Satellite & Wireless Internet

Okay, I'm getting tired of dial-up and pilfering high speed internet from my neighbors when they are using it.

DSL isn't an option. You have to live within 15,000 feet of one of their hubs and I live 5 miles from anything.

I refuse to get anything from Comcast anymore. I'd rather slit my wrists than deal with their customer service ever again.

So my choices are Wild Blue or Hughesnet.

Reading reviews for both, I'm not enthusiastic to subscribe with either.

A third option I have is to subscribe to get a laptop connect card from the same company I have my mobil service with, AT&T.

Anyone have any experience with any of the three?

Thanks.

yeah get hughes if going satellite. The local guy for them used to test his equipment at the pc shop I worked at. Was good stuff, though I don't know what the pricing is like we could even play some games over it with minimal lag so we were impressed plus it was faster than the craptastic commercial connection we were paying comcast $125 a month for.

The laptop card is probably the cheapest option think they do $50 a month for unlimited here, connection a bit slower but if all you want is email and web and no heavy downloading its fine. WARNING: If you get one INSTALL THE SOFTWARE ON THE CD FIRST! they might have improved it but I've had so many customers come in because they just slapped the card in w/o reading the instructions it's not funny. I don't know how to fix it if you do this other than a full format and reinstall of windows (3 of us spent several hours trying to find a quicker fix)

I asked that same question earlier this year. Here is the thread:


http://homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=28041

The condensed version:

I get my internet (EVDO) from my cellphone company. I use my cellphone as the modem. It is slower than using the card, but it was a cheaper option than the card. I did have to change cellphone companies (AllTel) and get a better phone, but it was worth it. It doesn't take forever to download a page anymore, and video streams are usually uninterrupted. Pictures load nicely.
There were a few bugs at first, but Tech support emailed me a better driver and there are no more issues. I'm quite happy with it. It's faster, and I can get internet wherever there is a good cellphone signal.

Is Verizon FIOS not an option?

DO NOT get HughesNet... I made that mistake when I first moved here... they don't tell you anything about it until after you have the service installed, but you have a 169Mb per day limit, which for me was barely enough to check email... also, if you go over that limit, you're throttled back to slower than d/u speeds for the remainder of the day... also, lag is a bit*h, as you have to wait for the beam to make it up to the satellite and back down, I couldn't check my email without the server timing out, and trying to game (WoW) was pointless...
Also, their tech support blows goat nuts... I called in to report a problem (before I knew about the limit), and one of their techs actually told me "It'll work fine if you don't use it..." For the $100 per month price tag (having to buy the equipment from them, and pay for service), the service was crap... I wound up cancelling my service, and getting a second phone line installed for dedicated dialup...
I am now on DSL, after a year of dialup, and am 100 times happier... you might want to check with your phone company, as they're constantly upgrading DSL... the current standard is 18000 feet from the CO, but I am 24800 feet, and get perfect signal... The tech at Verizon had to tweek their puter a little to allow me to place the order, but it did finally go through, and it works like a charm...
I have heard good things about wireless also... it works off the cell towers... we don't have any towers out here though, so that was not an option for me...

edit: Pilfering high speed from the neighbors? what service are they using?

Verizon doesn't have a tower close enough to the canyon I live in for me to get a signal.

Thanks Bernie Brewer. Its good to know there are other people on this insane quest.

I'm sure the neighbors are using Comcast. I just refuse to go with Comcast unless there is no other option. PITA company. They won the award for CNN for the worst customer service 2006 for the service tech who fell asleep while on hold with Comcast's own technical support.

I looked into it a little more today. Since my company contracts with AT&T, they'll kick in at 15% discount. That means I can get the unlimited wireless internet for about $51/mo. At that price it beats Comcast and the satellites.

Then I had the brillient idea that once I do that I can drop my local & long distance phone line. I'll save $65/mo by eliminating my local and long distance. I'll save $15/mo by eliminating my dialup. I figure I'll need to upgrade my cell phone minutes if I'm making it my only phone. But as long as that upgrade is less than $29/mo, I'm saving money.

Now I need to figure out if AT&T's modem work with my wife's MacBookPro.

Although Adolphus79's evaluation of hughesnet is rather accurate, I don't have any choice (no cable, DSL or cell) and manage to live with it. The only time I've had trouble with the download limit is when I've tried to do system updates. But, they now have an open window that doesn't count towards the daily limit. So, I just cron the job.

I've had good luck with their tech support. My biggest problem is with the dish. It has gone out of alignment twice & getting it fixed is difficult. There is only one company in the area that services hughesnet & they only have two competent field techs.

Also, it doesn't work in heavy rain or snow.