amkazen

Well, I am not holding out much hope for an answer as it appears this forum has died.  But, here goes.
I have the DW6000 modem and the Home plan for $62.99 per month and it works fine for my family's needs.  It has worked fine for us ever since we had an installer out about 2 years ago and we moved the dish off the roof onto a pole cemented in the ground, and re-ran the wires into the house.

My question today is: does anyone use the new 9000 modem?  I was on the Hughesnet web site today and found a news release from Aug 2008 describing the Elite Premium plan.

After talking with Hughesnet on the phone, I discovered the following:
  6000 modem:  Home or Pro plans
  7000 modem: Home, Pro, Pro Plus plans, plus a business option for these plans
  9000 modem: Elite, Elite Plus, and Elite Premium

I was told I could stay on the Home plan with the 9000 modem for the same $62.99 per month. It would cost me $199.99 for a new dish, new modem, and installation, plus a 24 month commitment.  I am not sure why I need them to install the stuff as I can unbolt and rebolt the dish, and it is marked ont he pole where everythign goes, and I can install the modem also.

I was also told I could get a HN7000s modem installed for $125 installed and use the same dish I currently have.

I was told the 6000 modem has download of 500 kbs and upload of 50 kbs.  I was told the 9000 has download of 1 mbs and 128kbs upload.  My test speeds from this site are below. 

Again, we have been satisfied with Hughesnet so far since we got the system moved and reinstalled.  It works whenever we want to use it.  Another factor in this is I am in Suriname, South America so my family is using the PC at home in Albuquerque.  We use Yahoo messenger and a Logitech webcam with a microphone to stay in touch, along with using cell phones.  We do not have the DSL option in Albuquerque, and for sure not here in this country.  We are nestled in the foothills above Albuquerque so I doubt EVDO is an option for us, especially with me gone and having my wife try to do something new with the PC.

What do you think? Should I upgrade to the 7000 or the 9000 or stick with the 6000?

