residential satellite internet install
I was going to post this in the tavern, then thought that it’s surely a common question/problem associated with the modern home, so we’ll see how long it stays in general discussion –
thursday the installers will be here to set a dish and provide us with a high speed internet connection –
DW is going to pick up a wireless router tomorrow – we’ll have 1 to 4 computers online depending on who is home –
I solicit your experiences/suggestions to help us get a clean functional installation –
where to locate the router? – snaking wires around this hovel is a real chore – I’m not sure we’ll be able to mount the dish on the house, not even sure I want to – I can set a post 50 feet or so to the west and have a good south exposure, is a distance like that significant in regards to signal strength/loss? – am I wrong to assume I can bury the cable to the house? – the router will require 120v power? –
help me out here, I’m famous for doing something and figuring out the elegant solution later, I would like this to work well the first time –
thanks –
D
Replies
The dude has one.
.
A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
ya, but is his installation elegant?if it is, it should stand out <g>you know I luv ya, Duane - - "there's enough for everyone"
Don't mount the dish on the house, any sway will cause slow or lost signal in the wind.
My install basically is very simple, 2 coax from dish to modem, USB from modem to router, and one desktop 'puter that is both wired usb and wireless nearby. This is important, if and when you lose sat signal ( rain fade is BAD) you WILL have to power down the router and modem ( often, physically unplug both) to reset the two..being within eyeshot of both while at the comp helps immesureably.
Depending on your service you may have a few speed choices, I picked the slowest cheapest at first, but upped to mid. Remember too the router dictates how fast the wireless boxes can go.
DO keep a dial up for back up, you can lose signal in a big storm ( like yesterday) for quite awhile, I had to switch to dial up in the middle of scanning and emailing an order for parts.
Oh on the power down reboot you have the IN and Out coax on the modem, if you are having signal problems, undo BOTH of them as well for a min. of one minute to reset the modem fully.
As far as cabling, I did nothing special except leave a goodly amt. of extra coax coiled so if and when I rearrange the room, I still have some leeway. Pretty simple actually, wished it was available here sooner.
Small learning curve, but nothing you can't handle. BTW I had a Belkin router that was problematic, now Linksys, much better product.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
"We strive for conversion,we get lost in conversation, and wallow in consternation. "Me.
"when you lose sat signal ( rain fade is BAD) you WILL have to power down the router and modem ( often, physically unplug both) to reset the two...'tell me more about this - if you lose signal in a storm, it doesn't come back automatically when conditions change? - - what happens when the epiphany occurs 'I must reset the modem/router'?"there's enough for everyone"
"when you lose sat signal ( rain fade is BAD) you WILL have to power down the router and modem ( often, physically unplug both) to reset the two...'
tell me more about this - if you lose signal in a storm, it doesn't come back automatically when conditions change? - - what happens when the epiphany occurs 'I must reset the modem/router'?
Mom has the same problem with her DSL. Has to reset it 2-3 times per week. She flips the power switch off on the router. Unplugs the network cables. Turns it back on and plugs it back in. Takes about 10 seconds. Then another 15-30 seconds for it to re-establish the connection.
The primary advantage of dish internet is that you can get it anywhere. It won't be as fast as a good cable modem or an upper bracket DSL. But you can only get cable/dsl where they've run the cable. Whereas you can get dish internet anywhere you can see the sw sky.
My WAG would be that they will run rg6 co-ax from the dish to the router. The router will probably have a port or two for wired network connections (cat 5 or 6) and then if its wireless, it will send off its signal for the wireless cards in the PC's to pick up. During initial setup, you will probably wire a PC (or laptop) directly to the router to make sure it is working ok. Then disconnect and go wireless. If you have trouble with a pc not getting a signal, move the router. With a good setup, you might be able to pick the signal up from the house in your refrigerated barn.
Do you already have wireless cards in your PC/PC's?
jt8
My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it's on your plate-- Thornton Wilder
Edited 6/4/2008 1:37 pm by JohnT8
It's not always gonna fail to reconnect properly, but you may notice slower conection speed, I just try to do it anyway rather than guess or get error messsages.
