NEW Satellite internet company Wild Blue??

[mababer2]

i have been hearing on the radio about this new satellite internet company called WILD BLUE does any one use them?talking to them they seem to have a far much better Fair Access Policy then direcway. Same speeds and all 512/50kbps for 49.99 but instead of a 169mb limit within 4hrs they offer a 10gig per month limit before they cut your speed back.so if anyone uses there service let me know how good or bad it is.thanks

[holler]

i have been hearing on the radio about this new satellite internet company called WILD BLUE does any one use them?talking to them they seem to have a far much better Fair Access Policy then DirecWay. Same speeds and all 512/50Kbps for 49.99 but instead of a 169mb limit within 4hrs they offer a 10gig per month limit before they cut your speed back.so if anyone uses there service let me know how good or bad it is.thanks

I've had WildBlue for nearly two weeks, and it is excellent.  Upload, download, and pings (ca. 600 ms) are as advertised.  See my recent stats here: https://testmy.net/personal_stats.php?user_name=holler&m=08&d=28&Y=2005

The speed is down a bit today, but I'm operating in a thunderstorm.  There is one caveat: Vonage doesn't work on WildBlue, at least for most folks.  If you are accustomed to other broadband services, the latency may be a bit hard to get used to, but it is minimal; in fact, I'm amazed at how quick it is with, for example, Remote Desktop or VPN.  The FAP seems quite reasonable so far.  After two weeks of using the sytem constantly, I've barely touched my quota for the month.  I'm ecstatic about WildBlue.

I have three neighbors who also have WildBlue, and they are as high on it as I am.

[mababer2]

thats cool what package do you have?

[Bird Fan]

Before changing to WildBlue, I'll probably wait until I see some speed tests from people with the new DW7000, and I should probably wait until Blue has some more customers. Let's see if they can manage to oversell their bandwidth also.

[holler]

thats cool what package do you have?

Pro Pak.  See http://www.wildblue.com/forYourHome/index.jsp for prices and specs.

[holler]

Before changing to WildBlue, I'll probably wait until I see some speed tests from people with the new DW7000, and I should probably wait until Blue has some more customers.

Probably a smart move.  For you, the only potential advantage to change now is that if you can get an installation through a local RECC, you won't have to pay the installation cost.

Let's see if they can manage to oversell their bandwidth also.

Oh, I'm sure that they can. Of course, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they won't.   So far, the service is dynamite--except for the Vonage problem.

[mababer2]

well talking to the tech support at wild

[holler]

well talking to the tech support at wild  blue they told me they currently have 5000 customers and when i asked them about overselling there bandwidth there reply was "once business gets booming we have satellite on the ground just waiting to be shot up.DirecWay biggest problem is there FAP weither you get the home or professional you have a 169 or 350mb limit within 4hrs

The situation regarding the "satellite on the ground" has been discussed at length on various forums.  There is undoubtedly a crossover point with the current Anik F2 satellite when service for current customers will begin to be affected by increasing usage, and the new satellite will be required to maintain a high level of service.  The question arises as to whether WildBlue will be sufficiently assured that that they will recoup the huge investment that they'll have to make to get the satellite into the sky.  Everything depends on market forces and WildBlue management.  We'll keep our fingers crossed.  In the meantime, I'm sure enjoying the service while Anik F2 still has plenty of capacity.

[Bird Fan]

well talking to the tech support at wild  blue they told me they currently have 5000 customers and when i asked them about overselling there bandwidth there reply was "once business gets booming we have satellite on the ground just waiting to be shot up.DirecWay biggest problem is there FAP weither you get the home or professional you have a 169 or 350mb limit within 4hrs so there fore you have to use a download manager and set your download speed not to exceed more then 87kpbs otherwise you get faped

Well apparently Direcway is supposed to fix that problem with the DW7000. I heard it's going up to 500 mb. That seems like enough for me.

And then there's the launch of Spaceway next year that's supposed to give us faster speed. Who knows? Maybe Direcway is getting better.

"...with upload speeds as high as 16 mbs and download as fast as 30 mbs"

http://www.direcway.com/HNS/Rooms/DisplayPages/LayoutInitial?Container=com.webridge.entity.Entity%5BOID%5B1C00C36BF513EF4DBEC64906158194CE%5D%5D

[tbaker397]

Sorry to burst the bubble, but the satellite that was going to be used for spaceway is now going to be used for DirecTV HD

[dwells248]

Spaceway launch is scheduled for 2006.

