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RURAL VS URBAN BROADBAND

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Why Are You Left with So Few Choices?

People who live in densely populated urban areas usually have several options for high speed internet. In most cases, these will be cable or fiber-optic connections.

But what are your choices if you live in a rural area? You’re short of practical options there. Cable and fiber systems almost never build their networks far beyond their urban cores. You can find DSL almost everywhere, but it’s usually far too slow to be called genuine broadband. It’s unlikely to be fast enough for video streaming or for most business functions. You can get satellite internet service almost anywhere in the continental U.S., but it’s often even slower than DSL.

The Best Option

If you reside in a rural or exurban area, your best option is almost always going to be HughesNet. It is a satellite network, but very different from the others. HughesNet upgrades its satellite fleet almost constantly, which expands capacity and increases data speeds. The FCC, in fact, lists HughesNet as the only satellite system that consistently delivers broadband speeds.

HughesNet has also been independently rated first among broadband providers for consistency in reaching advertised speeds. This is a first-place rating among ALL broadband providers, including cable and fiber systems.

If you’re a new customer, you can get 10 GB of data per month for $49.99, and 50 GB for just $99.99 per month for the first year. The latter rate reflects a $30.00 discount for the first year. In the thirteenth month, the 50 GB tier will be priced at the standard rate.

Data Plan Features

With all HughesNet service plans, you’ll find the following features:

  • Built-in WiFi
  • 25 megabits per second (25 MB/S) download speed nationwide, 3 MB/S upload speed
  • No hard data limits
  • Video Data Saver

The Video Data Saver automatically adjusts your video streams to use less data. Its default setting is DVD quality (480P), but if you want to watch HD video, you can opt out of the Data Saver temporarily. And you can “snooze” it for four hours at a time.

Exceptions

We don’t claim HughesNet is for everyone. Though it’s available nationwide, apartment dwellers may face difficulty getting it. Landlords often refuse to allow satellite dishes on their buildings.

Because the HughesNet signal is beamed from a satellite 22,500 miles high, it takes half a second to complete a round trip. This time lag is called “latency”. It makes HughesNet impractical for interactive video games or other purposes requiring low latency.

Final Thoughts

If you live in a rural or lightly populated suburban area, HughesNet is almost certainly your most practical broadband option- and an outstanding value.

(We serve rural and exurban areas all over the U.S. Find the internet connection that works best for you. Talk to us. We can help.)

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HACKERS DEFEATED BY MICROSOFT

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Hackers defeated… This is always good news, right?

We’ve often been critical of Microsoft. Its operating systems have usually been buggy and slow, and they seem to require multiple patches to work properly. Occasionally, though, the brainchild of Bill Gates functions exceptionally well. When it does, we want to give it proper credit.

With this in mind, we call your attention to last night’s announcement by Microsoft regarding a potential security threat. Earlier in the day, a group of hackers called The Shadow Brokers released a suite of Windows ‘exploits’ which could have enabled hackers to compromise computers operating on multiple versions of Windows. But Microsoft had already moved to forestall the attacks.

In a blog entry posted last night, Microsoft described the attacks and its responses. Microsoft had repelled one, ERRATICGOPHER, before the release of Windows Vista. Another, ETERNALCHAMPION, it had patched along with two unrelated vulnerabilities.

Yesterday’s Microsoft Security Bulletin spelled out the company’s responses to The Shadow Brokers. On March 14, it patched ETERNALBLUE, ETERNALROMANCE, and ETERNAL SYNERGY. The company didn’t bother patching three others. These were: EXPLODINGCAN, ENGLISHMANDENTIST, and ESTEEMAUDIT. Microsoft left these alone because it couldn’t simulate the attacks on any systems it supports. This evidently means any systems it provides updates for- Windows 7 or newer.

The hackers apparently made the mistake of testing their exploits on a ‘clean install’ of Windows. A ‘clean install’ is a version without recent security updates. The hackers then, had no idea how their attacks would fare on properly updated systems.

We’ve mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. Update your computer’s operating system often. Be especially vigilant when you hear about critical threats.

(To find out more about computer security, follow this blog. For the strongest internet connection, talk to us. We can help.)

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TRENDS IN VIDEO MARKETS

TV viewers have more options now than ever before, as the market finds new ways to meet their demands. Here are a few of the more significant trends in video distribution, and how they affect the way you watch TV and movies:

Digital Syndication

Scripted TV shows usually follow long story arcs- and they age quickly. A few solid hits, though, remain popular with the public long after they’re first aired. Studios and broadcasters earn more money from them by licensing large blocks of episodes to cable networks. Some of the more popular syndicated shows include Seinfeld, Jeopardy!, and The People’s Court.

