Does Xbox Live work with Hughesnet Satellite Internet? *Update

*Updated, Fall 2010 Dashboard. *Update Xbox Live on 3G here! 

I never thought that in today’s day of age that there were people out there that didn’t have broadband. I was pretty much always plugged in playing on Xbox Live or World of Warcraft at all hours of the day and night. Then I got married and moved out into the woods. So the long and short of it, is that I went from some pretty kick-butt broadband to dial-up. Then I bought a USB modem from Verizon, but being too far from the tower meant frequent drops in the data stream. Then I got Hughesnet, and that is what I am going to focus on here.

Does Hughesnet work on Xbox Live?

Yes and no. If you have done any kind of research on this subject, then you know that they say pretty specifically that “twitch gaming” isn’t supported by Hughesnet, and I can verify that. I can’t play any kind of multiplayer on satellite internet.  No Modern Warfare 2, no Halo:Reach. Bummer ‘eh? Before you get all mad, keep in mind that there are things that are possible on Xbox Live that you might not realize.



Things that you can’t do on Xbox Live via Satellite Internet:

• Mulitplayer


• Chat *I have used voice chat on the new dashboard!

Things that you can do on Xbox Live via Satellite Internet:

• Title updates (The update that you get when you first play a game when connected to Live.)


• Sign In to your gamer profile


• Rate games


• Read your messages and compose voice and text messages to your friends


• Twitter and Facebook work fine


• Download demos, add-ons and themes*


• Stream movies on Netflix*
  
  

Now keep in mind that I have the plan that allows 450 MB of data. *Using Netflix and downloading demos eats up your allowance pretty freaking fast, so I recommend that you do these things at 2-7 AM EST, during the ‘free’ part of the night.  My wife and I watched a couple of episodes of Lost on Netflix and I had to use our free monthly token to reset our usage. So, it is something that isn’t really practical but it’s good to know that you can use it.





***************** Update 2-6-2012

Hughesnet seems to have updated the control panel that is used to toggle Turbopage:

Use this link now: http://www.systemcontrolcenter.com/stlui/fs/advanced/advanced.html. Click the Turbopage link on the left, and get it to look like the photo above.



******

Now, there are some technical things that I have discovered about the service. Navigating to http://www.systemcontrolcenter.com/ has become some sort of obsession of mine. This allows you to see all sorts of things about your modem, and your service.

Now when I first fired up the internet, the first thing that I did was see if Xbox Live worked on my brand-new 360 Slim. It picked up the wireless just fine and signed in to Live. This made me so happy. I was schlepping my 360 to work and getting updates and demos there.  I did notice however that there were things that didn’t work. Just getting around wasn’t working. I couldn’t browse anything on Live. I was signed into Live, but opening the demos page returned an error. At this point, I was navigating to Xbox.com and putting items in my download queue.  Then I found this: http://www.systemcontrolcenter.com/stlui/fs/advanced/turbo_page_config_frame.html

Turbo Page is a pre-fetching service that is on my default. It seems to make pages load faster by having the servers take some of the load off the modem. What this does is totally fruck up Live. Once I turned this option off, Live came alive. However, for some strange reason, title updates didn’t work.  It is very easy to navigate to the link above and enable the turbo page option and download the updates that you need.



Overall, it is kinda nice being able to go online. After years of being offline it is nice to have some functionality on Live. While you can’t play multi-player MW2, you can keep up to date with things like ‘This Week in Xbox’ and game videos. Seeing your friend’s gamerscore and played games is nice too. It’s not perfect, but it is better than nothing.

Hope this helps. Leave me a comment if you have a specific question that isn’t covered!

Looks like a boy!

We found out today that we are having a baby boy! Yes, ANOTHER baby boy! For those of you not in the loop, she has 2 boys, I have 1 and baby makes 4. Hurray! Guess it is to be expected, and all of those people saying it was a girl are all on my shitlist. We still don't know when this little bugger is coming, but Caleb James Ennis should be here soon!

Why Verizon Customers Might Want to Not get that Incredible **update

If any of you know me personally, you know that I am never really more than a couple of inches from my phone. If my penis was to become detachable and polymorph in to any shape that I wanted it to, it would be a Blackberry. Honestly, I kinda think that I may have my hands on my phone more than my penis only because it is more socially acceptable to have my hands on my phone than it is on my penis.

Anyway that tyrant was all leading up to my excitement over these phones coming out. First up, my current love:

Pimping Out in my PJ's

So I have branched out and I am now doing a podcast segment for my friend @daewin over at @polygamerous podcast. They have a great (free!!!) Podcast that you can pick up over on iTunes. They talk about games and gaming in general. Great stuff!

