Direcway Satellite Internet on the Dock and Wireless Roaming and Internet Connection SharingBy Alan Spicer |
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Direcway Two-Way High Speed Satellite Dish on the
ground or Dock close to the yacht
LinkSys WRT54G v.2
Wireless Router w/4-port Switch two or three of these are used to provide a
Wireless Distribution System to allow Better Wireless Coverage and Roaming
around a Yacht (or a home / Small Business Office)
Mega Yacht in
Yachts in
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Introduction to us and what we doThis is Alan Spicer Telecom Co. Earlier this year I did an article on Wirelessly Wiring the High Seas. This time I will write about Direcway Two-way satellite Internet Service and how this has been installed along with the Wireless Roaming mentioned in the earlier article. This setup has been installed on two yachts so far. Direcway Satellite Internet on the DockThe Direcway two-way Satellite Internet Service provides a high speed Internet Access Service comparable to other Broadband services that homes and businesses enjoy these days. I work with a professional Direcway installer to install the dish on a safe spot on the dock adjacent to the Motor Yacht. This spot needs to have a clear (unobstructed) view of the Southern Sky to reach the Satellite "Bird" up on orbit 23,000 miles above the equator. It also needs to be a safe spot where people wouldn't walk in front of the satellite dish.
A special stand is provided to install the dish on the dock. This stand is designed to have concrete blocks to secure it into place, but I have heard a suggestion from RV related sites that an idea is to fill two Igloo brand Coolers with water for the same purpose. The coolers idea saves you from having to carry around concrete blocks because when they are empty they are much lighter.
Wireless Distribution System (WDS) for extended coverage and to provide Wireless "Roaming"My earlier article mentioned above tells about how I have done the wireless roaming system, but basically using two Linksys WRT54G wireless routers I link them together wirelessly so that one of them can be connected to the Direcway DW6000 Modem and the other one doesn't need to be connected to anything except standard 110v AC power for the AC Adaptor that powers it. This provides two immediate benefits #1 we don't have to run CAT 5 Network Cabling to link the two routers together, and #2 you get pretty complete coverage of the yacht for wireless laptops and computers. Roaming means you can move about the yacht between the access points (the routers) and switch to the strongest one on-the-fly. If necessary a 3rd router could be added to the system to fill in coverage where needed. Note these wireless routers also have a built-in 10/100 Fast Ethernet Switch with 4 ports available. This is great for integrating the wireless capability into an existing wired network, or creating one. Instructions, Documentation, and SupportI provide complete documentation on these jobs, including a diagram of how the system is connected and configured. Instructions are included in this project documentation. Some manuals come with the equipment, such as the Direcway Modem and the Linksys Routers. The Linksys Routers manual will not include the advanced features that come with the after-market firmware that I have installed on them. As far as technical support you are free to email or call me whenever you need help ... I will also provide contact information for the Satellite Installer so that you can reach him as well. Other ProjectsI have worked on over 20 Motor Yachts in 2004 and in a few homes as well. The Direcway Satellite Internet System, including my "Connection Sharing" Wireless Roaming Enhancement can be done in homes or small businesses as well. So if you are interested please give me a call.
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This page
originally written in October 2004 has today
http://www.rv-anywhere.org/ RV Anywhere is a very interesting site on Mobile Internet using Direcway. There's lots of technical and setup information there. It's geared towards Recreation Vehicle automobiles but this translates very easily to Motor Yacht on the Dock transportable set ups like we have done.
Here is a
satellite aiming page: http://www.satsig.net/ssazelm.htm
Satellite finder with magnetic north, azimuth & elevation
calculator
There are three DIRECWAY Satellites... (* Update January 2006 see immediately
below this:)
And
Excellent site for DirecPC (now retired and renamed
to...) and Direcway Satellite Internet Systems tricks and tips is: Direcway
Uncensored:
Some of the following information is derived from the Direcway Uncensored site.
DIRECWAY
SATELLITES: Hughes currently uses 8 satellites, in a geosynchronous orbit with Earth,
to deliver their satellite internet service. A
geosynchronous orbit is one that takes a period of 24 hours so that a position
in such an orbit is fixed with respect to the earth. This is why your fixed
dish always stays pointed correctly. The satellites currently being used for
Direcway are: Galaxy 3C (95.West), Galaxy 4R (99.West), Galaxy 11 (91.West)
SatMex 5 (116.8 West), IA8 (89.West), Horizons 1 (127.West), AMC 3 (87.West),
and AMC 9 (83.West).
