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Review by mikluha 
UPDATED: 2 days ago
Fair warning: reviewer joined this week
 Punta Gorda,Charlotte,FL
 Contract price not specified.
 "Works where you have no DSL/CABLE"
 "Too expensive"
 "Use as last resort"
| |
I left my comment about WB year or so ago but I lost my username/password, so I registered again.
Most common mistake people do with WB are falling for a cool-looking antenna. All the sudden people realize that emailing back and forth Youtube files violates FAP policy.. and it's too late.. can't get out of contract....
WB should be used as last resort if you live where no Cable/DSL is available. Period. There is no excuse to use it anywhere else. People should buy off-road vehicles only if they live in the middle of "off-road". Let's say, a person didn't think clearly before buying Monster 4x4 living in a city, where he/she spends most of time in slow-moving traffic. What gonna happen in 3 month? That person will scream about high gas-bill. "Bad car and I can't get out of bad lease payments...." Well, it's not a bad car (or bad service in our case). It's just a wrong car/service for you. Look around first and see if you can get cable/DSL (or 35 mph car). If it's available, then just get it and forget about WB (and never use 11 mph monster).
If you ordered WB and realized that you made a mistake, then pay cancellation fees and get out of it. You'll loose money get piece of mind instead of watching slow WB ping and their FAP. Get a cable instead and forget about that horrible period in your life
If you live, like myself, 30 miles away from the civilization, then you may consider WB. Again, this is the only case, when somebody should look into WB (or Hughes, or any other 2-way satellite service). Hopefully, I stressed it enough.
I never used Hughes, but based on my conversations with my installer and other people, it looks like their service is about the same: overpriced, low bandwidth, bad service. There is no competition. Why they should care?
I use WB since 2006 and never had any big problems with them. Except when couple years ago our son while visiting us, decided to use internet. We warned him twice. Guess what. Next day I found service to be very slow. He told us "opps, I'm sorry, I didn't think about it... not a big deal... I'm sorry..I'll see you later". Needless to say, I was very pissed until we got back. Therefore, it's extremely important to realize that WB is not for Netflix/Youtube/Warez/etc. If you visit Pirate bay daily, you need to get someplace else.
I have their highest plan and I never had problem myself with FAP. Unless you into video, you should not have problems. 500 or so MB per day is plenty for any WIndows upgrades (I have myself 8 computers all in automatic upgrade mode). How large is their upgrades? 20Mb at most. How many computers do you have? It doesn't take very long to download 20 Mb file. I have 1.2-1.4mbps download and 128 kbps upload. Service is reliable during nights and most of the days. Can be slow afternoons.
Ping is another story. Nothing can be done about it. I hate stupid websites, which made of thousand of small imagemaps, div, etc. They take eternity to load.
Another big problem. Looks like WB slows down all traffic except port 80. Understood. 99% of people use port 80 for browsing. If you need FTP or even HTTPS (port 443), then it's slow.
I'm considering switching to one of WB providers of business plans. WB only offers consumer plans. Nothing better. For another $50 or so (well, if this is expensive, then you may need to consider moving back to big city) they promised much more reliable service without changing equipment. Not much faster download, but consistent during daytime. Same is with ping. I run online business and this is important for me.
The reason of 99% of complains is satellite capacity. Yes, WB is oversold. But what they can do? Your local telephone company can run a new cable to handle more customers, but satellites are kind of limited supplies. WB can do only one thing to accommodate more customers: reduce bandwidth. If you have to use "overcrowded" satellite, then you're out of luck. Again, WB is your very last resort.
The good news is ViaSat recently bought WB (October 2009). They have more satellites and it looks like service quality will be improved. Couple of business providers told me about new, better download speed sometimes next year. Hopefully, we'll see in future.
I have also ATT cellphone tethering plan, which allows me to use it as modem. It's very fast in the city (3G), but slow in my area (GPRS only). All fancy Sprint/Verizon services don't work in my area (yeah, it's a really middle of nowhere). I use it as a backup
Extremely important: you have to have a good installer. Otherwise, you're screwed. And if your installer is an idiot, then it doesn't matter how many time he'll try to fix it. Won't work. If your speed is low, then most likely you should have got another installer (same is true for car mechanics. How many times you wished you didn't go to that idiot to fix your car?). Everything is important -proper grounding, proper water-proof, etc. Don't be cheap and use a good pole (don't install it on the wall of your trailer - it definitely will be out of alignment soon). Even if it's cost more. Use extra concrete, even it's used more. it's still cheaper than call service technician to realign your antenna. We live in Florida. Thankfully, there were not major hurricanes, but wind 50 mph didn't affect alignment. Spend more money and get a good installation.
