I'm on the new ka-band satellite connection and all I can say is SWEET JESUS THANK GOD I'M RID OF DIALUP.
I can download (on average) around 100kbps and upload around 18kbps There is a latency issue, and depending on how well they install your dish its 250ms to 1000ms. I'm around the 400ms mark.
You can't do the online gamer thing with it, but everything else including VPN works fine. I use PCAnywhere, RDC and VPN regularly for other work I do and have no issues.
www.xplornet.com is the Canadian option
and
www.wildblue.com is the USA option
We've had rain and storms up here the last 2 weeks and I haven't lost connection once.