guthrieboi
join:2005-02-05
Guthrie, OK
1 edit | reply to Rfsjr2
Re: [General] Consumer Report Nails Direcway
It's interesting that you mention the two buzzwords being dialup and second phone line. When I had dialup I was spending almost $40 a month for the two. I tried the WISP route and got burned badly by a local operator who was...well let's just say less than honest with his customers. I bumped up to the 59.95 package and it still didn't help so I switched over to DWay for the same price and it's been awesome. For about 15 bucks a month more I get broadband and don't have to worry about a second phone line.
DSL is going to continue to get cheaper and cheaper. I think right now here they're advertising it for as little as $16 a month if you take it for a year. That's cheaper than most dial up accounts, but it could be free and it wouldn't do me any good out here. Sure, $60 a month is expensive, but when you consider all that goes into launcing one of those things and all of the maintenance that's involved it's not that bad. I would think corporate accounts would be more desirable because they pay thousands of dollars a month and we only pay a fraction of what they do. All things considered we're the only ones to blame for having DWay. If DSL is that important then we should pack up and move to town rather than sit around and complain.
I agree that many who answered the survey probably didn't read into what they were getting. I too did my research for almost six months before I decided to go with DWay and worried myself sick at night with the FAP, but now that I've been using it I've not had a lick of problems. I was only FAP'd once and I'm a heavy user - actually there's two of us that are heavy users and never knew it until it showed up on my usage report. My only regret was that I didn't get DWay a year ago.
By the way, how come when they take these surveys I never get asked? It's always someone so far away I doubt that they even live on the same continent and never anyone I know.
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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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Rfsjr2
Shop on Top
Premium
join:2001-08-11
Ferndale, WA
clubs:
| said by guthrieboi  :It's interesting that you mention the two buzzwords being dialup and second phone line. Yup, that's it. When I originally got satellite internet back in 2001, I signed up with *Pegasus Express* Why? because I loved their mantra of helping out rural America.
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*Frank* Startouch Wireless Internet. Waverider EUM3003, TRENDnet TEW-411BRP+, 900MHz NLOS. |
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randyvsatus
Premium
join:2005-03-03
Monument, CO
 ·Qwest.net
| reply to MalaSuerte
said by MalaSuerte :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. They haven't been able to make any money...I see more WISP's going than coming. The business model stinks for the most part...by the time a WISP is in a profitable mode, they have the contention ratios so high everyone is complaining and cancelling. |
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stanley_qaz
Premium
join:2003-03-17
Gilbert, AZ
 ·HughesNet Satellit..
 ·Cox HSI
| reply to enrolk
I don't know very many RV or seasonal folks that expect to be able to use WildBlue since it is a spot-beam system with very restricted mobility.
In the affordable class the only two options in the USA are DirecWay and StarBand if you are considering moving the system.
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DirecWay 6000 CE, G4R/1230H, Linux, WiFi LAN, Vonage phone |
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dbirdman
Premium,MVM
join:2003-07-07
Eureka, CA
| reply to enrolk
said by enrolk :Many people [RV'ers especially]have their hopes with Wild Blue. Misplaced hopes. There is enough trickling out now about how the internals of the system work to make what looked unlikely before look very unlikely now.
The WB modem is not like the modem/routers we've learned how to move with Direcway and Starband. There is no interface, no way to communicate with it. Even if allowed by WB (unlikely for a whole bunch of reasons), beam hopping will require the complete decommissioning and re-provisioning of the modem with a new account.
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W2K Server | G11 | 1350 | 6000 SO |.98 meter fixed plus Datastorm Mobile Dish on Motor Home |
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grecord
join:2002-01-06
Germantown, MD
 ·Verizon FIOS
| reply to MalaSuerte
The opinion that speed is the only factor and urban areas would only use wired services overlooks the security and uptime factors satellite provides. We are residential and enterprise satellite broadband installers and find many customers switching from cable\wisp services to get greater reliability. In the corporate world the capability to have lan connectivity to remote sites is unsurpassed. |
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JefferyH
join:2002-06-12
Carmi, IL
| reply to BlessPat
RE: WB modem interface and router setup
While it's correct, the WB modem itself has no interface to log into, there really is no big deal at this time. All you need to do is interface it with your router and you are good to go. Just plug the ethernet from the WB modem into the "WAN" port of your router. Log into your router and make sure DHCP, firewalls, connections, etc. are all correct. Reboot your router, modem and PC and you should be good to go. Mines setup that way right now.
Also, the user does have an "admin" web based interface to access. It allows you to setup your email accounts, view your account details, MAC address, ODU serial number, etc. It will also give you the amount of usage for up/down and show a graph chart of your service so you can tell how much you've used and how much is max allowed for your account. Works great for that use.