Date & Time of Test                                  Type    Test Size   Test Score               
Thu Feb 07 2008 @ 11:11:00 pm UP 2992 kB 192 kbps (23 kB/s)
Thu Feb 07 2008 @ 11:07:13 pm UP 386 kB 176 kbps (21 kB/s)
Sat Oct 13 2007 @ 6:14:33 pm UP 386 kB 159 kbps (19 kB/s)
Sat Oct 13 2007 @ 6:12:48 pm DN 1013 kB 1061 kbps (130 kB/s)
Thu Sep 14 2006 @ 5:42:52 pm UP 2992 kB 211 kbps (26 kB/s)
Thu Sep 14 2006 @ 5:39:51 pm DN 2992 kB 1261 kbps (154 kB/s)
Thu Sep 14 2006 @ 5:38:10 pm DN 2992 kB 1368 kbps (167 kB/s)
Thu Sep 14 2006 @ 4:40:49 pm UP 2992 kB 167 kbps (20 kB/s)
Thu Sep 14 2006 @ 4:37:15 pm UP 386 kB 105 kbps (13 kB/s)
Thu Sep 14 2006 @ 4:35:49 pm DN 2992 kB 1190 kbps (145 kB/s)
Thu Sep 14 2006 @ 4:34:20 pm DN 2992 kB 1265 kbps (154 kB/s)
Tue Nov 22 2005 @ 5:42:55 pm DN 386 kB 427 kbps (52 kB/s)
Wed Oct 12 2005 @ 3:40:22 pm DN 748 kB 1054 kbps (129 kB/s)
Fri Sep 30 2005 @ 6:17:51 pm DN 748 kB 817 kbps (100 kB/s)
Fri Sep 30 2005 @ 5:35:53 pm DN 2992 kB 990 kbps (121 kB/s)
Fri Sep 30 2005 @ 5:35:07 pm                 DN 1013 kB 982 kbps (120 kB/s)
Fri Sep 30 2005 @ 5:39:43 am                 DN 1013 kB 959 kbps (117 kB/s)
Fri Sep 30 2005 @ 5:39:06 am DN 1496 kB 874 kbps (107 kB/s)
Fri Sep 30 2005 @ 5:27:58 am DN 748 kB 901 kbps (110 kB/s)
Fri Sep 30 2005 @ 5:20:32 am                 UP 97 kB 31 kbps (4 kB/s)
Fri Sep 30 2005 @ 5:19:04 am                 DN 1013 kB 970 kbps (118 kB/s)
Fri Sep 30 2005 @ 5:18:43 am                 DN 2992 kB 995 kbps (121 kB/s)
Fri Sep 30 2005 @ 5:18:03 am                 DN 1013 kB 971 kbps (119 kB/s)
Wed May 11 2005 @ 7:48:12 pm UP 2992 kB 48 kbps (6 kB/s)
Wed May 11 2005 @ 7:38:24 pm UP 1496 kB 119 kbps (15 kB/s)
Wed May 11 2005 @ 7:36:11 pm UP 579 kB 114 kbps (14 kB/s)
Wed May 11 2005 @ 7:35:06 pm UP 97 kB 87 kbps (11 kB/s)
Wed May 11 2005 @ 7:33:39 pm DN 2992 kB 996 kbps (122 kB/s)
Wed May 11 2005 @ 7:33:06 pm DN 1496 kB 1000 kbps (122 kB/s)
Wed May 11 2005 @ 7:32:45 pm DN 1013 kB 1016 kbps (124 kB/s)
Wed May 11 2005 @ 7:32:28 pm DN 579 kB 1009 kbps (123 kB/s)
Wed May 11 2005 @ 7:32:05 pm DN 1013 kB 1010 kbps (123 kB/s)
Mon May 09 2005 @ 4:40:09 pm                  UP 2992 kB 35 kbps (4 kB/s)
Mon May 09 2005 @ 4:26:24 pm                  UP 1496 kB 104 kbps (13 kB/s)
Mon May 09 2005 @ 4:23:46 pm                  UP 1013 kB 98 kbps (12 kB/s)
Mon May 09 2005 @ 4:21:32 pm                   UP 579 kB 34 kbps (4 kB/s)
Mon May 09 2005 @ 4:18:29 pm                  UP 97 kB 37 kbps (5 kB/s)
Mon May 09 2005 @ 4:16:13 pm                  DN 1496 kB 370 kbps (45 kB/s)
Mon May 09 2005 @ 4:15:13 pm                  DN 1013 kB 270 kbps (33 kB/s)
Mon May 09 2005 @ 4:14:16 pm                  DN 579 kB 345 kbps (42 kB/s)
Mon May 09 2005 @ 4:13:26 pm                  DN 386 kB 281 kbps (34 kB/s)
Mon May 09 2005 @ 4:12:15 pm                   DN 2992 kB 250 kbps (31 kB/s)
Fri Mar 18 2005 @ 9:00:00 pm                   DN 2992 kB 946 kbps (115 kB/s)
Fri Mar 18 2005 @ 9:00:00 pm                   UP 97 kB 28 kbps (3 kB/s)
Wed Mar 16 2005 @ 9:00:00 pm                   DN 2992 kB 993 kbps (121 kB/s)

HI, I would like to determine the best path forward to attempt using VPN on HughesNet, or if I should go to Wild Blue, or even go to a wireless Internet Service (http://www.7cities.n...r/wireless.html).  The latter 3 services are the only choices I have given where I live, and I have at least one neighbor using each of the above systems.

I do plan on trying Wild Blue and the Wireless service in the next week or so, but I also would like to try HughesNet.

I have a DW6000 modem.  The company I work for requires the use of a Cryptocard and VPN to access my office desktop from my house, or even to just gain access to the companies servies and not my office desktop.  The only thing I can do right now is log into my company email with the cryptocard.  I have tried the VPN access and it failed.

I spoke with HughesNet and was told the following:
   1.  I need to upgrade from the DW6000 to the HN7000S modem
   2.  I need to upgrade my plan from the residential consumer plan of $62.99 per month to the residental professional plus plan for $89.95 per month, which includes a static IP address.
  3.  I was also told I could go to the business / small home office plan for $109.95 which includes 5 static IP addresses, and I would have to get the larger dish (.98 m & 2 W radio ?) and the HN7000S modem.

I would say 99% of my computer use is browsing, email, and paying bills.  However, with gas prices climbing, I am seriously beginning to consider asking my company to let me work for home.  However, I need to know I can do that reliably before asking.

