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DirecPC USB Satellite Modems Available for Linux
manyoso writes "Helius, Inc. has announced a USB DirecPC modem for Linux. The software drivers are going to be available on their website, no word about what kind of license. The software is available on their Model 7100 router, which retails for $2,500. The router runs Caldera Linux and comes with: dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP), SMTP e-mail, Web hosting, Web caching, NNTP news, FTP, UDP, Telnet, proxy, and firewall. The upload is standard phone line or ISDN." Looks like a fairly expensive way to get a 400kbs uplink (You need software, a router, and a normal modem/isdn ISP for outgoing traffic) but for people who live outside of DSL/Cable range, this might be a cool option. And it looks fun to play with ;) But my cable company promised that they could hook me up this spring, so I'm not sure if it's worth it ...
The only thing wrong with that was the lack of the optional annotation [sic]. Since the errors occured in the quoted text, it is simply a matter of choosing not to correct the submission, not an act of greviously poor grammar.
YMMV, but I prefer to read the submission directly rather than CmdrTaco's editorial comments. Not that I have a problem with those either...
And as for the grammar in comments, typos and common mistakes come with the ease of posting. I'd rather read 10 well thought out posts than 2 well thought out and proofread posts. It's the idea that is important.
--
Evan (Fighting Grammar and Spelling Nazis on-line since 1981)
"$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
Acutally, though, .NET won't be carrying that much data. It's basically just a licensing engine.
John
John
Which is why end-to-end encryption is the way to go. IPsec is the future... as wireless becomes more pervasive, ubiquitous end-to-end encryption will become more and more obviously Right.
[
It doesn't matter how fast or affordable cable and DSL are if they aren't *available* in the area where you want internet access.
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
John
John
What kinds of services are available, besides this one? I do alot of work from home, and my new place is well out of DSL range, and cable is coming 'soon'....
s/its worth it/it's NOT worth it/
John
Lite (2-4 users) $199.00
Base (10-30 users) $599.00
Unlimited (unlimited users) $999.00
I'd like to see anyone use DirecPc with over 30 users... that'd be a site to see....
"But my cable company promised that they could hook me up this spring..."
I called my cable company (and/or checked the website) every few months for three years. The response was always "we are upgrading the equipment in your area, we'll have it in a few months".
Finally, it arrived. Scheduled to be installed on Saturday. Wednesday I get a job offer in another state so I had to cancel. I've moved now--no cable modem access here but "in a few months" there will be.
I'm going to get DSL.
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324006
You can upload via the satelite link?? Don't think so! You'll still have to upload your pr0n at 56k or whatever.
Sean
I've had two friends that have tried it (DirectPC regular version on Windows), with highly unsatisfactory results. Horrilbe latency, and you couldn't tell by me that you were downloading anything at anywhere near 400Kbps. You're better off with two tin cans and some string.
Help save the critically endangered Blue Iguana
Is it just me, or is the main use of a hard link to the internet the "always on" availability?
Personally after reading through the "features" on the router gizmo they're selling, I take it as Helius trying to do a few things.
Capitalize on not-so-tech-savvy people
Capitalize on "that Linux groove going on
Sell people on MAXIMUM AVAILABILITY based router
;)
Now this Maximum Availability ploy they mention is for them to reconfigure your router when a network or cable connection is down and will do little to nothing to get someone on the net, so they win with the not-so-tech-savvy people who spend their money thinking its an always redundant connection.
I probably rather take an "always on" 128k line over a dial up satellite deal like this one.
Ahh simplicity. Well the typical person will not need a fraction of a t1 connection to their homes for some time unless everything becomes bloat. People are often confused by the myriads of technology stuff so obscure and shoved down their throats they take little time to read the fine print.
More power to Helius for gaining some sort of niche on the market somehow, as for me I'll stick with my SoHo Cisco 1xxx based home DSL router which serves me fine and has throughout the years at the fraction of the cost of this product. 700.00 US a year ago on ebay
True Life James Bond
360 degrees of Karma
This thin server router delivers roundtrip IP unicasting (Internet browsing) and other services including dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP), SMTP e-mail, Web hosting, Web caching, NNTP news, FTP, UDP, Telnet, proxy, and firewall.
I'm so glad it supports UDP!
And now for something completely different...a man with three buttocks.
