The house we have purchased is not serviced by DSL or cable and I am looking at the different Satellite internet services. I have found only 2, Hughes Net and Wildblue.
Both offer pretty much the same packages, $59.95 a month for 512kbs service, with free installation.
Hughes requires a 24 month contract, while Wildblue will also provide DirectTV service and requires a 18 month contract.

have any of you guys had experience with either company?
any recommendations?
how slow is that gonna be after hving this 100Mbps DSL service?

any input appreciated

 

I only have experience with Hughes. I did service on them. If it is install correctly, and you have a good clear line of sight to the sattlelite it works very well. Hughes also can give you sattelite TV and radio, optional at extra cost.
Big question is who does the service, and how fast can they get to your site?

Davey

 

I don't have ether service but I have DISH TV, same thing,differnt name, I hate it when it rains during the summer I lose my TV.... So be perpared for that.

 

I know someone living in Washington state that has Wildblue. From what he tells me its absolutely awful. It runs fast for the first half of the month, then it slows way down. The connection drops a lot in anything but perfectly clear skies. They provide dialup access along with the satellite, and he ends up using that for some stuff because the satalite service really is that bad.

 

One of the sat. dealers in the area was here with a demo trailer for Wildblue. Seemed like a good system. But you will always have the weather to deal with no matter what service you choose. The speeds are going to seem slow compared to what you have had in the past. Don't expect to do any gaming or stuff that requires a quick response time, the delay is very noticeable, again it doesn't matter which service you go with. Personally I'm content to just wait for the cable company to get down my way. I only have dial-up capability, no cable or DSL. I think satelite broadband is just too expensive for what you get, unless of course you can write it off as a business expense.

 

The only thing I'd be worried about is service-after-the-sale. My sister has horrible service with DISH when she had it installed at her house. It was mainly because at the time DISH did not have a local branch for service work. I've had directv for quite a few years now, and have had pretty good service. Around here they farm out their work so when you do need work it can be a hassle too. A few times I was supposed to get complimentary service work (due to inconvenience, warranty reasons, etc...), and the servicing company would always try and make me sign a receipt agreeing to be billed for X amount of dollars.

Now-a-days, DISH has a branch and the company that services directv is going under.

Cliffnotes: Go with whoever has the better repair services available in your area. 18-24 months is a long time to have something when it takes two months to get something fixed...

 

I can't say it is better, as I have never used Hughes, but one of my customers moved into a rural area and got Wildblue. I have used it a number of times when working on his computers. I think he has a small business package, but it doesn't seem to be as fast as Roadrunner lite. It is better than dialup by far, but it seems to be pretty reliable.

 

I would say check for a local wireless company as satellite internet is just about as bad as dial-up. They have really low usage caps, the latency (how long it takes to get from point a to point b) is usually to high to do anything other than load websites.

Most areas have a local wireless company that can provide service that will run circles around satellite and at usually a lower cost. Ask your neighbors, ask your friends or ask your closest local town. Avoid satellite if you can.

P.S. I do computer/network repair and upgrades for a living, and have had a lot of clients that have/had satellite internet and after changing to a local wireless company they have stated it was like going from dial-up to cable. Save yourself the money and headache and get something else.

EDIT: After about a minute of google searching I found http://www.sunflowerbroadband.com/internet/wrw.html
See if they can do anything for you.

 

I've never heard of WildBlue but Hughs had very annoying customers so I will never use it. Not that Satelite works well here due to all the really tall trees.

 

Cjaiceman, we are going to be outside the service area for them.
Embarq has the telephoen service and say it may be 4 yrs before they offer DSL to the area, cable will probably be 5-10 yrs out.

 

I am in the same boat with the dial-up crude. I need high speed for work sometimes so I can work from home. It is pretty much impossible at the moment to do so. My neighbor has hughes net and loves it. I have never had any issues with my Direct TV and I have had it for 10 years. The dish has to be perfect. I will rarely loose signal, even in rain. It has to rain sideways before it will even think about going out. There is another company that services buisnesses with Satellite internet. I don't remember the name but it is on my work computer. It is more expensive, but bigger dishes and more reliable. I will post it up here if you want.

 

I am in Oregon and Wildblue has been flawless no slow downs even in the rain.

 

Do a search for StarBand. That is what my father had and he loved it.

 

I haven't found the best yet, but I might have found the worst. Wild Blue. Any time we ever had an issue, thier customer service has been the worst I've ever dealt with. I don't posts comment about a company like this too often.

 

Funny how different service can seem I am more the 100% happy with Wildblue.

I bet its all clear as mud for you now Chrisreyn huh