I have wild Blue, you will get an email program called Dishnet portal ( or whatever, I was SpheramidATdishnetdot com) and I'll tell ya, thier email program really sucked when I got it , about a year ago. I jsut kept my AOL acct name and don't bother with the creepy crawly problems dishnet had..slow, fewer email "options" etc.
You may well have fewer issues with Mac..cause if I fade and lose my connection, I get stuck with "Page cannot be displayed, Internet Explorer..blah,,blah..blah" And if that happens, sometimes a 'puter reboot is the only way to get IE to behave nice again..arrgghh. Firefox seems to play better.
You'll be happy once ya get up and running, Dishnet is VERY supportive on the phone..start with the Silver package before you go crazy with the Gold or Platinum it can get $$$ at the highend and while I was on Dialup ( not routered, hard wired to the LT) yesterday, compared to sat, the router is my slowest link in the chain at 54.0 Mbps, but fastenough for us.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
"We strive for conversion,we get lost in conversation, and wallow in consternation. "Me.
I'm 900' off the street, so years ago I was going to go satellite. Found out that satellite wouldn't do a VPN, so I called Comcast and they pulled cable to my house. I had a spare run of conduit already buried with pull ropes, so they had the easy part.I have a netgear wireless router, but two desktops are always hardwired for faster speed. We do software web demos from home, so we needed reliability.The laptops can be hardwired or wireless, I have a house full of foil-faced polyiso and have no problems with a solid signal in my house. The farthest we've gone outside is about 150' to the pool and we get a solid signal out there as well.My printer is plugged into the wireless router so we can print from any device.I have a few teras of backup, but nothing central/wireless/shared. Each computer has its own, plugged in via usb. Never a problem.Just bought a macbook today, am planning on an iMac in a week or so and eventual conversion of the house from pc to mac.Hope the transition goes well for you with your broadband and me with my macs!As to broadband speed after being on dial-up, you'll look back and be amazed at all the time you wasted waiting for web pages to load.Mongo
We had one installed in muskoka ontario, had a terrible time with it and paid through the nose for it. Eventually switched to rogers anywhere and our service is much better. We had a roof mounted job, however when the wind would blow trees would sway and interupt the line of sight and service would get shaky. Ie. less possible obstructions the better.
good luck.
unfortunately, it is the only option where we are at - the phone co has been 'rumoring' for a year, I don't want to/can't wait any longer- I understand heavy precipitation will cause interuptions in service - what about snow on the dish? should I make sure it's easy to reach?"there's enough for everyone"
David,I get TV and internet via two separate satellite dishes. Main thing is unobstructed view of the sky. Yes you can bury the cable. I would put it in a plastic conduit so you can pull or replace as needed. The installer will tell you what the limits on cable length are. A client of mine has it about 100 feet away on a pole in a field and has no problems.Have lost it in heavy rain sometimes. Snow on the dish has not been a problem.Wireless router should be placed central to the computer locations. Get an 802.11n router for best performance and range, even if the computers don't do N. N should cover the whole house no problem. You don't have wire lath or metal studs in your house do you? They can cause problems.Steve
"You don't have wire lath or metal studs in your house do you?"metal roofs - and a bit of foil faced cyanowhatever foam insulation - looks like I'll probably set the router and modem close to where the main comp is, along with the attendent coils of cable, wire, and transformers - I'd make it all neat and tidy, but there would be no better way to assure that I'd have to change it in a week - "there's enough for everyone"
I understand heavy precipitation will cause interuptions in service - what about snow on the dish? should I make sure it's easy to reach?
I real bad thunderstorm can temporarily take out my Dish Network TV signal, but typically just for a short while. And typically if its storming that bad I don't want to have my electronic equipment turned on anyway. Last night we had a bad boomer go through. I had something on the DVR set to record, we'll have to see if it had issues. But back when I had cable, I had more serious outages. It might go out for hours or days at a time, whereas the Dish outtage is for a few minutes.
I've never had issues with snow causing a problem, and we probably have comparable snow loads.