* I am collecting some new information related to Tracnet and Satellite TV and
Internet in general in an effort to see if anything like Tracnet can be
possible here in the U.S. areas (within 100 miles of).
KVH TracNet 2.0 - was DirecPC
satellite based. DirecPC is now Direcway ... and does not support any mobile
service of Internet.
http://www.direcpc.com/ Was it the same
satellite as DirecTV? http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/learn/DishPointer.jsp
http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/learn/Manuals.jsp Hughes DirecPC Internet system?
(KVH TracNet 3.0 -
Direcway information in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirecPC
The Direcway Uncensored web
site: http://www.copperhead.cc/
* This information is for DirecTV Satellite TV reception.
* Sat A - 101 degrees with
Transponders #1 to #32
* Sat C - 110 degrees with
Converted Transponders #8, #10, #12
* Sat B - 119 degrees with
Transponders #22 to #32
**** Triple LNB can see all 3
Satellites . RG6 cable for the antenna cable...
(Note: Thinking out loud ... in order for an auto-tracking antenna system to work on a yacht that could receive both Satellite TV and High Speed Internet, it would need to have a double or dual LNB - Low Noise Block in the antenna system. There would have to be a way to switch off the TV part because TV is actually a completely different satellite, and to allow the High Speed Internet satellite to be tracked, and to switch back to TV operation. (In home systems someone could have a dual LNB and use 2 satellites at one time, but I don't think that's possible to auto-track which is why you usually see seperate satellite and TV radome - dishes on yachts. That is what was done with the Tracnet system. It might be possible to have a completely seperate satellite radome and dish for Internet that only tracked the Direcway Satellite. There would need to be an antenna controller that could track the appropriate Direcway Satellite and facility for configuring it (changing satellites, etc.) The other questions come into play about the newer 2-way systems with Direcway. I believe the TracNet system was a 1-way system via Satellite and that it transmitted uplink data via wireless (GSM/GPRS). There needs to be a coordination between that uplink and the downlink of the incoming data. Something needs to tell the ISP to send the incoming web pages or other data via the faster satellite downlink.)
Direcway
Uncensored posted the following information article:
(
Dear DirecPC Customer,
This email contains important
information about your DirecPC service. Please read carefully. You must respond
before December 13th to avoid service interruption.
The satellite service that
provides your DirecPC Internet access will no longer be operational beginning
As a long-time customer of Hughes
Network Systems, the provider of both DirecPC and DIRECWAY high-speed Internet
service, we would like to offer you a FREE upgrade. This upgrade will convert
your existing DirecPC system to a DIRECWAY One-way system and includes one FREE
month of DIRECWAY service.
The DIRECWAY network offers
improved performance over your existing DirecPC service and you can install the
upgrade yourself in just a few minutes. No changes are required to your outdoor
equipment and step-by-step instructions will be provided. All you need to do is
go to http://www.dpc.direcway.com to
request the upgrade kit.
If you do not respond before
December 13th, you may experience service interruption. So, please go to the
website and sign-up for your DIRECWAY upgrade kit immediately.
Thank you,
DirecPC Member Services
PS – Ready for Internet service without phone lines? Upgrade to
DIRECWAY Two-way today and save $100 through mail-in rebate. Go to http://www.getdway.com for more details.
* Upgrade equipment provided consists of DIRECWAY software, a refurbished
DW3000 Internal Receive Unit (IRU), and upgrade instructions. DIRECWAY’s current One-way price plans are $49.99 with
dial-up account included and $39.99 without dial-up account. This offer is very
similar to the one Hughes made to DirecPC customers back in December of 2002,
in which DirecPC/DirecDuo users were offered a free upgrade to the DirecWay
DW3000. The offer back then said it was to thank DirecPC users for being ".. a DirecPC broadband pioneer
..", and included the DW3000 modem and software. DirecDuo users were
offered a free DW3000, software, a new feedarm, and a
"DUO Upgrade kit". HNS also gave users a $50 credit for self-installation,
and $10 off the monthly service price for one year. The only 'catch' was that
DirecPC users who wanted to upgrade were required to commit to a 1-year
contract.