As far as getting on another beam should it be required for some reason, tech support can do that for you, but requires an installer to come out. WB will simply transmit the necessary details and reset the account to your modem for re-provisioning. Then once the modem has received it and reset, you just re-comission the modem. No need to uninstall anything.
This is what I've been told and unless another tech from WB themself says different, I would say that's how it works. |
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JefferyH
join:2002-06-12
Carmi, IL
| reply to BlessPat
RE: WB and moving systems like on an RV
It's correct that as of now there is no way to use WB on a vehicle like an RV. Right now there are no plans to support a moving system as everything is going into getting their system out and working for everyone. Then, I think you will start to maybe see other things like backbones, perhaps other packages, etc. but it will be some time yet.
For now and at least some time to come, the only choice for satellite ISP will be DirecWay or StarBand systems. I don't know, but there may be other commercial systems out there that aren't main stream but for business use, etc. If RV or travel is what you want then I would say DirecWay would be the way to go there. |
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dbirdman
Premium,MVM
join:2003-07-07
Eureka, CA
| said by JefferyH :I don't know, but there may be other commercial systems out there that aren't main stream but for business use, etc. If RV or travel is what you want then I would say DirecWay would be the way to go there. It is what most of us mobile types use, although Starband now sanctions both tripod and automatic mobile units.
There are, in fact, many providers of mobile service besides Direcway and Starband, we just don't talk about them much. Lots of iDirect resellers supply to mobile accounts. My Direcway VAR has 19 mobile iDirect plans starting at 64K up/down for $179 per month, all the way up to 4096K down, 512K up for $3899 per month. You can see why we don't talk about that kind of service much in these typically consumer and small business forums! 
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W2K Server | G11 | 1350 | 6000 SO |.98 meter fixed plus Datastorm Mobile Dish on Motor Home |
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Beretta619
join:2005-08-19
Jamul, CA | reply to kjanx
A T-3 for $550 a month? I think you mean a T-1. A T-3 generally runs about $15,000 a month, as it is a 45 megabit per second line. A T-1 is a 1.5 megabit line. |
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randyvsatus
Premium
join:2005-03-03
Monument, CO
·Qwest.net
| reply to dbirdman
said by dbirdman : Misplaced hopes. There is enough trickling out now about how the internals of the system work to make what looked unlikely before look very unlikely now. We are also learning more about what the WB system can and can't do related to voip and vpn, the upload speeds on packages other than Pro Pak and the speed degradation with rain. Too early to tell, but what many thought was Mecca is starting to get the veneer taken off and reality might be a bit different. The competition for consumer customers has only started.
Consumer RV'ers should at least see continued improvement in the reliability of the pointing equipment, if not in the service options and speed at affordable prices. |
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AJ023
join:2001-12-25
Forest Hills, NY
4 edits | reply to BlessPat
I think you missed the point as well as the FORUM MODERATORS! Satellite is very latent.
Nice job Broadband reports! |
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BlessPat
join:2003-07-07
Baxley, GA
 ·Verizon Wireless B..
·HughesNet Satellit..
| reply to diragono
To provide some background on CR survey base, quoted from article, "In a survey of nearly 26,000 Consumer Reports subscribers--our largest-ever survey on Internet service providers (ISPs) and the first to rate broadband--we found differences in satisfaction with broadband service." The previously posted quote re Direcway was in a subsequent paragraph in the ratings summary. Direcway was the only satellitte company in the survey. IMHO that would be because it may have been the only one with a large market base at the time of the survey.
Direcway IS the only game in town for me, and appears to be that way for awhile yet. But I will switch as soon as anything as good comes along, that is one reason I've avoided the upgrade to commit to a contract.
I did get one of the survey's and I was fair, but honest. The CR report is a good article on broadband in general. They should be on the newstand now or you can subscribe to consumerreports.org for less than $3.00 monthly.
PSS: One of the advantages of having switched from DirecTV to Dish is that I don't have to hear the helmet-hair redhead gush about Direcway service. Meow! |
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Rfsjr2
Shop on Top
Premium
join:2001-08-11
Ferndale, WA
clubs:
| said by BlessPat :PSS: One of the advantages of having switched from DirecTV to Dish is that I don't have to hear the helmet-hair redhead gush about Direcway service. Meow! ROFL.  Meow X 2!
I'm still trying to figure out who is paying $57.00 per month for service. I guess mass consumer surveys have their limitations, which would be the mass consumer! 
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*Frank* Startouch Wireless Internet. Waverider EUM3003, TRENDnet TEW-411BRP+, 900MHz NLOS. |
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