sick of dialup, thinking of satellite

[ozzfreak]

I live in a town with about 4000 people, actually 3 miles out of a town with about 4000 people, , and I will more than likely NEVER see cable or dsl in my area. I was thinking of getting satellite. Last I checked on prices, they were around 600-700 to just start the service. This was many years ago, and I'm sure it's lower in cost now. I seen a site that had installation for $99 and you paid 99/month for the first year, and after that it dropped off to 59 a month. The website was http://www.nationwidesatellite.com/h...ource=overture It also says with approved credit, and I admit, my credit isn't tip top shape (stupid credit cards).

But I've never heard of these people. Not sure if it's a scam or not. Has anyone used this, or have a place with good service, that doesn't require me to sell my first born just to be able to have broadband?

Thanx a bunch.

Oz

[Roberto49]

Ozzfreak, start at http://www.direcway.com and see what you can find.
We live in a rural area with no chance for broadband. We use direcway and have for about 8 months. There are latency issues but downloads are great. Initial setup was about $700 for installation (due to 2 way communication FCC requires licensed installation) and $60 a month. By dropping a second phone line and ISP the monthly cost is close to the same.
As for service, support is a toll free phone call and has always been courteous and knowledgeable. I cannot imagine going back to dialup now. Just ran a speed test: 575(down)/39(up) kbps
Drawbacks are:
Latency, not good for online gaming.
FAP: Fair Access Policy, you are limited to approx 125MB during a ten hour period during peak periods, 225 MB off peak.
Outages for weather; during heavy storms you can lose connection. When it's storming everything around here gets unplugged anyway.

[glc]

A customer of mine has Direcway and hates it. He's counting the days till local wireless is available in his area. If you bypass their proxy, you are lucky to get 250k download speed, the lag is horrible, and uploads are slower than a dialup modem. It's better than nothing unless you are an online gamer, then a 28.8 dialup is actually much better.

I hear that Starband is a much better service.

[Roberto49]

What does he hate about it? Does he update his software? If I had a chance at DSL or Cable, I would probably go for it but living where I do, it is not an option.
There is no comparison between this and dialup. To each his own but I am a satisfied user.

[Great_One]

earthlink/direcway horror story

http://home.earthlink.net/~cdtavares...way/index.html

[herc222]

I must be one of the few, but I am actually pleased with the speed of my satellite internet.

I bought a one-way for $75.00 and monthly it is $39.99 (I have free dial-up access for the return or else I would go ahead and get the 2-way)

but for me, the speed has been great. There was a time that I was getting up to 2.3 megs down. But it has leveled off to about 800K. That still beats by 26K up!

The nice thing about this is that the $99 down $99 monthly locks you into a contract for at least a year. This way, there is no contract.

I have friends that live about 20 miles from me and they state that their speeds are really slow, down to about 100K

Direcway states that you can use their system with a signal as low as 30, but have found that if you can barely move the dish and get it up to about 60-70, The speed greatly improves. Just be sure that you have a good solid base for this thing, because the dish carries a large wind load, and if it is not tight, then you signal will be affected dramatically.

One thing that I do not like is their idea of using a usb interface. This works fine for one windows workstation, but if you want to share your connection, you must use a proxy and that means a performance loss. Plus you can not install the dish with a mac or unix based systems. I have tried to run my linux system through a proxy on a windows box, but the speed is just to slow for the money that you pay for high speed.

Also, all the providers that I looked up, seems to be using the same satellites which are owned by Hughes. I may be wrong, though.

Sorry if this is to much information. If you have any questions, feel free.

[glc]

I was just over there this afternoon and ran a speed test - 317k down and 16k up. That's pathetic. Software is the latest with the latest service pack. Signal strength is 69.

[audiyoda]

GLC -- From what I've read in various FCC documents, DISH Network is about this close (][) to dropping their agreement with Starband due to bandwidth issues (DISH needs the satellite space for broadcasts of local channels in new markets). Without DISH, Starband is a gonner.

-Craig

[ozzfreak]

so let me get this right, i will only be able to download 225mb tops in a 10 hour period on direcway?? Isn't that the point of broadband is to be able to download a lot and not have to wait for it? hehe. I will pass on that. I can get that much if not more on dialup for 14.95 a month. Any other stories are appreciated.

Oz

[doctorgonzo]

That's a great link, Great_One. Sounds like some experiences I have gone through. I wonder how these companies can exist providing such crappy support. I guess most customers don't complain.

[audiyoda]

ozzfreak -- The MB time limit is an FCC imposed limitation -- Directway/Hughes/DirecTV have no control over it.

Anyway -- how many people are going to be limited by 225Meg in a rolling 10 hours??? Unless you're downloading tons of mp3 or other not so legitimate things.....

Think about it -- it's a rolling 10 hours -- not 10 hours and then another 10 hours. But it's your choice of course.

-Craig

[Great_One]

according to this you may not have much of a choice for satelite
if direcway drops to.

http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/1556381

[ozzfreak]

eek, i'll let someone know that just "loves" his direcway know about this website, he might cry, lol

Oz