Who did you go with? I heard of Wild Blue and Hughes.
I doubt you need to go with a commercial grade router.
jt8
My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it's on your plate-- Thornton Wilder
Edited 6/4/2008 9:47 am by JohnT8
wildblue - got my fingers crossed - "there's enough for everyone"
David,I'm running WildBlue. Have not had much trouble with them. Down once for a day with a cut cable somewhere in Texas or something. Their Mac knowledge is not great, but there is not much that can go wrong at your end. Almost every problem I've had has been resolved with a modem re-boot (maybe 6 times in a couple of years.When they came to install for my Mac, the guy hooked it up then prepared to do a bunch of stuff to the computer. I said, but it's already working (as I could see my home page had come up), he said no, I have to configure a bunch of stuff first. I said, well it's working. He was speechless. Said it's never that easy.Steve
SWB does the samething with DSL.That have a whole bunch of stuff which includes a customized browser and some kind of monitor or reporting software.It also used to include the PPPoE software that took your ID and password for verification.But there where 3 party software to do that. And most routers have PPPoE builtin. Now there new routers also have it built in.So really all you need to do is to configure the computer to use a netowrk connection, plug it into the modem or router/moden and then use a dotted address to access the device and set it up..
.
A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
got home from my parts run at noon and have a message on the machine from the installer 'they knew I was training techs on thurs - how about next tues or maybe I could squeeze you in on saturday afternoon' - I'm going to call him back and we'll somehow survive till next week with dial-up - this also gives me a bit of time to plan somemore, so all please feel free to chime in - 'Breaktime, a tremendous resource it is' (Yoda)"there's enough for everyone"
Your LAN runs should be NO longer than 150'. If you have to go longer, you will need a repeater. But the satellite SHOULD come into your home on coaxial. From there there is a modem/router. That will need to be connected where the satellite cable comes into the house.
Don't buy a wireless router in the stores. You can get a small commercial grade router for less money than a off the shelf residential POS.
You should position your router in a central area. With a high gain antenna attached you will have NO signal probs. Just remember that the signal drops out directly underneath and above the antenna. If you want more input, I install networks as PART of my living. I'm happy to help. Just don't want to waste the time explaining if you've already figured it out.
I'd be real interested in a router recomendation - I just looked at routers at fullcompass.com (where I've done business on other items) don't see anything very attractive there - $$$ http://www.fullcompass.com/search.php?search_simple=true&txtAll=routerif I don't have a router on hand, they'll have to hook up the service to my mac and then I'll have to deal with the router install, which I'm sure I can, especially with breaktime as a resource - but there'll have to be a wire entering the house somewhere, and that better be where I want the router, which may not be here at the computer - dunno - "there's enough for everyone"
Router Recommendations:These are the type of routers you are looking for:
http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=145&name=Wireless-RoutersSpecifically:
Tyep N:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2002810145+1132821052&name=Up+to+300Mbpsand Type G:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2002810145+1132809980&name=Up+to+54MbpsHere is a good one (look at the # of ratings):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124190I'd recommend buying from Newegg; a bit more so than TigerDirect, and a whole lot more than Amazon. There are other computer/electronic vendors out there, and if you are familiar with one go for it. Newegg has the best customer service, returns policy, and record-keeping I've ever run into. I can look up my orders from 6 years ago, request RMAs online, and read great reviews of their products.---You can wait for a router in the mail, since you can plug the modem directly into your ethernet port to test the connection. However, check the Sunday ads or call around to big box stores. You may be able to score a comparable deal (w/o shipping costs) and have it now.
