Can fast Internet from new satellites come to Burning Man?

[some seeing eye]

Several startups plan satellite Internet at high speeds and lower cost. The names involved, Musk, Page, Zuckerberg may be familiar to burners. I wonder if Wyler, behind O3b (operating) and One Web in the article is a burner?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/ ... t-i58i2dp6

[Skuzzy61]

Speed has never been a real issue for satellite. Latency is.

Click on link...send click to satellite, then to ground based server, then stream data back to satellite, then back down to user. With a geo-sync satellite, that one action to start a stream has to cover about 89,000 miles. To put that in perspective, doing that on all ground based services would go around the Earth about four times.

Satellite links are also simplex connections which are stateless. Not as reliable nor as fast as a full duplex connection. This means the sending server has to wait for its acks, after exhausting its sliding window, before it can send anymore.

This could be fixed, but each time a bit error in the stream occurs, the time to correct and resend the data is pretty significant.

Are they better than nothing? Yep.

[LowePro]

Please no. Call me old timey, but I really like that Bman is disconnected (albeit somewhat) from ubiquitous internet access. It adds to the magic, uniqueness, and immediacy of the event.

[Simon of the Playa]

and hence the need for camp electro magnetic pulse.





fuck your devices.

[lucky420]

Please no. Call me old timey, but I really like that Bman is disconnected (albeit somewhat) from ubiquitous internet access. It adds to the magic, uniqueness, and immediacy of the event.

yes!

[trilobyte]

As has always been the case, availability and performance with that technology comes down to weather conditions. Dust storms can and regularly do degrade and disrupt communications in the area, so even with all the latest and greatest tech that money can buy it's still something of a crap shoot.

I don't hate all technology on the playa, but I'm personally comfortable with the disconnect. To me, the challenge to be taken away from Burning Man isn't how to get better internet out there, but how to find ways to take breaks from always-on connectivity and focus more on being present in the moment back in Defaultia.

[Sham]

I don't hate all technology on the playa, but I'm personally comfortable with the disconnect. To me, the challenge to be taken away from Burning Man isn't how to get better internet out there, but how to find ways to take breaks from always-on connectivity and focus more on being present in the moment back in Defaultia.

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!
With all the trappings of home---a nice air conditioned RV (heated at night) and full internet connectivity, you can stay safely inside and watch the burn on Burning Man TV.

[mudpuppy000]

I pretty much had cell service the whole time this year. It was nice being able to check and see how things were going back home with my family, but it also was a big distraction. I felt more at ease at the san diego decompression that was completely cut off from the outside world. Of course everything got dumped on me as soon as I got back to the real world, but hey it was nice for those 4 days.

[Elderberry]

I like being connected, but I usually only connect first thing in the morning and then the last thing at night. (Assuming I'm in a suitable condition or just plain don't feel like it.) The phone doesn't leave the Yurt at all during the day.

[Skuzzy61]

I'll enjoy my Wife not having her phone in her face all day long. I do not think she realizes how much she buries herself into it. I am hoping for zero Internet and phone service.

My phone is a dumb flip phone which cannot do text messaging. No Internet either. It is just a phone. I work with computers all day, everyday, will welcome the break from being enslaved by all that technology.

[Token]

Sat internet is a pipe dream Scuzzy summed up perfect.

I have Sat at my ranch and 1 second latency is very common. Doesn't really slow you down when downloading big files since the modem does spoofing to make the whole TCP window a non issue, but the moment you encrypt the connection like for VPN where the whole header of the packet is encrypted ... Might as well break out the Old AOL cd and analog phone modem.

All that money should be invested into terrestrial wireless systems that can be open, secure and transparent between vendors.

Thought Google would do something like that when they bought up all that wireless spectrum when we killed analog TV, but they are slow to deploy other than pilots.

[DrYes]

My phone goes into airplane mode the minute we hit the playa and isn't allowed to dirty itself with a signal until we leave the playa again.

[some seeing eye]

We have had several technical discussions of Internet connectivity to the event. As far as anyone has been able to determine Gerlach's only connectivity is at the end of a microwave chain from Wadsworth. That chain is overloaded when the event turns on its channels along with the temporary cell sites set up by carriers. The overload decreases the connections available for participant and art project WiFi.