To summarize my experience with WB:
1) it's a last resort. Consider it to be last resort before telephone line.
2) Look around first. Can you get dsl/cable/isdn/3g/whatever?
3) Don't expect it be as good/cheap as dsl/cable. Why should it get cheaper? There is no competition and I will have to buy it pretty much at any cost. Once you stuck with one of satellite providers, it's not likely you will invest into another one.
For the same reason, don't expect really helpful customer service. They don't really care. Do I have a choice? No.
4) have a backup plan if you need Internet all the time. Yes, it doesn't work during T-Storms. Read a book. Look in a window. Or, like me, have a backup service - cell phone or even $5/month dial-up service. There are many of them. Get one.
5) Get a good installer. Get references, etc. Again, get a good installer
6) Be positive. It's still a modern marvel.
7) It's a last resort. Read 1) again
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Review by Ronnie1776
Posted: 13 days ago
Fair warning: reviewer joined this month
Worcester,Worcester,MA
Contract price not specified.
"Great Alternative to Dial Up"
"Not as Fast As Most cable Providers Yet"
"Great Alternative to Dial Up"
| |
Wildblue is intended as an alternative to dial up. It's speed is 10-15x's faster than Dial Up.
Speeds range between 512kbs-1.5megs. It is not recommended for:
1. Downloading movies
2. Online Gaming
3. Connecting to a VPN
If you have dialup this is faster. If you are slowed down, you are slowed to dial up speed
If that is unbearable ( dial up Speed ) that is why you signed up for the provider in the first place.
Be Aware of your Download usage there is a google add on for that for more info on speeds read my blog
»www.expertwildblue.com/hughesnet···t-speeds
or go to www.wildbluexpert.com
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Review by (hidden by request)
Posted: 42 days ago
(review was emailed from domain wildblue.net)
Coulterville,Mariposa,CA
Contract price not specified.
"connection reliability"
"fair access plan"
"I'm seriously looking into Hughes Net"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
|
The Fair Access Plan has a 30 day roll over, which is way too long to be without speed. Hughes has a 24 hour roll over.
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Review by bearplant
Posted: 44 days ago
member for 44 days, 0 visits, last login: 44 days ago
Alta,Placer,CA
Contract price not specified.
"Great for sufing web"
"Bad for online gaming"
"Good if you aren't going to be doing online gaming"
| |
Sometimes it is really fast. Click and then you are there. Then sometimes it slows down a little, but it is still a bit faster then dial up. You can't play games online, such as counterstrike. It loads flash games way faster than dial up. It loads youtube videos really fast. You click on it and you are watching it.
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Review by satmanmo
Posted: 56 days ago
member for 56 days, 12 visits, last login: 2 days ago
Portageville,New Madrid,MO
Contract price not specified.
"Awhole lot better than Dial-up"
"weather at the gatways"
"I like it just fine."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings well above consensus)
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I checked into Hughs,and WildBlue.I am on the Pro Plan.Speeds are apparently as promised,both up and down.Customer service has been nothing short of courteous,and extremely helpful.I have no complaints whatsoever.
Followup comments:  zalternate
join:2007-02-22
BC
 ·TELUS
| which satellite? Did you get put onto the new satellite?
A third satellite that is now being loaded with users, EchoStar’s AMC-15.
»wildblue.com/company/doPressRele···aseID=62
Denver, CO – WildBlue Communications today announced the successful start of broadband service on a third satellite, EchoStar’s AMC-15. The new satellite, will serve customers in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia and Arkansas.
--
Consumer Rights is more than just a suggestion. | |
| | satmanmo
join:2009-09-28
Portageville, MO | Re: which satellite? I am on WB-1.Gateway Laredo,beam -not sure.I have been a customer since 9/18/08.I am currently on the Pro plan. | |
| | | micwa
join:2009-01-13
Seminary, MS | Re: which satellite? Oh my! A good review.
