Astra confirms Eurosat for UK b’band push

chris

Satellite operator Astra is linking with one of Britain’s oldest-established sat-equipment distributors, Eurosat, to launch its Astra2Connect interactive broadband service in the UK.

Eurosat will market the two-way system across the UK and Northern Ireland as part of its ‘beyondsl’ brand. The service promises unlimited internet access for £19.99 per month on an annual contract (for 256k) and a range of other options up to a full 2MB service for £79.99. The equipment costs £299.99 and includes dish, iLNB, cabling, satellite modem and a unique point-and-play alignment tool: a professional installation service is also available from £100.

Astra2Connect is targeted at the many thousands of homes and business where DSL or cable services may be limited or non-existent, as well as the rural and urban broadband black spots where high-speed terrestrial internet access may never be available.

Mike Chandler, Astra GB’s MD said: “Despite the rapid spread of terrestrial broadband, there are still some significant holes in the coverage, particularly in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Some areas will never have access to a high-speed terrestrial connection. ASTRA2Connect gives everyone the chance to enjoy reliable, always-on, high-speed internet access, regardless of where they live or work.”

Mike Locke, Eurosat’s special projects director, said: “We are delighted to be able to add two-way satellite broadband to our portfolio of products and services. Thousands of households and businesses in the UK are in terrestrial broadband black spots, and it’s not just rural and remote areas, it also affects city locations including Greater London. These homes and businesses will be very pleased to hear that they are no longer excluded from the broadband revolution.”


Source:RapidTVNews

woodhead

I already have a dish pointing at Astra2D. Is it possible to buy just a multi-LNB which would retain my TV link and also give the broadband connection for my PC?

trigger

From memory Astra2connect uses 23.5 East not Astra 2d at 28.2 East

Channel Hopper

Correct, but more important,

£300 for the kit, and a (guaranteed ?) 256k two way system for 20 quid per month pointing to a satellite that is rather iffy to the west of the British Isles. And then the marketing claim of a £100 starting price for a 'professional' install of a transmitter.

Don't forget the planning permission for something beyond a 90cm (*ahem* 90+ ) dish requires a charge (if accepted) to the local council, plus the need to keep a two way BUC system well away from potential H+S issues. There are also restrictions on certain buildings owing to aesthetics/conservation and other Local authority requirements.

They could have done it somewhat cheaper if they had looked more closely at the footprints, and chosen any number of the uplink companies out there vying for business in these tough times.
For example iDirect is - on the whole - rolling out a system using a far more universal (planning exempt dish) satellite for the whole of Europe.

_http://www.satellites.co.uk/satellite/satellite-footprint-library/136406-telstar-11n-will-37-5w.html

But then again the idea of using a dish that could be fitted to give access to TV traffic as well was always the claim of BeyonDSL, which in reality was a disaster to set up outside Belgium and the near countries.

_http://www.ses-astra.com/consumer/uk/astra-broadband/index.php

There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness"

Channel Hopper

I knew I'd seen something like this before

_http://www.influentialsoftware.com/beyondsl/old/pr11jul03.htm



'The Astra approach contrasts with rival satellite operator Eutelsat’s claims that it will be able to use its forthcoming Ka-Band capacity to offer IPTV as a possible service.

However, using satellite as a fill-in broadband service for those forced otherwise to rely on dial-up Internet access seems a reasonably attractive option given the sort of prices Astra is charging. Previously, the customer premises equipment required for satellite broadband was in the £600-700 range.

The service could face problems if it becomes very popular, however, since if using the same number of transponders, Astra would gradually need to tighten its fair use policy. This could be solved by bringing additional transponders onstream, but the question then becomes to what extent do you allow service levels to deteriorate before adding the additional capacity.'

woodhead

Thanks, guys for the encouragement. Looks as though I'll have to continue to suffer dial-up for the foreseeable future.

fortyfive

Having installed astra2connect can't see why the above are so negative. As long as you have room and line of sight for the satellite, it works well(c. 410£ a year cost in advance). There is an average 1 sec (660-1700 ms) ping delay, but overall very usable. I've used dial-up recently but its hopeless for today's image rich web pages, a better dial up method is bluetooth the PC/Laptop to a mobile phone and use its 3g modem to access the internet.

rolfw

Seems like a reasonable service for those who have no alternative, as you say, 3G mobile option may be better for some, there will be a limited but healthy marketplace for this service.

I remember in the days before ISDN lines and then ADSL were available, I used three different return only satellite services, unfortunately they suffered from bandwidth bandits, who decided that "as the provider advertised unlimited usage" they could download movies 24/7, of course this buggered up the service for everyone else. Shouldn't be a problem these days though.

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Channel Hopper

It's not negativity, but a question of opting for the more expensive service


Why did you not go down the iDirect path ?

There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness"

fortyfive

Ref above comment, frankly I gave up on iDirect. There were no links to idirect UK sales & service coming up on Google except their UK office address(no UK www site given- the US website also has no links to Sales Outlets either).
I just called UK number(230pm tuesday) and it rang round for about 20 mins. all I ever spoke to was a pleasant USA Secty., who dumped me into someone's voice mailbox. I gained the distinct impression that they don't therefore have a UK retail end or their Agent is very low key. Maybe I'm wrong here, but they don't seem to be in this market or don't want to get retail business. Searching Astra2connect I immediately found Web support/prices/ordering details etc and BeyondAdsl were really on the ball on the telephone. I ordered online with a follow up call and equipment delivery was the next day.
I would stress that I am a freelance IT support guy, with no involvement with any satellite company. I'd certainly consider looking at any other company after my 1st year with Astra2 is up as the technology is always improving.