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Crisis Management by Digital Means

By all accounts, 2020 has been an unusual year. One alarming crisis succeeded another- then another- then another. The Covid-19 pandemic, and the ensuing restrictions on normal activity, have imposed unaccustomed hardships on most Americans. Hurricanes, mass riots, devastating wildfires, and electrical outages (in California) followed.

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In facing such daunting events, what can we do? Well, some communities rely on digital technologies.

Where do we look for help in a crisis?

One answer is HughesNet. The satellite internet system offers several emergency services. One is SatCell Connect. Another is called Internet Continuity.

The first provides instant cellular service when cell networks fail. SatCell registers up to 10,000 cellular devices, and can handle up to 100 streaming video calls or 400 voice calls at a time. In addition, it can handle up to 800 simultaneous chat sessions at speeds of up to 200 MB/S.

The latter is slightly different. ‘Internet Continuity’, designed chiefly for small businesses, provides emergency backup when cable and fiber internet networks fail. In event of such failure, HughesNet automatically routes web traffic to the satellite system. Then, when the original service is restored, HughesNet switches back to it.

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In a crisis, a satellite internet system proves most reliable. Weather conditions and earthquakes that disrupt fiber, DSL, and cable systems won’t interrupt HughesNet.

Businesses and government offices that can’t afford prolonged internet outages need this emergency backup.

HughesNet is also the practical internet alternative for remote locations. Customers can connect service quickly and easily, and with HughesNet’s built-in WiFi, workers can easily connect their mobile devices. Furthermore, with a wide array of fixed and portable antennae, you can connect almost anywhere.

To sum all of this up, HughesNet may be the ideal means to guarantee you can remain online in a crisis. And Satellite Country is the ideal portal for HughesNet.

So, then, don’t take unnecessary chances. Contact us today.

How soon can you get connected?

Don’t take chances in an emergency. If you can’t afford to stay offline for long, you need a reliable connection. For the best deals in reliable web service, call Satellite Country. Call today. We can help.

Call 1-855-216-0185

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Prepare for the Coming of Jupiter III

If you’re an American customer of HughesNet now, you can expect to see a significant service upgrade soon. The satellite internet system will launch Jupiter III, an advanced high-capacity satellite.

EchoStar buys Jupiter-3 “ultra high density satellite” from SSL - SpaceNews

The launch was scheduled for early in the year, but was delayed by Covid-19. This is not unusual. Many businesses in America have had to delay product or marketing moves because of the virus. But it won’t be with us forever.

By current estimates, the launch will occur in the first quarter of 2022.

Why is Jupiter III important?

The new satellite is important because of the massively increased capacity it offers. JupiterIII will add 500 to 550 gigabits. With the spike in capacity, HughesNet can offer speeds of up to 100 megabits per second (MB/S) with some plans. The current top download speed with all plans is 25 MB/S.

The additional capacity is all the more necessary given the lockdowns we’ve suffered- and will continue to suffer in some areas. With more of us working from home, we’re spending more time on the internet.

HughesNet has seen solid growth in its customer base lately. For the third quarter, the company added 38,000 broadband subscribers. This expands its subscriber total to 1.58 million.

Why do you need HughesNet?

Unlike cable or telecom internet, HughesNet is available almost everywhere in the U.S. This includes rural areas which otherwise couldn’t get broadband service.

HughesNet currently offers download speeds of up to 25 MB/S. This meets the FCC’s definition of true broadband, and it’s enough for almost all web functions: e-mail, surfing, and watching video.

Wherever you live, you need a reliable internet connection. To find the right plan for you, Contact HughesNet through Satellite Country. We can help you find the service that meets your needs and budget. Call now. We can help.

Call 1-855-216-0185

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HughesNet Pushes Satellite For Broadband Backup

If you operate a business, how will you respond if your wireline broadband service fails? Do you have an adequate backup?

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This is a question many business owners are asking since last month’s massive outage of Comcast services. Millions of residential customers were effected, and thousands of businesses were crippled by the outage. It affected a large portion of the U.S., from east coast to west, and all Comcast services suffered: phone, TV, internet, and business services. Ironically, even the Down Detector failed.

(The Down Detector is an online service that tracks cable and satellite service outages. It tracks dozens of internet, video, phone, gaming, and social media services. It even monitors access to individual TV channels.)