Also, I you can hear me on the @hearthcast podcast. I left a voice mail and talked about various World of Warcraft things. They too have a great podcast talking about the casual World of Warcraft player. I am so glad they came back.

Both of these podcasts could use your support! Guess what? It is free to support them. Who the hell does that anymore? Just subscribe to the podcasts and leave comments on the podcasts on your iTunes store. And yes I still edit rawrcast.com!

...And the PJ's part? I am typing this on my Blackberry. In bed. So there.

Love ya guys,
Ozimandias/Broadwayblues/John

Working Out is Working Out!

Well, I hate to say that this is really working well, well when it hasn't ever really worked out all that great in the past, but I really think that I am going to stick with the running this time.

I already have lost weight and I am working on running a marathon in 18 months.

Thanks to all the people out there that are supporting me!

An Inspirational Quote

Just because it needs to be said:

"Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired in the morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired."

- George S. Patton, U.S. Army General, 1912 Olympian

This is the motto that I need to live by.

Are TV DVD workouts worth the money?

So I am really thinking about getting the Power 90 or the P90X programs. I really am out of shape, and my own motivation isn't there to run or do much besides eat, sleep and play WoW. There is no doubt in my mind that these programs work, I am asking if they are worth them money.

Personally, I don't see myself using them. If past history is an indication, I am going to spend the money, and never use it.

Chill out!

You know, there comes a time when we all need to take a step back from things and get a little perspective. When World of Warcraft becomes a job, when it makes you mad, if it is affecting you beyond the time when you are sitting in front of your computer screen, then maybe a break is in order.

We play this to have fun and get away from the things that bother us in RL. We play this to keep up with friends and for others it is theraputic.

Just please before the nerd rage or flame wars begin, take a breath and relax. It's supposed to be fun.

To all parents/grandparents with kids on Facebook

Look,

We live in an age when our kids are more connected than ever before. We now live in an age when information travels around the globe in seconds and is on YouTube minutes after it happens. Kids now text more (14,000 times a month in my house) than call their friends and even I at 33 have to lot to learn about how things have changed since I was 16.

Social media like Twitter, Myspace and Facebook have changed the rules. We now proudly post what's going on in our lives more than ever, and the rules have changed since we were young and used to call the girlfriend for hours at a time.

On getting old and getting fat

It is sometimes hard for me to remember that I am not 25 anymore. I wonder what the medical term for it is, but I really don't see myself at all as I really am. In my mind, I still play hockey on weekends, can do a zillion crunches and weigh 160 pounds.

Truth is, I started a weight-loss push this past week. I want to get down to 200 again. Keep in mind that means I need to lose about 65 pounds, give or take. How am I going to do this? I am glad that you asked!

Those Fricken NY Rangers

So these are the guys that I live and die by, and I am a fan to the end. There is no fricken hockey in Louisiana.  I literally spend a shit-ton of money on NHL Center Ice on my Direct TV, and listen to NHL games on XM Radio. I have done every fucking thing that I can; to do what? Watch these guys lose. Over and over again.

My brothers are demons masquerading as Devils fans. They are all hoity-toity because their team is consistently in the top 4 teams in the Eastern Conference. They need to die, along with all of the other Devils fans. I mean come on. It is easy to to root for a team that does well year after year. I mean the Rangers have won 2 championships since 1940. TWO! Us Rangers fans deserve something.

Work and those that are allergic to it

So I really fancy myself as a chef. I am comfortable with that designation now, although I wouldn't introduce myself as one yet. Even though I graduated from Culinary Arts at Northwestern State University, and I literally run a kitchen, I don't have the experience or the pedigree to announce to the world, "Hey I am a chef."

But I am sure that my cooks feel like I am a major-league asshole right now. See, I really like to work people. I know that sounds bad, but if you are not willing to work hard for me, I don't need you. I got a new cook who is really a snake in the grass type person from what I've been told. I don't judge anyone based on what other people say, I would hate for someone to do the same to me. What I really like to do is put people under pressure, because that is when people show their true colors.

So who is this guy and why is he writing?

Well, that's a really good question. See when you have to write for someone else, well it just kinda seems--forced. They expect stuff and you have to deliver. I just wanted someplace where I could vent and not worry too much about what anyone thinks. Now don't get me wrong. I love being the editor and I have a lot of friends over at rawrcast.com. It's just that I have a lot of other things in my life that don't revolve around the World of Warcraft. I am working on becoming a chef. I have 3 boys and another on the way. My wife is an awesome woman that I love so much. See I am, like everyone of you out there reading this, a complex person. I want this blog to reflect that.