David,That's right, you are on a Mac. If you you don't already have a back-up external drive that you are happy with you could get Apple's Time Capsule. It's a wireless N router and a 500GB or 1TB network attached hard drive in one box that will work as an automated backup solution with 10.5. Also works with earlier versions of OSX using third party backup software rather than Time Machine feature, which is 10.5 only. Price is competitive with parts sold separately. I just bought and hooked one up to my wife's setup, using 10.4.11. No problems whatsoever. Apple's routers get pretty good reviews.Steve
"...Apple's Time Capsule. It's a wireless N router and a 500GB or 1TB network attached hard drive in one box..."a couple of questions - this really doesn't work as a remote 'storage' hard drive, does it? - if I want to keep picts and tunes stored off the mac to keep things tidy, I'd really need another remote HD, wouldn't I? I have a 300 GB drive with these items on it, but it's hooked to the old comp which I use for converting LP's to CD's, and a couple of other utilities that won't run on the mac - I suppose I could clean up the old comp a bit and move the HD back and forth between the comps physically, or just pop for another HD for the Mac - and the time capule has to have 10.5 to work automatically? with 10.4+ there is additional software to install to make it work? - - or do these updates for the mac that I've been putting off till we have high speed service take care of that?the reviews the time capsule have recieved have been mixed, but I think part of that is that people don't realize what it actually is suppose to do - but I could be wrong - "there's enough for everyone"
>remote 'storage' hard drive,<
I think the term you're looking for is network drive. I've got one that's capable of acting like a network drive directly connected to the router but no one has been able to tell me how it get's protected from malware. Even though the router may have a firewall, I'm still leary.
not sure - the old Dell had a 40GB hard drive - that got real small after a couple of years - early on I bought a 40GB remote hard drive to back-up - then later bought the 300GB remote hard drive and moved a bunch of files and much computer constipation was relieved - I've got lots of photos and now I'm looking at working with video - that's gotta take up a lot of space - I'd just as soon keep that off the mac - do my editing and dump the files over to the big storage container - then let the time capsule back everything up - while at the same time the time capsule can provide routing for everybody's comps - dunno - do know that I don't really know - "there's enough for everyone"
if the time capsule is plugged directly into the mac then i think ther's no issue, it'll be protected by the mac, but when it get's plugged into the router is where my worries arise.
i've lost a HD, tried 2 of the top data recovery compnaies with no luck, so i understand the need for backups now. that HD sits in the safe waiting on technology to catch up with the malfunction.
anybody know anything about cameras/microphones for webcasting?"there's enough for everyone"
>>this really doesn't work as a remote 'storage' hard drive, does it?<<David,Yes, I believe it does. It shows up as a volume on the network. I didn't give it a lot of thought when I bought it for the DW. She's living half a continent away at the moment, and I wanted something that I knew would work with a minimum of fuss, as I was out for a quick visit, and had been putting off upgrading her laptop since she didn't have a backup in place.So i just grabbed the Time Capsule to run a quick backup and give her a wireless router to boot so she could use the LT around the house. It was 240 bucks for a 500GB unit at Best Buy.I set it up on her MacBook Pro running 10.4.11. You don't get to use Time Machine backup program unless you are running 10.5.x. I think I downloaded and used SuperDuper. Either that or CarbonCopyCloner. I don't remember which. They both work pretty much the same way. They make a complete clone of the computer's drive to a non-static disk image file, that can grow as the backup gets bigger. It just shows up as a .dmg file on the hard drive. I'm pretty sure you can put other stuff on there to no ill effect. It's not a bootable backup though. You set it up to be password protected.I'm not real sold on the network attached drive concept though. The good part about it is that any computer on the network can log onto and use it. And I think you can back up multiple computers to it as well. But you can do that with plain old file-sharing on any mounted hard-wired hard drive too. The main drawback is that the network-attached drive does not work as a bootable drive. I like to have a bootable clone that's relatively current. Then if I get into real trouble with an upgrade or something, I know I can get back to work immediately just by changing my boot drive to the external.I'm running Time Machine on my Mini with an external drive hardwired to the computer. I turn off the automatic backup feature and just backup when I think I need to. I actually have two concurrent backups on the external. That's because the Time Machine backups, while they are a full-system backup and you can restore an entire system setup from it, you cannot boot from it. So I keep a less meticulously maintained bootable backup created with Carbon Copy cloner on the drive as well, so I can boot and run off the external if the internal drive is really hosed for some reason.That said, I've never had to use any backup I've had in nearly 23 years of computing. But I still am pretty diligent about have a backup in place, as I once lost a drive at work and had to take it to a data recovery place to get a magazine out on deadline. Was a bit hair-raising and would have been real trouble had they not been able to resurrect the data.Oh, also, you get better transfer speeds if the Time capsule is hardwired to the computer rather than relying on the WiFi.SteveSteve