Comcast blamed the outage on a fiber cut in a Manhattan system owned by one of its backbone ‘partners’. The incident affected both business and residential customers.

Can anything insure against lost connections?

HughesNet cited the Comcast outage as the type of catastrophic surprise businesses need to insure themselves against. And HughesNet says it has the solution.

HughesNet Network Solutions now offers a backup high-speed broadband service for such events. It will automatically switch users to satellite broadband when their terrestrial web connections fail. The backup service is under the name of HughesNet Internet Continuity. For a mere $39.99 per month, it insures against losses due to DSL, cable, or telecom down time.

With the backup system, the customer gets a WiFi modem, an antenna, a router, and a radio. Once the terrestrial network is restored, the HughesNet Continuity system switches back to it automatically.

The backup system operates at speeds of up to 25 MB/S for uploads, and 3 MB/S for downloads. These speeds meet the FCC definition of broadband.

The need for some sort of internet insurance has long been evident. As many as 90% of businesses have suffered at least one web service interruption. A third report facing an outage every month. Such outages can block access to critical systems.

At minimum, the service interruptions bring loss of revenue. In extreme cases, they can alienate customers and even force business closure.

 

(For the most reliable web connection, talk to Satellite Country. We can help.)

 

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‘Net Neutrality’: Is It Doomed?

For the internet industry, the regulatory climate may be facing a dramatic shakeup. The Federal Communications Commission has scheduled a December 14 vote on possible repeal of Title II web regulations. These rules are meant to promote what is known as ‘net neutrality’.

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‘Net neutrality’ is the concept that all data on the web should be treated alike. Internet service providers (ISP) should not discriminate by platform, content, website, application, or user. An ISP would not be allowed to block, throttle (slow down), or charge extra for access to specific websites or online content.

What fed the demand for ‘net neutrality’?

The matter became a live political issue in 2004, when Comcast throttled uploads of peer-to-peer file sharing apps such as BitTorrent. Despite public protest, Comcast did not stop the throttling until the FCC ordered it to do so. AT&T, Verizon, and other ISPs were also accused of blocking or throttling specific content. Some were accused of giving favorable treatment to data from corporate partners, including TV networks.

In 2014, the FCC received more than 3.7 million complaints about blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization. The following year, the commission ruled that the internet is a telecommunications service. An ISP, then, is a ‘common carrier’ subject to regulation under Title II of the 1934 Telecommunications Act. The web would be regulated like any public utility.

Resistance to the New Rules

The Title II rules faced fierce criticism from the cable and telecom industries. Some claimed the rules would inhibit investment in internet systems. This would delay or prevent improvement in equipment or networks. In any case, the leading ISPs said, the rules went far beyond the FCC’s legal mandate.

Ajit Pai, the current FCC chairman, said that the current ‘net neutrality’ rules discourage innovation. Less innovation, he said, means less competition. This in in turn, he said, keeps prices high.

Pai says repeal of the Title II internet rules will foster competition, make broadband more widely available, and bring prices down. His critics say the move would only make the larger ISPs more dominant. The largest cable and telecom systems would enjoy near-monopolies on the flow of information.

Who’s right? We may find out after December 14.

 

(For the strongest internet connection, talk to us. We can help.)

 

 

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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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MYTHS ABOUT SATELLITE INTERNET

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Myths can obstruct our understanding of the world. They can keep us from seizing advantages we otherwise would have had.

Some people hesitate to acquire satellite internet service because what they’ve been told about it isn’t true. The most common myths about it are that it’s expensive, it’s too slow, and it won’t work during or after bad weather. Here we’ll examine each myth in turn.

Myth #1:   It’s Expensive

This was true several years ago. It’s not anymore. Huge advances in technology have multiplied speed and bandwidth, and greater efficiency has dramatically reduced consumer price. Seven years ago, the most basic satellite internet service cost $79.00 per month. Today, HughesNet’s entry-level tier, with a download speed of 5 megabits per second (5 MB/S), costs just $29.99 per month. This is highly competitive with DSL and cable broadband services.

