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Real world is worse.
Ping statistics for 75.104.128.61:
Packets: Sent = 25, Received = 22, Lost = 3 (12% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 626ms, Maximum = 3690ms, Average = 1385ms

This is the nameserver within WildBlue's network -- this is a two-way system on an average day (even with spotbeams). I've never seen a ping within their network below 600ms, while 1300-1600 is typical, and those up in the 3000ms (and even 4000ms) range are not all that uncommon.

While 1300ms isn't actually all that bad considering, the way HTTP works amplifies those delays. It can take anywhere from 5-8 seconds for a page to start rendering. It's not the speed either. 1Mbit/s isn't ideal, but it isn't going to cause those kinds of response delays.

I've heard people say that early on in WildBlue's existence, everybody got latency in the 600-800ms range, but after a firmware update went out to all their satellite modems (DOCSIS (1.x?) compliant), everyone jumped into the 1300's, and have been there ever since. VoIP supposedly worked at one time -- while painfull -- but now I guess Skype won't even connect with that kind of latency, much less run.

High latency, slow speeds compared to other options, expensive, doesn't just die when it rains, it actually dies just when heavy clouds roll in..but what can you do? Embarq is my telco and their/my exchange office only offers DSL to 18% of its customers, has been stuck at that number for 2 years, and seemingly has no interest in doing anything about it.

Cable? Not here. Despite having 30 homes on this road and a high school, this is just one of the many areas of America being left behind.

..and satellite is not the solution.
Posted by: pwtenny@...   Posted on: 02/24/08 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use
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Real world is worse.  pwtenny@... | 02/24/08
Yeah it's much worse in my experience too  georgeou | 02/24/08
How far is the nearest town with an Internet link?  georgeou | 02/24/08
Close, but mountainous area.  pwtenny@... | 02/26/08
Mountain are tough but can be solved  georgeou | 02/26/08
Another satellite story with a happier ending  WirelessWiz | 02/25/08
RE: Why Satellite Internet service is so slow  Roger_Jennings | 02/24/08
Ah, my numbers and drawing were correct. I meant to label it diameter  georgeou | 02/24/08
High latency link impact on protocols  chris@... | 02/24/08
Agreed, it gets much worse  georgeou | 02/24/08
Please don't tell me some one asked you about this.  nucrash | 02/25/08
It's been brought up before wink  NetArch. | 02/25/08
tiny correction  NetArch. | 02/25/08
Yeah, that sounds about right. Very few people understand the latency prob  georgeou | 02/25/08
While this is true  nucrash | 02/26/08
Nothing an incoherent pump can't fix:-)  Bruizer | 02/26/08
Universal Gravitational Constant  wes.sykes@... | 02/28/08
RE: Why Satellite Internet service is so slow  atari8bit@... | 02/25/08

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