Satellite communications:
Portable SatCom FAQs
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Posted: 4/15/2004
We recommend that you review What System is Best
for You?, which answers
many of the most common questions.
There are also two excellent FAQ resources, which we recommend:
Please note that discounted prices and service rates are available
to all non-profit, church, and humanitarian organizations only if you contact
HumaniNet in advance. We can then direct you to the appropriate service
partner.
Other frequently asked questions
How is Iridium service charged? Service is charged by the minute
(airtime). Our service partners also charge an activation fee
and a monthly fee.
Can I send and receive email with an Iridium satphone? Yes.
Please see our section Iridium – Voice and Email Anywhere. Email
works especially well with the UUPlus email compression service.
Is it possible to send and receive attachments with
Iridium email? Yes. For users who frequently send and receive email
with attachments, we recommend the UUPlus email compression
service, which not only reduces
transmission time (and thus cost) but improves efficiency of
transmissions, such as far fewer interrupted transmissions.
How is RBGAN service charged? Our service partners charge an
activation fee, a monthly access fee, and a usage fee, which
is based on the number of megabytes sent and received.
I can access a Web site that gives me free and unlimited
email. Would this work with the RBGAN modem? Yes,
it should. But remember that when you download a Web page over
the Internet, the RBGAN
service charges
for the kilobytes that you download (and send back). If you
right-click on a Web page, then select Properties, you can
determine the kilobytes,
and thus the cost, about one cent per kilobyte. If the site
has very few graphics, (a "lean" page) it may be only 10 kb,
or 10 cents. So Web-based mail, as it is called, can be expensive
if there are graphics, ads, etc. included with each page of
mail that you download. It is usually better to access email
using "POP3" or
IMAP, which download messages into Outlook or some other mail
software on your computer.
One of our team members ran a
test scenario that involves receiving one 2 kilobyte (k)
message and sending a 3k reply. Using a free email account from
Yahoo, it costs $2.32. Using POP3 with a program like Outlook
Express, this involves 10-12k of bandwidth
usage,
which
would cost about 10
cents. Click here for the details.
Can the RBGAN be used for voice communications using Voice
over IP (VoIP)? We know of successful VoIP tests using RBGAN, but it is
not yet cost competitive. Even low data rates result in a cost of US $1
- $2 per minute. We will continue to monitor progress and testing in this
area, however.
Can the RBGAN be used for instant messaging (IM)? Yes – we
know of an organization that uses IM successfully. Any application
that involves transmission and receipt of text messages works
well with RBGAN.
For further information and assistance, contact us at info@humaninet.org.
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