A nice chat today with one of the technical types working on developing satellite service for Pegasus.
Background: Hughes’ DirecPC division is rolling out “two-way” satellite service – always on, no modem required, unlike previous DirecPC service. It’s being offered through partners – Earthlink, Juno, a couple of others, and Pegasus Communications. You can place an order for residential service, although the companies are still ramping up so it’s a bit tough to figure out who to call.
Pegasus intends to offer “Express Plus” business-class service at slightly higher rates. Two main features: the bandwidth is more generous (the residential service is set up to slow down if you’re a heavy user), and you get a static IP address for web hosting or setting up a VPN.
The residential service is going fine. But on the business side, Pegasus is trying to develop software in-house and finding it’s a challenging project. They’re wrestling with bugs and trying to boost disappointing upload speeds – fine for consumers, unacceptable for businesses. Delays are likely.
Tomorrow I’ll try to order residential service, with the intention of upgrading to business-class “Express Plus” when it’s available. More to come!
