Networks Satellite 'broadband' internet through a DVB decoder card...

just a few questions about the above...

i'm planning on getting a Hauppauge WinTV Nova so I can watch the 'free to air' digital channels in my room (we've only got Sky in the lounge and my dad hogs it most of the time...)

I noticed the whole satellite internet thing and I was very curious...

does anyone have satellite broadband (same setup)?

how does it perform?

is it expensive (and worth it)?


quote from Hauppauge site:

"How "Broadband Internet" Works: First, you connect to the Internet via your local Internet Service provider. Secondly, you log on to your Satellite Internet provider. If you are sending a request for a specified web page, the request goes via your local provider to the Satellite provider. They will then grab the Internet data and send this specified web page via Satellite back to your Computer. The speed is dependent on the satellite provider, however the WinTV-NOVA card is specified to receive and filter up to 40Mbit/s."

anyone have any clues?

cheers


[EDIT] just checked it out a bit more - looks like it'll cost around £15/month for roughly a 400k connection (was the only one I could find...) - maybe not really worth it in the long run...seems a bit too much hassle... [/EDIT]

 

So far the only real negative things i've heard about satellite based broadband is that they tend to be very latent, a min of 200ms lag, so they are very poor for gamers. But alledgedly they are improving, but it still takes a certain amount of time given the distance the signals have to travel. And they tend to suffer from periodic blackouts with poor weather, just like the sat. tv recievers loose thier signal during thick cloud cover.

However on another note there is a company in the US (Sky Wave or something like that) that is running two way satellite based broadband... Last time i checked they were capping them at 384 down and 128 up. Not too bad for $60/month, but definately better than dial up speeds if that is all you can get. The only catch is they require you to run winders.

But i would imagine if these guys can do it, other will soon follow across the pond as well. I've seen that dial up out/sat down deal in action a couple years ago.... its okay, but when you have to pay for the tele line, the dial up acct, and the sat access every month.......then you have to wonder if its really worth the expense.

 

Be careful with the hauppage DVB cards for FTA broadcasts. A lot of what Sky package is technically FTA but you still need a Sky viewing card to decrypt it because it is packaged, and therefore encrypted, by Sky. This includes most of the beeb channels iirc. The problem being is that you cannot get a Sky encryption Conditional Access Module because they won't make them availible so you can't use a viewing card with the hauppage [ or any other ] DVB cards.

BT are oferring a two way ADSL speed [512/128] satellite service already. it's extremely expensive to install and not super cheap on a monthly rental but it is availible. Oh you need a radion transmitting licence to use it as well!

Bings

J

 

jake - was just gonna use the card to view DVB 'Free' channels (BBC choice, BBC News etc etc)...

sod it...i'm not gonna bother - too expensive/hassle for what you actually end up with, plus, I should be moving out in a few months (we live down a country lane, 2 miles from the nearest town at the moment...)

don't even think i'll bother getting the card either....just wait till i move out, and buy myself a DVB TV...

 

the bbc channels arent free, basically nothing ont he sky epg can be picked up without at least the fta card but to use one of them you need a decoder anyway, but there are plenty of other channels floating around different satellites (to get braodband interent you probably wouldent be able to point the dish at the astra cluster sky uses)

 

not free?

quote from Hauppauge site:

say if you have a DVB enabled TV, all you'd pay was your normal TV license fee...you wouldn't need to be a digital customer at all...

also, I heard somewhere that they're planning on increasing the number of free channels to somewhere near 30

 

you still need a card for the channels rgardless of weter the channels are free or not (the card can be got for free) & as sky do not let manufacturers ahve the plans to make a cam for the encryptionf ormat they use you cant get free sky channels on the nova

that lsit of channels is not satellite that freeview its digital terrestrial


trust me on this

the reason i say there not free is becuase you ahve to pay for the sky digibox, the dish & someoen to fit it (there difficult to get the position perfect, trust me)