HughesNet or WildBlue

[berck]

Hello satellite ISP users,

My in-laws live in an area where they only option is dial-up or satellite ISP. As far as I can tell those options are HughesNet or WildBlue. I've seen the service plan options, but I was wondering what others think about the service that is provided. Also, I'd like to know if a home network can be installed (IE: is the equipment provided have a builtin router, etc)

Any help would be great, thanks

 

[giveuspurehd]

check out the reviews over at DSL · Cable · VOIP · Security · Satellite · Fiber · News · Tips · Reviews · Community · Tools - dslreports.com
my experience with wildblue was horrible.once you sign for service all they want is paid.if your service works thats great , if it does not well then you are screwed!!i was with hughes net back in the day of 56k modem uplink, and they were ok but hit the fap way to quick.look for a wisp in the area.dslreports is a place to start.

 

[Claude Greiner]

Hughesnet is the best and you can order through Dishstore

 

[Stargazer]

Hughesnet will cut your speed down for 24 hours once you hit the FAP limits. WildBlue may appear a little cheaper but wait until you hit the FAP limit with them! It is ONE MONTH of cuts in your speed if you hit your limit with them. I've switched people off of WildBlue service to our wireless service because of this. Hughesnet would be the better of the two if you think you will hit your FAP limits often but if you think that you might need a larger amount of bandwidth in which would equal several days of usage in a short period of time but will only need that much bandwidth once in a great while then WildBlue might be your best bet. Personally I would choose Hughesnet.

 

[Claude Greiner]

Hughes does have that thing between 3 and 6am EST where its unlimited bandwith that does not count towards your FAP!

 

[grohgreg]

If latency is a consideration, HughesNet wins hands down. Not by design, but by default. Their connections suffer the same lag as most other satellite providers, about 700-800ms or so. It's a speed of light thing. But since Wildblue fiddled with their front end back in late 2006, I doubt there are any Wildblue customers who have seen a PING under 1100ms. Their average since, is probably closer to 1400ms or so.

//greg//

 

[pacuff]

Since I previously posted a negative response to a HughesNet question a few months back, I thought I'd follow up. HughesNet has improved and have fixed some of their speed problems they were having, with the usual caveat that you will not ever see the "up to" speeds they post. Expect to get 60% of the peak speed, at best.

You asked about using the modem as a router. The HughesNet HN7000 and HN9000 series modems are also routers. All you need to do is take the output from the modem to a switch (aka hub) and you're good to go. The modem will automatically assign internal IP addresses and route the TCP/IP traffic to the correct computer connected to the switch.

I also have a laptop with a VerizonWireless broadband modem, and it is just as fast as the Satellite, and sometime faster. If you can get a 3g connection, that may be a better option.
-p

 

[phpinfo]

Do not go with Wildblue. Their service is horrible and their customer service is worse.

I have not used Hughes, but have heard good things.

Starband is another option. I use Starband and it is pretty solid. For me personally, their customer service has been great. - But you want to make sure you get on cluster 80 and not 51. On 51 it would go out a lot of the time, and have lower signal quality. But on 80 it has not gone out once, even in heavy snow and rain.

However, right now there are periods of slowness and issues with DNS errors. They are working to fix it, but overall Starband kills Wildblue and I have been happy with it.

So I would look at Hughes and Starband.

 

[PALL MALL]

I also have a laptop with a VerizonWireless broadband modem, and it is just as fast as the Satellite, and sometime faster. If you can get a 3g connection, that may be a better option.
-p

My current ISP is at&t wireless, I use my phone as a modem and it only cost $15 a month. I am on the EDGE network, my speed are usually 200-240kb/s down and 100-170kb/s up. 3G will get you DSL or faster speeds, at&t is testing 20mb/s 3G. My plan for $15 is limited to 5GB's a month but I never use over 3. If you plan on using more than 5GB the price will be about $60 month.

Also check your area for WISP's. They use long range wifi networks and usally have speeds around 1mb/s for about the cost of cable.

 

[PALL MALL]

Did a connection speed test on my at&t egde connection. Anyone else with satellite or wireless want to share there results? I used speedtest.net .

 

[Stargazer]

Hughesnet seems to be cheaper than Starband but I doubt their service is as popular as Hughesnet or WildBlue so there may be less chance of oversubscription with them.

 

[dijohn76]

I live in an area that until recently our only choice was dialup or satellite- I had Wildblue for a little over 18 months and received good service. Speeds were average of 300K down and 80K up, pings were 999 or more. Had good connection, no problems with weather, but FAP policy is bad. Recently heard about Alltel's wireless internet via air card and talked to them. They gave me a two week trial and it was great. I get downloads of 1600-1900K and upload of around 130K. The air card goes straight into computer via USB, Express card slot or PC card slot. It is nationwide, unlimited usage and runs $59/month ($10 more than Wildblue for more than 3 times the speed) If you have cellphone service where you live, with a good connection you might want to check them out before committing to Sat internet. I also purchased a Kyocera mobile router and currently have 3 computers connected with the air card and all are getting the same speeds. I am absolutely loving it, especially not worrying about FAP.