While this was a pretty decent offer, a good number of users (myself included) didn't opt for the upgrade. An informal
survey done on the message board here showed nearly 35% of the DirecPC users
stayed with their 'classic' system.
Todays offer however is a
"do-or-die" requirement. DirecPC 1-Way customers use the
service without contract (any contracts having long since run their course) .. so it's either upgrade to the
DW3000 or no longer have satellite internet service.
Other than the minor work required to install the new DW3000 modem
& software, users should be pretty pleased. The DW3000 typically runs
faster than the DirecPC Classic. A Classic system clocks in around 750-800kbps
downstream, whereas a DW3000 runs closer to 1000kbps on average. (Upstream is
limited to dial-up speed.)
A downstream in the ranges sounds pretty impressive, given the age
of the systems. Remember though that the speed on DirecPC,
DW3000, & DW4000 systems aren't quite as regulated as the newer
self-hosted systems.
I personally was a long time DirecPC Classic user, having used one
from 2000 until just last month when I upgraded to a DW7000.
It always worked well, and never gave me so much as a
single problem in all the years of use. It's retired now though, and rests
comfortably next to my Coleco Adam & my Amiga 1000. :-)
And now you all know the reason for the recent site name change ! DirecPC Uncensored says farewell to the
Classic system ..
as DirecWay Uncensored welcomes in the new generation
of systems ! :-)
The following article from LandfallNavigation is out
of date of current information, but does serve to provide a historical
perspective on Marine Satellite Internet (and somewhat TV) and in particular more
details on how the KVH TracNet system worked. The article seems to indicate
that KVH TracNet used a Bell ExpressVu Satellite to
provide the DVB high speed Internet downlink capability. Another quick
Wikipedia link gives some details on
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Home > Ocean Navigator Magazine > Ocean Navigator Feature Story > High
speed Web surfing at sea?
http://www.landfallnavigation.com/websurfing.html
High speed
Web surfing
at sea?
by Tim Queeney
The 1990s saw the blossoming of satellite TV, first for homeowners and later
for mariners, with products like KVH Industries' stabilized antenna TracVision and Sea Tel's MSV 2000 satellite antennas that
allow sailors to watch satellite television while at sea. Now, once again
following a trend on land, KVH is introducing a product that uses a satellite
TV antenna to access the Internet. Sea Tel, meanwhile, plans to offer an
Internet access approach that uses the Globalstar satellite system. And Iridium
is also offering a data service with hardware supplied by two European
manufacturers, Sailor and Skanti.
For homeowners, there are several companies offering Internet access via
geosynchronous satellite the same type of satellite used to broadcast satellite
TV services like DirectTV. KVH is now the exclusive
reseller of a high-speed satellite Internet service called DirecPC for mobile
users. DirecPC uses the digital video broadcast (DVB) satellite owned by Bell ExpressVu, a telecommunications company based in
One of the features of any broadband is its downlink/uplink symmetry is the
data rate the same on both the downlink and uplink sides of the system? KVH's mobile DirecPC system is asymmetrical; the downlink
from the satellite is at 400 kbps, while the\uplink, or return link, can take
advantage of a variety of communications approaches, depending on which ones
are available.
When you use your computer to access the Web, for example, the return link is
for sending the request for a web page, while the downlink is for downloading
the html file that allows your computer to draw the web page on your computer
screen.
The KVH system looks for the lowest-cost approach for sending the return link
data. For example, if you are at the dock, and the marina at which you're
staying has telephone hook-ups, you can plug your TracNet into a regular phone
line for a 56 kbps return link speed. Using this setup would cost you 19¢ a
minute. If you are underway but within cell-phone range, the TracNet system
defaults to a cellular-phone link at a data rate of 14.4 kbps and a per-minute
charge of 79¢. Outside cell-phone range, the TracNet unit will switch to a
Globalstar satellite link at a return data rate of 9.6 kbps and a cost of 79¢ a
minute. (In all of these cases, you would still use your TracVision
satellite antenna for the downlink side of the system). If you are more than
100 miles offshore, and thus outside of the footprint of the satellite, the
TracNet system defaults to a symmetrical Globalstar link at 9.6 kbps for
downlink and uplink. This data rate is no longer particularly effective for
receiving web pages, but is adequate for gathering short, text-only email.