What shall we ever do... | |
| | | |
| Forums » comments on review of WildBlue |
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Review by (hidden by request)
Posted: 61 days ago
(review was emailed in)
Batesburg,Lexington,SC
Contract price not specified.
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
|
S L O W ...SERVICE NO TECH SUPPORT HELP!!......WITHOUT PAYING EXTRA MONEY.....I SPENT 300.00 FOR THE EQUIPMENT AND 150.00 FOR A 3" POLE...CALLED TECH SUPPORT MANY OF TIMES IN THE FIRST 90 DAYS.....IT WILL COST YOU 95.OO MORE DOLLARS.....RIPP OFF...I GET AROUND 90 KBS...AND....40 KBS....CHECKING MY SERVICE AT WWW.TOAST.COM AND WWW.INTERNETFROG.COM....SLOW!!
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Review by pounce99
UPDATED: 69 days ago
member for 4.5 years, 50 visits, last login: 11 days ago
Weslaco,Hidalgo,TX
Contract price not specified.
"you are online"
"slower than dialup"
"internet on my iphone is way faster"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
don't get me started
$90.00 dollars a month
for dial up speeds if your lucky
fair share policy they throttle your download speed (witch sucks to begin with)
if you download anything it seems like
rain means no internet
have to reboot modem all the time for what ever reason
there is nothing high speed about it
it is all lies
i have the fastest or the biggest package they offer for home use
12 gig's a month
and there don't let you use the internet really for anything but surfing
download anything and any speed you had is gone they throttle you
i moved to the RGV in south texas and there is nothing here
i cant get DSL cable nothing
this was only option besides dial up
and after having this for 3 months
i would rather have dial up
at least i could download all i wanted to with no cap on it
i have a clear view of the southern sky
and my dish is on top of a 2 story house
so i should get the best possible everything from wild blue
so it is the service it sucks
i don't suggest it to anyone
but that is my opinion
other people might like this service
i cant wait to move back to real broadband
no online gaming
no streaming music
no streaming movies
no net flix
no downloads
AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
it is horrible
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Review by micwa
UPDATED: 71 days ago
member for 314 days, 40 visits, last login: 13 days ago
Seminary,Covington,MS
Contract price not specified.
"Up to advertised speeds, great tech support with an official help forum"
"Not really "bad" as much as necessary -- but the FAP of course. Ping times are sometimes too high, even for satellite."
"It is great for those with no high-speed alternative."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)
|
January - September 2009
After having suffered with dial-up and then HughesNet’s (then DirectWay), grueling technical support, outrageous & pricy modem "upgrades" from 2005-08, non-advertised speeds, a 300MB DAILY cap -- WildBlue is a dream come true.
Ordering
I ordered the Select Pack January 2009 through »www.mybluedish.com, which who was VERY nice and helpful. They answered all of my questions honestly and thoroughly. WildBlue was having a special of a $99 installation (compared to ~$300). However I was informed upfront I would have to have a custom installation (which I already knew); which was a pole mount. I told them that I already had a pole [mount] outside left from HughesNet. The sales rep at mybluedish was not sure it would be up to WildBlue standards and would have to ask my local installation company for further information. When I asked them, luckily they said that it could be used, although the cables could not. Consequently, that saved me custom installation charge.
Installation
The installer came out the day after UPS shipped the equipment and begin working immediately. It took about a couple of hours to get it up and running. Before I ordered I had already been on the WB official forums asking what to expect and not expect from the installer, as a precaution. Pro Tip: Don’t believe an installer if he says you must wait 24 hours before you get your advertised speeds. WildBlue has been progressing to wean out these type of "installers" Of course my installer didn’t tell me that and even did a speed test result to prove my speeds before he left, as they SHOULD do. Thank god WildBlue has an official forum with active employees (and experienced volunteers & dealers) that provides support.
Service & Speeds
I have had no problems with the TRIA, modem, billing, or service to date. I’ve always gotten up to advertised speeds and even at times above advertised speeds with the exclusion of the general peak time slow down (late afternoons) – but only by 200kbps. It only "goes out" when there is a thunderstorm in the Line-of-site OR at my satellite’s gateway (mine being WB1 Duluth). Occasional showers (and even in the rare event of a snow fall here) has had no effect.
