Satellite Inet Users Be Aware

[CochiseGuy]

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.

Your kids must have downloaded a ton and you must have a bad connection to the satellite if you went a whole month @24k. WB's FAP policy reads:

"We will notify you via your WildBlue contact email address if your Usage Total reaches 80% or more of the Usage Threshold. If at any time your Usage Total is above the Usage Threshold, we will reduce your WildBlue access speeds, typically to 128 kbps in the downstream (from the Internet to you) and 28 kbps in the upstream (from you to the Internet) until your Usage Total is 80% or less than the Usage Threshold. Once your Usage Total reaches this level, your access speeds will be restored to the original speed levels by the next day."

If your kids were downloading movies or music via P2P, they might have exceeded your FAP so fast the couldn't email you in time. Also, if your WB service is through NRTC I have read that NTRC has some issues in monitoring customers' usage, and with billing.

Actually, it was DirectWay/HughesNet 4 hour FAP that convinced me to go with WB. A neighbor, a Realtor, has DirectWay and recommended against it to me. When she had it installed she was so thrilled at finally having broadband she did a large, long over-due Windows update and emailed property photos to clients and was promptly throtted back to dial-up spped for the rest of the day. When I got my WB installed, I promptly did a 55MB update for XP Pro x64 Bit for a new PC I built. That and with several other software downloads I'm still under 10% of my rolling 30 day FAP limit. I can monitor my usage over a 30 day period much better than I can monitor 4 hours.

 

[KE4EST]

I am bumping up this thread.....I heard of another guy that got FAP'ed as they call it on WildBlue. As I have said before(I don't know if it was in this thread or not) but I have WB and I burn it up with a lot of stuff and sometimes get to maybe half but not to going over my limit.

IF you are a High volume business you need to let them know up front, or if you want to sit on the inet day and night and download LARGE Megabyte movies this is not for you. WB and HughesNet, etc, Satellite Inet services are mainly for people in the boonies that can not get any other High Speed Inet. Not saying that I personally agree with all FAP rules, most I do, some I don't, but this is just the way it is. Yes I know you are paying way more for 1 Megabit Download than your buddy in the City that is getting 3-6 M/bs for a lower price. But follow their rules and read that contract you sign, or they will slow you WAY down or temparily, shut you off.

 

[Stargazer]

This is one of the main reasons I have not gotten satellite internet and kept my dialup. If I am going to pay at least 5 times as much for satellite broadband plus a huge upfront fee I am going to download to my heart's content using bandwidth like those can on cable/dsl. Until then I will stick with dialup waiting for wireless internet or other options to come my way.

 

[HCI]

You should never hit the fap if your doing anything but abnormal activities online. Its not really that bad, I have been using Hughes for 3 years altogether and have not once hit the fap. It is inplace so they keep intact somewhat of a good speed for the customer.

DSL and Cable companies also have some sort of fap also. You might have to do some research but it's there.

Edit: corrected my awfull spellling.

 

[charper1]

Most traditional ISP residential accounts have a limit on the U/L side, but unlimited on the D/L side; and at worst case that is the way it should be. Mass amounts of U/L are tantamount to needing a business account. I think any ISP that uses the word UNLIMITED in their description of the services should be bound by that on both sides. Then just set different usage and pricing points for anything that is not truly unlimited. Regardless of being residential or business.

 

[Stargazer]

According to the FAP on WildBlue, StarBand, and HughesNet what is their download limit per month and what kind of speed do you get dropped down to once that is reached? How many hours of video can you watch before that limit has been reached?

 

[HCI]

According to the FAP on WildBlue, StarBand, and HughesNet what is their download limit per month and what kind of speed do you get dropped down to once that is reached? How many hours of video can you watch before that limit has been reached?

With Hughes it depends on your service plan. It runs on a rolling 4 hour period so if you do hit it they will not shut you down for the rest of the month like Wildblue. The refill period just depends on how much you go over. Think of it as two buckets, one big bucket that is being feed by a smaller bucket. The faster and more you use out of the big bucket the slower and longer it takes to fill back up.

http://www.dbsinstall.com/Direcway/hughesFAP.asp
http://www.copperhead.cc/fap.htm

They also have a tool were you can check your usage also. Below is mine for the past 2 days.

