Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

Having internet problems. Live in the "sticks" in Indiana. Does anyone stream Flo or DV on HughesNet? Have any problems? Do you run into any data problems? 

Have you done a speed check?  Do a search for speed test. I would think that HughesNet would have one on their website for trouble shooting.

Sorry, I should have explained.HughesNet  is one that I am looking at to replace what I have. That goes down and may be down 1-2 weeks at a time.

One of my friends who has had them all (satellites) loves StarLink. Says it is way better but not cheap. I'm fortunate to have recently (last year or so) gotten a wired DSL. Nothing better. My computers used for streaming are hard wired not Wi-Fi to the router as it can and usually does make a difference.

A friend of mine was in the same boat and got Hughesnet. It was terrible and canceled it before last years racing season was over. Just wound up watching racing on his phone

I had HughsNet and it did not work out for me!!! The one I have now (CenturyLink) isn't all that great either though.

Like you, I think I am just in a dead spot.

I can however get DirtVision with very little or no buffering though.

If you can swing the extra cost just get Starlink and be done with it.  Everyone I know who has it says there's no comparison to any other satelitte service.  And it works better than many wired services.  It IS a little more expensive than some, but that's a price you pay to live in the "sticks".  From all I've heard I don't think you'd be disappointed with it. If I didn't have access to ATT wired for a decent price I'd definitely have Starlink. 

I realize you're an engineer and all and you're way smarter than me but can you explain to me how nothing is better than DSL?  Keep in mind it's 2023 not 1996.  You are correct about one thing though, a hard wired connection is better.  

DSL is a wire. Fiber, Coax and/or twisted pair. Often a combination of them.  Anything else uses wireless signals in some shape or form including a phone.  The small satelite dishes are subject to what is referred to as rain fade. Rain fade means lost signals or poor ones with heavy rain or even snow.  The satelites can get overloaded from time to time from heavy usage. DSL tends to be solid speed wise. We had CenturyLink for many years which was a twisted pair for almost a mile. Speed was 1.25 Mbps at best.

4 Mbps is about the minimum a person needs to stream. 

CenturyLink upgraded their phone lines around here to fiber. I watched the guys doing the horizontal boring installing the fiber. So now I'm maybe 300' of twisted pair from the fiber which is good for 80 Mbps.   BrightSpeed bought out CenturyLink around here. Sucks somewhat as CenturyLink had a local technician that was super. They don't even have an office anywhere near here.

Signal strength to cell phones makes a difference for streaming, etc.. I added a cell phone repeater (booster) with an outside directional antenna back when I had the slow (1.25 Mbps) DSL to improve the signal levels to my cell phone.  After adding the cell phone repeater I was able to stream with my phone.  Before the addition I could not. Without the repeater the phone worked fine for calls, emails and searching the internet even watching some Utube video.  Lots of freezing though.  I forget the speed numbers as it was a couple years ago. Sorry.

Build Back Better- my effin ass! Red state internet problems (figures). Saw on alex jones the other day the Biden admin is targeting red states internet and making it slow as punishment for voting TRUMP!! This admin has no bottom. 

I'm as conservative as they come and I can tell you, you need to stop listening to Alex Jones that dudes cheese slid off his cracker a long time ago.

He's no one you should be quoting to others as a source of serious information if you don't want to be laughed at....

The older I get the faster I was

Oh boy, you're the engineer so you would know best.  I worked for an ISP for five years so you would know way more than me. 

Are you saying because DSL is a wire it is the same as fiber optic cable?  Or that it will provide the same performance as a fiber optic cable?  That's not been my experience but please elaborate.

Are you talking about satellite internet or wireless internet?  They are two different things.  Wireless internet doesn't use satellites.  They use radios.

4 Mbps is the minimum someone needs to stream?  Hows that work on a h.264 codec stream?  What if you add a second device to your network?

Signal strength to cell phones makes a difference for streaming?  No way?  You're telling me a device that has no wires hooked up to it is affected by signal strength?  Who would've guessed?  Thank goodness I got to talk to an engineer.