FAP
Wildblue’s FAP is more for my surfing needs (compared to the competitor), if that makes sense. It’s a 30 day rolling FAP, so what you do today will roll off in the next month (of the same day) if you don't exceed that day's amount. If you do go OVER 100% you are throttled down to ~128kbps and will most likely have no service during peak times (as clearly stated on their webpage and the contract you sign) until you drop below 80%. How long you are throttled depends on your surfing behavior the prior month. It is recommended that you use a 3rd party tool to monitor your usage in addition to checking with the usage page.
But you can't depend on WildBlue's (or whoever you purchased from) statistics, as it's not in real-time. I have noticed some users have purchased a router that records your usage better than programs like NetMeter. I have "hit" FAP 2 times since signing up, while on HughesNet it seemed to be a constant thing. At least WildBlue emails you once you exceed 80% of your usage. I understand why satellite (and WISP) ISPs must have such a policy. Although I do admit the current FAP limits can be dreary, esp. when there are enormous software updates/upgrades, driver updates, Xbox Live/PSN/game updates, movies/TV, online radio, YouTube (lol), etc. More detailed info is at »www.wildblue.com/fap
User Tools
WildBlue has user tools such as the Optimizer and Pulse. The Optimizer just configures your browsers to use the WildBlue proxy. It has its uses, but is known to cause problems with certain sites. The Pulse tool is new and still in beta. More info can be found here: »www.wildblue.com/pulse
Conclusion
Keep in mind that satellite internet is only for those with no alternative and you can NOT jump in expecting DSL/cable-like service. If you do, you will be disappointed and end up being, yet another, trying delusional complainer that plague these forums. If a friend’s only choice was either dial up or satellite, I would totally recommend WildBlue. Which would be icing on the proverbial cake, since Wildblue has a Refer a Friend program. 
-Mike
Also, check out »www.wildblueworld.com. WildBlue's OFFICIAL forum.
last updated 9-9-09
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Review by mrpepsi
UPDATED: 79 days ago
member for 3.5 years, 238 visits, last login: 79 days ago
Tulsa,Tulsa,OK
Contract price not specified.
"None"
"It's a horrible, unreliable service."
"It takes my money, and does nothing for me. It works about 40% of the time."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
|
Save yourself the trouble, find something else.
Followup comments: Wcameron
join:2006-04-24
Anderson, CA | You like the FAP? Is this sarcasm? I understand the need for a FAP but theirs is so poorly implemented. What is it you like about it? | |
| micwa
join:2009-01-13
Seminary, MS | Poster above Poster above:
Yeah because a daily 300MB cap is a lot better.
HN's FAP is so complicated to understand, most people just give up and pray they don't go over. | |
| | | |
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Review by pheasantDr
UPDATED: 82 days ago
member for 82 days, 0 visits, last login: 82 days ago
Hinton,Summers,WV
Contract price not specified.
"downloads are great - lots better than Hughes"
"uploads are extremely slow"
"if you're browsing/gaming/movie watching, it's for you."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)
|
Started with Hughes.. good to start then degraded to awful.
Tried Wldblue biggest load.$85/mo. Install took a while to coordinate due to boondocks location. Reinstalled to eliminate electrical interference.
Got good tech support and good results.
Getting around 1.5mb down but only 75 kb up.
Does my job.
Followup comments: jameswade
join:2001-12-09
Hot Springs, NC
 ·US Cellular
·Verizon BroadbandA..
·AT&T Southeast
| "if you're browsing/gaming/movie watching, it's for you." Did you mean to say this?
"if you're browsing/gaming/movie watching, it's for you."
I understand the browsing part, but I'd expect delays in online gaming and I'd expect to hit FAP pretty quickly watching movies online. Or has something changed? | |
| | billko
join:2007-07-16
Tunkhannock, PA
·FrontierNet Intern..
| Re: "if you're browsing/gaming/movie watching, it's for you." said by jameswade :Did you mean to say this? "if you're browsing/gaming/movie watching, it's for you." I understand the browsing part, but I'd expect delays in online gaming and I'd expect to hit FAP pretty quickly watching movies online. Or has something changed? Actually the only thing out of the three mentioned as "good" that I can actually see as being "good" would be movie watching.
With a 1.5 - 2.0 SECOND lag time (the time between requesting information and actually getting it), can you imagine an online news site that has to load ten stories and ten pictures? It would take a 40 seconds just asking for content! And for gaming? If it took me two seconds to notice someone standing in front of me with a gun and another two to try to shoot him... guess who wins?