Thanks for letting me know if VPN will work with the DW6000 or if I need to upgrade, etc.

amkazen

Finally!! Since early July 2005 my DW 6000 system has barely worked, if at all.  I could MAYBE get on-line, and if I could, I would be able to surf to MAYBE one site, and then I could not go anywhere on-line. The system would just flat die with a web-acceleration error.  I called Direcway support so many times I lost count. They would all say the same thing, "It is your PC, try this, try that, etc. etc."  It was so frsutrating.  I finally in early August after I returned from my vacation to get Direcway to bump me up to a higher tech support level.  I went through a bunch of the same stuff as before, plus a little more.  Nothing worked and this tech support guy told me it was my NIC card in my desktop.  This was even though I had the same Internet access problem with my laptop although I know the guy did not believe me and did not listen to me.  Well, my desktop's NIC card is built in on my Gigabyte motherboard so I took the whole PC down to a local repair shop and asked them to check it out.  It worked beautifully on their Internet connection and addtionally I had them install a separate NIC card to try at home, even though I knew it would not change anything.  I was right...nothing changed.  I had the same problem as before.  I called Direcway support a few more times and was eventually bumped up to the highest level of tech support, and was given a new, direct phone # and a special PIN number to use when calling this new support #.  Well, after 2 weeks of playing telephone tag, I finally got a guy on the phone and even though I was not at home when I got him on the phone, he was able to do a test on my system, even though my PC was turned off, and viola!!  Within 2 minutes, or less, he diagnosed my problem as a bad radio transmitter on my dish, and not the modem as I had decided the problem was.  He said he would have a repair technician contact me to come out to the house to change the transmitter out and all would be good after that.  Well, the technician called me a few days later, set the day up, called to cancel and reschedule from late in the afternoon to 7:00 am the next morning, and actually was at my doorstep at 7:00 am as he had promised.  He was up on the roof for about 10 minutes and came down and said he would not fix my problem.  In fact, he said he doubted my problem was the radio transmitter.  He then went into the house to look at my modem.  He then stated I had bigger problems than my transmitter, if in fact that was the problem at all.  He said my problem was a substandard install and here is what he listed as problems: 1) dish installed on a metal ProPanel roof which is against Direcway installation guidelines; 2)  system not grounded; 3)  dish installation was loose on roof and could be moved about an inch or so, depending on the wind.  The installer had missed the rafters and so over the past 19 months or so it had loosened up; 4)  the coax cable ran into my house and to the modem was terminated incorrectly with crimp fittings, vs. using compression fittings, and the fittings were loose.  He said Direcway would have to replace that part of my roof as they had drilled into it when they should have done a pole-mount installation.  He took pictures and wrote up the problems.  I called Direcway yesterday as I had not heard anything from them in two days about the corrective actions, etc. and I felt 2 days was sufficient time to get back to me.  I was told it was still in review, and more time was needed.  I was also told Direcway normally does not warranty installation after 12 months.  So, it will be interesting to see what the outcome is.  I hope it can be fixed within the next week or so, and then I can try to get a credit from Direcway for the time I have been dead in the water.  I am just happy to know what the problem is.  The last tech guy I spoke to who told me this issue was still under review said my whole roof was acting as a conductor, or something like that, and I was lucky I had not had a lightning strike, etc.  I told him the regular tech support guys always told me to undo the coax from the back of the modem and to touch the center wire to discharge a static build-up.  He laughed and said they like to tell people to do that and when I told him it always helped me, he said he beleived that and that I was probably one oout of every 10,000 customers where it would actually work.  I will update this once everything is fixed.  My guess is this will be a small claims issue against the original installer but I guess time will tell, and it all depends on what Direcway does.

amkazen

Windows XP, Norton, Spybot, Microsoft Beta SpyWare, home built PC: AMD XP2600+, 1.91 GHz, 1 GB of RAM, 72.2 GB, most files on D:, minimal files on C:

About 1.5 weeks ago I unplugged my DW6000 modem.  It was unplugged for 3 - 4 days.  I plugged it back in and have been experiencing intermittent periods of no connectivity and cannot get any faster tests than about 850kbps, and the I lose my connectivity, and then it comes back slow, maybe it comes back.  I have unplugged the modem multiple times, reset the modem, unscrewed the coax, touched the coax wire, and called Direcway help multiple times.  Thye have reregistered my modem, repointed it, etc.  They pushed me up a level and the guy had me do disk cleanup, uncheck a lot of items from my startup menu using msconfig, etc.  The advanced guy says the next thing to do is to uninstall my network card driver/software, turn the PC off, unplug the network card, power up the PC, turn the PC off, reinstall the network card, turn the PC on, reinstall the network card, and my problem should go away.  What do you think? Will this work?  The Direcway guy seems to think my network driver is corrupted.

