BenSpoon replied:

Even if it is 64, you have to divide by 8 to get the speed you will actually download at: 8Kb/sec, or double for 128. On dialup, you can get up to 56Kbit = 7Kb/sec. Satellite depends on the plan, but around ISDN or above rates. ISDN speeds are pretty much guaranteed as they are a different system to the usual dial-up.

ISDN plans even with a cap can have extroadinary prices- I had $550 a month at one site just to connect 30km down the road, whereas a 512/128kbit satellite connection which is faster is only $250/mo (slightly lower for hibis).

ISDN is more reliable as satellite has frustrating delays on data transfer and can be affected by really bad weather and generally has longer contract terms but then again, I was told the reason for my last ISDN disconnection was a cable was cut in southern QLD. The ISDN was installed in Nor-West WA.
Another benefit to ISDN is if you go the 128, you can have a voice call whilst on the internet, so the ISDN can totally replace your existing voice line, but satellite means its just for data or you get the usual drawbacks of voice calls over satellites.

Speak to any companies in the area and set them onto their telstra reps to roll out broadband services to your exchange if you can. They do listen if you yell loudly.

Just to throw a spanner in the works, you can get stallion cards to use 2x phone lines simultaneously to give you twice the speed of dial-up, but it involves paying for 2x accounts at your ISP and twice the line rental. It may work out cheaper than locking into an ISDN contract though.

GaryInOz (Vic) replied:

56 K actually tops out technically at about 48-52 kb/s (6-6.5 kB/sec) in the real world due to overheads and inefficiencies, but only with very good lines. If you have lines that are long enough and old enough that ADSL doesnt work, you would be extremely unlikely to get more than 28-33kb/s (4-4.5kB/sec) using conventional dial-up, possibly down to 14.4 kb/s (1.8 kB/s).

ISDN gives you a GUARANTEED 64+64 kb/s (8+8kB/s), and although slower than ADSL, is very reliable (bank teller machines use it for this reason). This would be the best option if you are a moderate user(business), or have kids.

As you may have discovered, the satelite option can be expensive and not all that fast. There are two options, one uses your home phone as an uplink, limiting the speed at which you can transmit information (ie. send emails). This is also the least expensive of the sat options. The more expensive sat option is with a sat uplink (shooting your emails back to the sattelite), but this brings reliability issues due to weather, and something called latency issues (time delay while signal is bounced off satteliestoo and from earth).

One other option if you are a light user (email and very occasional purposeful browsing) may be to make use of the GSM or CDMA data network, hooking up to the internet via your mobile phone. Might be worth talking to your phone company.

chel replied:

Hi, we have satelite and pay $70 per month which covers all cost, no line rental. We got a rebate when installed and instead of paying $700 we only paid $200.(one off payment) We couldn't get anything else where we live. Speed is betterwith satelite than dial up. cheers michele

wresat replied:

ISDN from experience is very good. Typical download speeds 14-16kB/s when connected using dual line 128kB. Drops to slightly less then halve when using 64kB. Surfing between pages is also very acceptable. Would prefer ADSL which offers a better price/speed, but if you bundle Telstra ISDN with bigpond and home telephone overall price comes down which includes no extra dial up costs to internet.

Bob of KAOS replied:

ISDN is agonisingly slow. Best speed I got was about 5 kbps. We changed over to one way satellite and kept ISDN for the up link (mouse clicks etc). The satellite with HiBis is no more expensive than ISDN was. It is bundled now and reasonably priced. Not as cheap as ADSL or cable though (can't get them here).
The other thing with ISDN is the modem is very sensitive to lightning. Ours has been replaced about eight times. I'd go two way satellite if I was starting from scratch.
ISDN is a dog. I wouldn't touch it.

Elsewhere9 replied:

HI Rolande,

I have ISDN (128K) due to no ADSL available, and have had no problem with speed. Much better than dial up which I usually connect at 45K. ISDN is a digital line rather than the usual analogue.

I have, however, had the modem replaced due to lightening strike (took out PC as well).

Price was much cheaper than satelite when I had it installed, and not much more than I was paying for dial up. You can also use the line for phone/fax at the same time (ISDN drops to 64K), saving another phone line cost.

Hope this helps,

Cheers,
Greg

Roamin replied:

Rolande,
You should find ISDN far better than dialup. It's just that, by comparison to the ADSL speeds of 256-1500k it pales in comparison.

At 9km from the exchange it's unlikley that ADSL would be avialable to you anyway (depending on cable size/type usually 4km tops).

The modems are suseptable to lightning - a powerboard style protector (the type that u run the phone line thru as well) will help but best to unplug the lot if u hear thunder!

The billing arrangement for ISDN can be complex, check it out to ensure its right for you. U must ensure that you correct/dial out correctly under the $89 plan.

happy surfing

Roamin replied:

At the risk of complicating your choice it goes like this (get a cuppa now):

ISDN, unlike ADSL, is a dialup service. Once the ISDN modem is installed it would be normal practice to hook up to your PC via USB and the PC makes a call to your ISP and off you go.

Under this package you must ensure that the correct dialup number is entered in your PC - the 190 number for your ISP. Data calls (made via USB thru the ISDN modem) to any other number will incur a timed fee. That is where the comments of high bills come from. By the same token you should not dial out from the "analog" ports using your old dial up modem (this would be unlikely, i guess some people may do this if they get it screwed up)
The above scenario is unlikely, but forewarned ...

The drivers are quite clever: ISDN effectively give you 2 "lines", these are combined if u opt for 128k and enable you to stay on line semi-permanantly if u wish. The speed drops to 64k to free a "line" should u recieve an incoming call. Same if u lift a handset to dial out. Having said that it still operates over the same line you have now - with a white box in your house.

It is pricey - but without ADSL - you have few options other than sat.

Hope this helps

prado_95 replied:

Rolande,

if you go ISDN & want a proper Cisco ISDN router, perhaps I can help you out (ex Melb). I have a couple left over.

Dave
prado_95@yahoo.com