Date Time From Time To Min Used Download In MB Subject To FAP*Upload In MB
03/25/2007 1:00 02:00 48 47.21 No 0.76
03/25/2007 10:00 11:00 48 13.97 No 0.64
03/25/2007 11:00 12:00 42 4.03 No 0.18
03/25/2007 12:00 13:00 35 14.76 No 0.29
03/25/2007 13:00 14:00 52 64.46 No 0.57
03/25/2007 14:00 15:00 42 28.17 No 0.38
03/25/2007 16:00 17:00 41 25.47 No 0.19
03/25/2007 17:00 18:00 59 3.39 No 0.24
03/25/2007 18:00 19:00 54 43.22 No 0.88
03/25/2007 19:00 20:00 38 15.19 No 0.27
03/25/2007 20:00 21:00 43 30.96 No 0.51
03/25/2007 21:00 22:00 25 7.04 No 0.18
03/25/2007 23:00 00:00 43 6.60 No 0.26
03/26/2007 17:00 18:00 34 2.93 No 0.24
03/26/2007 18:00 19:00 49 24.98 No 0.91
03/26/2007 19:00 20:00 54 39.97 No 1.69
03/26/2007 20:00 21:00 38 7.32 No 0.30
03/26/2007 21:00 22:00 51 22.92 No 0.83
03/26/2007 22:00 23:00 46 11.78 No 0.17
03/26/2007 23:00 00:00 31 11.91 No 0.23
03/27/2007 8:00 09:00 38 5.41 No 0.16
03/27/2007 18:00 19:00 39 4.00 No 0.11
03/27/2007 19:00 20:00 59 31.91 No 0.61
03/27/2007 20:00 21:00 60 1.00 No 0.19
03/27/2007 21:00 22:00 57 17.11 No 0.66
03/27/2007 22:00 23:00 54 2.75 No 0.24
03/27/2007 23:00 00:00 47 6.73 No 0.23
03/28/2007 0:00 01:00 24 0.86 No 0.02
03/28/2007 8:00 09:00 30 2.84 No 0.08

 

[KPask20574]

well like my company one way to protect yourself against ppl who cancel....i've created a contract for customers to sign saying basicly if they cancel within the 12 month contract wildblue is going to charge us back 200 bucks and we are going to charge their card 200 bucks....very good idea if you ask me....way to protect yourself.

 

[charper1]

Hmm, I hear you, BUT it sounds a tad bit illegal to me. Make sure you investigate that legality before you follow through.

 

[KE4EST]

I would like to you SatelliteGuys KPask20574.

I agree with charper1 also on that one. Now I know you can get them to sign another contract that you come up with, to be able to bill them, if they pay or not, is another story. Most contracts if signed by both parties is legal and binding, but chargeing a credit card, you need to look into that.

 

[raulgod]

well said but thats not all correct, skyfx has no FAP unlimited use and skyway works with skyfx (thank god).

 

[KE4EST]

Hmm I guess I need to look into skyfx and skyway. I did not know. Thanks.

 

[KPask20574]

i just worked with a customer who was using skyway and they all of a sudden as crazy as it sounds they lost communication with the satellite and then they got a call saying that they had to replace the dish and modem to connect with the new satellite. which would of cost them close to 400 to replace....and then they put them on a list and had been waiting and waiting and after 2 years still have had heard nothing from them....

 

[KPask20574]

I would like to you SatelliteGuys KPask20574.

I agree with charper1 also on that one. Now I know you can get them to sign another contract that you come up with, to be able to bill them, if they pay or not, is another story. Most contracts if signed by both parties is legal and binding, but chargeing a credit card, you need to look into that.

its not that were going to charge their credit card more that they understand if they violate the contract and we occure a chargeback that they are responsible for paying our company back for that money lost.

