Satellite Internet Connections for Remote Locations
Theres a lot of huff and puff from Telecom and others about high-speed broadband connections to the internet for farmers and others in rural areas, but the reality for many people is that their connections and exchanges do not support broadband and they do not have direct line of sight to a transmitter.
Dial-up speeds at the end of a copper telephone line, with poor connections and interference from electric fences, can be painfully slow and time-outs and crashes are frequent. A familiar cry is Telecom doesnt want to know they just want to make a profit from the cities where its easy.
Until recently the only alternative was with the ISP Ihug, which provided a satellite download and copper wire upload. Thus receiving material was fast, but sending could be painfully slow.
Now the Internet company Iconz has introduced X-Terrestrial, a two-way satellite system that is fast for both uploads and downloads. The upfront cost is high (about $3000 - 5000), but it makes sense for large properties and once the receiver dish is in place the add-on cost for others within line of sight is relatively small. Monthly charges are up to $100 depending on usage.
Rangiwaea School is in an isolated farming community about 25km north of Taihape. The school has 25 pupils and 2 teachers. The Principal is Campbell Harrison. Only 10 kids are local - the rest come out from Waiouru because their parents, associated with the military camp, want their children to have the experience of a small country school where they have pet clubs and other rural activities.
Prior to going onto the two-way satellite system they were on dial-up, which was very slow and would often time-out if there was a big file to send or receive, and would often crash. The only other options were Ihug or Iconz. Ihug has a fast satellite download but copper wire upload, so that was limiting.
The school was funded by Project Probe to hook up to the Iconz system in February, and they are now able to access websites that have children's learning programs for maths, reading and English grammar as well as for researching information on other topics and for remedial learning. Harrison says that it means that he can have one group working directly with him while another group works on computers.
"They are more motivated working on computers than a sitting with pen and paper, so it has extended their learning. We also have a computer projector so that the children can present every search with links from the Internet into their PowerPoint presentations," he says.
"The confidence and skill of the children in using the Internet has improved rapidly. Currently we are discussing the elections and the children are able to look at websites and discuss some of the issues involved."
There are five computer terminals in the junior room and six in the senior room, and they are all networked and can all be used at the same time. The school also has two laptops that can be connected if necessary by network cable.
The school administration also benefits records are kept on a server hosted by an Auckland company that also maintains the software.
Erewhon Station
Location: About half an hour north-east of Taihape on the Napier-Taihape Road.
Manager: James Towers
Area: 6800 hectares
Stock: About 80,000 stock units in all, 42,000 sheep, 6500 cattle and 1000 Friesian bulls which are purchased in November and finished at 15-18 months.
Terrain: 800 metres above sea level rising to 1000 metres.
James Towers, Manager of Erewhon station, says their dial-up system through copper wire was painful to say the least. It had many problems with electric fence ticking, very slow transmission rates and frequent crashing. The final straw, he says, was when he heard that Jetstream was coming so he rang Telecom and asked how soon it would be available at Erewhon, and was told "not in your lifetime".
The Station is a big client of Telecom services but we up here in the high country size counts for little. It costs us $500 just to get a new telephone number, he says.
So when we heard that this new technology was available we thought we would tap into it.
Erewhon Station is part of a corporate farming business based in Auckland and he needs to communicate with them frequently by email and phone.
I get a lot of Excel spreadsheets, Acrobat documents, meat company kill sheets, maps and so on and they can take for ever to download on dial-up.
We try to make the best use of changing technology available now in farming - we email maps to fertiliser companies and they put them on their GPS, fly the fertiliser on and send us back a GPS map of where the fertiliser has been applied. This technology is becoming more of a necessity than a luxury now as customers of meat companies demand assurance of stock health and grazing regimes. I also regularly use the Internet to check on currency and markets when we are selling stock, says James.
We have had the fast satellite connection for six months now and it is easy to forget just how frustrating dial-up used to be, but I am reminded when I go home because I have a dial-up connection there. In the office I can be using the phone and looking at email or the Internet at the same time, so it is very convenient.
The Iconz system was installed in summer, and took about a day for a technician and to set up connection at the office.
Does it make us any more money? I don't know. The cost is significant, but it saves time and hassle and frustration and time is money. It means that I can come in the office and do something efficiently and then get onto something else.
James has strong feelings about the way the more isolated rural communities are treated.
Properties on the Napier Taihape road, known as The Gentle Annie, contribute significantly to the NZ economy, and yet telecommunications services are so poor. Telecom conducts customer surveys of rural communities but I understand that they put towns the size of Feilding in it and so they paint quite a different picture from the reality of more isolated rural communities like ours, he says.
We have had to put our own $25,000 radio telephone system for communications between staff and for safety reasons because we can't get cellphone coverage here. So we are forced to fend for ourselves.
