Satellite Inet Users Be Aware

**ke4est** · 02-17-2006 01:29 AM

Originally Posted by jmd102354

I believe you are missing the POINT. Why would anyone use any satellite internet service be it WB or Direcway if another option (cable) were available ?

No one would unless they have money and live in some remote part of the world.

**jmd102354** · 02-17-2006 04:31 AM

Originally Posted by ke4est

No one would unless they have money and live in some remote part of the world.

Exactly !

**kelton325** · 03-07-2006 11:45 PM

I had DSL, then moved to the *sticks*, where I never could acheive 28.8K with dial-up. One day I got super lucky and got 26.4K. After living with DSL for 5 years, I was dying. There are no other options for BroadBand where I live - no cable, no DSL, only satellite. The day I got WildBlue installed I was celebrating - 512 down/128 up for $49.99. yeah, it's more expensive than the DSL/Cable, and the performance can't compare, however it is makes using the Internet a livable experience. No way in the world would I have WildBlue if DSL or Cable was available, but I don't have that option. That's a trade-off for living in the sticks I guess. If I have to settle for 512 down instead of 1.5 yet get to live in the middle of a beautiful woods like I do, fine by me. It's a personal decision.

The FAP is there, but I've never even come close to it. I do not do file sharing, just 1-2 hours of surfing a day. The service is very stable as well - in 4 months I have not had any extended outages. There was a problem with upload speeds on my spotbeam back in November, but they fixed that and I consistently pull advertised speeds or better.

If you don't have any alternative broadband available, I would highly recommend WildBlue.

**GeorgeLV** · 03-08-2006 12:03 AM

Originally Posted by kelton325

If I have to settle for 512 down instead of 1.5 yet get to live in the middle of a beautiful woods like I do, fine by me. It's a personal decision.

More like 5 mbit to 30 mbit service in any decently sized city these days...

**ke4est** · 03-08-2006 12:30 AM

Dang who is getting 30 Megabits.....and what household customer needs that.

**damaged** · 03-08-2006 01:56 AM

Originally Posted by ke4est

Dang who is getting 30 Megabits.....and what household customer needs that.

A household who wants to watch HDTV over it.

**Claude Greiner** · 03-08-2006 02:46 AM

Originally Posted by ke4est

All Satellite based Internet services include a FAP(Fair Access Policy). You can check this out by logging into your account and see how much your usage is and how much your are allowed a month.

The reason I say this is I installed a guy with Wildblue last month. He was allowed 16GBs download every thirty days(this is changing in March for you wildblue customers look at your account). Well he did 22 Gigs in 10 days. He went from dial-up only getting 19.2 - 21k connects to HIGH SPEED he was so exited he started downloading movies and Music, which is OK, but he was downloading tons of it everyday all day. Well he went over he allowed usage and they suspended his account. He is pissed. I told him about the FAP but probably should have been more clear. I have him calmed down now and he isn't going to cancel.

So if you have Satellite Inet watch your usage.
If you install them you might want to remind everyone that you install about this, just to keep someone from cancelling and getting charge backs.

This customer wants to cancel, YEA RIGHT!

Lets look at this guys options....

#1 Go back to Dialup After downloading 22 Gigs or stuff, you know sure as hell aint happening

#2 Spend a few hundred more dollars, cancel and get Starband or Directway. Could happen, but im sure he is not going to want to pay again after he paid to install Wild Blue, and besides I think those providers have their bandwith caps also

#3 Get DSL or Cable. Wait, I almost forgot this was why he got Wild Blue to begin with

I sold Starband several years ago when it first came out. No matter how crappy the service was, people kept it and paid their bill. Now Granted we did good installs, but Starband did have its fair share of service issues when they first started out. The only time we would loose a customer over it was when DSL or cable was available in their neighborhood.

One thing about internet customers and any sort of satellite intetnet service is that customers will gladly pay the cancellation fee to get rid of it the second DSL or cable becomes available.

**CochiseGuy** · 03-22-2006 10:47 AM

Originally Posted by kelton325

If you don't have any alternative broadband available, I would highly recommend WildBlue.

Ditto! I just got WildBlue last week and using the Internet is once again a pleasure instead of an aggravation. Yeah, when I lived in Las Vegas I got up to 4 MB DL speed from Cox cable for $30/mo. When I moved to Tucson last summer I went with 1 MB DSL service from Qwest for $25/mo. When I moved to my 10 acre property in rural SE Arizona last winter, the only choice was dial-up @ $21.95 / mo., and because of the phone quality out here, max connection speed was around 19.2kbps. Talk about a rip-off! I love it out here with the roadrunners, quail, and, yes, coyotes, but I need my tech toys. Thank God for WildBlue, and OTA HD locals and, to a much lesser extent, Dish Network HD.

As for the FAP DL/U monthly restrictions, I think it's reasonable. And, I believe if you check your cable/DSL Internet customer agreement I believe you find a similar FAP policy, although they don't enforce it as vigorously. When I had Cox cable Internet I experimented with P2P movie downloading (I didn't inhale!

). I DL'ed over 20GB in one month & Cox sent me a warning letter pointing out their FAP, which as I recall restricted users to 10GB/mo.

**mallured** · 03-31-2006 08:04 PM

I got caught in the FAP trap too. I knew about it, but promptly forgot. The kids came home for Christmas and BANG, throttled down the speed. Forget about the notification at 80% -- they told me two days AFTER I went over my limit! If they would have followed their own rules I would have warned the kids, but I didn't think about it. Went a month paying $50 to get a 24k connection.

To top it off, I had the service one month before they announced the 25% reduction in FAP. They didn't do it just for new customers, instead they sold one particular service at a certain price and one month later they dictate that the cap will be 25% less. They have a legal right to change the pricing, but this isn't how to win friends and influence people. They also changed to all emailed invoices with one week less to pay. No choice. It is too bad because I could be raving about the service instead of dissing it. And there is no way to send them an note, priaise, complaint or suggestion.

**The Tate** · 03-31-2006 08:37 PM

Originally Posted by mallured

I got caught in the FAP trap too. I knew about it, but promptly forgot. The kids came home for Christmas and BANG, throttled down the speed. Forget about the notification at 80% -- they told me two days AFTER I went over my limit! If they would have followed their own rules I would have warned the kids, but I didn't think about it. Went a month paying $50 to get a 24k connection.

To top it off, I had the service one month before they announced the 25% reduction in FAP. They didn't do it just for new customers, instead they sold one particular service at a certain price and one month later they dictate that the cap will be 25% less. They have a legal right to change the pricing, but this isn't how to win friends and influence people. They also changed to all emailed invoices with one week less to pay. No choice. It is too bad because I could be raving about the service instead of dissing it. And there is no way to send them an note, priaise, complaint or suggestion.

That is the good thing about Hughesnet formally Direcway. You have a certain amount in a 4 hour period and if you are FAP'ed then you only have 8 hours till your back up to speed instead of a whole month.