Anyone had any experience with WildBlue? Was considering sat internet. Wildblue seems interesting, but they say that it can't be used in mobile scenario like RVing.
Hi, It is probably better and cheaper to use something like this first. http://www.acun.com/ They connect to the Sprint network and there is no contract. Satellite is expense and slow. Cost of equipment is high.
RLM: I am not familiar with Wild Blue, but I am familiar with satellite internet. We had DataStorm, on the Hughes network, for five years and, this past year, had it disconnected because of unreliability, difficulty in getting the satellite, satellite overload, extraordinarily slow speeds, and, in general, continuing difficulty. The cost of the initial unit 5-years ago was high ($5,500), and with continuing upgrades $500 to $1,000 about every two years or so, and the monthly fee of about $100, we decided we had enough. We've switched over to the RadioLabs Wave2 RV antenna for wi-fi and pick up many more, and much stronger, wi-fi signals. I think it will be better overall than satellite internet, and, from what I hear from folks with telephone internet cards, while there are some really good spots, there are far more bad, slow, difficult spots.
I still keep a "dial up" service ($17.95 a month), I pay for it, but don't use it much. I have run into RV parks that don't have wireless, but either have "instant" phone hookups or have a modem in the office. JJ
Mine original question probably wasn't very good. Let me expand on it. I have a background in electronics so understand all the technical info on sat internet. I use a cell data card when traveling in the RV. But I'm trying to figure out whether or not I want to spend the $ on a sat internet when I'm parked for extended periods on some property that I have a pad on. Direct TV is the main company for sat internet, but I was wondering if WildBlue is as good or even better for the money one would spend to get the product.
Hi JJ, You may wish to consider changing your dialup service to "Hot Deals Canada". They have dialup service with toll free numbers all over North America. They are a "Sympatico" reseller. Cost is $6.25 per month. http://www.hdcanada.com/ QUOTE(DXSMac @ Mar 16 2008, 06:01 PM) [snapback]10759[/snapback] I still keep a "dial up" service ($17.95 a month), I pay for it, but don't use it much. I have run into RV parks that don't have wireless, but either have "instant" phone hookups or have a modem in the office. JJ
I have had wildlue for almost two years. I live in rural East Texas and the dial up was horrible. I initially signed with them because they were least expensive to get started with and had the fastest speeds. At first I had problems with the dish transciever and the service going down at random. After about 3 months of worrying with it they finally fixed it. Overall, I am happy with it. It does have its quirks- when the weather is down at their main satellite link my connection slows and occasionally briefly stops. The signal may drop during severe weather at my location but it will hold on longer than my HD signal on my TV. I think a dialup service is included so at least you will have some form of internet if the system goes down. Lately it rarely goes down and when it does it starts working again quickly. Wildblue seems to be growing so fast they cant keep up so their customer service is sporadic- one time instant, perfect service, next time hold forever for someone who is no help. At least their call center is still in U.S.- i think Denver. The dish is very picky about its aim- i can easily aim a TV dish but cannot aim this dish so I dont know how hard it would be when mobile. The transmitter does generate several watts of microwaves so it needs to be high enough it wont fry anybody's brain who happens to stand in front of it. I am on the fastest plan ($75.00 month) as I am very impatient. The slowest plan @ $45.00 is what some of my neighbors are on and they are happy with it. If you are expecting speeds, dependabilty, ease of use equal to DSL or Cable then you will be dissapointed. Setting up basic things like email, websites, etc see to work pretty well. If you have no other options and dont mind "Tweaking" things you will love it compared to dialup- which is easily 20 times or more slower. Hope this helps.
Hi All, Unfortunately sometime in late 2008 "Hot Deals Canada" (a dial up isp) has bitten the dust. The next cheapest I've been able to find is "net zero". Does anyone know of a dialup ISP with toll free numbers? I'm using a cellular modem from Sasktel--but if I travel south of the border the price is based on amount of data transmitted (both up and down I believe) at $3.00 per meg. (outrageously expensive!)
XO Communications has dial-up with toll free numbers. It cost extra to use the toll-free numbers. I still pay for a dial-up, just in case. HOwever, I don't know if XO can be accessed from Canada. JJ QUOTE(pianotuna @ Feb 6 2009, 02:58 AM) [snapback]15077[/snapback] Hi All, Unfortunately sometime in late 2008 "Hot Deals Canada" (a dial up isp) has bitten the dust. The next cheapest I've been able to find is "net zero". Does anyone know of a dialup ISP with toll free numbers? I'm using a cellular modem from Sasktel--but if I travel south of the border the price is based on amount of data transmitted (both up and down I believe) at $3.00 per meg. (outrageously expensive!)
QUOTE(RLM @ Mar 16 2008, 07:35 PM) [snapback]10761[/snapback] Direct TV is the main company for sat internet, but I was wondering if WildBlue is as good or even better for the money one would spend to get the product. Direct tv has not done internet for years. Unless they are planning on making a comeback. Hughesnet is the main company and yes they originally started with directtv but that did not last. Now hughes net mainly works with moto sat. I have the moto sat system on my rv with hughesnet and I am very happy. I have been using it since May of 07.
I have been on Wildblue since 2004. Overall, I'm satisfied with it as well. There was a period of time that the service went down frequently and after many calls into the service center, one of the employees finally pinpointed that the problem was with my wireless router. The router wasn't updating. So instead of restaring Wildblue, I now only need to restart my router. I too am on the highest rate plan at 79.95 per month. Much higher than the local DSL service, but we live in a rural area and DSL is not available to us yet and neither is cable. I still wish it was faster,,,, and cheaper.
I too have the RadioLabs Wave2 RV antenna and it works great when there is a unsecured WiFi in the area, which is just about anywhere in an urban area. It isn't a replacment for WiFi, but for anybody, but the person camping in the woods and the person that has to have the internet daily. I sometimes use my Wave in my toad y velcrowing it to my radio antenna in a mall parping lit and can usually pickup a signal. i also have a hand held WiFi detector that also tells you the signal strength and more importantly if the site is secure or not. It is no fun toget all set up and warmed up on to find that the site you found was actuall secure. I beleive that most of the routers come out of the box as unsecured and nontechinical people don't figue out how to add the password. I haved been considering satellite internet for years, but keep thinking it is going to be outdated soon. I have been wrong on this for years.
