Satellite Internet and Online Gaming: Does It Work?

!±8± Satellite Internet and Online Gaming: Does It Work?

Online gaming is one of the fastest growing trends in the world right now. With games such as Runescape boasting subscriber numbers of around a million and World of Warcraft exceeding 7 million active members, the total number of MMOG subscriptions is verging on the absurd, quickly approaching the 14 million mark worldwide[6/06, mmogchart.com]. This tremendous growth in the popularity of the online gaming industry has, in part, been fueled by the accessibility of high-speed broadband internet. A high-speed connection allows for a much more enjoyable game-play experience. Everyone knows that online games work exceptionally well on DSL and Cable internet connections, but what about the newer high-speed service satellite internet? As satellite internet is becoming more readily available and cost effective more and more rural dial-up customers are making the switch to cash in on the faster speeds and always on access. But, when it comes to online gaming many are concerned that their game-play experience will be less satisfactory, if they can even connect to play at all.

The reason for this concern is the issue of latency. Latency is an expression of how much time it takes for a packet of data to get from one designated point to another. This is direly important when it come to on-line gaming in that latency translates into the time that it takes from the moment that a button is pushed to when the action is performed in the game. Often this can mean the difference between life and death. With DSL and Cable the response time is almost immediate, being between 50milliseconds-150milliseconds. The latency for satellite internet is between 600milliseconds-800milliseconds. This may sound like the end of online gaming for someone who has just made the switch to satellite internet but it is not. Although this degree of latency does all but rule out first-person shooters there are a good number of MMOGs that operate well over a satellite internet connection. And, although the effects of latency can never be completely eliminated, there are ways in which to improve upon them. The simplest way to do this is by speeding up the way that one's computer handles and responds to information being transferred through the connection and by increasing the total amount of available bandwidth. Some operating systems have built in reserves on bandwidth that are non-essential to the functionality of most web applications, see link for a tweak http://www.wildblue.cc/wbforums/showthread.php?t=3323 .

By eliminating non-essential services i.e. bandwidth hogs that the average user never utilizes and dedicating more physical resources to the most used application can help tremendously. Minimizing the effects of latency down to the bare minimum allowed by the laws of physics enables one to play more online gaming that was before not workable and also speeds up the responses of other games that already do work. So, although there are limitations to on-line gaming over satellite internet there are also ways to improve upon game-play responsiveness and many games that will play well without operating system tweaks. Below is a list of online games for both console and PC that, according to subscribers that have tested and played them, do and do not work over satellite internet. This is not a definitive list of games guaranteed to work, so be cautious as results may vary.

What Works

Xbox/Xbox360/PS2/Handheld Games:

Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter

Battlefield 2: Modern Combat(for me anyway doesn't for some others)

Perfect Dark Zero

All Tony Hawk games

Mario Kart DS

Call of Duty 2

Medal of Honor: Rising Sun

Socom 3(mixed results)

Socom 2(so-so)

Nascar 06 total team control(works kinda)

Rainbow Six Series(Host boots for high ping usually, But CO-OP and 2 V 2 work well)

Splinter Cell: Double Agent

PC Games:

Runescape

Asheron's Call

Everquest

Everquest 2

World of Warcraft

Star Wars Galaxies

Dark Age of Camelot

Roma Victor

Eve Online

Star Wars: Empire at War

Dungeon and Dragons online

Warcraft3

GuildWars

City of Heroes(very difficult to connect to the patch server..other than that it works fine)

Final Fantasy XI

Contract Jack

Auto Assault

Aces High Online flight sim

Trackmania

WarRock Beta

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Outcast

StarPeace

America's Army

Red Orchestra

Diablo 2

Titan Quest

F.E.A.R.

Postal 2

What doesn't work or is not enjoyable

Xbox/Xbox360/PS2/Handheld Games:

Far Cry Instincts Predator

Halo 2

NBA Live 2006

Quake 4

Prey Demo

Ratchet and Clank: Deadlocked

PC Games:

Star Craft

BattleField 2 Demo

Call of Duty 1&2

Battelfield2

Band of Brothers

C&C Generals

UT2004(playable..not enjoyable)

Ragnarok

Prey Demo

Civ 4

Battlefield 2142

Satellite Internet and Online Gaming: Does It Work?

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iMetrik GPS Vehicle Tracking: Protecting Auto Dealerships and Vehicle Owners

!±8± iMetrik GPS Vehicle Tracking: Protecting Auto Dealerships and Vehicle Owners

Vehicles are not just products for auto dealerships; they're investments. Dealers typically continue to make revenue on purchased vehicles long after they're sold, and lease vehicles continue to be important financial investments as they are leased to different customers. Like any other kind of financial investment, it's important that dealerships protect vehicles against theft and delinquent payments. GPS vehicle tracking devices provide auto dealerships with an extremely effective way of protecting their vehicle investments at a very low cost.

iMetrik is a new brand in GPS auto tracking technology which is quickly becoming the GPS vehicle tracking brand preferred by most auto dealerships. iMetrik's GPS vehicle tracking devices offer a number of state-of-the-art features, including real time, 24/7 locational tracking.