I'm not trying to be a dick here but you really have no idea what you're talking about.  First the internet wasn't capable of streaming NASCAR in your eyes, then you said you were around when the internet started and I'll ask again for you to tell us when that was (because I do know when it started and that means you would've had to be a very high ranking government official 54 years ago).  Then you said it was the middle processing that gets bogged down or something along those lines.  Then you say there's nothing better than DSL.  Right now it's being worked on to get 10 Gbps for residential customers with fiber to the home internet.  That's a far cry from you 65-70 Mbps DSL (I know you're not getting the 80 Mbps you claim, if it's pushed to 80 things start crashing and I'm speaking from experience).  I really don't believe you're an engineer but even if you are it doesn't mean that you know about things you don't work with.

To the OP, there's no way for most of us to answer your question.  You're going to have to talk to some people locally.  That can be hard as most people really don't understand how everything works.  ISPs do have their issues but despite what petey says most problems are caused by something in the home.  Either people have conditions in their home causing problems (plaster walls, home additions etc) or inferior equipment (not a good enough router or streaming box that's cheap).  The best thing I could advise you to do is call a local fiber to the home company.  Ask if they serve your home (you might be surprised, they are probably looking to expand and might go your direction if they get enough interest) if they don't, tell them what you want to do and they will probably point you in the best direction, much better than a guy claiming to be an engineer or people that don't live in your area.  You will read about people who have great luck with DSL and others who don't.  The big thing here is it comes down to the quality of the line to your house which there's no real good way to know that I know of.  The other thing Century Link is doing right now is what petey is refering to, is mounting an E3 which is fiber fed and then they use your phone lines to your house from the E3 cutting out a bunch of the old twisted pair phone line.  Wireless internet can be great too.  In my area if you couldn't get one of the few reputible ISPs I would recomend a wireless provider that I know.  Again despite what petey says rain fade has very little to do with it and it's more about wireless radios needing line of sight.  This guy comes out and makes sure you will have a clear line of sight to one of his radios.  Other wireless providers just say they cover a certain area without understanding people's individual potential issues.  Also the rule I've always heard is to only go with satellite internet if you have no other options.  Good luck.

Fiber uses light. Obviously light cannot be sent down wires.  Twisted pair or hard wires for a reasonable distance work just fine.

I have a measured 80 Mpbs at my computer. I can stream on several devices at the same time. My wi fi connection is slightly slower from time to time and signal strength to it makes a difference.

4 Mpbs is what I have observed that works for decent solid streaming.  It will work with less but you may not be happy.

Signal strength to a cell phone or an other wireless service makes a difference. No signal means no service. Satellites or radios are all wireless. If you don't think rain or other things cause fade go ahead and test it. Hold someing solid in front of the dish or receiver antenna. It can and will stop the signal. Simple physics.  Does your cell phone work in a building with a metal roof?  Nope unless you are close to a door or window it won't. Some buildings have repeaters or cell sites in the building.  Line of sight is also important.  If the signal is blocked by anything including heavy rain or snow there is no line of sight. Trees and leaves on trees can and do cause problems. Ask any satellite dish installer. They want a clear sky.

Fiber connections need to be clean too. Remember fiber uses light to transmit the information. No light path no information.

I worked for a company that built many websites in the early days of the commercial use of the web.  We had a T1 line which was rare. Then I went home to dial up connections . . . . . shocking to the system.

I have an actual college bachelor of science degree. Not self proclaimed like many folks. I had/have a license from the FCC which way back when was needed to run and work on TV and Radio transmitters.  I'm semi retired and soon to be 68.

Wired DLS is best in all most all cases. To long of wires or lots of connections are the exceptions.  Also it is not likely to experience RF intereference which any wireless signal is subject to.

"Wired DLS is best in all most all cases. To long of wires or lots of connections are the exceptions.  Also it is not likely to experience RF intereference which any wireless signal is subject to."

No, not even close. I get a true 900 MBPS up and down with Gig speed Ziply Fiber at my adress on my Lenovo Legion laptop. We can stream on 4 TV's and browse the internet on 3-4 devices at the same time with no buffering or quality issues on 4k HD We do all of this on a high quality wirless router again with no problems. You can not do that with 8 MBPS on DSL even if you could get it optimized for true 8 MBPS. 

