Slashdot Mirror
Helius/Caldera Satellite Router running Linux
Shag writes "Helius has a press release up on their site about the latest thing to do with one of those little satellite dishes. It's still the same ol' DirecPC technology - 400kbps satellite feed inbound, landline ISP outbound - but now they've got a Linux-powered router beastie so you can handle your whole LAN this way. " This is a great solution for small businesses and school buildings-and it's good to see cutting edge stuff like this.
Anyone know anything about software decoders for those broadcasts? or ANY Satellite transmissions for that matter?
Always wanted to see what I could find out there using Linux and homing in on different satellites.. eh?
Like I said.. I doan know tiddly about it... just thought maybe someone would?
Piques my curiosity just a wee bit.
Juss ramblin
Friends don't let friends buy Compaq's. (Dell/Gateway... same same) You want a good computer? Build it yourself.
Helius has had Linux support for the DirecPC hardware for a year or more. In terms of computers, that's history - not news.
That is absurd. Net addict that I am, I wouldn't pay $129/month for any connectivity.
"Through remote access, the
;-)
Helius Satellite Router can be installed in any country in the world
and be configured by Helius in the U.S."
Better change that root password quick and make an
/etc/nologin
wayout
1) How much is it?
2) Where can I get it?
3) What are the gotchas?
4) Where is the technical overview so I don't have to read this high-level uninformative stuff for all my answers?
You will regret it if you download anything more than a gig or so a month. I have it (selling it soon), and after two weeks of not using it, I get 3.0k/sec after a 800kb download. Its called FAP (fair access policy). Hughes is under a class action lawsuit because of this.
Get cable modems, ADSL, dual 56k, anything else!
I ran my network off if it with NAT on NT, averaging 1-2gig a month (not hard!).
Look out! The more people use the service, the less bandwidth you get.
400k is only if there is only a few users.
At least with 53k you get it all.
BN
30 'light' users, 10 'heavy' users, or 1 'typical slashdot reader' :(
The 'lite' license is $200 for 4 'light' users or 2 'heavy' users (dontcha just love the well defined terms?) Light being defined as 'Mostly e-mail with light Internet browsing and chat, Heavy being 'Full-time Internet browsing, FTP, chat, e-mail, and other functions. And 200 hours?
phht.
Windoze 95 will route a BSOD straight to your video card much faster than any other OS. (Although NT is almost as fast.)
This sig is false.
The down-link for these systems is 20-40 Mbps. Complex concatenated coding schemes are used. This stuff is done in hardware implementations only at the moment. You could do it with a few of the most expensive DSPs on the market, I suppose, but otherwise, forget about software implementations for a while.
-bithead
if you wanna see something really cool then you should check out the test results on the router.
http://www.helius.com/test_results/
Yes, Linux now can do BSODs with the GNOME BSOD xsrceensaver in the latest release. Its for those people that miss blue screens.
I'm sure there will be more info at Linux World on Monday. I bet the press release is a pre-release before the confrence.
I'd check it over again monday... B)
But you haven't run the Helius satellite router with linux. Plus, Helius said, "It runs with the Hughes DirecPC stuff currently because they are the only one playing the game, but when other providers come online the Helius Satellite Router will be there too."
Living in the middle of no where (no cable tv lines run by my house) too far from the central office by several miles, I want this!
Too bad as others have said it is so expensive currently. Still, with Masq/natd and a dish it might be worth it. Modems are too slow, and read the USR sportster ask /. for the problems I'm having with my modem that this would slove.
Last summer when I was looking for an aparmtnet I discovered that either I couldn't get xDSL in the building (too far) or I didn't want to live in that type of neighborhood. Not a good choice, I moved back to the parent's place and saved money.
Sorry to burst your bubble but we used to use Windows 95, Winroute (www.winroute.com) and DirecPC to power our LAN before we got a T1 (ie: for about a year now, we just got our T1 a couple days ago). DirecPC in Canada decided to cap 'unlimited' at 5 gigs, we usually downloaded around 20-30/month. The extra mb charges would have amounted to around a $8000-$15000/month satellite bill. :(
I worked for Hughes Network Systems for several years, mostly on the chips for DirecPC boards.
:)
I pushed the head of software development for DirecPC to do a Linux port, and he said that they would probably farm it out, so I guess this is what happened. I told him I would do it on my own time, but he told me that I wouldn't be able to open-source it. Too much of the hardware architecture has to be exposed to write a device driver for it.
