Satelite internet ???

[psychogramma Profile Private message]

Hi All,

I'll start with the bottom line here and you can skip the why of it that follows if you wish.

******WildBlue or Hughes? Which one is best? Do you have it? Is it good? Do you get throttled much? Any insight is appreciated.*******

I've had low speed dsl via Verizon for about 9 years thanks to some campers who started a brush fire that swept through the area. Old equipment was burnt out and when Verizon replaced it they upgraded. I was lucky enough to trade my dial up for dsl even though I am "too far from the box". It was 6 weeks after receiving the material and modem that I actually got hooked up. My last phone call to check on it they told me that they couldn't do it (too far from the box) and someone from customer service would be calling me to cancel it all out. Two days later it was connected and working.
The connection is usually pretty reliable. Whenever I have had a problem they are quick to tell me, "you are too far from the box". I consider that their issue as they installed it, but am always grateful to have it. Usually in a day or two the connection will steady out and be its old speedy self.
I just went through an looooonnng extended "might be better on dial up" period and now am back up and running well. Locally the dsl service is available in a very limited area. Verizon has no intention of upgrading or expanding the service. 15 of the accounts they serve about a mile from me that are within the box have been without dsl since last june.
The local cable company is not taking any accounts. Hasn't been for a few years.When they first started up I was at the top of the list, but working on a mac and they didn't service macs. Now I have all pcs but no room at the inn it seems. They are trying to expand but need to bring cable in (underground, if I remember right) from about 50 miles away. No problem in itself except for the National Park land, Reservation land, and Wildlife Preserve land that has to be crossed - all needing special permits. UGH!!
Now we are back to the bottom line. I want to be prepared for the worst and find something else. Hughes and WildBlue are the only services I have been able to find available in this area and WildBlue is not taking new accounts at my zip code right now. The local agent says they will be soon.

Thank you for any insight you can provide.

Cathy

[im42n8 Profile Private messageWebsite]

I played around with a connection in the Lake Vallacito region of Colorado (near Durango, SE Colorado) when we were on a vacation ... it's the middle of nowhere. I'm not sure what kind of setup the owner of this cabin campground had but he was using Hughes. He probably got a low end connection and I'm not sure of his wireless transmission range. However, there were times when it was down for no apparent reason. Hard to say if it was his transmission range to the other cabins or what. However, it was better than a poke in the eye. When it worked, it was great! Good download speeds and I could even run some of the YouTube vides and such. I'm not sure if it was the weather that caused connection problems or his hardware to the rest of us (in the cabins). I'm sure a dedicated connection would be much better.

Out in the middle of nowhere the choices are not optimum. However, it is still going to be a heck of a lot better than dial-up. Hughes has a number of choices from which to choose with respect to upload/download speeds. It used to be that the upload was as bad as a 56K modem but choices give you more flexibility these days. I have no idea what the costs are (didn't need to get into it).

Cost vs speed and reliability are options you need to consider. I wonder where WildBlue is getting its bandwidth (leased from Hughes?).

Wish I could be of more help. But, my experience with it wasn't all that bad, all things considered. Good Luck!

Dale

[texbrandt Profile Private message]

Spent Thanksgiving week at a remote cabin in the Colorado mountains. The cabin the internet and phone was on satellite hook up. Once hooked up I couldn't tell much difference from my dsl hook up at home in Fort Worth.

My kids in PA have satellite service(not sure which one) and they are happy with it.

Hope you get it worked out. Going back to dial up from even the lowest speed dsl is a PITA.

Robert

[psychogramma Profile Private message]

Robert and Dale,

Thank you for the input.

WildBlue does have its own satelites. Just found out it is now available in my zip code (wasn't just 3 weeks ago). They have upped their speeds to "up to" 12 MBs. Will be checking that out with the local agent soon!!!

Thank you both,
Cathy