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http://www.macnn.com/articles/02/04/29/earthlink.satellite/

EarthLink Satellite for Macs within 90 days

updated 04:45 pm EDT, Mon April 29, 2002

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MacNN reader Sean Pons notes that EarthLink expects their Satellite service to be up and running for Macs within 90 days. "EarthLink says they expect Mac satellite service available within 90 days. [It costs] $69.95 for 2-way satellite service (400k down, 128k up). Equipment is $399 and installation is $199. They will take your name, number, email and say they will contact you when the service is available."

by MacNN Staff

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MacNN.com Reader
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04/29, 05:03pm | report spam | close Reply |
Holy Cr@p!

...is that expensive!!

MacNN.com Reader
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04/29, 05:10pm | report spam | close Reply |
not expensive...

...mysterious. i wouldn't mind paying for it, but where on earthlink did you see that info?

links to stories are only cool when they at least *kind of* confirm the rumor, you know?

MacNN.com Reader
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04/29, 05:13pm | report spam | close Reply |
way too much

I just don't see the benefit. This is competing with the already well established cable/DSL companies. Just like sat TV this will need line of site to the SATs.
On another note...it already has all the bad PR of sat TV counting against it...it will have the same drawbacks.

Only real customer will be the peeps that can't get and won't have availibility of other services. Park Rangers can now surf the web! WOOHOOO!

MacNN.com Reader
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04/29, 05:44pm | report spam | close Reply |
the point is...

...not to compete with cable/DSL -- it's to offer high speed access to those out in the sticks (or on the edge of town like me). I have no other choice but to go satellite, and $89.99 a month isn't bad, considering I have to either move out of my wonderful house, or run my own lines to get any high speed access.

Only gripe I have is the "install" fee, which usually consists of a complete idiot putting his nasty hands all over my baby, err G3.

sanford
Mac Enthusiast

Joined: May 2001

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04/29, 06:29pm | report spam | close Reply |
Install fee

I think the install fee in this case refer mainly to the installation of the satellite transceiver equipment. You can probably talk the guy into letting you configure the Mac.

But what confuses me is how they currently offer the service for Windows but can't for Macs. If it's just IP using PPPoE, bouncing signals off GEOs out there in the ionosphere or troposphere or wherever they fly, then why can't you just plug a Mac into their network bridge on the earthside.

Same sort of routine as you get from some DSL providers: we do not offer Mac service. Well, of course they do, because Macs use IP too. Just borrow a friends PC for the install day, then switch it out with your Mac after the satellite guy leaves. If you need PPPoE, OS X has it built-in, as do many SOHO ethernet routers which also offer the ability to share your broadband connection with other IP-networked computers.

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04/29, 06:49pm | report spam | close Reply |
good price

I can't wait to sign up!!

MacNN.com Reader
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04/29, 06:51pm | report spam | close Reply |
hmm

Maybe they don't have the service for macs because they have no one who is knowledgeable about the platform if there would be a problem with getting it to connect to the internet?

MacNN.com Reader
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04/29, 07:37pm | report spam | close Reply |
Dufus

It's for people who can't get cable/DSL - and YES, there are lots of people in this boat.

MacNN.com Reader
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04/29, 08:11pm | report spam | close Reply |
blah...

I've used LAN, T1, Cable, SDSL, IDSL, Sattelite, and regular modems...and to comment on the current generation of the Sattelite modem to my experience...
first, a 2 second bounce delay due to the signal bouncing...in theory, everything should be at the speed of light, but its not the case, so don't even think 'bout online gaming with it.
Second, depending on the time of day, bandwidth varies significantly. This might be due to position of the sattelite or otherwise, but morning connection speed are acceptable while afternoon slows to a craw.
Third, similar to Cable, it's a shared bandwidth, which could contribute more to the bandwidth problem.
So a fractional T1 would be a better solution IMHO

sderaj
Junior Member

Joined: Mar 2001

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04/29, 08:43pm | report spam | close Reply |
Could you..

..use this like rickashay (spelling)?

ericwass
Mac Enthusiast

Joined: Mar 2000

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04/29, 08:54pm | report spam | close Reply |
re: Could you...

I think you mean "ricochet"

amazingrotundo
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04/29, 10:50pm | report spam | close Reply |
just for your edification

the satellite system is primarily aimed at customers who live outside that area normally covered by cable/DSL. The service is not available for Macs at this time because Hughes uses their own software to connect. It's neither PPPoE or DHCP, but something that they created to access their system. As a result, they haven't taken the time to create Mac based software, especially since they were initially prioritizing XP software. As to Earthlink offering the Mac system within 90 days. I work at Earthlink selling this system and I haven't heard a damn thing about it. If Sean knows something that I don't, that's fine, but as of now, EarthLink isn't saying a thing to its sales floor about it, so please check the website for information about this. Considering how EarthLink and Mac are partnered, they should be advertising the h*** out of it.

jeffsters
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04/29, 10:58pm | report spam | close Reply |
No Clue

Not sure if this is even true now. The Earthlink sales people know about this post, they ask me if I read this on MacNN! They have no idea if it's coming in 90 days they haven't been told that as yet and did say to just send your interest via the web. That didn't work for me as the silly seb page asks to select "How did you hear about..." with a pop-up that has no selections! Oh well...I'll keep checking but nothing to get excited about yet! I do really wish that like a real news organization MacNN would check these thingss out first. Because they didn't do the due-diligence of a news site I wasted my time. Thanks MacNN!

MacNN.com Reader
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04/29, 11:13pm | report spam | close Reply |
MacNN be Shmokin'

There is NOTHING about Mac support ANYWHERE on Earthlink's satellite page. Where did MacNN get this link, and why is nobody else reporting it?

sanford
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04/29, 11:57pm | report spam | close Reply |
The source of this news?

