Get Netflix Streaming and Amazon Instant Video in the VI

I just used my mobile broadband when I was down there. It always assigned a stateside IP address.

I just used my mobile broadband when I was down there. It always assigned a stateside IP address.

Yeah you can do that, one thing to consider though is that you have a 5GB cap per month on most mobile broadband plans these days which you will hit pretty quickly if you are streaming netflix movies.

Sean

Sean--where the heck are you getting a 10mbs connection in the VI?

Bernie

On a possibly related note, does anybody know when Innovative will be doing trials for the fiber optic system they laid down in some areas recently? (I saw it being laid around the housing areas around Hovensa a few weeks ago.) More importantly, how does one get signed up? 🙂

Sean--where the heck are you getting a 10mbs connection in the VI?

Bernie

I tried using HMA before but it slowed the cr@p out of my internet. So I to am curious how you got 10mb in the VI.

Innovative sucks, broadband sucks for us (no service in our local) and same with choice.

Does anyone know if Hughnet is any better or if anyone is still selling it? I'm about ready to take a sledge hammer to my computer as it has become worthless.

In regards to speeds, I am fortunate to be beta testing some new stuff for Broadband VI now. They are working really hard at upgrading their infrastructure to support higher speeds. I don't know what speeds they plan to offer but it seems that good things are coming!

As for HMA and speeds, I haven't done anything special other than to use their software and choose the server that is closest to us (Florida). On my 1mb Innovative DSL line I saw no degredation of speed at all. A 1mbps connection shouldn't tax what HMA offers at all, that's just not a lot of bandwidth. As the bandwidth ramps up the speed of a VPN solution is a concern. At one point in my beta testing of BBVI I was getting 15mb/s and if I used the Open VPN option in the HMA software it capped out at about 10mb/s but if I switched it to PPTP it got up to 14mbps which was excellent.

I will say that if you are using Choice or other highly latent connection you may not get great results. I had Choice's "4G" service for a while but the latency is 2-4 times that of BBVI or Innovative which can reduce VPN speed, and is not condusive to VOIP, videoconferencing, and Games. Also, as documented elsewhere on the forum, it was extremely inconsistent with the speeds it could deliver, during peak times it offered horrible speeds with good speeds late at night. BBVI is taking the right approach by beta testing things before blindly increasing speeds and hoping for the best.

Hiya! what provider were you using to connect to HMA and how were you connecting (using the HMA software)? Also my testing was all done on my Windows 7 desktop which is about 2 years old (Core 2 Quad based system with 4GB RAM)...I've never tested them on a Mac or on Linux, I do have a Linksys E3000 router that I use to connect to them using OpenVPN and it tops out at about 6mbps which is a limitation of the router hardware.

Sean

Choice's 4G is not a true 4G. Sprint has not announced when it will bring WiMAX internet service to the VI, but supposedly all of AT&T's new towers will be 4G-ready with either the HSPA+ with enhanced backhaul (what AT&T 4G service runs on now in the states) or LTE (which will be faster). So the new AT&T tower that's supposed to be up and running in the fall on STX should--fingers crossed that it is!--be 4G-capable.

I recently purchased a USB Connect device from AT&T for my laptop. At the time, I was deciding which device, the sales person told me there would not be any AT&T 4G on STX anytime soon, and I should just go with the 3G device. I guess one person's "soon" can be relative.

I use the same VPN provider and a 1.5 MBs connection from BBVI. Just checked my download speed through the Tampa VPN server and I am getting 1.54 Mbs.

This setup works well most of the time for receiving Netflix. Not enough bandwidth for HD though,

Jim

Odd that they'd be saying that, Juanita. I talked to an AT&T rep a couple of weeks ago who told me that AT&T isn't building any new towers that aren't 4G ready, and the one on the East End is projected to be up and running by October...not that I'm holding my breath.

Sean-Good to hear about BBVI. We have them now and the inconsistency and slowness of the connection is maddening. We can't use Skype (which is our primary business number) when we're on island, so we've had to switch to using our mobiles. And watching Hulu or other shows can be frustrating as well. When I talked to BBVI last month, the rep said we had "old technologies" in our towers and that they hoped to have them upgraded later this year. Man, if we could get 10 mbs or even half that, we'd be ecstatic!

Bernie