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06/20/2006 06:22:56 AM · #1 |
| I'm having really bad issues with my internet. Although I pay for 3 mb download, I clock in at an amazing 114 kb. I live kind of in the sticks, so my only other cjoice besides charter is satellite. I know the start up cost is high and the monthly bill is a bit more than cable, but if I can get an internet speed as advertised, it would be worth it for me. Any of you have any experience with satellite internet? Thanks for whatever info you can provide. I'm off to work!! :) |
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06/20/2006 02:58:19 PM · #2 |
Not personal experience and not recent, but a couple of years ago a friend of mine had satelite. The speed was as advertised, but the caps were a bit extreme. He had a set limit to the number of bytes he could download during a given time (which was fairly low if you have any kind of binary traffic). When the caps were reached the service would just shut down -- no warning, no tracking, no indication of when it came back on, etc. When it did come back, it would slowly scale up from a very slow speed back to full -- provided he didn't use it. Overall, for basic web-browsing (text and a basic, highly compressed graphics) it was fine, but very limited for the money it cost him.
David
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06/20/2006 03:19:49 PM · #3 |
Hi Raymond,
If you are paying for 3 MB and only getting 114 KB, I would get on your Internet service provider's case. Have you always had this speed, or is it something that changed recently?
Last winter, my service provider apparently upgraded their basic DSL service to 3 MB, but not everyone received the upgrade automatically. Apparently, a setting has to be changed on your account profile to receive this speed. I don't know why my profile was not upgraded automatically.
Anyway, I started having serious speed issues just before Christmas, and after enduring it for 2 1/2 months, I finally got on the phone, and said there's something wrong. It was fine before, but then it changed. It was a result of 2 issues: my account profile was still receiving the old speed of 1.5 Mbps, and 2) there was a network routing issue in Toronto that was causing traffic going through that part of the network to absolutely bog down. Once the problem was reported to the owner of that part of the network, the problem disappeared.
What finally convinced my service provider that my problem was legitimate was that I said my DSL modem utility was reporting xxx kbps. Until I said that, the tech support guys kept trying to brush me off. (They will tell you that the speed test utilities on the Internet do not accurately reflect the true speed of the network - it can be affected by what's running on your computer, network traffic, yada yada yada....)
I live in the sticks too, at the far-reach boundary for the DSL service, and while I won't get the full 3 Mbps that I am paying for, I am certainly getting much better than what I was getting before.
To answer your question about the satellite service: I had satellite service by Bell ExpressVu before DSL came to my area. I didn't really have any issues with it, but it was one way high-speed transmission only - for downloads. Uploads were done by my regular modem. This was more than 2 years ago. It was more expensive than modem dialup, but it was certainly better than modem dialup! The cost of 2-way highspeed was prohibitive at the time - $150 per month, if I could get it here. I don't know about now....
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06/20/2006 03:22:35 PM · #4 |
Hsve you checked into Verizon's Wireless Broadband options? I hear good things about that service.
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06/20/2006 03:47:56 PM · #5 |
I would NOT recommend satellite internet. Especially if you do alot of downloading, you'll be in for a rude awakening. Their "fair access policy (FAP)" is rather limiting and can take a while for it to be restored to "full speed".
I've had my share of experience with satellite internet and I would rather do dialup than go through that headache again.
I would rather fight with charter to get them to provide you with what you're paying for than to switch to sat.
One other thing with satellite, if it's cloudy, you may as well learn how to knit. :D
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06/20/2006 03:50:19 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by fotomann_forever:
Hsve you checked into Verizon's Wireless Broadband options? I hear good things about that service. |
Off Topic Portion: All I have to say is Verizon Sucks!!! My wife recently interviewed with them and after a month long process- including background check, drug test and 5 interviews. They wanted her to start "Right Away!!!" The following Monday- they issued the formal written job offer on Friday at 3:30 P.M.. We hurridly purchased a $685.00 airline ticket to get her to her mandatory orientation on Monday morning. She quit her then current job that day and worked out a schedule with them to train a replacement. On Sunday afternoon Verizon calls and rescinds the job offer- no reason given. On Friday they had told her how good everything had gone with the screening process and had even enrolled her in the medical package.
Between traveling for interviews and the airline ticket we're out over $1000.00.
On topic portion...
If you're paying for 3mb and not getting it, complain loudly. My first broadband provider was MSN, the promised me 512k minimum, for the first month I barley got 100k. They fixed it after a couple of phone calls and gave me 6 months free for the problem (that really surprised me from MSN). My current service is based out of my job- I live on site. During the slow times I virtually have a T1 of my own. But even when we're busy I run at upwards 120mb/s. I'm out in the boondocs as well, but happen to be 300 yards from a fiberobtic terminal, now that is sweet. I've heard good and bad about Satellite. Those that speak highly of it don't use it that much. Those that hate it are people like me- pretty much have things running constantly.
Message edited by author 2006-06-20 15:54:35.
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06/20/2006 05:22:34 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by vxpra:
Originally posted by fotomann_forever:
Hsve you checked into Verizon's Wireless Broadband options? I hear good things about that service. |
Off Topic Portion: All I have to say is Verizon Sucks!!! My wife recently interviewed with them and after a month long process- including background check, drug test and 5 interviews. They wanted her to start "Right Away!!!" The following Monday- they issued the formal written job offer on Friday at 3:30 P.M.. We hurridly purchased a $685.00 airline ticket to get her to her mandatory orientation on Monday morning. She quit her then current job that day and worked out a schedule with them to train a replacement. On Sunday afternoon Verizon calls and rescinds the job offer- no reason given. On Friday they had told her how good everything had gone with the screening process and had even enrolled her in the medical package.
Between traveling for interviews and the airline ticket we're out over $1000.00. |
Sounds to me like it might be worth investing a little more in some attorney's fees or some books from Nolo Press -- I don't think a phone call on a Sunday over-rides a written communication from the previous Friday ... I think they owe you -- and for maybe more than the tickets.
If the job she quit is from a competitor, there may even be corporate shennanigans going on ... maybe call your local DA's office and ask if there's possibly anything fraudulent in this case ... |
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06/20/2006 06:35:53 PM · #8 |
We've had Direcway (now HughesNet) two-way satellite service for several years now. It's much better than dial-up, but if I could get cable or DSL out here in the sticks I'd switch in a heartbeat. :P
It is somewhat sensitive to bad weather, but normal cloudiness dosn't affect our connection much. I have seen very heavy rain or snowfall shut it down a few times though. It's strange too, because we also have Dish Network for TV, and even very heavy weather seldom has any effect on it's reception.
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06/20/2006 08:35:30 PM · #9 |
| I'm back from work- yea!! Thank you all for your replies. I have a Charter tech coming to the house Thursday. Here's the funny thing. Running Charter's speed test for the guy on the phone, the upload speed was "as advertised" but the download speed was that of dial-up!?! I can't see where that could be my PC. I do hope Charter can fix this because before this problem, I had very little trouble with Charter. I asked about satellite because it's my only other option (I don't have a land line phone). Thanks again! :) |
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