WildBlue Satellite ISP. Can't wait !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For what it would cost to go satellite, you could install wireless equipment between yourself and someone willing to share their broadband connection in town.

I live in a rural area, as well, and used to use satellite. Hated it. Latency was awful.

Now, there are 7 different companies providing wireless service over my house. 4 of these "companies" are really no more than neighborhood co-ops. You pay to get a T1 or fractional T1 (which is not that expensive any more), and then setup a small wireless network in a couple mile radius.

With Verizon now providing 30MB fiber optic connections 5 miles away in town, we are looking at using that as our backbone. It's only $200 a month.
 
That is what I thought snathanb. I might as well install wireless equipment and share between myself and someone in town. The distance is 7 road miles between both towns. I was told that I can get a T1 line for possibly around $250 a month. I guess I could find some people that would split the cost but there is also cost in the hardware of the wireless hardware and figuring out how it work and getting enough people to share the connection.
 
A lot of co-ops are advertising the equipment price and install at $299-

http://www.fmcs.coop/products/wildblue/

some are firm- some say estimated prices
There seems to be 2 distribution outlets- the one we are attempting to deal with said sales this summer but installs not until winter.

As for self installs- not a chance - these dishes (direcway starband wildblue) are regulated by the FCC. This is because the transmit to the bird 22,000 miles away- their 1 watt transmitter is concentrated to a very fine beam
 
madisondish said:
A lot of co-ops are advertising the equipment price and install at $299-

http://www.fmcs.coop/products/wildblue/

some are firm- some say estimated prices
There seems to be 2 distribution outlets- the one we are attempting to deal with said sales this summer but installs not until winter.

As for self installs- not a chance - these dishes (direcway starband wildblue) are regulated by the FCC. This is because the transmit to the bird 22,000 miles away- their 1 watt transmitter is concentrated to a very fine beam

I knew there was something I was missing about self installs :) Thanks for clearing that up. One watt does not seem like much power to get back up there. But I could see how it could effect other sats if it hits it.
 
If they cannot keep the price below $300 then I will probably not even consider it. If I can get the hardware cheaper to run a signal from town I will just go that route.
 
Their idea is solid..... the upload guarantee is good... beta test show good... i agree on the price. It would be nice to get it lower, however, the equipment is expensive. I think Wildblue has a fighting chance against the other 2... okay 1 and 1/2...
 
dragon002 said:
they ARE NOT going to go thru ANY retailers and our contracts guarantee that

Dragon, what do you mean by that? I don't know if I am just misreading it, but could you elaborate for me. Thanks
 
oh, ok,
oh well, i was just curious, cause to me it read like retailers weren't going to be able to deal in WildBlue, and i was just going to let him know that's not true, i'm a retailer and we are already signed up to become a retailer.
 
Ok, just got the info from WildBlue... 299.99 For the equipment, and $179.99 for the installation charges.
Not as bad as I thuught it's be
 
You are correct, it is only going to be sold and installed through retailers. However they are limiting the amount per state and no internet retailers will be accepted.
 
That is still too steep for me. I can see paying $299.99 but the install fee is what makes the total price get steep. They should offer a free install promotion. The video satellite companies do so why couldnt the broadband companies do so? This would attract a lot more subscribers.
 
These are 2 different animals. Retailers make there money off the install fee, unlike DBS. I understand your idea, and this has been brought up. Satellite by internet is marketed towards areas that have no DSL, CABLE, all they have is modem. I guess a better example would be to look at Satellite Radio. They would have more subscribers if the equipment was free and they only charged for the service, but do to the market, same with satellite internet, it is not a large enough *yet* business to give it free and then receive subscription price only. The internet satellite that you receive, be it DWAY, or Wildblue, the price you pay is not the cost of the equipment. The equipment costs are way higher, but no one would survive if they charged that. I am not disagreeing with you, i would love to be able to do free installs for customers. On the other hand, wildblue is way cheeper than DWAY by far.
 
Stargazer said:
I went from bad to worse with dialup and it is out of my hands. I told them that maybe I should keep disconnecting service and connecting service back until I do get my 53K back. They said that they could come out and check the lines on the outside of my home but if they find no problems with it then they would charge me over $90 for coming out. I told them that was NOT acceptable. What other options do I have here or so I really have any other than the expensive two-way satellite internet? I live 7 road miles in between two towns that has cable internet and DSL.

If cable passes your home, keep bugging your cable company. If there is cable internet anywhere in your township, go have a chat with your township supervisor (or whatever they call the head honcho in your political jurisdiction) and ask if there is any way he can inspire the cable company to build out to your area. Chances are that the cable company has a franchise, and that franchise may require them to extend service under certain conditions.

As for the phone company, here is the best advice I can give, with the caveat that it may or may not work, but probably won't cost you anything to try. What you do is to file an informal complaint with your state's Public Utilities Commission (or Public Service Commission, or whatever agency regulates telephone companies in your state). Explain first of all that your line work perfectly fine for voice. Also explain that at one time you were able to get 53K dial-up modem connections until you switched to a competitive telephone company. Explain that at that point, you think Verizon may have done something to degrade your line because your modem speed dropped. In any case, you switched back to Verizon because of the drop in modem performance but now they cannot seem to restore the level of service you once had, and that further, they are threatening to charge you $90 for a service call if you call and complain because they know your voice service is working fine.

