DIRECPC vs. STARBAND
Slowly but surely the satellite service is getting more consistent. It’s still not a trouble-free choice, but it hasn’t made me scream in the last few weeks. CNET has a comparison of the two major players, StarBand and DirecPC. No surprises – it...SATELLITE UPDATE
New software, new hardware at the network operations center – slowly but surely the DirecPC two-way satellite service is coming to life. July was dismal but August has been reasonably steady. The system is being upgraded right now and there’s hope that it...DSL COLLAPSE CONTINUES
In the old days – a year ago or so – DSL was available from many Internet service providers. DSL wholesalers – Covad, Rhythms, and Northpoint – installed and maintained the lines, and the ISPs handled the customer services – billing,...SATELLITE BLUES
The DirecPC/Pegasus two-way satellite connection has been virtually unusable for a month now. Hughes was stonewalling for most of that time, refusing to acknowledge that there was any problem with the system. In the last few days, they’ve finally admitted the...MEASURING CONNECTION SPEED
I ran across a handy little utility that lets you measure the true speed of your Internet connection. It puts a little icon down by the clock with a tiny graph, and lets you pop up a window with more details at any time. Download it here.