Is maybe somebody at MacNN who is fed up with dozens of service providers buying into balkanized, proprietary implenetations of systems that should be standard. Hughes, Earthlink, et al, should have the foresight to work within the standard. You'd think somewhere in the equipment charge you could find a little money for a hardware satellite bridge to bridge customers' home networks with the Hughes/Earthlink network. Everything south of the special wing-dingy would be standard, that is ethernet, and any system that supports ethernet, including switches, hubs, bridges, computer, routers would work with it.

Almost everyone on the planet right now wants to complain about Microsoft's OS monopoly and almost every technology company in the States is just fostering that monopoly. Quit whining about monopoly and antitrust and make your products compatible with a wide range of systems. In this case, it wouldn't have cost any extra effort to follow the standard in the first place instead of creating proprietary software to connect the networks together.

MacNN.com Reader
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04/30, 01:06am | report spam | close Reply |
The word is...

latency.

satellite "broadband" is not so hot.

rayntosca
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04/30, 09:58am | report spam | close Reply |
It's USB, not ethernet

Unfortunately, the current version is not plain-old-ethernet out, it is a USB connection. So, the delay might be writing drivers to do TCP/IP via USB, or Earthlink plans to replace the USB boxes with ones that pump out TCP/IP over ethernet.

sanford
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04/30, 10:25am | report spam | close Reply |
That's my point

If you can build a USB box you can build an ethernet box. AT&T broadband offers both in the same box, for people who don't have ethernet. Ethernet and TCP/IP are the standards for the Internet. Why does everyone so avidly support the "standard" in operating system software, but not the real standards that exist for other areas of technology?

fletchbiz

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04/30, 12:50pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Target market important

Firstly, although Earthlink hasn't updated their FAQ on this, HNS reportedly announced its intention in January to debut a new service called "DirecWay Gateway," which will eliminate the platform incompatibilities of the current DirecWay system. The newer arrangement will simply add a self-hosting router to the system thereby eliminating the need for the sat-modem to directly plug into a PC machine. Not only will this arrangement enable Macs and Unix machines to use the DirecWay system, but it will also allow a user a convenient way to share a connection with other computers on his or her LAN.

As to the pricing issue, one must consider target market when evaluating price and desirability. In areas not served by other broadband services, satellite will be the only practical method. This will come as no surprise to European and Asian people, who have been confronted with the lack of available communications infrastructure for many years. Wireless Internet has been the only practical way for Europeans and Asians for a long time now.

In North America, there are still large areas that just cannot be feasibly served by cable, DSL, or the like. This is where satellite comes in. Although the price is a little higher, the cost of living in rural America is generally lower. Thus if one wants to have a SOHO in the backwoods, satellite broadband makes perfect sense, in spite of its current shortcomings.

Personally, I'm one of those who is so far from the telco switching office that I can't even get a reliable 56k connection. Giving up my current ISP and the phone line I use exclusively for Internet in favor of a sat connection will only be about $20 per month more. That's not a bad deal for me to get a significant improvement over my usual 28k connection.

fletchbiz

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04/30, 01:00pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
The source of the news

Here's source of the story about the DirecWay Gateway.

(excerpt below)

"DirecWay, StarBand Report Satellite Broadband Milestones

"HNS Also Promotes Gateway Networking Device

"HNS is promoting its DirecWay Gateway networking device at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

"The DirecWay Gateway is a low-cost solution providing satellite broadband access to the networked home or SOHO markets. In the past, most broadband users have had only a single PC, but HNS has found that more and more subscribers (currently 10-15 percent of DirecWay subscribers) have more than one PC. The DirecWay Gateway provides these users with an easy networking solution to connect multiple computers to broadband access via satellite.

"Because the Gateway is a self-hosted standalone appliance, when combined with the DirecWay modem, it allows HNS to provide broadband service to non-Windows devices. As a standalone device the Gateway provides all of the functionality previously required of a user's PC, as well as a router and four-port ethernet hub integrated with a broadband modem.

"The Gateway can support up to 255 networked devices. The appliance is self-hosted and supports four ethernet ports. HNS representatives will be demonstrating DirecWay consumer products and services at CES, Jan. 8-11, in booth #19229. "

MacNN.com Reader
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04/30, 02:26pm | report spam | close Reply |
re: news source

But Earthlink still hasn't announced Mac support, so I don't see where MacNN is getting this.

MacNN.com Reader
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04/30, 03:34pm | report spam | close Reply |
uh-oh

well, on top of this questionable info on the new mac services, we come to find out that earthlink is also a very lovable company:

EarthLink co-founder pleads guilty to fraud

http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/business/0402/30earthlink.html

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EarthLink Satellite for Macs within 90 days

updated 04:45 pm EDT, Mon April 29, 2002

Holy Cr@p!

not expensive...

way too much

the point is...

Install fee

good price

hmm

Dufus

blah...

Could you..

re: Could you...

just for your edification

No Clue

MacNN be Shmokin'

The source of this news?

The word is...

It's USB, not ethernet

That's my point

Target market important

The source of the news

re: news source

uh-oh

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EarthLink Satellite for Macs within 90 days

updated 04:45 pm EDT, Mon April 29, 2002

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Holy Cr@p!

not expensive...

way too much

the point is...

Install fee

good price

hmm

Dufus

blah...

Could you..

re: Could you...

just for your edification

No Clue

MacNN be Shmokin'

The source of this news?

The word is...

It's USB, not ethernet

That's my point

Target market important

The source of the news

re: news source

uh-oh

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