At the end of your letter explain that under no circumstances are you willing to pay them $90 for a service call because there is no problem in your inside wiring and no problem with your voice service. You just want them to restore the level of dial-up modem service you once had before you attempted to use the services of a competitive company. Say that you think that Verizon may be doing something anti-competitive if your modem speed is degraded that severely because you attempted to switch to a competitive service (be sure to mention that there are other reasons you don't want to go back to the competitor at this point). In other words, tell the PUC everything you told us, but lay it on thick about how your problems didn't start until you attempted to use a competitor's service, and you wonder if the phone company did something deliberately anti-competitive, and are now trying to punish you for trying out a competitor's service, by refusing to restore the level of service you once had.

Now whether this flies depends on how much your PUC is in the pocket of the phone company. In many states, even the hint that a company was messing with a competitor's service in this way would put them in the position of having to explain what happened to the PUC, and at that point your situation would be elevated to a person high enough in the company to order that your service be fixed correctly.

I once gave this advice to someone in another forum, many years ago. They basically replied that they did not want to go to the PUC because they did not want to be thought of as a complainer, and that they feared that if they did complain the phone company would retaliate against them further. I and several others responded that nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, people who have a history of filing legitimate complaints with the PUC often got the very best service available. Case in point, and I still feel bad about this but it illustrates the point beautifully, I was having a second phone line installed several years ago and we had a major storm the day before. I figured all the installers would be told to do repairs before installing new service (especially a second line when there was already one working line in the home) but I wanted to find out when my install would be rescheduled (so I didn't have to wait around), so I called the phone company. The person there took one look at my records (which undoubtedly noted that I had complained to the PUC after my service had gone out something like 5 or 6 times in the first few months I had service) and said she'd have someone out there within an hour! I protested that it wasn't necessary, I just wanted to know what day they would be able to make it, but she insisted on sending someone right out.

Now here is the kicker. When the guy got to my home he asked who I knew at the phone company. He explained that he had been working on repairs when his boss called, and told him to finish what he was doing and immediately come over and install my service, and to make sure it worked perfectly before he left (I think his words were something to the effect that this service was to be "gold plated"). When he finished the install he took some meter readings, didn't like something he saw, and went to some junction point between the central office and my home and cleaned up some connections, then came back and did further tests until he was satisfied (in the end that line supported 53K!). I told him also that I really hadn't expected nor wanted him to be pulled off repairs, that I certainly could have waited another day or two. But I have heard similar stories from others that have filed PUC complaints.

But that was in the mid-90's, and I know that some telcos have managed to lobby state legislatures to get PUC's stripped of their former authority. Even so, filing an informal PUC complaint (which simply means making a phone call or writing a letter to the PUC) generally can't hurt - the worst thing that will happen is they will tell you there is nothing they can do. But very often they will at least pass the complaint along to someone at a high level in the phone company, and these higher level people seem much more willing to make customers happy if it is at all possible, and far less likely to make petty threats.
 
The installation of $179.99 is better then i expected it to be, but thats also just what WildBlue says to charge, My company still thinks that is kinda steep, and at least at first is only going to charge $99 for installation. So if you are anywhere around St Louis, let me know, i'll cut ya a deal ;)
Also, as far as the release date, they said for our area, they are lighting up the spotbeam in our area the end of may, and by middle of June we should be able to set up our showroom accounts....
So we should be able to install them by the first of July...

Hope they are right, I am very excited to get started on these.
 
I have already had to report Verizon to PUC before because the phone service was not working all of the time, sometimes a dialtone, sometimes not (or with a buzz). I asked them what would happen if it just happened to be working without any problems when they came out. They said that they would charge for coming out. I called PUC and in no time we get a phone call back saying they will be out to fix the problem free of charge. They swapped out our box which fixed the problem. It was flooded and that was the reason why it had to be replaced. My neighbor was having a hum in her line. I did my own tests and told her it was the line going from the pole to her box. The phone company had to run their fancy tests with their meters and stuff to determine that and replaced her line. She has had no problems since. The phone company gave me the old line and some new after telling them about it.

I will give this a shot. I was thinking that they could have done this to prevent me from switching service to create an unfair advantage to the competetor but I figured if that was the case then the service would have been brought back to 53K like it was before. This could also be their way of making people take their DSL service but its not available in my area. This reminds me of people that say that they cannot pick up tv stations like they used to so that they would make more money making you get satellite or cable.
 
i have a friend of mine that has finished up on learning how to install the system. he his signing me up for a beta test. i hope to be up and running sometime soon and i will let you know.
 
We are adding retailers nationwide over the next several months and expect to have a WildBlue retailer in your area by September. Please add your name to our priority waiting list and we will pass your name and contact information to a retailer when they are ready to launch. In the meantime, we sincerely appreciate your patience

The total price is 479, I am saving every dang cent I can. As god as my witness I am getting off this 21k dialup this year!

the FAP for WB is this

Value Pak Upload Threshold (MB) 3,000 Download Threshold (MB) 10,000
Select Pak Upload Threshold (MB) 4,000 Download Threshold (MB) 16,000
Pro Pak Upload Threshold (MB) 6,000 Download Threshold (MB) 22,000
 

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