[Hidden-tech] Satellite internet services

[Jim Ussailis]

I should think for most of us workers that latencey isn't much of an 
issue, unless we developed games for a living. There is an internal 
latency built into internet. It all works with fiber or wire, both of 
which operate around 60% the speed of light. Distance takes time.

I upload smallish files (3 to 6 meg) at times, but the effort in 
developing the files faaar outweights upload time, even using dial-up.

Downloading while I do a part search is THE issue. It does make me wish 
that web page developers understood the meaning of time. I acquired DSL 
just for this purpose.

I have found that Verizon DSL has a true speed of about 40 to 50 Kbuad at 
best. Often worse.

WiFi range

The range of WiFi is limited by several things, some of which the user has 
control. Range is determined by:

Power output of units, 1 watt is allowed, but often 0.1 to 0.2 watts are used
Antennas, A gain antenna is allowed under the FCC rules
Bandwidth, Contrary to advertisements, less bandwidth = more range, ALWAYS!
Multipath, Signals arriving from bounces don't help, but hurt reception. 
	Gain antennas provide directionallity, which can reduce multipath.
Manufacturer of equip, Some stuff is good, some not so.
Receiver sensitivity, Lower is better ALWAYS!


On the manyfacturer side, I know of a test where a pair of folks were 
trying to do 4 miles. One set of equip didn't do it, and was doing 97% 
retrys, another set had no problem, with retrys in the few % region.

Finally, antenna location is important. That antenna on the back of a 
desk / tower computer case will never do much. In some cases a 
straightened paper clip pushed into the connector might do a whole lot 
better.

Jim U
jim at nationalwireless.com