 

[KE4EST]

its not that were going to charge their credit card more that they understand if they violate the contract and we occure a chargeback that they are responsible for paying our company back for that money lost.

Very True!!

 

[johnmmarsh]

I'm moving to a the edge of civilisation, and the cable company tell me it will take 3 or 4 weeks before they can tell me whether or not I can get cable in my new house. The telephone company claims that I can get a land line telephone, but not DSL. I could get satellite broadband, I guess, but it sounds like I will be paying fillet mignon prices for toasted cheese service.

So my dilemna is: do I wait a month without broadband to see if cable is possible with the risk that it won't be and I'll have to sign up with satellite anyway, or do I go for satellite straightaway with the option that if cable does turn out to be available I can, if I want to, always cancel the satellite.

If I go for satellite now (or later), which service should I go with? HughesNet, SkyWay, WildBlue or SkyFX? Is there anyone else?

So many questions!

 

[Samoaga]

Sat Internet/Pago Pago

Does anyone know if any satellite internet is available for personal use
in American Samoa? We are half way between Hawaii and New Zealand.

 

[DeardorffV8]

I am glad I found this site and this discussion. We moved from Cable in an Urban area to dial up on a farm in Norht Dakota. Our fastest dial up has been 24kbps and the real download speed is about 2.3 kbps and often under one kilibyte per second. Needless to say we only download updates and similar at night and hope it doesn't disconnect as so often happens when the site itself times out on us.

We are looking at satellite. One reason is when I upload photographs to friends and the lab I want it to do so a lot quicker than a half hour and longer. My photo files are usually 4-8MB and some up to 175MB in size with (very) few at up to 300MB. My wife does genealogy as a hobby and spends a lot of time doing internet research.

This Fair Access Policy has me concerned. Wild Blue sounds nice but getting cut off for the rest of the month after uploading a few photos or downloading upgrades or watching YouTube NCAA and Olympic wrestling matches has me worried. Getting cut off if she gets onto a site that has some info she has been trying to track down for years, downloading it and then losing it because of this policy would be a killer.

The nearby 'former' Wild Blue' dealer dropped out because he has had a few customers cut off by them for the rest of the month... before the month was half over. I don't want that to happen to me. Having them change the terms of the 'agreement' IMMEDIATELY and only emailing you the changes without 30/60 day notice stinks. They can change it at any time and you are stuck. Quit/cancel as a result of onerous terms and you lose the cost you had into it and end up in a court fight.

Hughes Net does look better from this angle so far but all I really know is what I read. What I read looks semi-OK, but their terms for cutting you off basically say (same with Wild Blue) "we can cut you off at any time, for any reason, or with no reason and there is nothing you can do about it". A 'contract of adhesion' is the nominal term for this crap but if you want internet service faster than 3kbps you are stuck with one of these two companies.

Then there are their 'terms' that include stuff like you won't do anything 'illegal, offensive' or similar. Posting a photo of a womans without face covering is 'illegal' in a number of countries, and with the internet you are easily in violation of this one often. It is only one sample of 'illegal' that hits almost all who use the internet as no matter where you are something you post or do is pretty sure to be illegal somewhere. The agreement gives them the leeway to cancel you for that.

Given all the problems with the satellite services I do want faster internet speed. Waiting 15 minutes for the websites to load is more than a waste of time. Waiting and having to have the computer re-dial 3-8 times is a waste of time.

Getting cut off is a pisser.

So, with the limitations of the Fair Use Policy, and knowing I won't use that much most of the time but will probably go over every now and then just because of updates and some uploads, what is the best option? Wild Blue or HugesNet? Or is there another provider that covers rural North Dakota. (Wild Blue has no provider closer than 60 miles and HughesNet page tells me the only one is in Williston, a couple hundred miles away) Are they reliable enough to live with service/help so far away?

 

[Jared Twomey]

just a note about your post... I have installed a few hundred Wildblue systems, and have had no one call to complain about FAP problems.

 

[Stargazer]

They might be calling WildBlue to complain about it.