Reading Room - Full Articles

A New Satellite Connection to the Internet

Steve Cisler, Advisor, Tachyon, Inc.
cisler@pobox.com

For those of us who think about how users can get connected to the Internet, there are four primary conduits: the public telephone networks used by most ISPs and community networks, commercial cable television offerings, other leased line options, especially for higher speed access, and wireless. Wireless includes a number of disparate systems that include HF radio, cellular phones, point-to-point and point-to-multipoint radio devices, and satellite access.

I am using a 150 kbps TAL spread spectrum wireless system that is about 25 km. from a tower on a mountain. The signal is relayed to a cable modem system and a large consumer system and then into the Internet backbone. The wireless is fairly reliable and certainly could be used for some interesting area networks in the right environment, but it's not 'FREE' nor is it magic, as some proponents seem to be claiming. The cable modem system to which I am linked is unreliable enough that a users group has started up to complain about reliability and long down times of the whole system. Still, I find the whole experience quite superior to my backup system, a 56 kb dialup ISP which has had growing pains and Spam attacks but provides adequate service at an average price. However, I am looking forward to a new satellite service.

I am building a web site of significant international community networking projects, papers, and events as part of a new product from San Diego based Tachyon, Inc., an Internet services carrier that uses Ku-band satellites to provide two way access. They believe that the non-profits, libraries, museums, schools, health clinics, and community networks need support, and this web site <www.tachyon.net> will provide reviews of 100-150 words about
each selected site and a pointer to the project or paper. Jean Polly, author of Internet Kids and Family Yellow Pages, is working with me to write most of the reviews. If you think your site, report, or event should be included, please write me. Most Association For Community Network member sites have been mentioned.

The Internet service that Tachyon is providing is of great interest
technically. In the past there have been schemes to feed Usenet via
satellite, and DirectPC offers one-way access to the Internet (with return messaging by phones) in North America. Many countries rely on small (VSAT) installations to send and receive both telephony and data. Others have larger satellite dishes for faster feeds. The satellites provide links to places where wires, fiber, and cable will not reach for a long time, if ever. What varies is the speed, error rate, cost, and availability. There has been much talk about the LEOS, low earth orbiting satellites from VITA (a non-profit pioneer in this field), Iridium, and some years away, Teledesic.

Tachyon makes use of existing Ku-band geosynchronous satellites, which serve as the relay for the signal between the points on earth via the satellite. Tachyon's current gateways, which sit on a high speed fiber into the Internet, are in Amsterdam and San Diego. While Tachyon does not sell directly to a consumer or to a school, it will partner with ISPs, coops, and government entities to aggregate the demand for the service. At the December 1998, Texas community network conference Tachyon had their first public showing. It uses a dish shaped like a surfboard that is about 1 square meter. The bandwidth from the main dish in San Diego is up to 45 mb/sec and the return path is 256 kb/sec. There will be different price levels for
different qualities of service. This service will be of interest to customers who are not near existing wireline services, where cable modems or ADSL are not available, or are priced very high (In Paris, France, a 64 kb line can cost $2000/ month; in West Africa, up to $25K!). In some places high speed lines are available, but there is a long wait. This is another factor in choosing a delivery method. Tachyon will have demonstration sites at the Red Cross in Geneva, Switzerland, at the Texas Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund Board in Austin, Texas., and in Washington, DC, later in 1999. Stay tuned.


Last updated on 6/24/1999 by Dirk Staatsen

These pages were originally created by Dirk Staatsen and last updated July 19, 2002. Pages are ã Cliff Missen 1994-1999. Please send feedback and updates to intlinet@uiowa.edu