Rural internet service

[barred rock'er]

We have dial up right now and it's driving us crazy!

were too far out for regular broadband or dsl.

Does anyone use sattelite broadband like 'wild blue" or "hughes net"? If so what are your thoughts and or suggestions?
Thanks,

Matt

 

[NurseNettie]

Matt---- satellite internet is ok from what I understand, as long as you're not into gaming. There's anywhere from 5-15 second delay sending/receiving signals.
We were supposed to get satellite, but ended up being able to get wireless highspeed (thankfully!!!-- We play WOW and wouldn't be able to with satellite!)

 

[mangled]

We have Hughes, and I'm in love with it. There's a pretty big initial investment with it, I think it was about $400, but they run $100 rebates pretty frequently.

We run pretty fast, but like any satellite, you will lose signal in bad weather.

It also runs $59.99 monthly. We've scaled a lot back to loosen up our budget, but our internet isn't something I'm willing to cut out.

They were up to install us about 7 days after we ordered. They had to drill some holes in the floor, and get under the house. They won't mount the satellite directly on the side of the house, so if you don't have a pole close enough for them access, you'll have to purchase the pole kit, which I believe was $124 or something.

Like I said, big initial investment, but worth it for the reliable, fast internet connection.

Good luck-
Em

 

[spatcher]

I have Wildblue and will go to Embarq DSL if they ever get it where we are. 3 prices for WB 59.95 69.95 and 79.95 higher the fee higher the speed. At this point I would say 69.95 (what I have) is a step up from dial up but not worth the money-if you can live with dial-up until something else comes along, do so. You are restricted to a certain amount of useage, again, depending on how much you pay. Initial cost is about 300.00 to boot then an 18 month contract you are tied to! I wouldnt do it again if i had to do it over. Cant speak for Hughes but imagine they are all alike. My downtime is low BUT am off the air when it rains hard! Friend has Kimbanet and she says they are down all the time. They are all a ripoff in my opinion but just my opinion. Just remember, you have to live with what you get for 18 months! Hope this helps!

 

[chcknrs]

We've had Wildblue for quite some time now. We have the lowest priced rate, and it's WAY better than dial up! However the "tree" went out, and we ended up having to pay for a service call, which really burned me up. The equipment is only covered for a year, so I bought another warranty for another year, was cheaper than what the service call would have been and we are covered for another year.
I get service most of the time, only have a problem when there is VERY heavy cloud cover.

 

[Wildsky]

I tried Wildblue..... not fast enough, I work from home and could not connect to VPN with WIldblue. I can do so with a DSL.

 

[barred rock'er]

Wow, I was aware about the high price,But I'm not paying that much do be just a step up from dial-up.

For the installation fee,and 69.95 amonth I would need to be at least 3 steps up!or maybe 4.lol
I'm paying $10.00 a month right now,and I think half of my(speed) problem is my pc.

Do pages load as fast as they do on wireless?Like is it instant?
I surf a lot and do homework,pdf downloads,etc.
thanks
Matt

 

[sundance]

We belong to a co-op phone co. but I had heart of tn for dial up for about 5 years since the local phone co did not have dsl as far out as we live.so as soon as they got DSL out here I had it installed,and problem is it;s almost as slow as dial up, I have to keep them for a year then I may just go back to dial up.We have Direct TV for our sattilite service and they have Hughes net, haven't heard anything good about them, Sorry> marrie

 

[gritsar]

Wanna talk about slow internet service? On a good day we can connect @ 26.4 K maybe. My SO refuses to even get on the internet at home anymore because he can't handle the slow speed. He bugs the bejeevers out of Alltel about once every six months about DSL, but it's not working. The best hope we have right now is a phone call we got from a lady living in our small town who was able to get expedited DSL because she knew somebody important and her son is in Iraq, so she wanted to be able to communicate with him. She's started a petition to get the rest of us DSL. I've talked to my SO about satellite, but he doesn't like the initial expense. Plus, I like to get on the net when it's nasty and rainy outside and I can't be doing outside things. Fat lot of good satellite would do me if it were out too. Our satellite TV goes out every time the wind blows the wrong way.

 

[spatcher]

Rocker as far as pages loading goes theres good days and bad, why I dont know. If it was my puter it would be slow all the time but such is not the case. For those with Hughes, are you restricted on useage like WB? Glad your WB service is good in WA. I am on a mtn in VA and as I said, wouldnt do it again!