Jump to content

Thinking of Switching


Recommended Posts

Hey people. I currently have DWay, but my contract is up like next month or something. I had a guy come buy the house after setting one up down the street, were bulding a new house and he was pitching Wild Blue. Hes going to try and set up a live demp, where he'll come out and we can compare Wild Blue and DWay side by side. I was wondering what you alls take on this is, weather switching to WB is a good choise, or if you can recomend another sat. provider thats better....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey...see if he'll set that demo up for a few days...to include week days and you could test perhaps hourly and compare the two for us....I'd be interested in the results of that....my contract is up next month too...and I've looked at WB through my electric co-op. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wish I could switch, but our contract just got renewed a couple months ago. Maybe I'll just stick with Direcway.

You'll probably have to wait until Wildblue gets more customers until you get an idea of how it compares with Direcway, I have little doubt that it will probably be faster and more stable than Dway, but who knows.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

I just made the switch from Dway Small Business (with the .98 m dish, static IP and DW6000) to Wildblue Select Pack and so far I am very impressed and pleased with what I got.  The installer was very knowledgable regarding all the pitfalls of poor installations I have read about on the forums and did a great job with the install and pointing.

I had the Dway Small Business package (1.0 Mbps download/100Kbps upload, 99.99/month with upfront equipment cost of 999.98 back in June of 2005).  With Wildblue I got the Select Pack (1.0 Mbps download/200 Kbps upload, 69.99/month with upfront cost of 379.99).  I have to use Citrix to access my company's VPN and when you combine the latency of satellite and the slow upload, you spend most of you time waiting for the screen to catch up with you.  My latency with my Dway package was an average of about 900 to 1000 ms.  With Wildblue it is between 700 to 750 ms consistently. 

Pinging www.yahoo.akadns.net [68.142.226.37] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 68.142.226.37: bytes=32 time=834ms TTL=48

Reply from 68.142.226.37: bytes=32 time=867ms TTL=48

Reply from 68.142.226.37: bytes=32 time=600ms TTL=48

Reply from 68.142.226.37: bytes=32 time=706ms TTL=48

Reply from 68.142.226.37: bytes=32 time=628ms TTL=48

Reply from 68.142.226.37: bytes=32 time=750ms TTL=48

Reply from 68.142.226.37: bytes=32 time=674ms TTL=48

Reply from 68.142.226.37: bytes=32 time=760ms TTL=48

Reply from 68.142.226.37: bytes=32 time=675ms TTL=48

Reply from 68.142.226.37: bytes=32 time=594ms TTL=48

Ping statistics for 68.142.226.37:

    Packets: Sent = 10, Received = 10, Lost = 0 (0% loss),

Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:

    Minimum = 594ms, Maximum = 867ms, Average = 708ms

Why there is a difference, since they both have to hit a satellite 22,000 miles in space, is beyond me, but the lower latency combined with the greater upload has been very noticeable.  Although nowhere near what DSL or cable would be, I will take what I can get.  Here is my speed from this morning.

:::.. Upload Stats ..:::

Connection is:: 173 Kbps about 0.2 Mbps (tested with 1496 kB)

Upload Speed is:: 21 kB/s

Tested From:: https://testmy.net  (main)

Test Time:: 2006/03/06 - 6:09am

Bottom Line:: 3X faster than 56K 1MB Upload in 48.76 sec

Diagnosis: Awesome! 20% + : 38.4 % faster than the average for host (wildblue.net)

Validation Link:: https://testmy.net/stats/id-4JLRYZ7G8

:::.. Download Stats ..:::

Connection is:: 1106 Kbps about 1.1 Mbps (tested with 2992 kB)

Download Speed is:: 135 kB/s

Tested From:: https://testmy.net  (main)

Test Time:: 2006/03/06 - 7:39am

Bottom Line:: 20X faster than 56K 1MB Download in 7.59 sec

Diagnosis: 90% + Okay : running at 93.49 % of your hosts average (wildblue.net)

Validation Link:: https://testmy.net/stats/id-8XJM2ID91

With Dway I used VanBuren's Cablenut DW6000 tweaks from version 8, which seemed to help.  With Wildblue I cleared all tweaks in Cablenut and then loaded the Wildblue optimizer.  The only tweak that shows up in Cablenut when the optimizer is loaded is MaxConnectionsPerServer 10 and in the Internet Properties, Connections, Lan Settings, Automatic Configuration both Automatically detect settings and Use Automatic Configuration Script checked.  This produced poor results when tested (download around 800 and upload around 75).    I unchecked both Internet Properties items, left everything else alone, and now things are smoking.  This same scenario played out on both my desktop, and wireless laptop.  I will be looking for further tweaks that may help me maximize upload speed and post anything that works.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have been using this site, but never registered until now to respond to your post.  I had DWay for several years, never totally satisfied but the only option in my semirural area.  Switched to DSL when it became available--MUCH better than DWay.  However I moved, and voila, no cable or DSL.  Went back to Dway, not satisfied, stumbled on WildBlue, and with them now for about 6 months.

The real bottom line is my wife (a pure user, no techno insights whatsoever).  She recognizes that WB is MUCH better than DWay (not DSL, but decidedly superior for satellite).  Not only faster (especially pings and uploads), but more reliable.  Given the date of your post, my response might not be too helpful.  But at least you got me to register!!

Good luck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have been using this site, but never registered until now to respond to your post.  I had DWay for several years, never totally satisfied but the only option in my semirural area.  Switched to DSL when it became available--MUCH better than DWay.  However I moved, and voila, no cable or DSL.  Went back to Dway, not satisfied, stumbled on WildBlue, and with them now for about 6 months.

The real bottom line is my wife (a pure user, no techno insights whatsoever).  She recognizes that WB is MUCH better than DWay (not DSL, but decidedly superior for satellite).  Not only faster (especially pings and uploads), but more reliable.  Given the date of your post, my response might not be too helpful.  But at least you got me to register!!

Good luck.

jcello gotcha, welcome to the forum!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wildblue seems a bit expensive for what you get. Check out this link for prices.

http://www.4wildblue.com/About.aspx

I will stick with my DW4000. I cannot see that Wildblue is better, except the upload speed. I pay $60.00 for 1.5 meg. download and of course real slow upload speed, which I can live with. The best download speed  I have ever gotten with Direcway is 1589. That is using their test site, which I think is  more accurate than other sites. I still use  testmy.net and toast.net  for a quick speed test.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I got Wildblue and was very disatfied with it, slow does not even to begin to tell you what I had. I called and spoke with tech support and changes a lot of setting and did not get any better.  The sent the installer back out and he said he did not have the dish leveled and it should be better. I tested it again and all I could get was 375kbs. When speaking with tech department they said this was all that was guaranteed with the package I had. I asked about the next one up and switched to it and get better speeds all the way around.  I sure hate paying 69.95 for it though. I was thinking about Dway but from the post it appears I am probably with the best service for where I am. They pipe sun lite in out here(G) I still have until the 9th to get my money back. I have a dway setup that was given to me, just don't know what to do

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had Di recway for 18 months and struggled the whole time with their "tech" support and having the service go out every time the dish went in the shade (well not quite that bad). When I saw Wildblue it was a no brainer and if I was a first time user it would have been a double no brainer as I had $600 invested in Di recway HW.  Wildblue HW was $300 and for about the same bandwidth $10 less per month (I'm on the ValuePack of Wildblue).  What I like best about Wildblue is the consistency.  When it rains it still works.  With Di recway it went out every day and on rainy days could be down the whole time.  With Wildblue it's on all the time and only when it rained so bad my directv went out did it go out.  For work I have to use a VPN and Wildblues ping times (latency) are one third better and while not as fast as DSL or cable I can operate.  I also have to laugh when people say just wait until Wildblue gets more customers things will get worse.  I could have stayed with DW where things were worse or switched to Wildblue where things are definitely better and "may" get worse.  If they do, I'll have enjoyed a year of better service, fulfilled my 1 year obligation and be ready to switch to the next technology such as WiMax, or Internet over Powerlines.  Or maybe, just maybe my area will get DSL or Cable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest thecableguy

Hey people. I currently have DWay, but my contract is up like next month or something. I had a guy come buy the house after setting one up down the street, were bulding a new house and he was pitching Wild Blue. Hes going to try and set up a live demp, where he'll come out and we can compare Wild Blue and DWay side by side. I was wondering what you alls take on this is, weather switching to WB is a good choise, or if you can recomend another sat. provider thats better....

Compared to DirecWay I think you will be much happier with WildBlue. Do it....you know you want to!! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Hello,

Just signed up with this forum, I have been a WB customer for about 60 Days. The speed is great, reliability is good (only slight interruptions with rain). The only problem so far is the FAP. I have 3 Teenagers with 3 computers! I was just dinged for FAP abuse! I have  Pro Pack service, I thought this would be enough, however with the 3 kids , file sharing, and online gaming... and the COST!

Oh well-- I will try to enforce my own FAP within our house (GOOD LUCK) :haha:

Overall- I like WB, It's the only option where I live accept for 14.4 dial up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...