The most common reasons car dealers use iMetrik GPS vehicle tracking devices (and GPS auto tracking units in general) include:

Protection Against Auto Theft

Installing GPS tracking devices into sold vehicles is a way to guarantee the new owner protection against auto theft. GPS tracking devices record pinpoint location in real time, allowing the auto dealership to find the stolen vehicle and alert the authorities to its whereabouts. GPS vehicle tracking devices greatly increase the chances of recovering stolen vehicles, allowing better protection of both the owner's property and the dealership's investment.

Protection Against Car Payment Delinquency

Reminding auto owners of their delinquent payments by mail or phone calls can be time consuming, costly and, above all, ineffective. Recovering vehicles which have passed their payment grace periods can be even more costly, particularly if the vehicle's owner has moved and left no forwarding address. GPS vehicle tracking devices solve the hassle of both payment reminders and vehicle recovery. iMetrik GPS auto tracking recovery units not only track exact vehicle location in real time, but they also allow auto dealerships to notify vehicle owners of delinquent payments directly through the vehicle itself. Car dealers can schedule notifications to be sent to the owner through the vehicle console, alerting the vehicle owner to the urgency of their situation.

If owners continue to be delinquent on payments, auto dealerships can disable the vehicle through remote starter interruption. Once owners make the necessary payments, the vehicle may resume use.

iMetrik GPS Tracking Device Features

In addition to specialized recovery unit features for auto dealerships and lease vehicles, iMetrik GPS vehicle tracking units offer an easy-to-use web-based interface. Auto dealerships can organize vehicles into groups, search for vehicles by VIN or customer ID number and view locational mapping in real time. iMetrik GPS auto units are smaller than average GPS vehicle tracking devices, allowing for more discreet placement.

iMetrik GPS Vehicle Tracking: Protecting Auto Dealerships and Vehicle Owners

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Best Low Priced Car Navigation Unit: Garmin vs. Magellan

!±8± Best Low Priced Car Navigation Unit: Garmin vs. Magellan

The prices of car GPS navigational systems are falling - that's the fact. However, it is also true that when it comes to really affordable models (around 0 or below), the choice gets smaller and is generally limited to only a few Garmin or Magellan GPS units.

Garmin c320 (and c3x0 family) and Magellan RoadMate 2000 (and 2200T)

Garmin c320 is probably the simplest and lowest priced of all Garmin GPS units and the same can be said about RoadMate 2000 and Magellan. They are available at roughly the same price - around 9.00 for c320 and 9.00 for Magellan RoadMate 2000 (the prices are for the products sold on http://www.gottronics.com). Their newer models (c330 and RoadMate 2200T) are a little more expensive, they cost roughly -0 more. Both product families seem to be intended for beginning users with only little experience with GPS units before.

Screen: the LCD touch screen of Garmin c3x0 is the Achilles' heel of this model and the low quality of the screen is the major complaint of c3x0 users. Unlike in case of most other Garmin GPS units, c3x0's screen washes out in the daylight and the map becomes barely visible in the sunshine. RoadMate 2000/2200T units have no similar problems and their screens are able to show easily visible maps all the time.

Batteries: While not the most important in case of using car GPS devices, batteries' life is extremely important every time we want to plug our GPS unit from the car and go hiking. C3x0 are much better then - their batteries give c3x0 series Garmin GPS units over 4 hours of life, compared to maximum 3 hours of RoadMate 2000/2200T battery life. Generally, the RoadMate 2000/2200T family Magellan GPS units are intended for the car use only and should not be taken on hiking.

Maps & software: Both families of GPS units rely on NAVTEC maps, one of the best GPS maps available. However, Garmin c3x0 GPS units store over 5 million POI (points of interest) compared with only 1.3 million in case of RoadMate 2000/2200T Magellan GPS units. In practice this means that c3x0 models can provide a lot more information and "see" more potentially interesting places nearby than RoadMate. As for the software, both models are tight-packed with various trip-planning and address-finding features (c3x0 models have a little more of everything, but not decisively so).

While both interfaces were clear and friendly, we felt that the Magellan RoadMate 2000's was a little easier to use, perhaps due to the better screen.

The bottom line: These two navigational units are really a close match. While in case of most expensive (0 plus) models, Garmin GPS units are virtually unbeatable, in case of economic models such as those presented above, Magellan GPS units are often just as good or even a little better than similar Garmin devices. We felt that RoadMate 2000/2200T models were better than Garmin c3x0. By inches, but better - mostly due to the better screens.

Best Low Priced Car Navigation Unit: Garmin vs. Magellan

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