I read through the rest of these posts. And you can skip their recommendations for a router.Go with this: http://www.highgainantennas.com/product_p/8186hp-13%20duo%20gen%20ii.htmSelect the following:
Lightning protection
RSPMA connectorIf you think you will need to position an antenna accurately to get a good signal throughout, you can add this:
http://www.highgainantennas.com/High_Gain_7dB_direct_replacement_Omni_Antenna_p/hga-9db.htmThe wide band antenna that comes built into the system is stringer, but not positionable.These are commercial grade radios and they have a higher output than the FCC allows company's to sell to residential users. If you want to go REAL high power (lower drop off at distance from signal - it does not mean stronger signal) you can go with this guy: http://www.highgainantennas.com/product_p/8186maxx%20gen%20ii.htmI've installed about 15 of these in places that had difficulty distributing their internet. Once set up, I've NEVER had a call back. This unit is weatherproof too. So you can experiment and see if you get a better overall signal when you put it at a corner outside your house than you do in the center. Just remember if you are in a cold climate, you'll want to add the heater to the unit.Place the unit in a place where you don't plan on using the network. There is a "shadow" area directly above and below the antenna that have no signal. Turn the unit or antenna to adjust the direction of the signal. Remember, Antennas have output like this: || /
>||<
/ || So anything RIGHT next to it, won't see a signal and turning the antenna changes the signals pattern.If you decide to go this route, feel free to ask me more questions.
update, for all of you hanging on the edge of your seats - installer came tues @ 6:10 PM - nice young man (Jacob) in a clean Dave Matthews (meh) T shirt - a beautiful evening, we scope out the situation, agree to place the dish on a post, and agree on the location, scope out the cable run to the comp, takes about 15-20 minutes - jake gets to work setting the post, I tool up and drill the hole into the house (back porch) at the strategic location - move stuff out of the way, snake the cable off the spool, into the porch, thru another hole into the crawl space, make a fishing pole with a handy piece of bamboo (tree stake), drag the cable into the basement, drill hole in the floor at the strategic spot to reach the comp - I loosely handy-strap the cable to the floor joist and check on Jake - he's got the post set and the dish and whatnot assembled and aimed - he comes in and installs a grounding block in cable line in the basement, I mount the block, and tidy the cable and tighten the straps while Jake hooks up the modem - we look like pro-geniuses - ~ 7:30 Jake runs an ethernet cable to the Mac, I disconnect the phone modem, restart the comp, Jake pulls up the various set up screens associated with the mechanism, fills out the #'s, checks off the boxes, calls for Safari (mac browser) and it goes right online, man, this is easy - 7:45PMonly, we got no speed - onboard diagnostics says everythings all right - speed check reveals .2Mbps - mercifully, I got a phone call from my eldest daughter, just returned to Boston from a week long adventure with her siblings in Ireland, so I chat with her while Jake works - long story short, looks like a defective modem - no spare on the truck - (this one was shipped UPS directly to us, along with the dish) - now 9:15 PM, and Jake has 100 miles to travel to home - so here I sit with satellite internet at .2Mbps till tonight or tomorrow when a new modem should appear - eh - mercifully, I don't know what I'm missing yet, and I know our phone callers appreciate it - I'm sure it'll all work out - "there's enough for everyone"
well, that ain't THAT bad of an install.
Wjhen you do get up an running I suggest you mark the in/out coax at the modem with red and green ele tape ( or whatever pleases you, I had red and green handy) and then with a sharpie or something mark the terminals where they attach with R&G ( or your chosen scheme) This way when ( not if, when) you do a hard reboot/reset on the modem, you cannot possibly mix the two lines up. I also attached ZIF or whatever the slip on connectors are called, screwing the F connectors repeatedly, was getting tiresome..now I can just pop them off and on in a jiffy, toolessly..some may say the connection is not as "clean" or signal pure..but I notice no loss of performance.
