it sucks since Nextar is CBS and NBC here

I have spent significant time in remote and rural areas. Internet can be a challenge, but I don’t see Starlink as a reasonable residential solution because of the cost.

The options are already there. They all have a different set of drawbacks, but Hughes Net and Viasat are better options IMO. Both have been around a long time, are often cheaper monthly as well as significantly cheaper up front, are more proven, and have made significant improvements in recent years. They cover virtually every square inch of the country as well, which Starlink still doesn’t. For businesses, it may be a different equation.

In addition, Fixed Wireless is very common in many parts of the country and has some big advantages over any satellite connection. For many years, Fixed Wireless has been mostly smaller, rural, and local companies. But it’s grown and covers significant territory now. These plans typically required a permanently fixed antenna that is installed by the provider.

On top of that, depending on a persons address, T Mobile, ATT, and Verizon all offer Fixed Wireless off of their regular cell phone towers. These plans are similar to a hotspot, but have a less portable receiver that is made to be used at home only. They are not permanently installed though.

Various MVNO’s offer totally unlimited hotspot plans as well, but are pretty specific about the areas they serve because of contracts with the cell networks they use. Cell phone providers don’t want unlimited hotspots used too much out of some areas with lots of bandwidth and few people, because it just isn’t feasible. These companies sometimes market themselves to the RV crowd as well.

An option many people don’t know about is a Verizon sub brand called Visible Wireless. It is fully owned by Verizon, not an MVNO, but is marketed and handled entirely on its own. It uses Verizon towers but the customer service is pretty much all online or thru chat. Limited support. However, for $25-30 a month you can get real unlimited data and real unlimited hotspot thru your phone (also unlimited talk and text). But you only get one hotspot connection at a time. You can use data on your phone at the same time as a hotspot connection though. Perhaps not good for large families, smart home devices/security systems etc. But for one person, it can be a really amazing deal.

Maybe some of these options aren’t known by everyone, so I though they were worth a mention.

(08-20-2023 10:27 PM)AllTideUp Wrote:  Not sure, but I assume Elon Musk's Starlink will gain in traction over the coming years. Once you deliver internet to regions where hardwire infrastructure is financially infeasible then other options beyond traditional satellite TV become doable.

Don't know if it's still on the books, but Amazon also planned on launching a satellite program that delivered internet back to the surface.

U should ask Motorola how Iridium did.

We recently switched from Spectrum to ATT Fiber with the 1gig speed for $80 a month and added DIRECTV Stream with great quality pictures the only disappointment was with Bally Sports here in Louisville only having Ohio and no option for South and no CW but Bally is likely going away and I get a great signal on CW with an antenna. Not sure what stations were on Nexstar guess I can Google it
CW, Antenna Tv ect. I already get this OTA with my antenna

It's different stations depending on where you live. This is the whole list of stations.

https://www.nexstar.tv/stations/

We had Direct for a few years. I liked it. If their streaming option had become available before I ditched it, I'd probably still be on it.

We're on HULU+Live now. Inertia is a strong thing. I'm not likely to change. The biggest advantage has been hardware. Slap a Roku on a TV and HULU is available all over the house. Direct and even the local cable company still charge by the set. The cable company's internet feed was still charging per connection.

(08-21-2023 10:53 AM)Claw Wrote:  We had Direct for a few years. I liked it. If their streaming option had become available before I ditched it, I'd probably still be on it.

We're on HULU+Live now. Inertia is a strong thing. I'm not likely to change. The biggest advantage has been hardware. Slap a Roku on a TV and HULU is available all over the house. Direct and even the local cable company still charge by the set. The cable company's internet feed was still charging per connection.

That's tough to get charged per connection. Did you use the cable provided equipment for your wifi and router?

(08-21-2023 11:06 AM)msu35 Wrote:  

(08-21-2023 10:53 AM)Claw Wrote:  We had Direct for a few years. I liked it. If their streaming option had become available before I ditched it, I'd probably still be on it.

We're on HULU+Live now. Inertia is a strong thing. I'm not likely to change. The biggest advantage has been hardware. Slap a Roku on a TV and HULU is available all over the house. Direct and even the local cable company still charge by the set. The cable company's internet feed was still charging per connection.

That's tough to get charged per connection. Did you use the cable provided equipment for your wifi and router?

Yeah, but at the time even using their app the cable company was charging per tv. Rokus and Hulu are one charge for HULU plus I can watch them on my computers and my phones. I hear people that travel have some issues when they aren't home. I haven't had that problem.

(08-21-2023 11:43 AM)Claw Wrote:  

(08-21-2023 11:06 AM)msu35 Wrote:  That's tough to get charged per connection. Did you use the cable provided equipment for your wifi and router?

Yeah, but at the time even using their app the cable company was charging per tv. Rokus and Hulu are one charge for HULU plus I can watch them on my computers and my phones. I hear people that travel have some issues when they aren't home. I haven't had that problem.

If you had your own wifi and router hardware in front of the cable company's equipment, you could have connected as many devices as you wanted and they would only see one device accessing the Internet.

(08-21-2023 02:47 AM)Todor Wrote:  I have spent significant time in remote and rural areas. Internet can be a challenge, but I don’t see Starlink as a reasonable residential solution because of the cost.

