The end of Tooway satellite broadband domestic tariffs in England

I recently visited a customer out in the sticks and it literally is the sticks in parts on Sussex and the Weald where they were desperate for some form of useable broadband, they were currently getting through their ADSL line 1Mbps which if you are not familiar with broadband speed might as well be nothing.

I did my part and advised them that Tooway satellite broadband was the way to go as it was going to be some time until fibre was going to be available in their area. They agreed, decided on an appropriate tariffs with 22Mb download speed and 6Mb upload with a 40GB data allowance and all was fine and dandy.

Pen to paper time and I’m processing the order when I find out that it’s no longer available in England! This was always going to be on the cards at some point but It’s happened and much sooner than I had anticipated. The spot beams and band width allocated for the Tooway domestic tariffs has reached full capacity and the service is no longer available in England but is still available in Scotland and Wales.

Why have Tooway ended their domestic tariffs in England?

The answer is short, there no more space on the satellite for the service to continue to run. They could keep adding subscribers but this would then affect download speeds and data allowances for existing customers which obviously isn’t a great idea.

The changes have been made at network level so it does not matter which seller / re-seller you purchase satellite broadband through this change affects everyone.

Can you still get Tooway in England?

Yes you can still get Tooway satellite broadband in England but only the pro tarrifs are now available. These come with a number of benefits including a static IP address which may be required for logging into VPNS and so on. But beware if this is just for normal domestic use then this may be over-kill as these tariffs are more expensive than the domestic tariffs but may still be perfect for businesses that operate from home.

A satellite broadband alternative to Tooway – SES broadband

The answer – at least so I believe is SES satellite broadband. This is very similar to Tooway. Similar download speeds (ever so slightly slower) Up to 20Mb download and 2Mb upload. The dish and modem as slightly different too and the service is provided from the Astra 2 satellites orbital position at 28.2E of due south where as Tooway uses Eutelsat at 9E of due south. Both services use the KA satellite band.

There are some benefits to SES broadband over Tooway too, when compared to the Tooway tarrifs you often get a greater allowance when compared to monthly bills. Using my customer again for the reference they are going to receive an extra 10GB per month at exactly the same cost.

Another benefit with the SES broadband service is that every tariff comes with a static IP address, something that you would typically have to extra for with Tooway for one of their Pro tariffs.

The Conclusion

Until fibre is rolled out across the country and for areas where broadband is not served via a series of micro wave repeaters then SES satellite broadband is going to be service of choice for reliable broadband in poor on no broadband areas for some years, in England at least.

Alternately to could move you house to Scotland or Wales and get Tooway for the time being, but I suppose you may just move to an area with a good fibre connection. J

Until next time