Internet over satelite: what's the deal?

[Outsider]

So I"m thinking of moving out into the rural area outside Hamilton, and as it turns out, there is no DSL service or cable high speed. Apparently the only option for high speed is a satellite connection?
What is that?
Advantages/disadvantages? Are there any providers in Ontario that provide this?

[cjpark]

Xplorenet has service in Ontario, I think there may be others as well. You have to find an installer to set it up for you. Its quite a bit more expensive and not as good as cable/dsl...but when you have no other choice then there isn't a lot you can do.

[3weddings]

http://www.broadbandontario.com/ was one of the first, but it's NOT cheap to install/operate. I hear about $1k and $125 a month.

Have you checked if Bell's WiMax is available?
http://www.bell.ca/shopping/PrsShpInt_Int_Chart_WiMax.page

[dubplatepressure]

satellite service is pretty expensive.... from what I understood base packages start at around $80-$100 per month.

I looked into it about a year ago.... d/l speeds are decent but upload speeds really hurt.

[The_Madz]

my parents have highspeed via satellite.

you get a special satellite dish that needs to be installed which looks pretty funky.


As for speed.. welll it sucks

why, because the time it takes to get the information sent to the satellite and to receive it is really slow. So when you browse and have to keep on changing web pages it's as slow as dial up. However, if you start to download a program where you are just receiving data it is though a lot faster than dial up. it's like having a ping time of over a 1sec.

I would suggest Bell Wi-Max if it's available. It certainly can't be any worse than satellite.

Edit:
PRices are not bad.. about $60 for the basic package but goes up in price quickly if you want faster.
also, you tend to have to buy the equipment or sign a couple of years contract.