At least with movies, it's streaming so you only have to ask for stuff once... but then you run into FAP issues like you said.
So I guess... it's good for nothing. | |
| | | jameswade
join:2001-12-09
Hot Springs, NC
·US Cellular
·Verizon BroadbandA..
·AT&T Southeast
| Re: "if you're browsing/gaming/movie watching, it's for you." If we didn't have Internet access via cell site (EVDO) I'd definitely get satellite. And it would be Wild Blue.
I'm sure that I wouldn't be happy with it though!
From my experience email and light web browsing works fine as the latency only hurts when asking for things. When you ask for web site images you have the round trip delay of a second or two, but then page starts flowing in quickly.
What gets you interactivity like interactive web sites, gaming, VOIP, and VPN.
Streaming audio and video should work well until you hit the FAP.
said by billko :said by jameswade :Did you mean to say this? "if you're browsing/gaming/movie watching, it's for you." I understand the browsing part, but I'd expect delays in online gaming and I'd expect to hit FAP pretty quickly watching movies online. Or has something changed? Actually the only thing out of the three mentioned as "good" that I can actually see as being "good" would be movie watching. With a 1.5 - 2.0 SECOND lag time (the time between requesting information and actually getting it), can you imagine an online news site that has to load ten stories and ten pictures? It would take a 40 seconds just asking for content! And for gaming? If it took me two seconds to notice someone standing in front of me with a gun and another two to try to shoot him... guess who wins? At least with movies, it's streaming so you only have to ask for stuff once... but then you run into FAP issues like you said. So I guess... it's good for nothing. | |
| | | | micwa
join:2009-01-13
Seminary, MS | Re: "if you're browsing/gaming/movie watching, it's for you." Satellite is only for those with no alternative.
Widlblue makes is quite clear on their website, that gaming, VoIP, VPN is NOT recommend and is not supported. | |
| | | | billko
join:2007-07-16
Tunkhannock, PA
·FrontierNet Intern..
| said by jameswade :If we didn't have Internet access via cell site (EVDO) I'd definitely get satellite. And it would be Wild Blue. I'm sure that I wouldn't be happy with it though! From my experience email and light web browsing works fine as the latency only hurts when asking for things. When you ask for web site images you have the round trip delay of a second or two, but then page starts flowing in quickly. What gets you interactivity like interactive web sites, gaming, VOIP, and VPN. Streaming audio and video should work well until you hit the FAP. Actually, even email is a drag if you get lots of email (equals lots of requests). 
But I know that sometimes satellite is the only thing available. I was in that boat for some time before DSL came available. | |
| zalternate
join:2007-02-22
BC
·TELUS
4 edits | Monthly FAP policy I hope you know that there is a monthly FAP policy.
And if you go over it watching movies, you will be throttled back in speeds until you hit 70% of allowed monthly FAP MB limit. Which is about two weeks until return to full speeds, with very light use.
From WildBlue.com
Do you limit heavy bandwidth users?
Similar to other Internet Service Providers, WildBlue manages its network through a Fair Access Policy so that extraordinary usage by a few customers doesn't negatively affect the normal usage of other customers. For the vast majority of users, the Fair Access Policy has no effect on their usage. For a few very heavy bandwidth users who exceed the Fair Access Policy’s thresholds, the system will restrict their speeds until their usage falls below the threshold. See WildBlue's Fair Access Policy for details.
FAP policy. Link goes to a PDF.
»wildblue.com/legal/fair.jsp
And then the ping times or Lag is roughly about 1000ms(1 second), as per forum posters posts. Not very good for gaming for first person shooters. Possibly you may be on a less used beam? But on the more populated beams, ping times can rise when beam reaches users online saturation.
And no overnight FAP free time on WildBlue.
--
Consumer Rights is more than just a suggestion. | |
| | micwa
join:2009-01-13
Seminary, MS
 ·WildBlue
| Re: Monthly FAP policy Everyone should already know that before signing up.
WB uses a 30 day rolling FAP. What you did a month today, will roll off. That doesn't mean it takes 2 weeks, sometimes it may take a day, sometimes a few days, sometimes a few weeks. It depends on what kind of usage you have been racking up.
Again, WB makes it clear that gaming, VoIP, VPN is NOT supported or recommended.
No overnight FAP and no daily 300MB cap.  | |
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