The options are already there. They all have a different set of drawbacks, but Hughes Net and Viasat are better options IMO. Both have been around a long time, are often cheaper monthly as well as significantly cheaper up front, are more proven, and have made significant improvements in recent years. They cover virtually every square inch of the country as well, which Starlink still doesn’t. For businesses, it may be a different equation.

In addition, Fixed Wireless is very common in many parts of the country and has some big advantages over any satellite connection. For many years, Fixed Wireless has been mostly smaller, rural, and local companies. But it’s grown and covers significant territory now. These plans typically required a permanently fixed antenna that is installed by the provider.

On top of that, depending on a persons address, T Mobile, ATT, and Verizon all offer Fixed Wireless off of their regular cell phone towers. These plans are similar to a hotspot, but have a less portable receiver that is made to be used at home only. They are not permanently installed though.

Various MVNO’s offer totally unlimited hotspot plans as well, but are pretty specific about the areas they serve because of contracts with the cell networks they use. Cell phone providers don’t want unlimited hotspots used too much out of some areas with lots of bandwidth and few people, because it just isn’t feasible. These companies sometimes market themselves to the RV crowd as well.

An option many people don’t know about is a Verizon sub brand called Visible Wireless. It is fully owned by Verizon, not an MVNO, but is marketed and handled entirely on its own. It uses Verizon towers but the customer service is pretty much all online or thru chat. Limited support. However, for $25-30 a month you can get real unlimited data and real unlimited hotspot thru your phone (also unlimited talk and text). But you only get one hotspot connection at a time. You can use data on your phone at the same time as a hotspot connection though. Perhaps not good for large families, smart home devices/security systems etc. But for one person, it can be a really amazing deal.

Maybe some of these options aren’t known by everyone, so I though they were worth a mention.

Our work VPN absolutely hates the geosynchronous satellite internet options. People using them get booted frequently because the VPN doesn't receive a fast enough response. Friend had a Verizon hotspot but he was rural enough it wasn't reliable.

(08-21-2023 09:28 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  Our work VPN absolutely hates the geosynchronous satellite internet options. People using them get booted frequently because the VPN doesn't receive a fast enough response. Friend had a Verizon hotspot but he was rural enough it wasn't reliable.

Satellite links have high latency, that's a known drawback.

(08-21-2023 09:31 PM)msu35 Wrote:  

(08-21-2023 09:28 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  Our work VPN absolutely hates the geosynchronous satellite internet options. People using them get booted frequently because the VPN doesn't receive a fast enough response. Friend had a Verizon hotspot but he was rural enough it wasn't reliable.

Satellite links have high latency, that's a known drawback.

Hughes states they don’t recommend using a VPN with their satellite internet service.

(08-22-2023 02:28 AM)Todor Wrote:  

(08-21-2023 09:31 PM)msu35 Wrote:  

(08-21-2023 09:28 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  Our work VPN absolutely hates the geosynchronous satellite internet options. People using them get booted frequently because the VPN doesn't receive a fast enough response. Friend had a Verizon hotspot but he was rural enough it wasn't reliable.

Satellite links have high latency, that's a known drawback.

Hughes states they don’t recommend using a VPN with their satellite internet service.

Unfortunately some employers require using their VPN.

Couple co-workers have had issues working from home. Never had really noticed it streaming Netflix or ESPN+ but going both directions is a different matter. For personal use, most anyone without a cheaper wired option would be fine.

Apparently 10 million of DirecTV’s 13 million subscribers across their footprint have lost at least 1 station because of this. Talks about the coming CFB season and Navy-ND on Saturday with folks having to watch on Peacock in the affected markets that have lost NBC.

https://deadline.com/2023/08/nexstar-dir...235523486/

This is the list of NBC markets who would be unable to see the game on DirecTV unless an agreement is made in 2 days. Includes Naval stronghold Hampton Roads.

I'm lucky. I can get my Nexstar stations the way they were meant to be received. Without payment from me using an antenna.

(08-22-2023 07:33 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  Unfortunately some employers require using their VPN.

Couple co-workers have had issues working from home. Never had really noticed it streaming Netflix or ESPN+ but going both directions is a different matter. For personal use, most anyone without a cheaper wired option would be fine.

That's not necessarily true. Video conferencing (e.g. Facetime), VoIP (e.g. voice chat), gaming, or anything else that benefits from low latency would be awful.

This has gotten to month 3 and now many football games and viewing will be affected. People who have DirecTV in Denver's market won't be able to see Colorado-TCU on Fox because that station is owned by Nexstar.

I think they own more Fox stations than any other, but all networks will be affected.

This has been going on now over 2 months with no sign of this being resolved.

39 NBC markets will be unable to see Lions-Chiefs tomorrow on DirecTV, and unless this is resolved by Sunday, Cowboys-Giants as well.

In the Indianapolis market CBS and Fox are the two Nexstar stations which means DirecTV folks won't be able to see the Colts on Sunday or any other Sunday afternoon football. Albuquerque, NM also is a CBS/Fox market.

Temporary agreement has been signed, waiting for a new permanent agreement. https://www.nexstar.tv/directv-and-nexst...m-u-verse/