Chris wants to know if Starlink is good for a boat. Leo says that they want you to stay on land with it. But there may be plans in the future, according to The Verge. Wild Blue's Exceed is supposed to be better, but you're moving around with a boat, which means constantly realigning the satellite signal. So the problem is likely going to be the same. Since Chris is mostly in a sound with his boat, cellular may be a better option.
Dee Dee is going to buy a new RV called the Thor Outlaw, and it comes with a WiFi booster. What does she need in between her computer hardware? Leo says that it's a Weingard WiFi extender and 4G hotspot. So she won't really need anything in between it and the computer. But she will need her own internet access that the Weingard will act as a gateway to. Leo says Dee Dee's choices are basic cellular carriers like AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon. Then she will put the SIM in the Weingard. Watch their videos though, to see.
Rick wants to know if he can get a satellite antenna that offers "free hi-def" channels. Leo says it's not the channels he thinks he'll get. He'll end up getting stuff that's already being streamed on the internet. Almost certainly a bogus offer.
The FCC has approved an application from Elon Musk's SpaceX to deploy 7,000 satellites into space that would offer global broadband internet access. Elon Musk wants a total of 12,000 satellites around the earth in Low Earth Orbit to provide internet to every square inch of the planet's surface. One of the problems with satellite internet is that there's a lot of latency, but Musk says they can get it down to 25 milliseconds, which could be faster than the internet many of us have at home.
Nick wants to know about the DirecTV Genie 2. Does it do 4k? Leo says that DirecTV claims to offer two separate 4K streams, but he wonders how legit that is. 4K satellite is very compressed.
Peter switched from one satellite company to another. On his old satellite receiver, he had an HDMI output he could run to his TV and RCA audio outputs that he could run to his outdoor speaker system. his new unit no longer has the RCA audio output. It has an AV Out, a 1010 round port, and a digital audio out. How can he convert the audio? Leo says he can get a little dongle that could convert either the digital audio out or even from the HDMI out. He would need an adapter that will strip the audio out of it.
Ramona has discovered that her ISP can't go to the area she's moving to. Is satellite internet a good option? Leo says that satellite is expensive, there's a lot of latency and lag as the signal goes up and back, and it's slow. She wouldn't get much bandwidth either. One provider is a little better than others though, and that's WildBlue Exede. Cable would be much better, and even LTE wireless would be a better option.
Ron has an RV and wants to know how to get satellite internet for it. Leo says he can get a disk that fits on his RV, but it's not the greatest and he'll always have to reposition it. Leo says that 4G/LTE is a better option. Every carriers sell MiFi cards that will enable him to connect up to 5 devices to it and have access to the internet.
Another option is the KarmaGo. It's pay as you go and Leo uses it when he travels. It's about $10 a GB. Ron should also check with his carrier.
Bonnie has a Sharp LCD TV, had FIOS TV installed yesterday, and now the picture quality is terrible. She cancelled it, but now it's still not any better. Scott suspects that the cable that they replaced her HDMI with was faulty or cheap and that caused the inferior reception. Scott suggests connecting her DVD player via component and then connect the satellite box via HDMI, and get a different cable. That should solve it.
Marilyn says that her internet carrier is trying to charge her extra for bandwidth. She uses Dish. Leo says that satellite internet has bandwidth caps because it's very constrained. Leo only recommends satellite when there's no other choice. He recommends going to DSLReports.com. They have ISP reviews by geographic area. If there's nothing else in her area, Marilyn would be much better off going with LTE wireless.
