Hi Sheila, there a few things prohibitive about your suggestions:
1. There are third party uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) that can provide power to the modem when main power is out. To add such capability to the modem would be expensive and increase the cost of the service significantly just to provide and maintain it. Also, power is still only going to be available for a relatively short period with such devices. A generator, wind or solar power is the only way to get long term backup power for the modem. They can then be used to also charge RV batteries for backup.
2. They don't build satellites at the location being served, they launch them into space. To have total coverage of Alaska would take multiple satellites orbiting overhead instead of a geostationary satellite due to the extreme northern location of Alaska. This is very cost prohibitive due to the relatively low number of customers they would serve.
There is something in the works called Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites which may someday help you folks in extreme northern locations.
Hi Sheila,
That battery backup is a pretty neat idea. I will send your suggestion out to our hardware designers!
BirdDog you reminded me... few weeks ago a network engineer here had to go out and buy a generator for his house. His only service provider is HughesNet and his power went out while he was working. Let's just say it wasn't cheap to go out and buy a genny on a whim.
Regarding coverage for AK - I believe we have Gen5 coverage for Fairbanks, at least most of it. There are two dealers out there that I know of - Will @ Alaska Satellite (www.alaskasatelliteinternet.com) and Joe @ Seaport (www.seaportel.com).
Thanks,
Amanda
i dont live in fairbanks, i live in savoonga alaska, and i was thinking if hughesnet built a sattelite near where i live, it would make my speeds faster.
sheila_tamarwrote:
I want to suggest 2 ideas with hughesnet! Here are the suggestions:
1-Modem with chargeable battery so if we have a power outage we can still contact!
2-build a satellite at least in either nome ak, or Fairbanks Ak.
How do you think my idea's are?
Regarding suggestion 2. Do you mean coverage for those areas or actually building one of their future satellites in one of those cities? Do they have an aerospace industry in those cities? It's a serious question, as I don't know. I do see they're doing something regarding LEO satellites at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
No, i mean a sattelite in alaska to make more speeds in this rural area i live in, and i meant to make alaska speeds faster to build a sattelite near where i live which is a rural area.
sheila_tamarwrote:No, i mean a sattelite in alaska to make more speeds in this rural area i live in, and i meant to make alaska speeds faster to build a sattelite near where i live which is a rural area.
Ah, okay. Unfortunately, all geostationary satellites have to reside about 22,300 miles directly above the equator, and combining that with Alaska being so far west of the rest of the country (except for Hawaii), and being sparsely populated, as a whole, offering coverage like that which exists in the lower 48 becomes more difficult.
And Savoonga? WOW. You're WAY out there. Talk about isolation. Don't get me wrong, I bet it's a dream when it comes to things like loving nature and being away from all of the hustle and bustle of the more populated areas, but, of course, it makes it that much harder to be able to get the "latest and greatest" service. :(
Savoonga. It's pretty neat conversing with someone so far away and in an area where you'd normally think you couldn't (or at least I couldn't from here, anyway). I mean, don't get me wrong, I know it 2018 and not 1918, but still, with Savoonga being so far out there and isolated it's pretty neat, or at least it is to me. :)