DirecTv did use the two new sats launched this year for HD, which at some point were going be used for Spaceway.

I have not heard any plans to delay the launch of Spaceway past 2006.

As far as WildBlue is concerned I'll have to wait until they have a significant number of customers before I can recommend them.  So far so good, but the speeds being posted now are best case scenario and I don't think we have seen the worst case yet.

[budbem]

Just a couple of thoughts and info

First Wildblue looks to be a pretty good deal - I have direcway 6000 and run pretty constantly at 1000 down  and anywhere to 30-70 up 

Wildblue looks good at the 79.99 a month because

has 22,000 mb a month limit that resets every month if you go over - real nice - that is approx 700 mb a day where as Direcway is 169-350  - eitherway it is alot more and you can realistically use 2000 or 3000 or 10,000 in one day if you wanted.

Also comes with 20mb of user space for uploads of photos  etc and 4.95 for per additional -  10mb  - direcway has 0

also comes with dialup # - so when the weather is bad and sat is out you can still use a dialup

also has a 1.5 download and a 256 upload  that is 1 1/2 faster than the 6000 download and 4 times faster upload

and is $300.00  for equipment vs $600 for direcway  - remember this is for the 79.99 a month package vs 59.99 for direcway home package.  but you get dialup and the userspace - which runs you about 15.00 a month through a local dialup provider.  I wont switch as of now.  But i will keep an eye on it over the next year see how people like or dislike it.

[kol]

Well apparently DirecWay is supposed to fix that problem with the DW7000. I heard it's going up to 500 mb. That seems like enough for me.

And then there's the launch of Spaceway next year that's supposed to give us faster speed. Who knows? Maybe DirecWay is getting better.

"...with upload speeds as high as 16 mbs and download as fast as 30 mbs"

http://www.DirecWay.com/HNS/Rooms/DisplayPages/LayoutInitial?Container=com.webridge.entity.Entity%5BOID%5B1C00C36BF513EF4DBEC64906158194CE%5D%5D

I Hope 

[Bird Fan]

I Hope 

Just so you know, unless you want to pay thousands of dollars per month, I doubt you'll be getting whatever package offers 16/2.

I'm guessing that the consumer package will be in the 5/1 range.

[sylvan]

This past Friday I got my Wild Blue installation. For everyone's info I have been on DirectWay through Skycasters for the past two years. The two years of service I would have rated at about a 4 on a 1-10 scale (10 being terrific). Never happy with it but here in rural Virginia the only "broadband" available to me. When I saw Wild Blue come online I immediately e-mailed Wild Blue with a request to switch to their service. Several months later I receive a letter from North River Coop telling me they were ready to install. Six weeks later it happens. The physical install went off without a hitch. Then the installer took about 4 hours to log into Wild Blue and activate the service. It works MUCH better than DirectWay at a substantial savings in cost. I have been up only three days but I am a very happy Wild Blue subscriber with their basic $49.95 service. A cautionary note though-when you get the service through your local provider Wild Blue takes the position that you are NOT their customer but your local providers'. Therefore, you cannot access Wild Blues' customer site nor set up e-mails for you and your family through Wild Blue. Of course Wild Blue does not tell you that anywhere on their web site. I suspect that Wild Blue's guarantees, offers, etc. probably apply to you but Wild Blue will tell you to take that up with your socal supplier as it is not their problem. I find that policy incredibly stupid and will cause them to lose customers. I cannot for the life of me understand Wild Blue's position on that matter. All it has done is make new subscribers who, got their information from Wild Blue and expect all of their services, very angry. So, in that respect, buyer beware. It is unfortunate because the service, as far as satellite goes is, by far, the best! As far as rating the service goes, at this pint I would give it a 6 strictly because of Wild Blues corporate policies. An 8 if they operated more appropriately!

[pman]

I wasn't sure what you meant that you were not a Wild Blue customer and had to go to your installer to set up email.  Does that mean you do not get a website to manage and setup things (like Direway, but let's hope not as bad)?

[sylvan]

WildBlue sells their product (at least here in Virginia) through local dealers. These local dealers provide a website and may or may not allow you to set up additional e-mail, etc. At least for my dealer I have to call their office and request additional e-mail accounts which the Wild Blue site indicates that I should have. I hope that answers your question. I have had the service for about 6 weeks now and cannot say enough good things about Wild Blue as opposed to Skycasters (DirecWay), my old provider. Much more reliable and much faster for a whole lot less money!