I live too far from town to get DSL or cable. I am currently using a dialup that only does a prehistoric 26.4 kbps on a GOOD day. I already have DirecTV sat service and it works fine. I am looking into the DirecWay two-way satellite internet service. Unless it is limited (they throttle you back if you download more than about 160MB I think, and that's another issue) they claim a download speed of about 400 kbps and an upload of 60 kbps. This is not that great but far better than I have now. My question is, does anybody here use DirecWay 2-way service for trading? What bothers me is that because the uplink has to travel up to the satellite, through the Op center, and then to the 'Net, there is a delay. They say that this service is not meant for "time sensitve" use like Netmeeting and games. If I can't put on a trade and have it quickly reach the broker then this won't work for me. Anybody have any thoughts about this?
I had a friend who had starband. Two way satellite. Had problems all the time. Rain, wind etc. fouled it up. He was on dial up half the time to trade. Bert
Another problem with satelite communication is latency. There are areas in which this is not a problem (e.g. if you download large files), but for trading you will definitly look for something else. What about ISDN? Regards, Markus
Have you done a search on this forum? There are several threads on this subject. In general satellite is ok for downloading data feeds, not too good for uploads.
Thanks for all your input. The reliability in bad weather is an issue I didn't think about. It makes sense, that given the weak transmit power allowed for these systems, that they could easily be interrupted by rain and snow. I did a search and I did see that some had problems with trading using other sat systems. Those other systems probably use similar or the same equipment as DirecWay so it sure looks like satellite broadband would be a very poor choice for daytrades. I may try it for a year for regular internet service and keep my dialup. I would consider the one-way (satellite download, phone upload) but for some reason it is not offered in my area. If I get the DirecWay I'll report my experiences. Thanks again. Dan
I had DirecWay for three weeks. Got rid of it. The "latency" issue bugged me. There was such a difference b/t that and cable. Even ET didn't run as well. I did survive one very bad local thunderstorm with it, but I understand snow is a major problem. For remote locatons that cannot get DSL/Cable, the only reasonable alternative for those who need snap fills is T1. Or change the trading style such that 1/16 or 1/8 is no big deal.
Have Direcway one way. It's faster than ISP for sure but slower than cable. Also it's clogged to death between 4 and 8 EST so kiss after hours good bye if you need fast info. I have it at home for the same reasons as you. I will never get cable here. There are many prior threads on this issue so you may want to search. Geo.
I had the Direcway 2-way satellite system installed last week. It costs $99, plus $99 a month with a 1 year contract. Will drop to $59.99 after 1 yr. They called me one day after I ordered it, and they had it installed the next day. FCC rules say they must be installed by a certified tech. It has to be precisely installed so as to not interfere with adjacent transponders on the satellite. So far, I am extremely pleased with it. The slowest I get (as measured by the CNET tool) is about 425kbs. During non-peak times it can crank out 1.1mbs. Pretty fast compared to my crappy 26.4 dialup. These are download speeds. Upload hits about 56kbs. I've had no problems with dropouts. That's the good news. The bad news is the "latency" that others have mentioned. Some ping tests showed horrific r/t times greater than 1sec. The system is working fine for general web usage and is MUCH better than I had. Dan
Can you please post the link, or the name of the program? Thx! Also, satellite problems with weather (snow, rain) can be reduced quite a bit by covering the dish with a plastic bag. It looks trashy, but it doesn't affect the ability of the dish to receive its signal, and keeps the surface of the dish clean and dry (which is the most important thing for having good reception, next, of course, to aiming it well). Just make sure (if you cover it with a bag - I like the black hefty 20-30 gallon garbage bags) that you cut small 1" holes in the corners of the bag so that rain doesn't collect on the bag and weigh down the dish. It needs to run off of the bag easily.