BlessPat
join:2003-07-07
Baxley, GA
 ·Verizon Wireless B..
 ·HughesNet Satellit..
| [General] Consumer Report Nails Direcway
Not sure if it's on the newstand yet but the September issue of Consumer Reports has an article on ISPs (I read it online as a CR subscriber). The article slams Direcway, see quote below.
"There's no question as to the worst provider in our survey. It's DirecWay, the satellite-TV broadband provider, which offers relatively low satisfaction at a very high price--"
Oh well, what's new? |
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MIXZ1
join:2001-01-02
Mexico
 ·Prodigy Infinitum
| Re: [General] Consumer Report Nails Direcway-Long
It will be interesting to read the entire report, but I have a question: How many of us here in this forum are using Direcway (or any other satellite service) as a matter of choice rather than a last resort?
I retired to Mexico from New York City, where I used Verizon ADSL ($39.00 per month) at home and had a T1 connection at work. I'm not paying these rates because I want to. If TelMex ever gets a reliable ADSL link to my neighborhood I'll be off that satellite dish in a heartbeat.
IMHO, Direcway gets away with their shoddy service because they are a last resort solution to a problem. For me, it's still faster than the 33.6 dialup and it's been up 24/7 (including through the hurricane) since it was installed, which is more than I can say for the wireless link I was using that had 90 days of downtime in the 6 months I suffered with it. |
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randyvsatus
Premium
join:2005-03-03
Monument, CO
·Qwest.net
1 edit | said by MIXZ1  :IMHO, Direcway gets away with their shoddy service because they are a last resort solution to a problem. The arrogance days are over for Dway...there is valid competition out there now and more coming. They know they are fighting for their lives now and changes must occur or they will go bye-bye.
I believe they will make significant changes over the next few months and compete...we'll see |
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stanley_qaz
Premium
join:2003-03-17
Gilbert, AZ | reply to BlessPat
Re: [General] Consumer Report Nails Direcway
For mobile users with limited budgets DirecWay and StarBand are the only choices and I just don't see SB as enough of an improvement to make it worth switching.
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DirecWay 6000 CE, G4R/1230H, Linux, WiFi LAN, Vonage phone |
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MalaSuerte
join:2004-08-07
Clovis, CA
| reply to BlessPat
Indeed Dway's service is overpriced and their support is a nighmare-ish jungle of non-english speaking people.
Randy's comment about Dway upgrading their product is true but you must remember that Dway's bread and butter come from corporate accounts and not the individual users - like us.
It's beats the heck out of dialup if you're mobile or just SOL out in the boon docks somewhere.
I don't think their new product and pricing are going to radically change anbody's mind about their service. FAP, speed & latency are always issues and if you want more bandwidth you will be dropping some major cash to get it. For example if I want to upgrade to the new 7700 or 7000 I need to pay approx. $2500 (US). All that for a dish that is roughly .2 meters larger and a 2watt BUC. Way too expensive for this day and age of technology. I feel sorry for the VARs who are rying to make a living installing this 'new' stuff. They will have to endure the ire of a lot of current customers.
Good for CR to call a spade a spade - ITHO. There's still hope - somewhere..............
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DW6000 CE | XP Pro/SP2 | WRT54G Router | SatMex5 117W 970mhz - Sig ~92 | AMD Althon 64 3.2GHz |
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stanley_qaz
Premium
join:2003-03-17
Gilbert, AZ | reply to BlessPat
Considering that home accounts don't make DW money it is hard to claim they are overpriced.
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DirecWay 6000 CE, G4R/1230H, Linux, WiFi LAN, Vonage phone |
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randyvsatus
Premium
join:2005-03-03
Monument, CO
·Qwest.net
| reply to MalaSuerte
said by MalaSuerte : I feel sorry for the VARs who are rying to make a living installing this 'new' stuff. They will have to endure the ire of a lot of current customers. As long as consumers (or commercial accounts for that matter) have expectations that satellite internet should be the same as terrestrial service, there will be plenty of "ire" to go around; however, when VAR's set realistic expectations to customers you will have much happier campers. Let's all sing it together again "Satellite bandwidth is expensive and slower than DSL, Cable and T1's"  |
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eibborg
join:2004-09-29
Sardis, TN | reply to BlessPat
I have to say I agree with CR. If I had a choice I certainly would not be a DW subscriber |
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Starbummed
@theriver.com | I can't believe DirecWay is worse than Starband! Did CR rate the latter satellite ISP?
I have Starband and was considering changing to DirecWay or WildBlue.
Ron |
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kjanx
join:2004-08-01
Cookson, OK
| reply to BlessPat
i've had dway 18 months now.
no problems, very satisfied. my area will never have dsl.
i could get t-3 line, buts its 550.00 per month. don't need it.
high level tech support was excellent, the one time i need them. i won't talk to foreigners.
dw 6000
990 down
60 up |
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guthrieboi
join:2005-02-05
Guthrie, OK
| reply to BlessPat
We'd all be on DSL or cable if we had the choice, but given that we don't then DWay isn't a bad option compared to our other choices. I was averaging 28-36k because all I could get was dialup and when a WISP opened up here he made DWay look like a Godsend because he'd just flat screw you over on your bandwidth (38K instead of the 448/448 promised) then charge you the same price that DWay charges.