The older I get the faster I was

Dude, you need to stop.  I'm guessing you don't do well with sarcasm, so I will be a little more blunt.  You've "observed" things, guess what, I've done them.

Fiber uses light?  No shit?  I didn't splice fiber optic cables for five years and not know that.  YES FIBER OPTIC CABLE USES LIGHT TECHNOLOGY.  No twisted pair phone cables are not on the same level in anyway of fiber optic technology.

A 4 Mbps connection is NOT adequate for streaming.  First off IF you are getting a TRUE 4Mbps connection, you will never see that at your device.  At every switch or routing device there will be a little bit of overhead or loss.  Typically the rule of thumb was you will lose 10% with all of this.  Where I worked we gave higher speeds than advertised because a typical "engineer" would call in wondering why he was paying for 1 Gbps service and only seeing 900 Mbps on his laptop.  2nd of all a full 1080p stream with the h.264 codec uses about 8 Mbps (again, I've done shit, I've done the testing, I know this is true).  Now most streaming services can adjust their quality based on your connection but are you buying a new 55" 4k TV to watch content in 480p?

Signal strength to a cell phone makes a difference?  I thought I was pretty clear with my sarcasm here in my other post.  No Shit.  Anybody with some basic knowledge could understand that.  Since you can use that phone with nothing physically hooked up to it, how do you think it communicates with the outside world?  The only way that cell phone communicates is through wireless technology.  So most people with a 4th grade education understand that, you don't need to be an engineer to know that but thanks for the explanation.  Does your cell phone work in a building with a metal roof?  Yes mine does.  It works better by a window?  No it doesn't, these days with low E gas between the panes of glass and silver coating on the glass there's no advantage to being by a window, in fact it's worse than being by a wall in most cases.  Some buildings have repeaters or cell sites in the building?  What are you talking about?  By repeater are you talking about wireless access points?  Again, no shit.  And no most building don't have cell sites in them.  I also think I was pretty clear on line of site.

Fiber connections need to be clean?  No shit?  Do you have any idea what goes in to splicing a fiber optic cable?  It's not like twisted pair cables where you splice them with some scotch locks and call it good.  You're correct they need to be clean and guess what, it is clean.  You can litterally test an entire reel of fiber optic cable to tell how much loss is on that cable.  

You worked for a company that built websites?  Good for you, You know way more about computer networking than I do apparantly, since building websites takes a lot of computer networking knowledge (nothing against website builders, it takes a lot of talent to do that)  But it's like asking your toe doctor why you're getting headaches.  Just because they both work in a clinic doesn't mean they're experts on the entire human body.  That's why they're called specialists.

You have a bachelor of science degree and you had a license with the FCC.  Good for you.  But that's kind of scary as I don't have either of these and obviously know way more about computer networking than you do.  However I got this knowledge by actually making things work in the real world and not sitting in a classroom (outside of my 2 year degree).

Wired DLS (I'm assuming you meant DSL) in best in all most all cases?  Not to be a dick but if you really believe that, you're an idiot.  Do you have any idea what fiber optic can do?  You're not getting 80 Mbps consistently even if you claim you are (again I know that things start having problems when you push past 70 Mbps).  Does Fiber experience RF interference?  How does fiber handle humidity and condensation?  Spoiler alert much better than twisted pair cable does.  Answer me this.  Right now there is a huge push to get broadband internet out to every home in the US.  So much so that there are a few (I don't know the exact number) federal grants to assist with this.  They are or will literally be handing out billions of dollars to get "broadband" internet out to every home.  If DSL was so great why wouldn't they put that money into DSL technology and have everyone use the lines that are already run up to their house?