 

[PALL MALL]

Recently heard about Alltel's wireless internet via air card and talked to them. They gave me a two week trial and it was great. I get downloads of 1600-1900K and upload of around 130K. The air card goes straight into computer via USB, Express card slot or PC card slot. It is nationwide, unlimited usage and runs $59/month ($10 more than Wildblue for more than 3 times the speed) If you have cellphone service where you live, with a good connection you might want to check them out before committing to Sat internet. I also purchased a Kyocera mobile router and currently have 3 computers connected with the air card and all are getting the same speeds. I am absolutely loving it, especially not worrying about FAP.

If you dont have EVDO coverage your speeds will be close to dialup. You may want to read the fine print because your plan may be limited. I know at&t only has one or two plans with true unlimited. All others include 5GB's. But with at&t if you go over the 5GB's you will be charged for every KB used, Or you will half to switch plans or cancel data services and pay. Verizon is limited to 199 MB/s a day. Im not sure about the other providers. The bandwidth caps are stated in the T.O.S. which are agreed to when you sign the contract.

**They wont cut your service or reduce your bandwidth if you go over the cap. They will allow you to keep surfing away, but they will cut your data plan changing it to pay per use rate.

 

[berck]

Thanks for your responses. Unfortunately Cell Phone service is not an option either. They live on the side of a hill that will get them Satellite coverage, but makes it difficult for cellphones to work at their house.

 

[Stargazer]

I have read that Alltel is being bought out by AT&T in some areas.

Are there any packages that allow you to go over the 5 GB per month / 199 MB per day limits? If not then satellite has the advantage of allowing you to purchase a higher package even though they may be slower. Not all cell phone coverage have speeds that great. I would like to possibly use cell phone signal to bounce high speed internet into areas that do not have broadband internet or at least bounce it to my house as I do not get a cell phone signal at my place if that would be a better alternative.

 

[PALL MALL]

I have read that Alltel is being bought out by AT&T in some areas.

Are there any packages that allow you to go over the 5 GB per month / 199 MB per day limits? If not then satellite has the advantage of allowing you to purchase a higher package even though they may be slower. Not all cell phone coverage have speeds that great. I would like to possibly use cell phone signal to bounce high speed internet into areas that do not have broadband internet or at least bounce it to my house as I do not get a cell phone signal at my place if that would be a better alternative.

The 199 MB per day limit is with Verizon. With at&t there is no daily limit just monthly. at&t has plans with real unlimited but there around $60-$70 a month.

Please dont forget to research WISP's (Wireless ISP) in your area. They target rural areas that cant get broadband. Im signing up with a local WISP provider as soon as I can save $150 for the installation and equipment. I plan to get the 786kb down/512kb up package for $30 month, until I can afford or want faster speeds.

 

[Stargazer]

I thought AT&T monthly limit was 5 GB from what I read and it was $60 for that. I am a WISP and had service here but there were complications on keeping the service in this particular area where I am at and not enough demand. I would like to put up a tower but the cost is expensive and it would not pay itself back. A tower would be needed to backhaul the bandwidth from one of our other locations and with the rugged terrain and trees it took several hops to get it here before without the need of a tower and the expensive cost of electric to run to one. Nonrenewal of a contract shut down a hop that I needed to keep the service intact in the area with the multiple hops. It was the only hop that I had commercially and the other ones are nonissues. Now I am back on dialup. I cannot receive cell phone service but can on the hills near me and according to the maps Cingular provides broadband in this area. I would like to hop that down to me and other folks that would need the service that do not want to deal with satellite broadband.

 

[iwc5893]

The 199 MB per day limit is with Verizon. With at&t there is no daily limit just monthly. at&t has plans with real unlimited but there around $60-$70 a month.

Please dont forget to research WISP's (Wireless ISP) in your area. They target rural areas that cant get broadband. Im signing up with a local WISP provider as soon as I can save $150 for the installation and equipment. I plan to get the 786kb down/512kb up package for $30 month, until I can afford or want faster speeds.

I second that about WISP's. I'm currently pulling 9107 kbps download and 2893 kbps upload with my WISP, which is the max for the radio.

 

[PALL MALL]

Hmmm It seems that at&t's unlimited plan is cheaper than the ones with a 5GB limit.

The PDA plan
Get Started - | Wireless from AT&T, formerly Cingular

Blackberry plan
Get Started - | Wireless from AT&T, formerly Cingular

This is the plan I have
Get Started - | Wireless from AT&T, formerly Cingular

at&t has a broadband signal in 99% of its coverage area in the U.S.

Heres my data usage for last month and what im up to this month. Sorry I couldnt save it as a jpeg. Im not sure if your browser will read the bitmap but you can download it.

 

[Stargazer]

Why would they have a service with a 5 GB limit if they have another one that is cheaper?