I haven't had any problems with them either. Every time I had a question they had an answer and I'm yet to have any problems with them. My bandwidth also jumped from 38k to well over a meg down and I don't hardly ever use my upload. If they'd do something about that $600 install they wouldn't be half bad.
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Direcway 6000 Consumer Windows XP and Mac OSX with Linksys Router set up to function as switch |
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waltham41
My ISP can beat up your ISP
Premium
join:2003-11-26
Fort Gibson, OK
·HughesNet Satellit..
| reply to kjanx
said by kjanx :high level tech support was excellent, the one time i need them. i won't talk to foreigners. I am curious, how did you get bumped up to high level tech support without talking to foreigners first?
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DirecWay | DW6000 | SatMex5 970mhz |HP a620n 2.2G | Win XP SP2 | 2 XP PC's on the internet via D-Link DSS 5+ switch |
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powerhog
Stinkin' up the joint
Premium
join:2000-12-14
Owasso, OK
·AtlasOK
| said by waltham41 :I am curious, how did you get bumped up to high level tech support without talking to foreigners first? Get your service through a VAR 
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Agristar 200/DW6000/G4R-1250H/99W/XP Pro on 3 systems (behind a router). |
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diragono
join:2005-07-21
| reply to kjanx
Probably 80% of the consumers that took the survey were people that didn't read into d-way to learn that you'll suffer high latency, have a fap, share bandwith with 50,000 other people so you'll slow down during peak hours. These people that say d-way sucks because they got it and couldn't download pirated movies or play that latest First Person Shooters make me laugh. I've had d-way for a month now, had two outages(both during storms) that lasted no more than 2 minutes. All I can get is dial-up which connected at 24.4kbps or a T-3 line that would cost me $1,000 to have installed $500 a month. I read into D-way before I got it, I understood about the latency, fap, peak hour slow downs and all that. I made sure my system was grounded the correct way before the installer left(who did a great job and knew what he was doing). I give d-way a 8/10
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Xp Pro/DW 6000 Consumer/AMC 9/1410/Netgear Switch hosting 2 computers off d-way |
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kjanx
join:2004-08-01
Cookson, OK | reply to BlessPat
just present a problem to the initial tech, they can't handle,
then, holler real loud for next level tech.
only had to do that 2 times tho |
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MalaSuerte
join:2004-08-07
Clovis, CA
| reply to stanley_qaz
said by stanley_qaz :Considering that home accounts don't make DW money it is hard to claim they are overpriced. Never said consumer accounts don't generate revenue for Dway just that Dway makes most of it's profit from corporate accounts. Ask any VAR on the forum. I don't see any contradiction in that statement. Their service is overpriced compared to cable or DSL - but as we beat this drum again... it still beats dialup or the higher monthly costs of say a T1 or T3.
Most people don't read the Dway contract fine print like diragono did. And..... most people have had to deal with Dway's support. If you haven't had this experience yet consider yourself either a genius or very blessed
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DW6000 CE | XP Pro/SP2 | WRT54G Router | SatMex5 117W 970mhz - Sig ~92 | AMD Althon 64 3.2GHz |
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stanley_qaz
Premium
join:2003-03-17
Gilbert, AZ
·HughesNet Satellit..
 ·Cox HSI
| I just don't see DW as a competitor to cable or DSL, if you have either available and sign up for any consumer satellite service you are probably making a big mistake. Even a decent WISP is a better choice than a satellite service.
For a decent service/price comparison you'd have to look at other "anytime anywhere" connection options that work for folks in remote areas and I'm not aware of any.
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DirecWay 6000 CE, G4R/1230H, Linux, WiFi LAN, Vonage phone |
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MalaSuerte
join:2004-08-07
Clovis, CA
| said by stanley_qaz :I just don't see DW as a competitor to cable or DSL.... connection options that work for folks in remote areas and I'm not aware of any. Agree with you 100% stan. As mentioned above by guthrieboi and randyvsatus none of us would be on Dway if we had convetional choices.
WISPs seem to be the 'new best thing' with their technology growing quickly. I have a guy offering me a WISP deal that sounds too good to be true - and probably is.
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DW6000 CE | XP Pro/SP2 | WRT54G Router | SatMex5 117W 970mhz - Sig ~92 | AMD Althon 64 3.2GHz |
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enrolk
join:2002-04-23
Murrells Inlet, SC
| reply to BlessPat
No company sells things at a loss. Break even maybe for awhile.
The Perky Redhead does a very good job for Dway and she doesn't work for free.
As far as VAR's explaining more fully about the limitations, many people wouldn't buy then. You don't have to lie, but don't volenteer to loose a sale.
Many people [RV'ers especially]have their hopes with Wild Blue. We,ll have to wait and see if Beam hopping will be offered. As far as downloading movies and streaming video, come on guys,leave some bandwidth for the rest of us. |
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Rfsjr2
Shop on Top
Premium
join:2001-08-11
Ferndale, WA
clubs:
| reply to stanley_qaz
said by stanley_qaz :I just don't see DW as a competitor to cable or DSL, They tried that angle and it didn't work. Last time I watched the redhead, the keywords were "dialup" and "second phone line."
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*Frank* Startouch Wireless Internet. Waverider EUM3003, TRENDnet TEW-411BRP+, 900MHz NLOS. |
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