For more info on X-Terrestrial Satellite Internet Access from Iconz
phone 0800 843 638 or visit www.iconz.co.nz
Dial-up speeds at the end of a copper telephone line, with poor connections and interference from electric fences, can be painfully slow and time-outs and crashes are frequent. A familiar cry is Telecom doesnt want to know they just want to make a profit from the cities where its easy.
Until recently the only alternative was with the ISP Ihug, which provided a satellite download and copper wire upload. Thus receiving material was fast, but sending could be painfully slow.
Now the Internet company Iconz has introduced X-Terrestrial, a two-way satellite system that is fast for both uploads and downloads. The upfront cost is high (about $3000 - 5000), but it makes sense for large properties and once the receiver dish is in place the add-on cost for others within line of sight is relatively small. Monthly charges are up to $100 depending on usage.
Rangiwaea School is in an isolated farming community about 25km north of Taihape. The school has 25 pupils and 2 teachers. The Principal is Campbell Harrison. Only 10 kids are local - the rest come out from Waiouru because their parents, associated with the military camp, want their children to have the experience of a small country school where they have pet clubs and other rural activities.
Prior to going onto the two-way satellite system they were on dial-up, which was very slow and would often time-out if there was a big file to send or receive, and would often crash. The only other options were Ihug or Iconz. Ihug has a fast satellite download but copper wire upload, so that was limiting.
The school was funded by Project Probe to hook up to the Iconz system in February, and they are now able to access websites that have children's learning programs for maths, reading and English grammar as well as for researching information on other topics and for remedial learning. Harrison says that it means that he can have one group working directly with him while another group works on computers.
"They are more motivated working on computers than a sitting with pen and paper, so it has extended their learning. We also have a computer projector so that the children can present every search with links from the Internet into their PowerPoint presentations," he says.
"The confidence and skill of the children in using the Internet has improved rapidly. Currently we are discussing the elections and the children are able to look at websites and discuss some of the issues involved."
There are five computer terminals in the junior room and six in the senior room, and they are all networked and can all be used at the same time. The school also has two laptops that can be connected if necessary by network cable.
The school administration also benefits records are kept on a server hosted by an Auckland company that also maintains the software.
Erewhon Station
Location: About half an hour north-east of Taihape on the Napier-Taihape Road.
Manager: James Towers
Area: 6800 hectares
Stock: About 80,000 stock units in all, 42,000 sheep, 6500 cattle and 1000 Friesian bulls which are purchased in November and finished at 15-18 months.
Terrain: 800 metres above sea level rising to 1000 metres.
James Towers, Manager of Erewhon station, says their dial-up system through copper wire was painful to say the least. It had many problems with electric fence ticking, very slow transmission rates and frequent crashing. The final straw, he says, was when he heard that Jetstream was coming so he rang Telecom and asked how soon it would be available at Erewhon, and was told "not in your lifetime".
The Station is a big client of Telecom services but we up here in the high country size counts for little. It costs us $500 just to get a new telephone number, he says.
So when we heard that this new technology was available we thought we would tap into it.
Erewhon Station is part of a corporate farming business based in Auckland and he needs to communicate with them frequently by email and phone.
I get a lot of Excel spreadsheets, Acrobat documents, meat company kill sheets, maps and so on and they can take for ever to download on dial-up.
We try to make the best use of changing technology available now in farming - we email maps to fertiliser companies and they put them on their GPS, fly the fertiliser on and send us back a GPS map of where the fertiliser has been applied. This technology is becoming more of a necessity than a luxury now as customers of meat companies demand assurance of stock health and grazing regimes. I also regularly use the Internet to check on currency and markets when we are selling stock, says James.
We have had the fast satellite connection for six months now and it is easy to forget just how frustrating dial-up used to be, but I am reminded when I go home because I have a dial-up connection there. In the office I can be using the phone and looking at email or the Internet at the same time, so it is very convenient.
The Iconz system was installed in summer, and took about a day for a technician and to set up connection at the office.
Does it make us any more money? I don't know. The cost is significant, but it saves time and hassle and frustration and time is money. It means that I can come in the office and do something efficiently and then get onto something else.
James has strong feelings about the way the more isolated rural communities are treated.
Properties on the Napier Taihape road, known as The Gentle Annie, contribute significantly to the NZ economy, and yet telecommunications services are so poor. Telecom conducts customer surveys of rural communities but I understand that they put towns the size of Feilding in it and so they paint quite a different picture from the reality of more isolated rural communities like ours, he says.
We have had to put our own $25,000 radio telephone system for communications between staff and for safety reasons because we can't get cellphone coverage here. So we are forced to fend for ourselves.
For more info on X-Terrestrial Satellite Internet Access from Iconz
phone 0800 843 638 or visit www.iconz.co.nz