Satellite Internet

[mikkiblueeyes]

We're out in the country where we can't get broadband and don't want to deal with dial up.

We've researched a few satellite internet companies but I wanted to get honest opinions from those who have it, not read just the "good" testimonies on the company's websites.

Good ones? Ones to stay away from?

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Shadeaux]

We're also in the country - it's either dial up or satellite out here. I've been trying to find some good recommendations for either Hughesnet or Wild Blue, but haven't been successful. I'm looking for opinions from 'real' people, not the glowing testimonials on the companies' websites.

mikkiblueeyes - I hope there's someone on here that can help us; I'm so sick of dial up!

 

[Katie]

We have DTN speednet. I have only heard bad things about wildblue or hughes.

Speednet works for us...but's kinda pricey.

 

[crz4mm2]

Had Hughes (and Direcway before that). It was the worst experience!
I had no internet more than I had internet. I spent countless hours on the phone with tech support.
I have never been so happy as when the phone company put DSL out here!!!

I don't know much about the other one, but there is a forum for users at dslreports.com

 

[Shadeaux]

We have DTN speednet. I have only heard bad things about wildblue or hughes.

Speednet works for us...but's kinda pricey.

I checked Speednet's website...whatever it is, it's only good in a few states and Louisiana isn't one of them.

I've heard some pretty bad things about Wildblue & Hughes too. They're both way too expensive to get locked into a 2 year contract for unreliable service.

 

[STLDisney_Freak]

We had Hughesnet at our old house. It was okay. It really depends on what you plan to use the internet service for too such as just surfing the internet, downloading, etc. Hughesnet has a clause in their contract that is called the fair use clause. Basically if you download too much within 24 hours then your speeds are going to go back to dial up for a certain amount of time. We had the the biggest package that Hughesnet offered and just putting songs our our mp3 players caused us to be at dial up speeds due to the fair use clause. I absolutely hated calling tech services. I'm happy I don't have to use them anymore.

 

[Jestocost]

I agree that checking the forums/reviews at DSLreports.com is a good idea. My recollection is that download speeds are OK, upload speeds generally are not much better than or comparable to dial up and latency is terrible. I think they can address the first two, but there's nothing they're going to be able to do about the latency as long as that whole speed of light thing is a barrier.

 

[crz4mm2]

I agree that checking the forums/reviews at DSLreports.com is a good idea. My recollection is that download speeds are OK, upload speeds generally are not much better than or comparable to dial up and latency is terrible. I think they can address the first two, but there's nothing they're going to be able to do about the latency as long as that whole speed of light thing is a barrier.

My download speeds were CRAP. BARELY better than dial up. They were horrid. Hughes kept telling me if I would "upgrade" my hardware then it would get better (so paying 60 bucks a month with OLD equip was not good enough). I finally said if they PROMISED me that the speed would get better I would do it, but I wasn't paying for the upgrade... They sent 2 techs out to set it all up. There was no real set up involved. They did not have to repoint the dish etc, but I had to "pay" for the service call. I refused to pay for the service call and they did eventually give me a credit.
I would not ever have Hughes again.

 

[LMC]

We've had hughes net for probably at least 8 yrs. It was the only thing available back then. We have the "professional" package and I have only had the exceeded usage problem once and I didn't even know what it was. Since I am aware of it now, I just make sure I don't do too many downloads to interfere with school work. The only thing I hate is we loose it in bad weather.

 

[Chuck S]

Friends of mine lived in an area with no cable or DSL. Their Hughes services was awful. Not fast enough to do much of anything. They were just able to switch to DSL last month

 

[happygirl]

We have Wild Blue we really like it so far