Yea, like THAT'S not going to look suspicious in an airport. People will think you're setting up us the bomb or something.
Because that would preserve your little conception of the world -- your anthrocentric view of our universe, where we are king and all other species must bow down in subservience. But I know better. I have seen the light, and so shall you if I have my way.
We are not alone. I don't just mean because other people are around. I mean because there is something else out there, something bigger than you or me. And I don't mean some divine being, because that's beyond our rational scientific knowledge. I mean actual creatures, beings, who are out there and weigh at least four times as much as your average human, beings we have full knowledge of through their contacts here on earth.
And I'm not alone in this knowledge. There are others like me, but they've been censored by the government and told they're insane. Ha! Imagine that! Isn't it easier to label someone insane than to have to confront his insights and wisdom? Isn't it just so much easier. You can just laugh it off, but it's true. Every word of it. My friends have told me as much, and I should know, since I've had a few. It's all perfectly clear to me now.
Have I said too much already? I don't think so. It's my sworn duty as a partisan to show the whole world its folly now before we're annhialated. They have the technology, you know. We may have usb satellite modems, but they can communicate faster and further than we can even imagine. Picture the biggest distance you can imagine. They can communicate even further than that. Picture the fastest you can move. They can move faster than that and even steal your thoughts at the same time. They're not constrained by the same constraints that constrain you and me with constraints. They're more powerful than that, and I can't even tell you how much.
They're out there. We can hide, but they'll find us sooner or later. And the longer we wait, the longer we have before they find us. We have to be very quiet, or else they'll find us sooner. And then they'll know what we've been doing and what we've been thinking and what we've been eating and where we've been going and what we've been doing and what we've been saying about them. Don't think they don't care that we're talking about them behind their backs, because they care. They might not be like you and me, but they're still no dopes. They have pride and they're very sensitive about it. Not at all insensitive like you and I are told we are. They care what others think, and if they're bothered by what we're doing or saying or thinking then they just up and take care of it.
We can't wait forever, you know. Or at least I hope you know now, now that I've explained it to you. You have to tell everyone you know. It's the only way we can survive.
Order your Linux supporing DirectPC USB Satellite Modem now and we will throw in a DVD-RAM drive complete with Air Freshener!!!
Click HERE to order!!!
FAP = Fair Access Policy
FAP means once you download your cap (aproximately 25 megs - your mileage may vary), you end up with about a 14.4 speed download. Search Deja for "DirecPC" and you will find about 100 disgruntled users for every one happy user... (and that one happy user usually turns out to be a DirecPC reseller!)
Take it from one who learned the hard way...
DirecPC is EVIL
Run while you can!!!
Absolute Stupidity
http://www.13kingdoms.com/odd
Absolute Stupidity
http://www.13kingdoms.com/odd/
DirecTV also uses a crypto scheme to prevent their video service from being viewed by folks who don't pay for an access card. If the DirecPC cryptosystem is as well designed as the DirecTV crypto, then there's probabably little to no chance of it providing any real privacy.
Is it just me, or is the main use of a hard link to the internet the "always on" availability? True, when I first got DSL I was blown away by the speed, but over time I started to use the internet in ways I never would have if I was connected over the phone.
I probably rather take an "always on" 128k line over a dial up satellite deal like this one. Maybe broadband would catch on more if providers were more focused on that aspect rather than competing on maximum available bandwidth.
That's quite a bit overpriced, and what's wrong with Ethernet?? c'mon! Then we can just plug it into a $100 Linksys router
And why use a one-way system when slashdot already posted the store about 2way systems a few months ago??
The slow upstream speed is reason enough to avoid using satellite modems, but even more sinister is the potential for eavesdropping.
When you use a standard phone connection, it's virtually impossible for someone to eavesdrop. A physical interception of the wires must be made, and that is usually detectable. That's the nature of actual hug-a-by connections. This is why wireless hookups are almost never used in classified or high-risk situations.
But with a satellite modem, you're broadcasting your signal to the entire universe. Anyone can intercept part of your signal and reconstruct the entire whole. Anyone with another satellite has you at his mercy. Worse still, your signal doesn't just stop at its intended destination (the intended satellite) -- it travels out into the rest of the universe as a stream of electromagnetic radiation, to distant galaxies, and beyond. Years from in the future, someone can intercept that signal (just as we currently intercept the light from distant quasars billions of years after it was emitted) and know what your surfing habits. It's both an invasion of your privacy as a consumer and it sets a shaky precedent for how distant alien races will perceive the entire body of humanity. Satellite modems will surely bring the wrath of alien conquerers down upon our lush green planet.