Just a helpful hint.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
"We strive for conversion,we get lost in conversation, and wallow in consternation. "Me.
ya - Jake put red tape on the incoming cable at every connection - he's done a few of these - I'll put ZIF connects on the list -I need to remodel this end of the room for all the comp carp - maybe next winter - "there's enough for everyone"
I have never had to remove the coax from the modem to reset. I have had a couple modems go bad over the course of a couple of years. The only hardware failures I've ever had (at home) in 23 years of computer use. What is it with the modems?Steve
I dunno, but Sat modems are touchy, if a certain tree waves JUST right, my modm gets hinky and wants to be reset ( still waiting on my tree guy to come and trim it) and sometimes just a power down is not enough to do whatever it needs.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
"We strive for conversion,we get lost in conversation, and wallow in consternation. "Me.
OK - help me....(anyone)we got the speed now - but - Jake (the installer), somehow screwed up the screen display - he hit 'control' and something and now I'm looking at a safari screen that is narrow, not the nice full display - the desktop has the icons all in clumps on top of each other - restart doesn't cure - 'preferences'-'resolution' doesn't cure (altho you can change the display, none of the resolution settings provide the full screen, non-distorted display) - I don't see anything under 'view' that applies - dunno - anyone know?"there's enough for everyone"
hit control and 0 (zero)...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
control 0 or 3 doesn't seem to do anything - I'm getting closer, I set the resolution to the highest, and dragged the window out to fill the screen - now the default font is really small - I can enlarge it (command +), but shouldn't have to - "there's enough for everyone"
Shoulda bought a PC..LOLSpheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
"We strive for conversion,we get lost in conversation, and wallow in consternation. "Me.
try command 0 or command 3...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
If you must use safari, have you changed or checked your preferences? under safari in the top tool bar, appearance. Check out Mozilla's SeaMonkey, great name, and seems to do a lot more work than safari.Have you checked out Airport Express or AirPort Extreme. I've got the xpress, about the size if a pack king sized cigs, plugs into any outlet. Run a cable to the router, one to the printer, and one to your stereo. Bingo, you're wirelessWe have dish TV, and do loose the signal when there a major storms in the southeast... usually only happens during big-time basketball games If dogs run free, then what must be,
Must be, and that is all.
True love can make a blade of grass
Stand up straight and tall.
In harmony with the cosmic sea,
True love needs no company,
It can cure the soul, it can make it whole,
If dogs run free.
Snort,I lost my sat TV signal on the last hole of the tiger woods/rocco mediate playoff round the other day. Then the #!@$#! Local news broke in during the approach shots of the final hole with a weather alert! They went back to golf just in time for the final puts that tied the playoff.Steve
Had similar 3 yrs ago during March Madness, KY in THREE OT's , kept losing signal..almost had a coronary!Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
"We strive for conversion,we get lost in conversation, and wallow in consternation. "Me.
I've got a 'Time Capsule' showing up here on tues (according to Apple) automatic back-up (Apples never crapp out do they?) and a wireless router - one to the stereo, eh? there's an idea - where do I find SeaMonkey? google it? and then download? does is cost $?"there's enough for everyone"
http://www.seamonkey-project.org/The stereo's the greatest... I know it's not the best quality, I can't hear real well any how, I just ran a line from the phono jacks on the receiver to the airport thing... kind of ancient equipment...Put iTunes on party shuffle... or all day long Alvin Lee... dang, pipe it to the peaches<G> If dogs run free, then what must be,
Must be, and that is all.
True love can make a blade of grass
Stand up straight and tall.