Though a syndicated show is seldom as popular as the original series, it is profitable because the studio doesn’t face new production expense.

Syndication is not new. It has existed nearly as long as the cable TV industry. What is relatively new is digital syndication. Content providers have begun to license older shows for dedicated steaming platforms such as Netflix, DirecTV Now, and Sling TV.

Streaming of Live Sports

In 2015, the NFL licensed Yahoo to stream a live game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Buffalo Bills. Yahoo had exclusive rights to the game, and streamed it world-wide. The game was between small-market teams in an unfavorable time slot (Sunday, 9:30 a.m. EST). Still, it brought in 15.2 million unique viewers.

The game marked the first time a streaming service outbid a broadcast network for an NFL game.  Since then, FOX Sports Go and WatchESPN apps provide live streams of games from multiple markets.

Transactional Video

The conventional pay TV model is a cable or satellite subscription. You pay by the month for a large channel package.

One of the most important trends in TV now ditches the subscription model. Some providers charge small fees for each episode or small group of episodes. as little as $0.99. Google Play, Amazon Prime Video, and iTunes are among the vendors offering video on a per-episode basis. Some will offer discounts, up to 40% per episode, for purchase of a “season pass”, access to an entire season of a series.

In either case, you would pay only for the shows you watch, not for channels or channels bundles.

 Streaming Direct to Consumer

Usually, cable and broadcast TV networks offer their programming through cable or satellite systems. Some offer them through streaming platforms such as Netflix, Playstation Vue, or Sling TV.

One of the most important new trends in the business is cutting out the middleman. Content providers are increasingly likely to offer their shows directly to viewers. 20th Century Fox, ABC-Disney, and NBC Universal opened the way in 2005 by forming Hulu.

This year, the CBS Corporation launched CBS All-Access, and HBO launched HBO Now.  These are stand-alone video services that don’t require cable or satellite subscriptions.

Authentication

Authentication is likely to be the most enduring of trends in the video market. It is essential for newer platforms that enable streaming on multiple devices. If the device you want to stream with is not the one you enrolled with, how does the provider know you’re a customer?

Video services rely increasingly on authentication to identify customers and log them in. In most cases, this means you enter a user name and a four-digit code.

The advantage for you is that you’re not limited to the video services own devices, and you can more easily use your service away from home.

(To follow all trends in internet service, visit buysatellite.net. To get the best connection, talk to us. We can help.)

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SATELLITE INTERNET: HOW IT WORKS

To understand the advantage in HughesNet service, it may help you to know how satellite internet works. It differs from other sources of internet service.

In rural- and some suburban- areas, the dominant internet services are either dial-up or DSL. Each requires a phone line. Dial-up service ties up the phone, so you can’t place or receive a call while connected to the web.  Dial-up is also extremely slow- too slow to be practical for any but the lightest web-surfing or e-mail.

DSL (digital subscriber line) service won’t tie up your phone, but it brings other disadvantages of a community phone line: your download speed will be affected by your distance from the central office, and by the number of your neighbors connected at the same time. If you’re close enough to the central transmission facility, you could see download speeds in excess of 6 megabits per second. If you live farther away, or if your community DSL system is under heavy usage, your download speed could drop to a small fraction of this.

With satellite internet service, you won’t face these problems. Your HughesNet system will not require a home phone line. Because it receives its signal directly from a satellite high in the stratosphere, it is independent of any neighborhood phone or fiber system, so your service will not be affected by the number of your neighbors connected at the same time.

HughesNet is faster than typical DSL service. and many times faster than the fastest dial-up service. HughesNet offers four levels of residential internet service. With the basic plan, you get download speeds of up to 5 megabits per second (MB/S), and with the best plan, up to to 15 MB/S.

HughesNet’s Echostar XVII satellite network features the highest download capacity of any satellite internet service.

Your HughesNet service will be suitable for web-surfing, e-mail, word-processing, social media, and downloading music or video. The only function we don’t recommend it for is interactive gaming. The signal from your computer has to travel 22,500 miles to the satellite, then travel the same distance back. The round trip takes about a quarter of a second. For most uses, this is not a critical lag, but it can ruin an interactive game that depends on quick reflexes.

Apart from that one limitation, satellite internet service works. Is HughesNet right for you? Call us, or fill out a contact form, to find out.