some problems, such as marginally aligned dishes unable to attain that speed.
--
Value Pack, beam 31, Riverside gateway |
|
| said by Spice300:The lease fee is rumored to be $10 / month, but I have not heard for how long it must be paid. Function - Free equipment replacement, if not due to customer's fault...but, customer pays for service call, as I understand.
Needless to say, failure rate has been very low since TRIAs with a loose screw were replaced years ago....in the beginning. Hence, a money maker, no doubt. |
|
dbirdmanPremium,MVM
join:2003-07-07
Eureka, CA
kudos:5 | reply to Spice300
said by Spice300:I'm thinking a speed increase to 5 Mb/s for existing installations will reveal some problems, such as marginally aligned dishes unable to attain that speed.
No. Reception speed is not particularly a matter of excellent alignment, nor even dish size. A typical HD TV dish, whether installed by pro or by the customer, easily achieves the speed mentioned.
Alignment and size are primarily items that affect transmission with the low power that is used.
--
Motosat self-pointing dishes: 1.2-meter XF-3 on 127W, .74 meter G74 on 127W, SL-5 HD DirecTV|idirect 3100|Hughes HN7000S|Verizon UMW190 Air Card|1990 Blue Bird Wanderlodge Bus "Blue Thunder"|Author of hnFAP-Alert, PC-OPI and DSSatTool |
|
| said by dbirdman:Reception speed...alignment Actual symbol rate and FEC used affect what is received. Been too many years since reading tech overview, but if enough resend requests come about (e.g., rainy weather), these items can be changed dynamically. And when done, it lowers throughput (beam's speed drops).
Having a good TX power from bird to consumer will make a difference also...and I think they can increase TX power if needed, within certain limits. |
|
dbirdmanPremium,MVM
join:2003-07-07
Eureka, CA
kudos:5 | said by DrStrangeLov :Actual symbol rate and FEC used affect what is received.
That is a bit of garbled truth that has little to do with the question of whether a typical marginally pointed dish can receive 5Mbps or not.
SR and FEC both deal with the amount of data that a given amount of bandwidth frequency can carry. Neither are dish functions - they are simply capabilities of both transmitter and receiver.
Any antenna can be hit with literally gigabits of data. Whether it can handle it or not is a function of the receiver (modem). Hughes modems for the last few generations have been capable of handling (includes decrypting/decompressing the stream, since Hughes has done both for a long time) 45Mbps. I would expect similar capability in a ViaSat modem. That they don't actually have a stream that large is a function of transponder limitations, account caps and allocated frequencies, not equipment capability on the receive end.
Actually, this document says that the particular modem they are describing can receive 72Mbps: »www.viasat.com/files/assets/surf···ores.pdf
--
Motosat self-pointing dishes: 1.2-meter XF-3 on 127W, .74 meter G74 on 127W, SL-5 HD DirecTV|idirect 3100|Hughes HN7000S|Verizon UMW190 Air Card|1990 Blue Bird Wanderlodge Bus "Blue Thunder"|Author of hnFAP-Alert, PC-OPI and DSSatTool |
|
Reviews:
 ·Charter
·Virgin Mobile Br..
·Millenicom
·HughesNet Satell..
 ·ooma
| reply to Spice300
****CORRECTION****
$7.99 per 1 GB overage (NOT MB)
said by Spice300:$7.99 / MB for overages is expensive.
|
|
Reviews:
·Charter
·Virgin Mobile Br..
·Millenicom
·HughesNet Satell..
·ooma
| reply to Sircolby45
5mbps plans/allowances/prices posted (not on Viasat-1) |
|
