pre-purchase questions | Viasat Internet Community

First post here. Currently a verizon DSL customer, 3M/768K is the best I can get. Town is due to get fiber but that is 18-24 months out, so looking to bridge the gap a bit.

Have read thru the many, many complaints and questions on this forum, and elsewhere, but it seems like one of the biggest concerns people have is the ability (or inability) to stream HD video - for me I only care about being able to download software updates quickly, and very importantly I need to be able to RDP into a variety of servers I support.

RDP is not a particularly bandwidth-heavy use, but not sure if the latency will be an issue or not....anyone?

So my question is: are they are teleworkers out there like me, who do not have massive HD streaming needs, find viasat a decent alternative? Or should I ride it out a bit longer with just DSL? I can do almost everything I want - the speed is pretty slow, but consistent and it pretty much never goes out; plus its unmetered. Even with 3-4 people streaming netflix, it works - though with lots of buffering and I really don't know what resolution its at (probably low).

Money (within reason), really isn't the issue so more than happy to pay for the service, even on top of my DSL, if it makes my work-life easier.

Anyone using this primarily as an IT worker/developer can weigh in?

5 Posts
1 Reply Like

Posted 6 months ago

6 months ago

Owen Lars

10 Posts
11 Reply Likes

Speaking as someone in a similar position (work remotely, need screensharing, etc) - you absolutely do not want satellite. Latency will break RDP. I'd kill for 3Mbit/768k DSL at the moment.
Worse yet, if you let that sweet DSL go, you may not be able to get it back, because the telcos are trying to dump DSL all together.

RUN, don't walk from satellite. :)

(Edited)

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1 person likes this

6 months ago

jones203

27 Posts
17 Reply Likes

For the type of work you do, I would stick with DSL, but continue to monitor this Forum to see if things improve. Or as you wrote, perhaps keep DSL while you try ViaSat, but keep in mind, you will have a 2yr contract. When I do software updates, they take anywhere from 3 minutes to 1 hour, per update, depending on speed and "congestion." With all this hype about a new satellite, it's like widening lanes on a highway---all it does is (usually) increase traffic, not helps it, because the word gets out---hey, there's new lanes, ditto for satellite. My speed during primetime (5P-1A ET) ranges from 12k to 7M.

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6 months ago

WoodyStrokerCat .

60 Posts
17 Reply Likes

Stay on what you have! I'm waiting on our new fiber to be installed and I'm gone.

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6 months ago

John

105 Posts
24 Reply Likes

In your position I would continue to monitor the forums for +/- six months to gauge which way the wind is blowing. Then if it looks promising (and if you can afford it), run the DSL and Satnet in parallel for two or three months with an eye towards ditching the DSL if you find Satnet fulfills your needs. If the speed suits you, you'll need to look at things such as the latency issue, what happens if/when you reach your cap and service consistency.

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6 months ago

Bev, Champion

3051 Posts
1273 Reply Likes

Stay put, latency is 600 MS plus, that kills most RDP and, many companies do not allow satellite internet subscribers to work for that reason.

Latency isn't going to be any less on Viasat 2, so, just hold of for fiber in a couple of years.

The alternative would be to get the cheapest plan you can with your current provider for work and, get the cheapest Viasat plan for faster download but, if latency is an issue, satellite is not what you want.

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6 months ago

BBwithdrawls

70 Posts
21 Reply Likes

Its not the latency on satellite that kills RDP , its if you use a VPN to connect to a network and then use RDP it kills it , that being said you need a good solid connection to start with , RDP by itself is pretty lightweight , I used it with ISDN no issues , I tested a Exede system over a yr ago and it worked surprisingly well with a VPN and ran it thru its paces , RDP worked well , connections to vcenter, skype and other enterprise applications worked well, that being said you need a good solid 10 mb connection and then a vpn will knock it down , if your sat connection is at 1-2 mbps forget it . I will tell you to wait until vsat2 rolls out and then find a way to test drive it at a dealers and test drive it

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6 months ago

Stephen Rice, Champion

2068 Posts
1014 Reply Likes

Satellite sucks for remote desktop. I would stay away from satellite if I were you, but if you really want it, find out who your local dealer is and ask if you can drop by and try remote desktop on their connection.

If you get Viasat and it doesn't work with your remote desktop tool, you are stuck in a 24 month contract.

Viasat works great for me, even with my VPN, but all I use my VPN for is to run Outlook for email and to connect to websites on my company intranet. I don't connect to network drives and I don't use remove desktop.

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6 months ago

BBwithdrawls

70 Posts
21 Reply Likes

Yep ., you make a good point /\, how you use it is important. I have a box at work I connect to over the vpn and rdp , It does all the heavy lifting , only thing passes between my box and my box at work is mouseclicks and keystrokes and my screens , A jump server if you will , i run everything off of it , today I worked on servers in Nashville , Atlanta , and Tampa just like I was in front of them

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