LittleGrandma Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 We are thinking of switching to satellite broadband as we are so fed up with the sub standard of isp's and the slow broadband speed we are getting (in Lerwick!) We are aware it is expensive to install but would like to have some feedback on download speeds, reliability etc. Has anyone tried it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinner72 Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 I've looked into it several times but the cost is phenominal. The closest I have been able to find just now to our £16.99 per month package from BT, is £287.95 per month for Tooway, and that would only be restricted to 100Gb per month. Would be cheaper to rent a room in Lerwick where ASDL2 is active! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lone Wolf Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 I use to live in Wester Quarff and my speed was 0.25Mb (yes 0.25Mb) so I looked at satellite broadband. It was hugely expensive even with quite restrictive download limits; it worked out cheaper to move. So I did! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enkelt skapninger Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 We have it (not currently in Shetland, but in Moray).Speeds are around 18Mbps, but the cap is 26GB a month, which I use up pretty quickly with iPlayer etc. The dish for in Moray is pretty big and may well be even bigger at 60N, and it won't do the Sky stuff as well (even though it would further down South). The dish may not stand Shetland storms (we lose our broadband during the weedy Moray storms), but you could mount it on a concrete-based pole I guess. Just don't stand in front of it else you'll cook your brain. I'm happy with it, because we're so remote that nothing else reaches us, but it isn't as good as a fast wired line, and there'll be issues with the weather. I use Tooway Direct if you're interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArabiaTerra Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 Another thing to consider is that the ping from a satellite connection is awful (signal has to travel to the satellite and back to ground, a 40,000 mile round trip), so anything which requires responsiveness such as on-line gaming will be unusable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skrunkie Posted February 8, 2013 Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 Hi Little Grandma. Tooway have just upped their speeds on all packages, except their basic one, to 20 Meg download and 6 Meg uplaod. They have also increased the monthly download limits on all packages as well. The ping rate is slow because of the distance involved that is correct.The installation prices have decreased as well so its probably not as expensive as you think to put in.The dishes can stand up to the Shetland weather fine as long as they are on a good bracket. I've been on Tooway from a year past in October and have never looked back. If you would like any more info on it or any prices then pm me. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorrie Posted February 9, 2013 Report Share Posted February 9, 2013 I've looked into it several times but the cost is phenominal. The closest I have been able to find just now to our £16.99 per month package from BT, is £287.95 per month for Tooway, and that would only be restricted to 100Gb per month. Would be cheaper to rent a room in Lerwick where ASDL2 is active! I think you've been given some odd info there, Spinner, or they've done a huge price drop recently. Unlimited is currently £79 pm according to their site (or am I missing something?). http://www.toowaydirect.com/purchase/ I've moved to PostOffice broadband as I'm only paying £28 pm for a service that was costing me about £55 with BT. Still abysmal connections, but half price abysmal. I'm thinking of going down the Sat route when I eventually go out of contract with PO as I reckon Sat will be a bit cheaper by then...unless BT get their fingers out of their collective ringpieces and upgrade the rural service. I don't mind forking out extra for my broadband if it's fast, but I'm jiggered if I'm paying BT the same price as those with excellent connections elsewhere. Grrrr.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shetlandcars Posted February 9, 2013 Report Share Posted February 9, 2013 looking at the price history, since they started offering unlimited, it started at £99 and is now £79 - however they do throttle it for peer to peer if you use a lot of data But they do a package called pro, which is at the price levels stated by the previous poster at £279 - so I suppose it depends what options they had with BT that they are matching to the satellite service. It begs the question whats missing from the standard package that is on the pro to justify the significant price difference - looking at the blurb its not obvious apart from a few static ips Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hector's House Posted February 9, 2013 Report Share Posted February 9, 2013 I don't mind forking out extra for my broadband if it's fast, but I'm jiggered if I'm paying BT the same price as those with excellent connections elsewhere. Grrrr.... I don't think the pricing is strictly BT's fault - I'm sure if they had their way, adsl2+ would be much more expensive. I Blame Richard Branson - cable networks only pick the ripest low-hanging fruit. Customers outside town centres just don't register for them, but BT has to compete so those beyond the reach of higher speeds get left behind more & more as there is no incentive to upgrade them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piggywiggie Posted February 10, 2013 Report Share Posted February 10, 2013 LittleGrandma!!!Our "unlimited" broadband is with BT that's our phone provider too. It's good dont have problems with it but i guess it depends how much download goes on. Just tell those smelly children to stop downloading so much! But don't send them to my house you can keep them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinner72 Posted February 10, 2013 Report Share Posted February 10, 2013 I think you've been given some odd info there, Spinner, or they've done a huge price drop recently. Unlimited is currently £79 pm according to their site (or am I missing something?). http://www.toowaydirect.com/purchase/ What I found was based on my BT package (Unlimited, which in thier smallprint is up to 500Gb per month, I use about 350-400) and following the links from islessat. looking at the price history, since they started offering unlimited, it started at £99 and is now £79 - however they do throttle it for peer to peer if you use a lot of data But they do a package called pro, which is at the price levels stated by the previous poster at £279 - so I suppose it depends what options they had with BT that they are matching to the satellite service. It begs the question whats missing from the standard package that is on the pro to justify the significant price difference - looking at the blurb its not obvious apart from a few static ips Indeed when I looked I was looking at the "Pro" option which still limits to 100Gb per month. Now we, with an admittedly busy, but only 1.5Mb connection at best, easily use up to 400Gb in a month. So before I committed to a comparatively very expensive but quicker option would like to know just how much "Unlimited" really means. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabre13 Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Phone islesat and find out, 400gb a month is a hell of alot are you 100% sure your using that much or just guessing? Try downloading a data usage meter or broadband usage meter and find out how much your using over a monthly period it might be alot less than you think and then you can make an exact calculation to what price plan you need to look at Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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