Amazon launching satellite Internet

[bizlady]

It appears Amazon is going to start offering internet via satellite. I suppose competing with Starlink. Will be interesting to watch availability and success between the services.

Gee, wonder if that will be included with my Prime!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/tech...pc=U531&cvid=efbf97a53d904316923e47e62d3d2fab

 

[MichaelB]

It appears Amazon is going to start offering internet via satellite. I suppose competing with Starlink. Will be interesting to watch availability and success between the services.

Gee, wonder if that will be included with my Prime!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/tech...pc=U531&cvid=efbf97a53d904316923e47e62d3d2fab

Interesting, thanks for the link. It’s amazing what some competition does for consumer product pricing and availability.

 

[W2R]

It appears Amazon is going to start offering internet via satellite. I suppose competing with Starlink. Will be interesting to watch availability and success between the services.

Gee, wonder if that will be included with my Prime!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/tech...pc=U531&cvid=efbf97a53d904316923e47e62d3d2fab

How exciting! I know that many other communities (like us here in New Orleans) would be thrilled to see a bit more competition for high speed internet. I wonder how much it will cost? I'm ready to sign up in a heartbeat.

 

[ScoopKona]

see a bit more competition for high speed internet.

Satellite internet is "meh speed." It should be reliable (in the same way that GPS is reliable) -- assuming that the ground network is reliable.

And it will be available absolutely everywhere -- from the poorest villages in developing countries to the top of Mt. Everest.

But urban dwellers in the developed world will have better options than satellite. (Or at least they should have better options -- if US providers didn't decide long ago to collude with each other to lower quality and raise prices. South Koreans pay $30 per month for much faster Internet.)

 

[ivinsfan]

IMO this isn't a good move for Amazon..Starlink is so far ahead of the curve Amazon will forever be playing catchup.


There isn't an unlimited pool of buyers for this type internet.

 

[MRG]

Interesting, I'm guessing this is another low altitude implementation like Starlink. I'm still waiting for my Starlink so maybe this will get her first.

Stargazers weren't happy about one set of low altitude sats, wonder about 2 .... n.

 

[ivinsfan]

Interesting, I'm guessing this is another low altitude implementation like Starlink. I'm still waiting for my Starlink so maybe this will get her first.

Stargazers weren't happy about one set of low altitude sats, wonder about 2 .... n.

Amazon is going take over 5 years MIGHT get one launch in by the end of 22 so I'm guessing no on the getting to your first

 

[ScoopKona]

Interesting, I'm guessing this is another low altitude implementation like Starlink. I'm still waiting for my Starlink so maybe this will get her first.

Stargazers weren't happy about one set of low altitude sats, wonder about 2 .... n.

There are billions of people without Internet and no easy way to get it to them. I'm sure there is enough market out there to keep two providers profitable.

The stargazers (particularly astrophotographers) will be hopping mad. But satellite streaks can be edited out of their digital images. I think the bigger concern is all these LEO satellites make the Kessler Syndrome that much more likely.

 

[W2R]

Satellite internet is "meh speed." [...]
But urban dwellers in the developed world will have better options than satellite.

Oh pooh. I didn't know that. So much for my great hopes for a better, more reliable internet connection! Such is life.

Last Friday (I think it was?) our Cox Cable internet was out for almost ALL DAY.... 7-8 hours, anyway.

 

[ivinsfan]

Google say that around 3 billion people has never used the internet.


I imagine more then a few of people will never be internet consumers. It's not just satellite issues it's infrastructure issues.



For sure Amazon didn't do this lost money but Starlink will get all the low hanging fruit.

 

[Surewhitey]

Wonder what a storm would do to reception, like satellite tv?

 

[ScoopKona]

Oh pooh. I didn't know that. So much for my great hopes for a better, more reliable internet connection! Such is life.

There are a couple videos by a group calling itself "Extremely Decent" which explain why US internet is so lousy. I'd link it. But it contains salty language. Searching for "The First Honest Cable Company" will get you there.

 

[ivinsfan]

Well honestly as a country we are kind of spoiled as to internet access and speed. We use a local utility broadband wireless service and it pretty sweet. They started about 2MB and we thought that was a miracle. At the county fair about 10 years ago I heard the rep why do people have to do so much streaming it slows everything down. Imagine the things we do streaming 10 years later and then we whine if we get a little buffering.

 

[easysurfer]

More ways for Amazon to keep track of our browsing history.

Kidding aside, probably a good thing.

My regret is I have my main email address from an internet provider. If there comes a time to switch providers, the email address may not be so easy to update.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

IMO this isn't a good move for Amazon..Starlink is so far ahead of the curve Amazon will forever be playing catchup.


There isn't an unlimited pool of buyers for this type internet.

Perhaps, but just because Musk is the first to market...

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Interesting, I'm guessing this is another low altitude implementation like Starlink. I'm still waiting for my Starlink so maybe this will get her first.

Stargazers weren't happy about one set of low altitude sats, wonder about 2 .... n.

I am one of the few that aren't too thrilled with the amount of stuff we are putting into low orbit. When I see a string of satellites going by, it does bother me a bit but it is what it is.

Oh pooh. I didn't know that. So much for my great hopes for a better, more reliable internet connection! Such is life.

