Forum Discussion
Satellite modem options
Also a bit north of C'ville here, albeit on the other side of the Rapahannock...
The thing to know is that the main issue with streaming isn't speed/bandwidth, it's latency and the acknowledgement requirements by the stream provider. The higher the stream resolution and the smaller the packet size, the more you have to interact with them. The delays in this process is what causes excessive buffering and in some cases resends of already received video segments if any acks are recieved too late by the server. Reducing the resolution can alleviate this by reducing the amount of interaction required.
Unfortunately there is nothing that can be done about latency on satellite internet. The minimum time it takes to get a radio signal from you to the satellite, to the ground station on the west coast and then back to you is a little more than a half a second. This doesn't include any further latency between the ground station and the desired server you're trying to reach, which can be impacted by network congestion.
Hey Mark, thanks for taking the time to respond. I'm guessing that you, like myself, are rural enough "on the other side of the Rap" where your options were limited and so Hughesnet seemed the logical choice? If in fact that is the case, do you also experience the latency you spoke of to the point where watching a short 1-2 minute, medium quality streaming video clip becomes an exercise in futility.
I became so frustrated with things that I went out to Best Buy and made a serious upgrade to my modest,older, Dell laptop. Sadly, the result was an even slower (if that's even possible), constantly buffering viewing. Needless to say, that sweet Asus laptop will be returning to the friendlier confines of Best Buy shortly.
At best the only videos I watch are short minute or less types of things that people might post on twitter. Those I might get an initial buffer period, but work fine afterwards.
I try to limit any substantial video streaming to my phone when/if I have sufficient mobile signal. Audio generally works fine all the time, but even that I try to keep at a low rate, ~32/48 or so.