In harmony with the cosmic sea,
True love needs no company,
It can cure the soul, it can make it whole,
If dogs run free.
too big???
hit control+3
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
David,It sure sounds like a resolution preference problem. Usually the highest available resolution...the one at the bottom of the list is native resolution for an LCD. Try that one and see if it looks distorted. If the proportions look right, but everything it too tiny for you, you can increase the size of the icons in finder preferences.(Edit: I see by your later post that you have already done this. If you want everything bigger, not tjust the icons, try other resolutions that are similar in proportion. But usually the sharpest one is going to be the highest resolution)Not sure what the problem with the safari window is. Grab the lower right corner and make it whatever size you want, then close the window. When you re-open a window it should come up the size that you last set it to. How big the fonts in safari appear on screen will be dependent on the display resolution to some degree and sometimes what you set for preferences in the Safari preferences under appearance tab, but many sites overule those settings.You should be able to unpile the icons (after settling on a resolution that seems right to you) by hitting the clean-up command in the view menu of the Finder. Even then, it'll probably put some in odd locations and you will need to re-arrange a few things by hand to you liking.Steve
Edited 6/20/2008 10:11 pm by mmoogie
routers take 120v....
get the best possible southern exposure you can....
be prepared to have cruppy service about 20% of the time.... with drop outs...
wires from the dish to the router should be about the only wires ya need...
keep in mind when they talk speed....
(you will have several different speed rates for different functions - download, transfer, transmit and etc)
KB is KiloBytes...
Kb is Kilobits...
take 128 bits to make a byte...
the give away is in the letters and if they are upper or lower case...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
define 'cruppy service' - 20% of the time seems excessive - any idea why that is so? package is suppose to be 1.5Mbps download, 256Kbps upload - hope we have enough speed to webcast Peachfest - "there's enough for everyone"
define 'cruppy service' -
subed a U for an A....
20% of the time seems excessive - any idea why that is so?
inclimate weather, dish shake (wind), dish resonation, birds roosting on the dish or it feels like being uncoopertive...
package is suppose to be 1.5Mbps download, 256Kbps upload -
1,5Mbps = about 11.7KBps...
256Kbps = 2KBps....
hope we have enough speed to webcast Peachfest
should...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
The only things I can add and/or re-emphasize is when I had sat. TV, there was occasional rain fade. Had to be raining pretty damn hard though and it seldom lasted very long. I had more trouble with it icing up and snow sticking to it. If you can, mount it where you can reach it.
Same with the router and modem. They will have to be rebooted from time to time. Put 'em where you can reach them, easily.http://grantlogan.net
Who got Bo Diddley's money?
Just for clarification.8 bits = 1 byte
1024 bits = 1 kilobit
128 bytes = 1 kilobit
1024 bytes = 1 kilobyteBasically 8 bits = 1 bytes and a kilo = 1024I know, my nerd is showing...Diane
"take 128 bits to make a byte" what planet are you from?
earth...
the one next over from yurs...
or is that above...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Only 8 bits to the byte. I stopped reading the thread after seeing your response. Thought it was funny as h3ll.
I had this set up for a number of years. It is OK if you can't get anything else. It is expensive and has weather outages both at your end and at the satellite downlink end.
50' away is no problem, the system I had just ran two RG-6 cables out to the dish. Both power and signal are carried on those cables. Because the downconverter is on the dish, you can have quite a long run of cable from the dish to the satellite modem.
Satellite is slower than cable or DSL because of the delays in the IP protocol acknowledging each packet as it is sent out to your computer. It works best when you are downloading large files. Browsing is a little slower than with other technologies. It is still much better than dialup.
I had problems with wet snow when it stuck to the dish. If you are in a snow area, some kind of a heater on the back of the dish may be necessary for winter operation. Heavy rain also will block the signal. Trees are really bad, you need to have a clear view south.
There are direct burial coax cables. However, unless you ask the installer specifically for them, they probably won't have them along for the install. You need to keep the satellite modem in the house and it uses 110VAC. You connect the wireless router back-to-back with the satellite modem. It should give you good coverage around your house. (Unless it is made of metal or over 10,000 sqft).
Hope this answers your questions.
For wireless routers; any of the large companies out there such as Linksys (my preference), D-Link, TrendNet, Netgear, Belkin, and Motorola would be good to stick with. The installation company may have some deal with a router or modem that they generally recommend, use, and support.
