posted
Hi everybody, I just read about this site on rv.net and have been surfing thru previous posts trying to familiarize myself with the datastorm equipment. I thought I wanted the KVH L3 until I read about the useage minute fees...wow, that could really add up. I am trying to figure all of this out so bear with me. When I went on the directway site, it said you could buy your equipment outright and pay $59.00 a month or pay for it by the month for one year at $99.00. How does datastorm fit into this picture? (hope this isnt a dumb question). Is datastorm associated with directway or do they provide their own? Also what is included with the Motostat system? As you can see, I'm new to this.
-------------------- American Tradition towing Saturn SL2 F1 Datastorm|D3 3.9.2M|HN7000S|83W/1370 Posts: 137 | From: Oregon | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
No problem... DirecWay is the service, provided by Hughes, that gets you online. When you put the dish for it on a stationary house, you buy the equipment from their local retailer, and yes, you pay about $59 a month for the service.
But when you do that, the installer points the dish for you - once, because your house doesn't move. On an RV, this obviously won't work, and that's where MotoSAT comes in. They've built a mount for a DirecWay dish that (more or less) points itself every time you park the RV.
But you still need DirecWay service to use said dish, and you buy that from one of the VARs associated with MotoSAT. For reasons I'm not entirely clear on, they make you buy a more expensive version of the same DirecWay service, for about $99 a month. I believe their justification is that mobile users require more support, which is true.
posted
Yes...ok so they take a cut. Does this premium service operate at faster speed than the home service? My husband and I are going full time in June, and are looking for the best way to stay connected in order to manage investments and keep in touch. I dont really care about tv, currently have dish network so we have 100+ channels of nothing to watch, but internet is a must. Thanks
-------------------- American Tradition towing Saturn SL2 F1 Datastorm|D3 3.9.2M|HN7000S|83W/1370 Posts: 137 | From: Oregon | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
Originally posted by ocexpress: Does this premium service operate at faster speed than the home service?
Basic answer is no. It is the Hughes Business service, and it has some operational details that are better than the home service, but speed is not one of them. It allows more simultaneous TCP connections (30 vs 22), which matters most if more than one user is on at the same time; it has a much higher FAP (the download limit which, when reached, slows the service to a crawl until your FAP is replenished) of 500 megs vs 169.
One item of importance to many is that the $99 per month gives you access to toll-free support 24/7 to someone here in the US. The $69 service gives you access to barely-english-speaking support out of India.
The bottom line is that Hughes has been losing money forever on the home service, even with regular price increases, so they are always looking for ways to improve things. When mobile came along, Hughes made business service a requirement probably for monetary reasons over any other.
A new Hughes offering DOES allow higher speeds, and may soon be available to mobile users, but it will be $199 per month or more. It became available to fixed dish users a bit over a month ago, but for now is requiring a dish larger than most of us have on our mobile rigs.
posted
The up front money is a big concern as well as the monthly charges with the KVH system. You mention that you thought you wanted the L-3. For the KVH system to work, you have to buy the L-3 antenna ($2500)PLUS the TracNet system ($5995)to access the internet. Additionally, the L-3 will pick up the DirecPC internet downlink OR TV, but cannot do both at the same time. So if you want to watch TV and surf the net, the internet connection is via cell or sat phone in BOTH directions!
-------------------- Bill Adams Winegard Company Posts: 15691 | From: Traveling the Western US | Registered: May 2003
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channels of nothing to watch, but internet is a must. Thanks