With 802.11b wireless capability included, the KVH TracNet server is set up for
wireless networking. In order for the computer or computers on your boat to use
this wireless networking feature, of course, you will need to add an 802.11b
wireless network interface card to an expansion slot of your computer. For
those users who wish to use a wired Ethernet network, the TracNet server is
also set up for 10/100 base T networking. KVH has set the price of the TracNet
server at $5,995.
In order to use the TracNet system for Internet access, you also need a TracVision satellite antenna. These units range from $3,500
to $9,000, depending on features. KVH plans to officially introduce the TracNet
product at the Miami Boat Show in February 2002, and units will be available
for purchase at the same time.
Meanwhile, Sea Tel, another firm that offers satellite television antennas, has
recently announced a product that takes a different approach to Internet access
at sea. Rather than using a DVB satellite, Sea Tel has designed a system called
WaveCall MCM3 (which stands for multi-channel modem)
that uses low earth-orbit Globalstar satellites. The Sea Tel MCM3 product uses
three modems running in parallel. The data from the user's computer is split
into three streams, and each stream is run through one of the modems. The data
streams are carried by Globalstar satellites, which can handle data at a rate
of 9.6 kbps. The result, according to Sea Tel, will be an effective throughput
of 28.8 kbps. Software compression is used to further enhance the effective
data rate. According to Peter Whyte, president of the
WaveCall subsidiary of Sea Tel, the WaveCall MCM3 can achieve landline modem equivalents of 144
kbps.
The antenna for this system is contained within a 20-inch dome that is mounted abovedecks. Unlike the KVH system, which uses an actively
stabilized antenna to compensate for the boat's pitch and roll as it sends
signals to a geosynchronous satellite 23,000 miles away,
the Sea Tel antenna has no moving parts. There is no need for active
stabilization since the satellites are in low orbit, roughly 500 miles high. Belowdecks the WaveCall MCM3 will
use a single interface with a nine-pin serial port for connecting a computer
and an RJ-11 telephone jack for connecting a single phone or a PBX system. One
interesting feature that Sea Tel is claiming for the WaveCall
MCM3 will be the ability to simultaneously handle voice and data. As for where
you can use this system, many ocean areas of the world have Globalstar
coverage, including, for example, the northern half of the
Sea Tel has announced that the WaveCall MCM3 hardware
and service will also be officially unveiled at the Miami Boat Show in
February. No pricing has yet been set for the system.
Iridium users can send and receive email and get some basic Web access using
the data capabilities of the Iridium system. For users of Iridium's
direct-Internet data services, data rates are 10 kbps. While Iridium service is
slower than other satellite services, it does have the advantage of worldwide
availability, unlike Globalstar and DirecPC, which offer only regional
coverage. Because Iridium uses a per-minute fee schedule, with charges in the
$1.50 a minute range, users can take advantage of Iridium's Smart Connect
feature that allows the user to maintain an always-on mode, without running up
continuous airtime charges.
All three of these systems represent the arrival of offshore Internet access,
even though they are limited by coverage in the KVH case and by low data rates
in the Sea Tel and Iridium cases. The upside is that when voyagers routinely
have direct access to the Web when at sea, the wealth of information they'll
have available could significantly improve their ability to perform a variety
of tasks, like keeping track of weather; doing weather routing; gathering and
using electronic charts; communicating with friends, family, parts and
equipment suppliers onshore; and much more.
Imagine accessing a NOAA website and gathering the latest satellite images,
weather charts,
There is, no doubt, an astounding number of possible Web uses that no one has
yet thought of that will appear once voyagers begin regularly using the Web
from the ocean.
(End of quoted article. Again, this article quote (within my main
article) directly above is out-dated and is only posted here for historical
information purposes on KVH TracNet and related Marine Satellite Internet Systems.
Alan Spicer Telecom strives to be knowledgeable about the current state of and
services available for Marine Satellite Internet Systems and Services.)
[end of AST article]
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