The latest communication protocol is Wireless-N, or 802.11n. This is the most recent of the IEEE communication standards, starting with 802.11a to 802.11b, then 802.11g. This provides the fastest communication speed as well as farthest range out there. However, the speed of a Wireless-G (802.11g-54Mbps) is probably faster than your satellite internet connection (1.5Mbps?). The only real benefit with using Wireless-N for the internet connection would be range.
Unless you have a home server for storage/streaming of large files (if you don't know what that is, don't worry) or have many thick walls from where you place your router to your computers, Wireless-G should work just fine in your home. If the speed is too slow (test this, signal strength may seem low but work just fine), then return the router and get a Wireless-N standard. For a stick-framed house, placing it in the attic or a ceiling should give you signal throughout the house and into the yard. Again, testing is the only way to know for sure.
Choosing Wireless-N will future-proof your setup more (but will never make your internet connection faster). Know that the standard is not permanently defined though, and is still under revision. Still, many companies are selling 802.11n routers that work just fine and will be able to be updated when everything is finalized.
Computers that have come out in the last year may have Wireless-N capability, or not (because it costs extra $$$). If your computers do not, you don't need Wireless-N and it is not worth upgrading everything unless you are really having signal/speed problems. All Wireless-N routers are backwards compatible with Wireless-A, B, & G computers and will work at the slower speed.
The prices between Wireless-G & N are about $50 right now ($60, and $110). Shop around or online because the prices may differ greatly between stores on the same item.
One of the first things you should do once you have the internet up and running is download the latest firmware for your router from the companies website. Go to their site and look for a updates/support/downloads link and find your model. There are many security fixes and configuration updates that have occurred from the time the chip was programmed in the factory until the box came through your door. Follow the instructions for updating carefully. After that, you may have to go through setting up your network again
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The router will require a 120V socket, which will plug into an adapter so it can have it's particular flavor of power such as 5 Volts Direct Current.
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Distance to the satellite should not be an issue for signal strength, but it is best to ask the installation people.
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The installation folks would be the best source to discuss burying cable, distance, and common problems.
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Looking at http://www.nationwidesatellite.com/HughesNet/service/HughesNet_installation.asp
they describe some installation issues relevant to satellite internet installation. I'm assuming the systems are similar.
-Charge for over 100 feet of coax install==>Then you can mount if far away.
-5ft or one story from ground minimum
-Type of independent mounting base you could create yourself
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An old roommate of mine used to do installations of a wireless dish setup. It's fairly basic, drill holes in roof to mount brackets, drill under eaves to snake cord into attic, drill holes through ceiling to wherever you'd like the cords to go. Check for signal and align dish. Spray in some expanding foam to seal. You should expect something similar to this.
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If they give you a satellite modem, this is what encodes traffic to and from the dish. For other connections there are cable modems, DSL modems, and phone modems. Some routers are sold as integrated modem/routers, but this does not make a functional difference and costs extra with more complexity. The modem will plug into your router, which will route all communication between the PCs on the network and the internets. You will need another 120V plug for its power adapter. This will be located in the house next to your router. You may also plug the modem directly into a computer if you do not want to share the connection, try this to test the connection during installation.
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I would recommend having the router and modem mildly accessible, since on occasion they malfunction and slow things down. The best remedy is to unplug it, wait a couple seconds, then plug it back in. Do this one at a time so you don't mix up power cords, and preferably modem before the router.
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Last thoughts:
Put some type of security on your wireless network.
Print out/write down all passwords and keep it next to your router, as well as all those numbers like 127.1.1.168 etc...
Update software and firmware from the website.
Use the manual to set things up, it will solve 90% of your problems. Read it again and it will solve the other 9%. You will avoid getting an error code of RTFM from customer support (Read The F...... Manual), or PEBCAK (Problem Exists Between Chair And Keyboard).
Call the installers now so you have the chance to install your own post according to spec and dig a trench deep enough to be protected.
Be home during installation to ask questions, as well as see what they're doing to your house.
Good Luck
excellent - thank you very much -
D"there's enough for everyone"
http://www.netgear.com/Products/PowerlineNetworking/PowerlineEthernetAdapters.aspx