XBOX Live and High Speed Satellite, like Direcway, does it work ok? Anyone out there running this configuration?

the lag would be too high Satalight internet has more latency than dial up 700ms+ normal broadband is under 100ms

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Though that is entirely true... and I wouldn't ever run live via satellite for fear that even if it did work i'd get constant lag, I have read on other forums people have it working and experiencing no problems. I take those with a grain of salt though.

QUOTE

700ms+

It is a minimum of 700ms each way... That means an average of 1400ms+.

It all depends on how Xbox games "communicate" with the live server. If they send lots of packets, they are "chatty", thus causing a noticable lag over the connection. I have never studied the packets, so I don't know if the system is effecient or not (my guess is no!).

Also, a lot of this depends on the nature of the satellite connection. There are several "transaction" types, perhaps the network provider has a special transaction for a chatty app or Xbox Live. The way IP packets are handled varies so much from provider to provider, or even within providers based on a service!

Bottom line, there are so many variables, the only way to know is to try

Thanks folks. I will try and post the results.

In terms of latency, yes, I agree, a significant problem, and the performance of Live over satellite will entirely depend on the "chattiness" of the application with the Xbox Live server. MS is notorious for its proprietary network protocol inefficienceis and chattiness in their applications, i.e. Outlook.

I plan on sniffing the traffic generated by the Live connection, not that it makes a differrence, but good to know nevertheless.....

Chieftan

I live 30 minutes from the city and I wanted high-speed internet. My only option was satellite internet, so I went with a service provider named HUGHES. I have the best connection they have avialiable, paying about $80 a month. When I signed up I was never informed about this "limit" on the amount of internet usage I could use. I found out in less then a day, but I had already signed the contract, so there was no getting out of it. I have an x-box 360 and I can connect to the internet with it, but playing online with other users is out of the question because of the POOR LATENCY. The satalight goes down 1-2 times each week, which is really annoying. I have called them about this several times and they came to find out the problem. They said, of course, that nothing was wrong and there was nothing they can do to help me. If you are forced into getting a satellite-based internet I strongly advise NOT going with HUGHES.

lots of contracts have a 30-day opt-out clause. if its not too late, you might want to check the fine print.