Well, I am glad that it is available for Linux, but I agree with the other people posting here that the business has not been very well run. On the other hand, some problems (long latency) are unavoidable in the current satellite arena, and other problems (cost and bandwidth constraints) are coming directly out of the cost model for the satellite bandwidth. It definitely is not for everybody.
By the way, I don't own one, because I thought the service was too expensive for what you got (forget about Quake and remote X apps). And I could have gotten free hardware. I have unlimited usage DSL now.
-bithead
buy the el-cheapo version.
All ya gotta do is firewall behind the supposed router. 2-4 client license... turns into 2-4 firewalls with thousands of users behind that. nope, if ya buy it dont get the expensive one. although I'll bet on seeing a hacked version of the trialware really soon. just shutdown the stupid timer and registeration junk. Come on you guru's out there hack that puppy!
IHUG in New Zealand have been doing the same thing for a while now.. And the Linux drivers for the card are top-notch and are more than simply a "get it going" pack, it includes the monitoring tools that the Windows version comes with.
If you're in Aussie/NZ, IHUG (known as TIG in aussie) are who to talk to if you're interesting in that sort of thing..
Trailware? thats no good
maybe we could get together an opensource replacement. Or would that require buying information from Hughes?
One problem with satellite links: isn't the SOL of a 44,000 mile roundtrip plus the latency of the modem uplink a problem? Of course, it's better than async dial...
--jon. Postel is dead. May we all mourn his, and our, loss.
Yeah it's sorta interesting.. but since when is a router running Linux cutting edge? Big whoop.
When will be such toys available with bi-directional communication via satelite for reasonable price?
I see good stuff here! I like Linux and its abilities. There is more support for ANYTHING in Linux than in any M$ OS. For example, my friend was trying to ise his M$ sidewinder joystick in NT. It isn't suported at all. But in the Linux 2.2.1 kernel, there is support for it!
I love Linux
Laugh, it's good for you!
Ok, while it's nice that it's running under linux there are a couple of thiings that people should be aware of...
First, everyone contemplating this solution should drop in on the direct pc news group a get a feel for the general dissatifaction level that exists there (with the FAP and what not). It's one thing to rip off a bunch of trend mongering consumers, it's quite another thing to put someone's job on the line. If a single power users end up in the bandwidth doghouse 2 weeks into their monthly bandwidth alotment, just imagine what 10 or 20 or 50 users could do...
Seconds, if you're going to have all your incomming packets raining down from space, you're going to break all the internet telephony/voice over IP applications to which your users have become acustom. Helios is a non-starter for those re-selling the bandwidth (oh, sure 90% of internet service now is mail and web; however, in another 5 years, that will be old hat... like running a BBS these days).
If you're cleaver about it you can proxy a proxy... I have seen plans put together using Helios for squid and nntp caching using selective port redirection (ports that don't carry (real) time sensitive data). The only question that really remained was if the bandwidth tarriff encountered after your "alotment" made economic sense.
In places like Asia, were the FAP hasn't been established yet (due to caller pays telecomm) and terrestrial bandwidth costs out the ass ($10,000 a month for a T1), the Helios solution makes some sense. Still most remote users (and those subject to the severe ass-fscking most thrid world telecomm monopolies dish out) go with a pan-am-sat solution (duplex). Far less expensive in the long run. I understand that D(A?)MA (a world wide disaster managment agency) has started to resell their unused satellite bandwidth at fire sale prices.
I want an Internet connection that uses "entanglement". Teleporting your data stream - now, that's style. I can handle that.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
The company I work for in New Zealand Ihug has been offering pretty much the same thing for a year or so now. It's called StarNet. 500Kbps incoming link from a small sattelite dish, uplink via modem. It works with Linux and Windows. And can be used to route lans, schools, small ISPs, pretty much anything, depending on the setup you get.
SilverSilver
I believe that you can buy that very product you are after (software only for Linux) directly from Helius. Go to their web site at www.helius.com for more info.
Good luck.
Thanks Helius and Caldera.
I know. I was being sarcastic. :-)
This sig is false.
Is there a way I could just plug the directpc satilite into my linux box without haveing to buy a router like that?
Just imagine if they ran a Beowulf cluster there...
Hughes wins the award for having the only fairly speedy internet service to have actually increased in price as the technology has become less expensive.
Based on this principle alone I would only do business with them if there was no other choice and my life depended on it.
I pray that we have some real competition in this market sometime soon.
some providers will use LEOs that are low earth satellites and wouldn't have lag times that high.
I would like to see Windows handle that. Linux forever!