Technical decisions alone shouldn't govern which technologies we employ. They have strong and strict social implications and background conditions that must be attended to. Keep that in mind when you think to purchase a satellite-modem service.
I already have starband. Ok, starband sucks. but it's better than dial-up. And my service was lousy until a very knowledgable independant contractor came out and tuned my installation.
But the point is that my starband modem (or whatever it's called) came with a USB port. When the installer came out, he told me to remove the USB daughter board and a metal plate from the device. The end result? an ethernet connection just like a real cable modem. I bought the linksys $150 broadband router (I know, I should have used linux) and now I have my entire house going through the starband dish.
And for you sattalite ney-sayers, mine is both directions. I'm always on and don't have to use the modem return line. I can download from napster at about 40k per second (it's slow for some reason) and I've downloaded software at 120k per second.
And now fow what sucks: It costs $700 up front for hardware and installation. The service is new so it's kind of unreliable, although it's getting better. I hear news and e-mail is slow. You can't use it for gaming because of stupid ping-times.
But it beats the pants off dialup. And I can use an old 486 as a linux router if I want instead of a $2500 computer.
Disconnect your television. Do your own research. Draw your own conclusions. They're probably lying. Don't be a sheep.
Check out Starband.com for $60/month full 2-way communication.
My friend said they wanted $200 for installation - he's a CCNA/MCSE Siemens network engineer. For $50, you can take a test and be a 'certified starband installing engineer' which he is going to be doing. Starband is at http://www.Starband.com
Unitarian Church: Freethinkers Congregate!
Ick!
When I was first looking into broadband solutions for my apartment, the DirectPC solution was among those that interested me -- if nothing else just for the coolness factor of having a satellite link.
But damn, the time-based charges and the lack of an uplink (except via ~30k on modem) makes me quite glad that I'm in an area with cable modem availability (via AT&T). Maybe I'm lucky, or maybe we just hear the horror stories, but I was hooked up within three weeks of placing my order and get excellent bandwidth -- both up and downstream. And I sure as hell didn't need to pay for any such fancy overpriced router/modem equipment like this -- my linksys broadband router does just fine for $150!
http://www.mitwebcam.com
Who is General Failure? And why is he reading my disk????
I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous...
A sure technological break through. Sign up for internet service, purchase an expensive "router" and your off to see the wizard
Well I'll be... Spyware. The thought of having a company remotely manage anything on my networks sends an bad vibe down my spine. I wonder if their tech support people are trained enough to diagnose hardcore problems, and if their trustworthy enough (Helius that is) to allow them this sort of access. No mention of whether or not this can be disabled either.
The power of marketing!!! Sure they won't tell a possible client off hand if a network or satellite connection is down "We will reconfigure your router, but hey dude, you won't have Internet access!", I wonder how many non technical people will fall for this ploy and think a fully redundant Internet connection with this appliance.
sigh... Poor *BSD's no mention of them at all. I'm sure it'll work either alone or with Lin compat tweaks but its sad to see companies overlook the BSD's. Now wait just a second. I 've used Caldera and its horrible as all hell. I would rather use MS than Caldera, I wonder if its tweakable to either do a boot install of another OS, theres no mention of it, maybe someone can ask for a test drive of this product.
Anyways sorry for more rants, its Tuesday, raining in New York and my stock portfolio is in a Six Flags Amusement Park roller coaster ride so I feel edgy.
Where in the world is my wife
360 degrees of Karma
DirecPC has announced the two-way component that will allow you to upload as well. Starband is another very comparable satellite provider, which also allows upload/download. Both satellite services supposedly have a latency of 600 to 900ms.
Do you like German cars?
And nearly as unnacceptable for webhosting, telnet or FTP. The latency involved in any connection can range well into the second-plus range, making 'instant' connections as seen with 50-250ms pings seem like slow waits. Despite the fact that you have a good download speed, it will still take many pages quite some time to 'respond' to the initial download requests.
The next Slashdot story will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and slashdot the links early!