The satellite services in the article have less to significantly less latency than geosynchronous satellites. And their service could be subscribed by individual tech camps without any discussion with the BMORG. But a wealthy tech entity could also subscribe to the service and share it with BMORG and/or other camps to distribute.

The BMORG connection is essential for medical operations (especially in the past when the medical service was directly attached to a local hospital, there was on playa imaging with remote reading), BMORG logistics and probably LEO ops.

If they redistributed it, it would be a good idea to coordinate spectrum with the BMORG, which opens up Placement to veto.

Personally, I think the event is a fine place for all kinds of radio experimentation and use case experimentation which is coordinated and non-interfering. And I'm still waiting for radar air traffic control

[Skuzzy61]

As A DiSH customer, we could bring a mobile Internet connection with the RV, but decided against it. Well, I decided against it. We would share with it anyone, but I could see our little camp overloaded with people texting and the thought of a camp full of people standing/sitting around with their heads buried in their phones disgusts me.

It inspires me to want to create an art piece based on the enslavement of a species to technology, but I will not do it. It would be an angry piece.

[somebodys-mom]

We have had several technical discussions of Internet connectivity to the event. As far as anyone has been able to determine Gerlach's only connectivity is at the end of a microwave chain from Wadsworth. That chain is overloaded when the event turns on its channels along with the temporary cell sites set up by carriers. The overload decreases the connections available for participant and art project WiFi.
...

The BMORG connection is essential for medical operations (especially in the past when the medical service was directly attached to a local hospital, there was on playa imaging with remote reading), BMORG logistics and probably LEO ops.

As part of the crew that brings 511 traffic and traveler information services to our lovely fellow Burners, having a little better cell coverage would be nice since our traffic readers, remote cameras, and data sensors work on the local cellular network. When it slows down, so does the service we're trying to provide to everyone. Yes, our on-site office is under the BMORG connection but the off-site stuff is reliant on the tech that's already there (plus a whole lotta solar so if you see little cameras or boxes with small solar panels attached, that's probably us so please leave them alone, you wouldn't believe how many people get out and handle them, requiring us to go out and readjust them daily).

I think adding internet would be a double-edged sword. If it weren't for work, I know I'd leave all my tech at home. It gets in my way at the Burn yet it's so useful to everyone else for us to provide the traffic info. It has helped immensely in the case to the state of NV and to the BLM for adding more population to BRC in the future.

[Zona]

Like a strike from space, you are all under mind control.

I was paid to say that by the NSA about "there" directed energy weapons you paid for, but can't see.

Get it yet?

[Sham]

I can see this evolving into everyone on the playa hold their phones up to their faces texting their friends the whole week. Having this event being so remote, it was wonderful to have human interaction as well as a disconnect of the outside world. I know some will remain disconnected, but I think we are going to see a good majority of people holding phones to their faces.

[ranger magnum]

For me, the more connectivity the better. Im on Playa for 3 weeks, and the only way I can be allowed that luxury is to be able to work while I'm there.

[Simon of the Playa]

10616502_10152587781688101_8970741948244418382_n.jpg

[vargaso]

I can see this evolving into everyone on the playa hold their phones up to their faces texting their friends the whole week. Having this event being so remote, it was wonderful to have human interaction as well as a disconnect of the outside world. I know some will remain disconnected, but I think we are going to see a good majority of people holding phones to their faces.

Would be fun to engage with people staring at phones with some kind of performance art thing. Maybe make a giant phone cutout and offer to hold it up in front of the person wherever they go so they can experience the event through a screen the whole time. I don't know, something fun and light-hearted but with a point.

[Simon of the Playa]

hithere.jpg

[BoyScoutGirl]

UGH.

I fervently hope your predictions are wrong for once, Simon.

Also, wasn't the Temple of Like (or whatever the big thumbs up was called) supposed to be drawing attention to this very thing? It was poorly received by most people I spoke with.

[Simon of the Playa]

burners can be like luddites, living at the cutting edge...

[Dr. Pyro]

burners can be like luddites, living at the cutting edge...

Or burners can be like Mexican gardeners, living on he edging cut.