There are some of us who live in very rural areas or have recreational cabins/homes beyond the reach or ordinary internet connections. A number of people have discovered satellite internet, such as Hughesnet or Starband. Last year there was, as part of stimulus money, I think, an incentive program where the equipment and installation were free.

The connection is reasonable.. maybe 500Kbps to 1.5 mbps... but there are a number of limitations, like the total amount of downloaded data allowed per week. Other issues are technical, and based on the latency.. that is the amount of time it takes for the signal to go 22,000 miles to the satellite and back. Until recently, one of the victims of this was LogMeIn. LogMeIn ignition would work in the iPad, but not the normal version.

I recently did a system upgrade on my Mac laptop, and did the requested LogMeIn plugin upgrade. Lo and behold, it is now working great over Starband. A bit slow, but a whole lot better than nothing.

It saves a lot of stress to be able to clear off my desktop if I am out in the bush for a week.


David Grauman MD
Department of Medicine
Commonwealth Health Center
Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands