What type of speeds are typical for Starband?

[mynameisdan]

I thought Starband would be about the same as DirecWay speed wise. I read a thing on a site and it said that the most you'll get is like 70 or so KiloBYTES a second. That doesn't sound too great for 60+ a month.

What are typical speeds for you guys? and are there any starband tweaks like the SatSpeed for DirecWay?

[Blako]

I looked in the testmy.net "host" database

starband.net Download Average = 488 Kbps :: 60 KB/sec

starband.net Upload Average    = 60 Kbps :: 7 KB/s

Reviews:

"I ordered the business package, which was 1.5 down/760 UP. I have been getting about 1100 up and 1200-1500 down." - AT $125 PER MONTH

"Speeds have hovered around 450/90. Not amazing, but livable. With no other broadband options available, this is the best way to ride" - AT $69 PER MONTH

"The fastest connection (for up) on their site that I could find is 256kbps."

You asked how others compare: I have adelphia 4000/430 (or so) I dont know the price because I have a cable TV & cable internet deal at less then $60 a month I think...

[mynameisdan]

yeah, I can't get DSL or Cable where I live. I am not so worried about upload speeds, more download. I was hoping for 100kb/s+ speeds, but I guess 60-70 would be fine.

Any Starband tweaks though?

[Blako]

If Starband is a satellite connection then you will have to ask one of the regulars.  It gets complicated with satellite.  The tweek setup is different, thats all I know.

[vern]

You don't really know what the actual throughput is.

Since december starband which is now spacenet has been redirecting all speedtest site requests

[mynameisdan]

Hmm...

I am in California, since they redirect everthing over here would I get better speeds?

[Mr Ranger]

Vern Is absolutely right, stay away.  If there was any other option I would switch immediately.  Starband is without a doubt the worst customer service company I've ever dealt with. 

Mr Ranger

[mynameisdan]

I've never been a big reliant on Customer Service. Plus, I've tried calling twice and both times I've had a nice guy help me out. They spoke english without an accent and it was easy to understand them.

but as I was saying, Once I have the satellite I won't be contacting them at all (most likely). I'm a pretty smart guy when it comes to computers and I can figure stuff out on my own.

I just want my speeds to be decent.

[Mr Ranger]

mynameisdan, I take it you are not a Starband Customer.  If you were you wouldn't be so self-assured.  The issues Starband creates is beyond subscriber control. 

Mr Ranger

[vern]

I just want my speeds to be decent.

You won't see that on Spacenet.

Just 5 minutes ago it took 4 minutes to download 17 headers with no attachments on the news server.

And then another 7 minutes to open the headers and read the text messages.

All major websites are loading at a snail's pace.

I am giving serious consideration to not paying my bill this month or any other month.

It's really difficult justifying paying almost $100.00 for a month of service that isn't any better than my 10.95 per month people pc dial up account.

[bumblebee]

Starband migration to T7 was supposed to be completed last weekend and the speeds of my system are still way down (on T7) to the point where it averages 160-230 Kbps.  If you try to use newsgroups, even with your own news server, they have throttled back all NNTP addresses so you effectively get about 10-25 Kbps on those type of connections.  They stated they have acquired more space on T7 (we're a dealer so this info came thru a dealer support person) and would activate that capability and "balance the load" but has yet  to present a change in speed.  a few weeks ago we were running consistently over 500 and the newsserver was sunning at a slightly slower speed.  Speed slows even further if you use the Starband news server. If they get the speeds back up I've never had a problem with tech support...at least it's in English as opposed to DirecWay...

bumblebee

[Jeffery_H]

I get a chucklle when I read comments like "stay away" with no details to back it up. It all depends upon what your options are and if you have none besides dial-up. Also, the exact same thing can be said about DirecWay according to some that aren't happy either. Bottom line is you must know what you are getting going into it and not expect it to be something it's not. Plus, a LOT depends upon the package you have. Both Starband and DirecWay have better performance with their most expensive package. Bottom line is that just like everything else you pay for what you get. Granted, satellite ISP is at least 3X what you would pay for a similar DSL/Cable connection. However even paying the high-end of $150/month with no contract with Starband is still a much more viable option than a T1. For example, my ONLY choices here are dial-up, satellite or T1. A fractioned 256 T1 costs $800 per month from AT&T which was the cheapest contract offer I could get. Sprint is the ONLY other service that would run a T1 for me and their contract was not as good as AT&T.

My point is, all of this boils down to what your options are and what would be reasonable in comparison to it. For me, even $150-200 would be cheap compared to a T1 option. Others may have other choices, but you must do your own research to find out exactly what your limitations are and get CONTRACT BIDS if considering T1.

Many users are VERY happy with their Starband 484 service level. It would seem from the feedback of the users I know that have it, this is the way to go. It has NO FAP and the speeds are much better than their other packages due to it being a higher tier of service and pricing.

Here is some 484 examples:

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

Connection is:: 1003 Kbps about 1 Mbps (tested with 1496 KB)

Download Speed is:: 122 KB/s

Tested From::

[Mr Ranger]

So Jeffery, after all of that, which system do you have and what bird and transponder are you on?

Mr Ranger

[fikester]

I get a chucklle when I read comments like "stay away" with no details to back it up. It all depends upon what your options are and if you have none besides dial-up. Also, the exact same thing can be said about DirecWay according to some that aren't happy either. Bottom line is you must know what you are getting going into it and not expect it to be something it's not. Plus, a LOT depends upon the package you have. Both Starband and DirecWay have better performance with their most expensive package. Bottom line is that just like everything else you pay for what you get. Granted, satellite ISP is at least 3X what you would pay for a similar DSL/Cable connection. However even paying the high-end of $150/month with no contract with Starband is still a much more viable option than a T1. For example, my ONLY choices here are dial-up, satellite or T1. A fractioned 256 T1 costs $800 per month from AT&T which was the cheapest contract offer I could get. Sprint is the ONLY other service that would run a T1 for me and their contract was not as good as AT&T.

My point is, all of this boils down to what your options are and what would be reasonable in comparison to it. For me, even $150-200 would be cheap compared to a T1 option. Others may have other choices, but you must do your own research to find out exactly what your limitations are and get CONTRACT BIDS if considering T1.

Many users are VERY happy with their Starband 484 service level. It would seem from the feedback of the users I know that have it, this is the way to go. It has NO FAP and the speeds are much better than their other packages due to it being a higher tier of service and pricing.

Here is some 484 examples:

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

Connection is:: 1003 Kbps about 1 Mbps (tested with 1496 KB)

Download Speed is:: 122 KB/s

Tested From::

[vern]

I get a chuckle every time I read comments made by people who "review" things they do not own and have absolutely no experience with.

Of course there are many instances on the net where business' are reviewed where shills from the company in question routinely makes posts singing the praises of the company.

By the way if it's details you want for back up; go read alt.starband.general.

There has not been a single positive post about SB there since before T 7 went missing in November.

Before November posts were running about 50 / 50 positive to negative.

As a SB user for more than 10 months my recommendation is still:

STAY AWAY!

[Mr Ranger]

Your are absolutely right Vern.

[Mr Ranger]

Not more than two minutes after the above post I went to alt.starband.general and this was the first post I read, it pretty much sums everything up:

"is there any truth that starband has acquired another transponder on IA-7?

What is the advanced technology that ia7 has that amc4 doesn't? if ia7 is

better than amc4 why is starband leaving business users on amc4. if I

purchase 48x will they leave me on amc4? will starband be shutting down amc4

at sometime? I have seen many posts that claim that ia7 is getting worst all

the time while amc4 was getting better until they started throttling it. is

this being done to "encourage" amc4 users to move to ia7? after they get

everyone moved to ia7 won't that sat be extremely overcrowded? if so this

means that service will never get better and only be degraded further? I

know that I'm asking a lot of question, but I am trying to justify staying

with starband. I came to starband at the time they rolled out the 360 and I

am hesitant to leave but other options are becoming available. thank you for

you help. I would discuss this with starband but I am reluctant to believe

anything from them at this time. that is if I could ever get them on the

phone to pose these very same question.

thanks again"

I left out the posters ID, but you get the picture.

Mr Ranger

[Jeffery_H]

I wanted to reply to my last post.

Vern:

It would seem like you could be a shill too given your stance on not believing and accusing somone when the facts are not known. In case you didn't read very clearly my last post, I mentioned Wild Blue. So, to go on record I don't care what you or anyone else buys, be it Starband, DirecWay, Wild Blue or company X. Buy whatever you choose and like and I'll do the same.

What I was trying to point out is that I know 5 people with 484 Starband business accounts that are STILL getting excellent performance. I will ask for some test scores from them and post them here when I get them. Some of them are on another popular web site and a couple of others are on an overclocking site so it may take a little time. But I will try to get them posted here when possible, it may take a several weeks though since we do have other things to do.

All I can say is that I have no reason to doubth them and two I know personally. Like it or not, it does depend upon what package you have. What I'm referring to is the Starband 484 package that has already been mentioned in my previous post. The other lower end packages are having trouble at this time, but the 484 seems to be a higher priority for them to keep those customers happy.

Mr Ranger:

You said "Try plunking down $800.00 for equipment up front for the privilege of being under contract for additional $70.00 every month. "

You didn't read my last post very carefully. The price you quoted would be a drop in the bucket for me because my only other choice is a fractioned T1 that would cost $800 PER MONTH. So, the cost for equipment, setup, replacments, and monthly fees even at $150-$160 monthly with NO CONTRACT would be a very viable option for me in comparison.

What I said about Starband does NOT apply for anyone other than those with 484 accounts. I have heard of problems with the less expensive accounts  as you point out. Since you say you are paying only $70/month, then it's not a 484 account.

Even those with DirecWay report getting better performance and service from the high-end office accounts as opposed to any of their cheaper packages. While there are issues with both the 484 and DirecWay office accounts too, they are still better performance in that tier. For example, if 3xx users are reporting 70kbs, then 484 users almost always report 150+kbs. Same with DirecWay, speeds are almost always better with the higher end packages (not always, but most times).

It also depends upon your repoint, how it was installed, cables used, proper grounding, etc. Details are very important, rather than some saying simply "stay away", which is still a good chuckle (it gives no details).

Buy what you want, where you want, DirecWay, StarBand, Wild Blue or company X. I will be going 484 or Wild Blue myself this Summer and will let you know how things pan out. In the mean time, I'll try to get reports on both the 484 and DirecWay office packages and post them.

Best of luck.

[Mr Ranger]

Vern and myself are Starband customers and are speaking from personal experience, not heresay.

[fikester]

Jeffery_H,

I see you posted a speed test without vaildation links or host stats?

Looking into the partial links in the test you posted it shows a host of 80.22...the average scores are listed for that host shown below. They are hardly worth $150 month to me!

Download Stats

Host: 80.22

80.22 Download Average = 640 Kbps :: 78 KB/sec --- 133 records found (30 days of logs)

Upload Stats

Host: 80.22

80.22 Upload Average = 87 Kbps :: 11 KB/s --- 25 records found (30 days of logs)

[vern]

The problem with SB is a simple one.

In may of last year when I signed up they had 5 transponders on 2 satellites.

After my dish was moved to an unobstructed location I was averaging well over 1 meg down and 115 k up even during primetime.

The problem began in December when they started moving clients from one of the transponders on AMC 4 to the other one on that bird; the one I was on.

On janurary 1 st they had 4 transponders on 2 satellites.

As things stand right now they have 3 full transponders on T 7 and part of a transponder on AMC 4 which they may be squatting on as they will not give a clear answer when asked for how long they will have it.

They are reducing capacity all the while still adding new accounts.

Even if this is rocket science, the math is still simple.

Reduced capacity / increased number of users = ?

[fikester]

The almighty $   ......

[Jeffery_H]

Mr Ranger:

You obviously didn't read my last post very close. I said a couple of those users were friends and I certainly TRUST them over you. So please refrain from making assumptions about the validity of the data I receive. Also, in regard to the money, a T1 would cost me $800 MONTHLY as I pointed out twice now. So the cost of equipment and $150/month service is CHEAP in comparison so I fail to see your point of the spending issue. Bottom line is your opinion is your own and I was just pointing out many are HAPPY with their service. But buy what you want where you want, it makes no difference to me. Wild Blue may in fact be better, but it's still not a viable option yet.

Vern:

I thought Starband was going to have a new satellite up in April or so to handle all this and the outage issues. "they should have a new sat just east of GE-4 by april" is what one 484 customer said last month. Are they not getting that ready still? What's the latest news on that and the transponders? I would be courious myself to know the current status on them.

[Mr Ranger]

Jeffery, listen friend, I have the service, you don't.

[Jeffery_H]

Mr Ranger:

You quote validation, yet don't post any validation links which is very strange. Also, you fail yet again to adress what type of account you have. Failing time and again to read my posts, I think it will be impossible to communicate with you further on this matter. I have always said 484 ACCOUNTS ONLY for the information I provided. Obviously you DO NOT have the 484 account which validates what I was saying about them not having the priority or speeds of many (not all) that do have 484 accounts.

I have posted a request and will be talking with my friends soon about getting some speed tests on their current 484 accounts, but I somehow doubt that will help you since again that does not apply to your account.

Sorry, but you miss many of the posts I've already outlined about other factors regarding possible issues with your poor service. What satellite/transponder you are on? Have you checked your dish, wiring, etc? Is it grounded correctly and if so whom did it and when? etc. You will need to provide specifics if you want help, otherwise the posts you have made do nothing but ramble about poor service.