Myth #2:   It’s Too Slow

One if the most persistent myths about satellite internet is that it’s too slow to be practical. It was true several years ago, but not now. At the dawn of satellite internet, download speeds averaged about 750 kilobits per second (750 KB/S), and upload speeds averaged about 256 KB/S. HughesNet now offers plans with top download speeds of 5 to 15 MB/S- comparable with cable internet- and upload speeds of 1 to 2 MB/S.

Myth #3:   The Signal Lags

You need only about half a second. There is some latency in sending and receiving signals, because they bounce off of a satellite 22.500 miles high, but this limitation has been highly exaggerated. You’re unlikely to be hampered by signal latency unless you’re playing interactive games. You probably won’t notice any effect on your e-mail, web browsing, social media posts, or sharing of photos.

Myth #4:   Bad Weather Critically Disrupts the Service

Extremely severe thunderstorms or blizzards can interrupt the signal temporarily.  This condition, though, is not as serious or as frequent as it’s been made out to be. You’ll begin receiving the signal again once the storm passes.

By contrast, severe weather can knock out cable service, for entire neighborhoods, for days or even weeks at a time. This is especially true if the cables are flooded or cut by falling trees.

Don’t let myths keep you from the internet service that works best for you. If you have any questions, talk to us. We can help.

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TV EVERYWHERE

With your HughesNet service, you’ll have expanded options for TV viewing. With the ability to stream video via the internet, you are not limited to the programming choices or bundles offered by cable and satellite TV systems.

TV Everywhere is an industry term for streaming video services that don’t require conventional cable boxes or satellite dishes. It’s also known as authenticated streaming or authenticated video-on-demand. For most such services, you won’t need to have any equipment installed, and for some, you won’t have to sign any long term contracts. Access to programming is through an authentication code you enter on your device.

The pay TV industry developed TV Everywhere to answer the competitive challenge posed by streaming services such as Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video.

TV Everywhere offers flexibility in viewing platforms. Most TVE applications are compatible with iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, Mac and PC computers, Roku, PlayStation, XBox One, Apple TV, and Chromecast devices.

Most TVE services are additions to conventional cable or satellite TV subscriptions. Last February, though, Dish Network launched Sling TV, an independent web-streaming-only platform. Sling TV customers don’t have to sign any long term contracts, can pay on a month-to-month basis, and don’t need Dish Network dishes or receivers. Most programming packages are light on the wallet. The core Sling TV package of 23 channels costs just $20.00 per month.

Since then, some cable system operators are considering offering similar products. Comcast and Verizon have tested separate streaming apps in some markets. Use of these apps does not require the standard cable TV subscription, though Comcast’s streaming service is available only to its broadband subscribers.

As a rule, streaming video services cost much less than cable or satellite TV subscriptions. This is mainly because their channel bundles are usually much smaller. You will need to research TVE providers, though, to be sure you save money- and that you’re getting the channels you want.

(For access to TV Everywhere or other internet services, talk to us.)

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GETTING THE BEST DEAL IN INTERNET SERVICE

How can you be sure you’re getting the best deal in internet service? There are a few questions you should ask about any web service offered.

First, make sure you understand all charges. Many internet service providers offer low monthly rates for a promotional period, usually three months to one year. After the promotional periods, though, the rates increase sharply. Some providers offer ‘free’ equipment and installation, but they add the equipment and installation charges to the monthly fees, and they require long term contracts, with fines for early termination.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you’re being cheated. Make sure you’re getting a complete list of all charges before you sign a contract, though. Before you agree to installation, be sure you understand the total you pay in advance, the total monthly fees, including taxes and other surcharges, and the total you will pay after any promotions end.

Second, assess your needs. Consider how many people in your household are likely to be connected at any one time, what kinds of devices you connect to the internet, and what functions you want. If you will connect only one or two devices, and your web use is chiefly e-mail and light web surfing, then you might get by with fairly low speed and a low data cap. If you intend to connect multiple devices, though, or if you want to download music or video, then you will need a higher download speed and more data capacity.

Conduct a speed test of your present internet service, and monitor how much data you use. This will tell you how much speed or data capacity you will need from a new provider. If your present service is too slow or too limited, these steps will still give you a rough idea of how much extra speed or capacity you will need.

If you’re paying a low rate for your internet service, but it’s inadequate for your needs, then you’re not getting a bargain.

Finally, to be sure you’re getting the best deal in internet service, talk to us.