WOW what a difference in my internet

[sneaky_pete]

I've had Direcway for one year now; just upgraded to the DW7000 modem. Ditto on everything Eddie says; it's better than dial-up but I long for other alternatives.

 

[THS]

I've had Wildblue since November, and for the most part it has been reliable. I have the ValuePak, which costs me $49.95/month. I paid $299 for the equipment, and it was installed free by my local NRTC. I guess when it's installed by a Wildblue affiliate, they do charge for installations.

Coming from 24kb/sec downloads on my dialup, this has been quite an improvement. I average around 480kb download on a bad day to 530kb on a good day/low traffic time. My downloads have been as low as 26kb, but I think it was due to my modem (which was replaced in December). I rarely have upload speeds less than 100 kb now.

It's a little hard to get used to the long delay when I click on the "enter" button, and when the page actually comes back and loads completely. I think on regular surfing on pages with lots of text, it isn't a whole lot quicker than my dialup was from start to finish. But when the pages have lots of pictures (like Ebay or maybe checking radar on the weather sites), it will blow dialup out of the water.

I also installed a wireless Netgear router the other day so I'm ready for the day when I get my laptop. I'd really like to end my work day by being able to sit out on the deck, reading my emails and being able to enjoy nature at the same time.

 

[k8ny]

My work associate has DirecWay for the same reasons. It works OK for him most of the time but his upload and download speeds are terrible. His max download is 400 kilo bits/sec, which compared to DSL and Cable is really lagging. But, if that's all you have access to, it's better than dial-up.

 

[MotorSeven]

Eddie,

I'm on a verizon Air Card. It was $100 with a 2 year contract @ $60 a month unlimited . It's broadband speed and it works almost anywhere in the country that you can get verizon signal. It works great!

RD

 

[EddieWalker]

When I fist bought my land, my ex wife had Verizon and couldn't get a signal here. The land is half a mile off Interstate 20, and I'd have thought that coverage on such a major Interstate would be a no brainer. I haven't tried them since, but I'm thinking I really should look into it.

Last night around midnight my Direcway Satelitte system wouldn't work again. It was around 30 degrees out and clear. Stars, full moon, beautiful, but no connection.

We went to bed and this morning it's working great.

Eddie

 

[TresCrows]

I started a thread some time back about wireless internet. My provider is Pixius but depending upon locale it will be a different company using the Motorolla packet system. These are line of sight systems that use a small pod shaped antenna within two miles of the main tower and a larger antenna that looks like a small satelitte Dish type antenna for two to ten miles. I have had it now for several months with zero issues. Steady signal, always on, broadband, way faster than anything I had hoped for and cost 44 a month for upgraded servioe plus 125 for antenna install.
The "This page cannot be displayed" problem turned out to be my Zone Labs firewall.
Anyway, do a look around in your local phone book for wireless internet, these systems are sprouting up all over and are exceelnt for semi rural areas. A singla source antenna can serve a huge area depending upon obstructions of course. J

 

[hudr]

I wonder if the Pixius system would work around here (lots of tall Pine trees) since it is LOS?
Also, Eddie, my Direcway bombs out on clear days as well sometimes. It usually has to do w/ a storm passing over their NOC(network Op Center) in Florida. I think it was mentioned before that it sure beats dialup but I wish I had other options.

 

[DougM]

I hav3e found that if the Satilite will not work I can unplug and disconect the 2 leads and then reconnect and then All of the Blue lights will be on ..

DougM