Satellite Broadband Provider Feature Comparison |
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Pay particular attention to Usage Limitation and Contention Factor comparisons. These two items in general and contention factor in particular can be make-or-break issues if your service is for your business.
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Feature |
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Static IP Addresses |
Nova 500 & 1000 - No
Nova 1500 - Yes |
Not included |
No |
Required Commitment /
Contract |
12 months |
24 months |
24 months |
Spectrum Footprint |
Nationwide |
Nationwide |
Spotbeam |
Weather Fade Occurrences |
Very Few |
Many |
Many |
| Contention Factor 2 |
250/300 to 1 with no
service
level guarantee |
400 to 1 with no service
level guarantee |
unknown - with no service
level guarantee |
| Operating band 3 |
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1 Otherwise known as bandwidth rationing, all satellite broadband service providers will reduce your bandwidth to dial-up or less if you surpass a certain threshold. In the case of HughesNet, it's 200 mb per day for their Home Plan - that's about the size of many product manuals in PDF format and it's far less than a Windows service pack update. It's most commonly called a 'Fair Access Policy' (FAP).
2 Contention factor is a measurement of how many actual or potential processes or individuals may contend for a given resource. In this case, contention factor refers to how many customers are contending for a finite number of available network connections. Low factors are good (100 to 1 or less), high factors are bad (200 or more to 1). The higher the contention loading on the network, the more users are sharing the connection and therefore the slower your service. DSL and Cable providers try to maintain 125-1 contention ratios to deliver a favorable user experience whereas some consumer satellite broadband services operate with contention levels of 300, 400 and even 500-1, delivering a poor user experience.
3 As a rule, Ku band VSATs are less susceptible to weather-induced 'fade' than Ka band systems, but the ones that WildBlue uses are significantly more vulnerable to signal quality problems caused by rainfall.
SATELLITE BROADBAND PROVIDER
PRICING AND USAGE THRESHOLD COMPARISON
Pricing as of March 2009 and is subject to change
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StarBand Pricing & Features
Final Equipment Cost:
$299.99 (plus tax & shipping)
with $50.00 Installation from Home Enhancement Systems |
Plan |
Speed |
Monthly Fee
(2-year commitment)
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Monthly Fee
(1-year commitment)
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Threshold - Rolling 7-day Limit |
Nova 500 |
512 Kbps |
$49.99 |
$59.99 |
700 MB download |
250 MB upload |
Nova 1000 |
1.0 Mbps |
$69.99 |
$79.99 |
1,600 MB download |
400 MB upload |
Nova 1500 |
1.5 Mbps |
$99.99 |
$109.99 |
4,000 MB download |
1,000 MB upload |
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Hughes Net Pricing & Features
Final Equipment Cost: $299.98 (after $100 rebate for installation)
Includes: Equipment, delivery and standard installation |
Plan |
Speed |
Monthly Fee
(2-year commitment) |
Threshold - DAILY LIMIT |
Home |
1.0 Mbps |
$59.99 |
200 MB per day |
Pro |
1.2 Mbps |
$69.99 |
300 MB per day |
ProPlus |
1.6 Mbps |
$79.99 |
425 MB per day |
Elite |
2.0 Mbps |
$119.99 |
500 MB per day |
ElitePlus |
3.0 Mbps |
$189.99 |
500 MB per day |
| Elite Premium |
5.0 Mbps |
$349.99 |
500 MB per day |
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WildBlue Pricing & Features
Final Equipment Cost: $149.95
With $50.00 Installation |
Plan |
Speed |
Monthly Fee
(1-year commitment) |
Threshold - Rolling 30-day Limit |
Value Pak |
512 Kbps |
$49.95 |
7,500 MB download |
2,300 MB upload |
Select Pak |
1.0 Mbps |
$69.95 |
12,000 MB download |
3,000 MB upload |
Pro Pak |
1.5 Mbps |
$79.95 |
17,000 MB download |
5,000 MB upload |
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