I live out in the country where technology hasn't reached us just yet. I'm only able to have satellite internet. Does anyone know if I will be able to use Skype or RingCentral using satellite? Also, will a webcam be able to work well? Thanks for your input or suggestions!

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Shelly Lipe
Efficiency-HQ

I'm sorry I don't have an answer for you, but I just have no idea. I will be watching though because now I am curious. I would think that they would work though....right?

Jody

If you have access to the internet through your satellite, they should work just fine.

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Lily Chambers, The Virtual Office Goddess, LLC
Author "How to Do Your Own Small Business Bookkeeping"

Shelly,
Your satellite internet will work the same as any cable or DSL internet connection when it comes to Skype or RingCentral. All you need is an active internet connection. (Even dial-up would work, but video would be too slow to be useful.)

The one downside to satellite is that it tends to be slower than DSL or cable, and you usually have bandwidth restrictions. This means that dependent on how much you use your internet, your satellite provider may suspend your internet connection if you use too much bandwidth. This may limit your use of a webcam/video. But satellite is still better (most days) than dial-up or nothing.

Hope this helps,
Julie

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Julie | Virtual Resource Services, Inc (VRSI)
http://www.vrsioffice.com

Thanks ya'll! I appreciate you sharing your knowledge. And yes Julie, that is one of my biggest concerns is the limits we have in place. I love where I live. I just wished I lived about 100 feet closer to the pole!

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Shelly Lipe
Efficiency-HQ

Using VoIP over Satellite Internet connection isn't reliable. VoIP relies on reliable connection and it needs good latency and fee packet lost. Packet Loss will be a problem due to the "bursty" time slicing associated with satellite communications.

It may work but expect not so good connection or call quality.

I had satellite for awhile....I hated it. Depending on who you go with, you may find yourself without service for periods of time from one day to a week. If you go over the bandwidth restriction, they will lock you out for 24 hours. If your satellite gets out of alignment from weather or whatnot, it could take them up to a week to get someone out there to fix it. Plus, if it's past your warranty time, they'll charge you to come out.

Webcam and Skype will work, but very poorly. And I don't recommend using Skype with satellite as the way Skype is set up, it could very well pull over your bandwidth even when you aren't using it but are logged on.

Do you have decent cell phone service where you live? I'd recommend checking out wireless internet through a cell phone provider before you sign a 2 year contract for satellite + plus pay for the equipment. Cost for wireless is about the same (slightly less) than satellite, and you can it with you anywhere. The downside is that it only works on one computer at time so it wouldn't be ideal if you were looking to have a household be able to access the internet on different computers.

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Kimberly
Facebook Marketing Magic!

Thank Kimberly & I agree! I live to far out, I can text off my cell if I go to a "certain" place in the house. I really want cable & I'm still working on that. Thanks again for all the support of this board.

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Shelly Lipe
Efficiency-HQ

Hi Shelly, I can see the you've been given all the information you need. If satellite is what you can get at the moment then work with it until you can get cable which is more reliable with no restrictions.

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Althea
Virtually Yours PA

Expanding on what Kimberly said, you can get cellular wireless internet for more than one computer -- it's called "MiFi", and both Verizon and Sprint offer it. I'm pretty sure that Sprint will give you a free trial period, so that if MiFi doesn't work at your home / office, you can take it back.

Both companies charge around $60 per month. Verizon seems to have limitations here and there on their cellular internet, which means that if you go over the monthly limit, you pay extra. I'm not sure of that, it's just my gut feeling after reading their literature.

If you have satellite internet, and the sky has lots of clouds or bad weather, it probably won't work, because the signal won't get through.

While we're on this subject, I like the setup that Vonage has for their VOIP -- the Vonage adapter plugs into your modem, and then your router plugs into the Vonage adapter. This means that Vonage gets first dibs on the signal. It won't use much, but it needs to have first dibs on it, if you're going to get reliable service.