Ipstar Alternative

[Phil Conners]

Getting Internet over IPSTAR is as useless as getting it with any of the other means avialable in Thailand as long as all traffic out of the country has to go through CAT.

Is there any viable alternative - a satellite with a usable footprint here that links to the Internet in a country with a 21st century Internet infrastructure and service organization? Singapore, Hong Kong - maybe even India?

[Firefoxx]

PM mattnich... he's using one based in Singapore.

CAT's got your tongue... and your wallet.

[Morbius]

Isn't there an issue with regulations here? I mean, is it legal to use a non-Thai (and non approved by the local Telecom authorities) provider for Internet access?

[monty]

Definately not what the CAT would like you to do ! Who would need more motivation

There are some options ot there, but I found them to be more expensive then the CSloxinfo offerings. They promise high burstable speeds, but the guaranteed speed is very low, indicating they might have very high contention ratio's.

The 256kbps only has a guranteed speed of 64kbps

http://www.isatasia.com/service/oneway/skyburst.php

This is for a one-way service comparable to iptv. Prices are in US$

They don't even publish prices for their two-way service!

Another one, but also no prices to be found on the website:

http://www.speedcast.com/services_broadband/bb_prepaid.asp

Itlooks though it might be the same service as above, the website is different, but the same sort of packages and exactly the same graphics...

[Phil Conners]

It is illegal just as it is illegal to watch Phillipine Dream (Satellite) TV here ... and who cares? TIT!

[monty]

Very true Madsere, but in the case of two way satellite you'll be walking on very thin ice.

This system transmits on licensed airwaves towards the satellite!

Thailand does not take kindly to illegal radio transmissions originating on their soil, and certainly does not allow the import/use of uncertified transmitters.

If you take a close look to the iPSTAR box, you'll see the approval sticker of the telecommunications office, as indeed this equipment contains a transmitter.

For the one-way systems there is no such risk, the signal is there, you just pick it up

You might however run the risk that the CAT finds out, and blocks the upload line.

Easy for them to do as you'll need a local ISP to dial-up to, through which you can send your upload traffic to the satellite ground control center in Hong Kong, Singapore or wherever!

Edited August 23, 2005 by monty

[Firefoxx]

Well, current IPstar-type satellite does allow uploads via satellite too... at least that's the service I was able to get for a project.

Samart is another company which give IPstar service. Ever tried them?

[monty]

Of course iPSTAR has no legal problems, it is distributed by Thai company's (Samart/csloxinfo), using Thai satellites and equipment certified by the telecommunication office!

[Phil Conners]

Monty, any experience with console access (telnet/ssh) via IPSTAR?

I guess with 1 sec lag time it's even more unbearable than GPRS?

Someone told me about a "hack" used in eastern europe where they bundle 3-4 GPRS GSM phones together for added bandwidth, anyone know anything about that?

Internet in Thailand is really driving me nuts!

[monty]

Never telnetted through iPSTAR, but the lag sure messes up any VPN you try to establish.

With iPSTAR at least the bandwidth is there compared to gprs.

Ping times are around the 1000ms mark, whereas with gprs 4000ms is nothing out of the ordinary...

I didn't really now lag might be a problem with telnet, apart from it being annoying...

VPN is simply impossible since the sending side requieres confirmation of received packets within a rather short amount of time and without confirmation, the packet will get sent again.

This makes some wonderfull packets/confirmations storm/confusion, which will make you lose the VPN connection...

I don't see combining 3 gprs phones will improve the lag problems, apart from increasing available bandwidth...

[Phil Conners]

Hm, I never said that bundling the phones would reduce lag, just increase bandwidth

Just checked and ping values to US is 2-3000 ms with GPRS ... I didn't realize GPRS lag was so bad, no wonder I am getting up the wall trying to do anything on SSH over GPRS. I feel analog dialup is even worse though.

No lag isn't a problem for SSH other than it is extremely frustrating to wait 2-3 seconds for any key you type to come up on the screen.