As a virtual worker without access to standard broadband, my satellite internet access is my lifeline to a paycheck. So, here in the backwoods of the Ozarks, just south of Pension Mountain, my husband and I have our satellite dishes gracing our roofline, with a wireless connection that transmits across the county road and down past Brushy Creek.
Recently, our internet started to s-l-o-w d-o-w-n. And for some strange reason, it would always happen around 4:00 pm. At which time, I would have to disconnect and use our trusty back-up dial-in account. I was sure that the cause was the overburdened satellite link with after-school traffic. In fact, I was ready to make my own video comparing the speed of dial-up against satellite internet – with dial-up winning!
But, my husband was convinced that the problem was sunspots. Every time the slow-down took place the sun was in a particular part of the sky – which just so happened to be 4:00 pm – not to mention 2012 being in the near future. So, he posted our problem and his sunspot theory on a satellite internet forum. By golly, many people were experiencing the same problem with sunspots!
Miraculously, within 24 hours, he received an email from a program manager at HughesNet asking for modem serial numbers and before the week was out HughesNet drove from sixty miles away, over five miles of dirt road, through one muddy creek, up to our front door and installed the latest and greatest satellite dish and modem. How’s that for great customer service! … and no, the problem was not sunspots.