You went from saying the internet couldn't handle streaming NASCAR races.  To saying most internet problems are "middle of the road" problems and not in home issues.  Then saying that, that many people streaming from the same source will cause problems.  Then saying you've been using the internet since the beginning of the internet.  To then saying wired DSL is the best internet in most cases.  I don't care what education you have, you don't know what you're talking about.  And don't be upset by that most people don't that don't work in the industry know either.  To put some of your concerns to rest.  People have been streaming NASCAR races for years, just because they're coming from a different source doesn't mean the internet will crash.  Think of it like if you buy your electricity from "Bob's power company" and then decide to get your water from "Tom's power company", it doesn't mean you're going to use more electricity does it?  Most internet problems are caused by middle of the road problems, this can be true but funny thing is, I've witnessed this most with DSL companies because they have lots of outdated equipment.  People streaming to the same source causing problems?  I'm not going to get into it here but the basic idea is if multiple people are streaming from the same source, that can come down the line as one source and then be split amongst however many people are watching.  It's not a good explanation and to be honest I don't completely understand it myself but that's how it was explained to me.  You using the internet since the begining of the internet.  I've asked you multiple times when that was.  Since you won't answer here it 1969.  That was the begining of the internet.  And at that time only high ranking government officials used it.  You said you are about to be 68.  So if your story is completely accurate you were a high ranking government official when you were 14 years old.  Or you're full of shit and trying to look really smart in front of internet strangers thinking that you can claim to be an engineer and everyone will think you're smart.  You're not fooling anyone.

Some of you can't read, understand or remember. No wonder there is a reply button. It still isn't enough for some people.

The original questions the guy wanted help with seems to have been forgotten by a couple of you "experts".  I tried to help the guy out.

Frankly no one cares about how your systems work, what you have, your "experiences", etc. The guy wanted suggestions for a solution for his situation. People in rural areas have way different realities. I live in a rural area and and happy there is fiber close enough.

My signal is 80 Mbps not 8 Mbps. Guess someones memory or eyesight needs work?  8 Mbps will do 2 streams pretty well. With only two to four people in our house 25 Mbps would be plenty. Options here currently are 40 Mbps and 80 Mbps. People often pay for more than they really need. Bigger is better right?

The problems with streaming are many. Mostly in the front and middle. Sometimes on the receiving end. There also is a potential problem with incoming signals to the locations producing the events but this your unlikely to understand either.

Every connection has some signal loss, fiber included as well as the potential for failure.

If the message isn't for you, you do not have to read it. You have wasted enough of my time and others perhaps? Hopefully the guy got his answer?

Thank you. Yes, I believe I got my answer concerning Hughesnet. StarLink sounds great but pretty pricey. If I can Directv and go with that and a streaming service, I can save a little, and maybe improve the product.

Brightspeed and CenturyLink are not bad, WHEN THEY WORK.

My buddy streams Direct TV. He has DSL just like mine.  I use a satelite with a dish for Direct TV.  This morning the heavy snow is causing the satelite to not work.  His streaming is working fine of course.  I'm not wanting to put all my eggs in the streaming world. My over the air broadcast HD antenna works fine so far.  I'd say a couple times a year that rain or show causes loss of signals. The smaller the dish the more likely for rain and snow fade. There is a reason that TV stations and cable head ends have bigger dishes than consumers. Fade!

I am rural, a little town called Sedro Woolley pop 12,000  Just got fiber ava. last year. Had DSL and it sucked, it was slow and problematic...alot and customer service sucked. Then had xfinity cable broadband it was way faster but never got even close to the speed I paid for and went out a lot and customer service was terrible to non existant. I pay less for the Ziply fiber, actually about what I used to pay for verizon DSL it's way faster and is always up. If there is no other option and one can afford it Star Link is leaps and bounds above hughs net. A buddy further up river (more rural) has it and has no problem streaming multiple devices and has no problems with outages according to him and they get plenty of snow. Yes it's spendy but worth it for sattelite internet I am told by the people who have dumped hughs net and switched to starlink. I kicked Direct TV to the curb the price kept going up and they kept dropping local channels, when they dropped our local NBC and the wife could'nt watch the voice that sealed their fate, she was pissed. Their customer service sucked as well, never once fixed a problem. We now stream all our live TV... 

The older I get the faster I was