Curse

SqueekyPenguin · Nov 01, 2010, 08:46 PM // 20:46

I recently moved to a more rural area and to my "joy", DSL is unavailable. My family and I decided to try out HughesNet and we are very disappointed with it. The speeds are extremely slow after meeting the data plan and I am often faced with a "Connection timed out page" while surfing the internet. I am faced with average pings of 2,500ms and frequent rubberbands.

So, here's my question to you guys: Do I suck it up and deal with what I have, or will dial-up be an improvement? Any helpful responses are welcome from those who have dealt with similar experiences. Thanks!

tar6et · Nov 01, 2010, 10:33 PM // 22:33

I played GW on a dial up connection for a few months and it wasn't too bad. I even shared the connection with another computer so two of us could play. Latency will always be better over dial up when compared to satellite and GW doesn't really need a lot of bandwidth at all.

Just make sure your not doing anything else at all online or it will tank it.

*Darcy* · Nov 01, 2010, 10:40 PM // 22:40

Once you have the entire .dat file on your computer, there isn't much downloading going on with Guild Wars. Just any small updates they make. All the large static stuff like scenery is in the .dat file.

SqueekyPenguin · Nov 01, 2010, 10:49 PM // 22:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by tar6et

I played GW on a dial up connection for a few months and it wasn't too bad. I even shared the connection with another computer so two of us could play. Latency will always be better over dial up when compared to satellite and GW doesn't really need a lot of bandwidth at all.

Just make sure your not doing anything else at all online or it will tank it.

Cool. That is pretty much exactly what I needed to know. Looks like we will be making the switch sometime this week, then.

And to Darcy, yeah, I've got it on the computer already so no problems there.

Thanks guys for the fast responses to a critical decision!

Sierraa · Nov 01, 2010, 11:00 PM // 23:00

Dial-up will be better for ping, but downloads/surfing will be slower.
Satellite will be decent for speeds but have an awful ping. :]

Elder III · Nov 02, 2010, 12:02 AM // 00:02

Satellite (& cell signals) are morbidly horrible for online gaming. They have to transmit the signal 4 or more times for every command you try to execute in game, hence the 2000+ ping. Dial Up is ok, just don't plan to download anything on it....... I'd try to have satellite for browsing/downloading and dial up for GW if I were you.

SacredTbag · Nov 02, 2010, 04:13 AM // 04:13

^^^ What Elder said. You'll find that most people with satellite also have dial up and switch between the two for different things. Satellite is next to useless for gaming. Just isn't happening.

At least you didn't have my choice up until recently. It was satellite or nothing. I chose to just save the money.

Perkunas · Nov 02, 2010, 05:11 AM // 05:11

Make sure to read the fine print. Depending on plan, your time online is not unlimited. During peak times, once you meet the limits, your speeds will be reduced for a time.

I live in the country and had looked at HoughesNet also. I decided to stay with the monopoly our local phone company holds, until someone like AT&T can reach us. They are getting close, less than a mile as the crow flies.

Good luck with which ever route you take.

SqueekyPenguin · Nov 02, 2010, 11:45 AM // 11:45

Again, thanks for the responses.

@Perkunas- Yeah, it is one of those goofy package deals. And since I live in central time, I have unlimited downloading!..Between the hours of like 1 and 6 a.m. -.-
The dial-up will be through AT&T, thank goodness.

I'm afraid that dial-up and satellite BOTH are not an option. But after talking it out as a family, we're ok with dial-up for now. Those in the home that do not game online only use the internet to check internet and small things like that.

Thank you guys for all the help and responses! Good to know that if you ever need to know something, even a situation like this, that the Guru community is there to help you out!

axe · Nov 02, 2010, 12:33 PM // 12:33

My only option as well is Dial Up, and GW used to use less bandwidth than it does now, there was a time I could actually be on Ventrillo and play GW at the same time, but its not possible now.

My only worry though is that GW2 being non-instanced will be a no go with Dial up, hopefully (not looking good) something will be available before GW2 comes out

SqueekyPenguin · Nov 03, 2010, 12:48 AM // 00:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by axe

My only option as well is Dial Up, and GW used to use less bandwidth than it does now, there was a time I could actually be on Ventrillo and play GW at the same time, but its not possible now.

My only worry though is that GW2 being non-instanced will be a no go with Dial up, hopefully (not looking good) something will be available before GW2 comes out

I feel your pain about GW2. Luckily, I will be moving before it is released, fingers crossed. But I am hoping that dial-up will work for you or that something better will come along!