I am on my laptop now that I have not used in months and it is about as slow as the desktop.  I have had Direcway for about 20 months now with minimal problems and usually have speed test results in the range of 1,048 kbps.

Do any of you have suggestions as to what to do to get my regular connectivity and speeds back?
Is the network card R&R a logical next step?
Is there another alternative to Direcway for me?  We do not have a land-line telephone service and only have cell phones.  We do not have a electric utility as we are "off-grid".  We do not have cable TV either.  This is all thanks to the local Indian Pueblo that will not allow the local utility companies to do anything more across the easement besides maintain existing power, etc., which goes to the subdivision about 1 mile south of us.  My neighbors have "2-way" radio Internet but I am not impressed with it as they only get about 450kbps.

Thanks for the suggestions.

amkazen

Hi, I encountered a strange problem a few months back and about pulled all my hair out because I could not get a clear explanation as to what happened.  I just had a thought that perhaps one of you could shed some light on what I experienced.

I have had a flash.net email account for about 7 years.  In fact, it is the only home email account I have ever had.  I do not like changing things constantly just because of price, etc.  Flash.net email accounts are owned by SBC Yahoo!. I do not want to change my email address from flash.net so I keep paying the money each monthinstead of using the Direcway email address.  I know, stupid, but we all have our quirks!!

At the time of the problem, I had been with Direcway for about 18 months.

Yes, during this entire time I have had Direcway I have had a flash.net email address.

I have always used Outlook for my email, not Outlook Express.  Currently, and at the time of the problem, I use Outlook 2003.

My Incoming POP3 settings during this time period were  pop.flash.yahoo.com and my outgoing SMTP settings were  smtp.flash.yahoo.com.  I never, ever had a problem sending or receiving email with these settings.

All of a sudden, about Feb 10, 2005, I could not send emails.  I could receive them but could not send them.  After 10 days or so of dealing with both flash.net and Direcway technical support, I finally found an answer as to how I could once again receive AND send email.  However, during this 10 days, there was a tremendous amount of fingerpointing from flash.net (SBC Yahoo!) to Direcway.  In fact, I was told by both flash.net I could not have ever sent email with the above POP3 and SMTP settings because I was on Direcway.    Flash.net also told me Direcway was my ISP and up till then, I had always believed flash.net/SBC Yahoo! was my ISP.  I distinctly remember reading someplace a few years ago that Direcway was just a gateway and that any Direcway subscriber could use any ISP they wanted to.  The flash.net representative pretty much told me I was wrong about that.

The solution to the problem of not being able to send email was to leave my POP3 setting unchanged at   pop.flash.yahoo.com and to change my SMTP setting to  smtp.direcway.com.

The questions I have are:
1)  What could have changed about February 10, 2005 to require me to change the SMTP setting that had worked for so long with problem?  I did find out either flash.net (or was it Direcway) made some changes to their email servers/accounts about Feb 10 but I was told it would not affect me and I could opt of being included in that change.  I did opt out but doing so did not help: I still could not send emails. Ok, here is what the change was:  opt out for port 25 filter. By opting out, I could send email using a third-party smtp server. What I do not understand is why would this change affect me?  I had the flash.net smtp setting and was using Direcway the entire time without a problem.  All of a sudden, it changed!
2)  Why could I send and receive emails before without a problem, even though flash.net told me it was impossible with my POP3 and SMTP settings?
3)  Am I incorrect in my belief that Direcway can just be used as a gateway to the Internet and I can use whatever ISP I want to?  Wasn't this something they used to tell potential customers?     
4) I know it is wishful thinking but is there anything in the works that would allow us to keep our emailaddresses when switching ISPs, just like you can now keep your cell phone # when switching cell phone companies?  :)

Thanks for thinking about this problem.