Internet by satellite

[Pearsonb]

Been unable to work this week as my line is down. Had to go to friends to get my Autoentrepreneur declaration in.

In Saint Laurent de Cerdans. Even on a good day, I am not getting a download speed greater than 2, whereas I used to get 6 or 7 in Saint Marsal.

With SFR, if that makes any difference. Would I be better switching to Orange? I get the impression that the same technicians work for both.

So I was considering getting Internet by satellite as a back up system for the days when the line is down or poor. I know it is expensive and you get limited data but the cost is far outweighed by the money I am losing by not being online.

Does anyone have any experience of this? Any positive recommendations?


Thanks in advance.

Pearson

[Allan]

I installed satellite internet about a year ago as my Orange broadband connection was so unreliable and the cost to me of not having a connection far outweighed the cost of the satellite system.

Satellite technology has its limitations but in general it has proved more reliable that ADSL.

If your current connection speed is limited to 2MB then it may be that the limiting factor is the distance from you to the exchange, or the quality of your line, so a change of provider probably would make little difference.

Orange has a service called Decouverte for users with slow lines that is cheaper than the standard service, I don't know if SFR has the same.

Depending on your usage, you could consider dumping SFR completely and putting the money towards a satellite system

If you are just looking for a backup solution then if, it is available, 3G would be a much cheaper solution.

You can get internet satellite on a pay as you go basis, you just pay up front for the equipment - https://www.europasat.com/ses-broadband/pay-as-you-go/

Satellite has worked for me but it has its downsides, I'll list some of the issues but they may not be relevant to you.

• VPNs always run really slowly and SmartDNS services do not work at all although you can get the service with a UK iP address.
  
  Web browsing can seem sluggish.
  
  Internet telephone via satellite is poor quality, as is Skype and Facetime
  
  The various 'fair use' policies are anything but fair. My account is supposedly unlimited but I regularly find it has been arbitrarily restricted.

Going back to the Orange v SFR question, I have always found the Orange English speaking helpline to be extremely good and when my line has not worked they have always been very responsive. For me that has been sufficient reason to ignore more attractive offers from other providers.

If you want any in depth advice on Satellite broadband then feel free to PM me, my company supplies it in the UK ( but not in France ).

[Pearsonb]

Thank you so much, Allan. You have given me so much help in the last year.

The geeks on here are outstanding.

Pearson