Last Friday (I think it was?) our Cox Cable internet was out for almost ALL DAY.... 7-8 hours, anyway.

Oddly enough, we have had Cox for over 3 years and the ONLY outage that lasted from more than 30 seconds was ONCE and that was during an ice storm that knocked out power to almost the entire city for days. So, I have been pretty happy with the performance.

Well honestly as a country we are kind of spoiled as to internet access and speed. We use a local utility broadband wireless service and it pretty sweet. They started about 2MB and we thought that was a miracle. At the county fair about 10 years ago I heard the rep why do people have to do so much streaming it slows everything down. Imagine the things we do streaming 10 years later and then we whine if we get a little buffering.

Except in the US, our speeds aren't that great, not even in the top 10. There are lots of countries that eclipse our speeds. No need to "settle"...striving for better is not a bad thing.

 

[ScoopKona]

My regret is I have my main email address from an internet provider. If there comes a time to switch providers, the email address may not be so easy to update.

Look at that as a positive. A way to "start fresh."

I have a similar email address on the mainland. It will be a joy to nuke that account and rid myself of the 300 pieces of junk mail each day -- one from every company I have ever done business with.

"We've missed you!"

Unsubscribe and block don't work -- for the reasons hinted at above. Similarly, the penalties for companies sharing my personal information with hackers and thieves range from "Slap on the wrist" to "Don't do that again. Here's a fat government contract to make it all better for your executives."

Yes, the handful of emails I want to receive every day will be a chore to migrate over -- especially since those trickle in with the deluge of spam. But it will be a treat to divest myself from "Shady Internet and Cable, Inc."

 

[W2R]

Oddly enough, we have had Cox for over 3 years and the ONLY outage that lasted from more than 30 seconds was ONCE and that was during an ice storm that knocked out power to almost the entire city for days. So, I have been pretty happy with the performance.

Well, but don't you live in Atlanta? I think that's where Cox Cable headquarters is located, IIRC. That might be to your advantage. Nobody that I know here likes Cox Cable. Most of us are waiting to see what people say about AT&T fiber which is becoming available here (in a very few locations so far).

 

[ivinsfan]

I am one of the few that aren't too thrilled with the amount of stuff we are putting into low orbit. When I see a string of satellites going by, it does bother me a bit but it is what it is.



Oddly enough, we have had Cox for over 3 years and the ONLY outage that lasted from more than 30 seconds was ONCE and that was during an ice storm that knocked out power to almost the entire city for days. So, I have been pretty happy with the performance.



Except in the US, our speeds aren't that great, not even in the top 10. There are lots of countries that eclipse our speeds. No need to "settle"...striving for better is not a bad thing.

When you figure land mass in those numbers for broadband we look alot better.. you know my speed is now up to 50plus and I can do everything I need to. So from 1 to over 50 in around 10 years I can live with that.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Well, but don't you live in Atlanta? I think that's where Cox Cable headquarters is located, IIRC. That might be to your advantage. Nobody that I know here likes Cox Cable. Most of us are waiting to see what people say about AT&T fiber which is becoming available here (in a very few locations so far).

Not in ATL anymore as we moved to flyover country back in 2018. We couldn't get COX in our 'hood in ATL, that was Comcast which is like dealing with the devil. We had AT&T Uverse and of all the internet providers we have had over the years, they were the absolute worst.

Where we are now, the electric co-op put in gig service but there have been lots of complaints and many have gone BACK to Cox.

So odd how these services can vary from region to region.

 

[Janet H]

Satellite internet is "meh speed." It should be reliable (in the same way that GPS is reliable) -- assuming that the ground network is reliable.

Starlink customer here... Speeds are pretty fast in my part of the country and as there's little other service available I'm thrilled to see some competition in this footprint. Starlink costs me about $100 per month

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Starlink customer here... Speeds are pretty fast in my part of the country and as there's little other service available I'm thrilled to see some competition in this footprint. Starlink costs me about $100 per month


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Not bad, but for $100, I would want a little better upload speed. Of course, in some places you can't be picky.

 

[euro]

Starlink customer here... Speeds are pretty fast in my part of the country and as there's little other service available I'm thrilled to see some competition in this footprint. Starlink costs me about $100 per month


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That price sounds pretty reasonable to me for 200Mbits. Yes, of course, not quite as low as in more populated areas, but I can tell you that I have a fairly remote mountain cabin that, for some strange reason, was hooked up to a fiber line. The cost for a 200Mbit connection is $125 (plus taxes and fees)! So, compared to that, you are doing well and in fact, your post has motivated me to explore Starlink as well! Or, maybe, the new Amazon option when it becomes available?


Edit: Rats, not available yet at that location..... "maybe by 2023". Oh well

 

[MRG]

Starlink customer here... Speeds are pretty fast in my part of the country and as there's little other service available I'm thrilled to see some competition in this footprint. Starlink costs me about $100 per month





View attachment 42164

For the same money we get CenturyLink at 2.5 MbS. I can't buy anything faster here. CenturyLink does have the advantage of frequent outages due to cable cuts.

 

[W2R]

Maybe I'm griping too much due to that recent outage. Actually, I guess my speed is OK... here's what https://www.speedtest.net/ tells me I am getting right now for $99.99/month. It's really plenty of speed for what I do. So, I should be happy.