I don't have it but have many friends in the digital scrapbooking world that I know on scrapping websites who have it and HATE it! I can't state HATE strongly enough. You get charged extra if you go over your usage. They'll shut you off and then you can only use it during the middle of the night esp if you do a lot of downloading. Also, any bad weather, as we are used to getting here in Maine, can severely impair your service.

Frig, usage rates? Screw that. I can't have limited usage, that's ridiculous. Never mind! Thanks for your help.

I had wildblue for all of 1week lol Its good for the internet but if you play gam,es on the xbox or PS# online it glitches. But for computor use only its good! Expensive but good. Its something like 50+ dollars a month though at least thats wat I would have been paying had I kept it.

BlueEyedButtercup wrote:I don't have it but have many friends in the digital scrapbooking world that I know on scrapping websites who have it and HATE it! I can't state HATE strongly enough. You get charged extra if you go over your usage. They'll shut you off and then you can only use it during the middle of the night esp if you do a lot of downloading. Also, any bad weather, as we are used to getting here in Maine, can severely impair your service.

 

Yup part of the reason I dropped, they sent me my usage limits and I called them and said "close my account yall lied to me" lol

What about NetZero? Its supposed to be available in ALL areas

We had Wildblue for 2 years.  I LIVED online during that time.  I was doing online classes, I lived in the middle of nowhere, I didn't know anyone, all I had were my online friends. 

It isn't online TIME, it's the amount that you download.  You are limited on that.  But given how much music we download & how many movies we download, we never once went over. 

The only time we lost internet because of weather was when we had snow & the snow piled on the dish & I didn't want to go out to it in the cold.  One thing we were told that a lot of people mess up on is they mount the dish on a tree instead of a post.  Well DUH!  Trees GROW!!  lol  Then people stop getting reception because the lines change. 


But honestly, we pay the same now for Comcast as we did for WildBlue & WB was 1000 times more reliable than Comcast.  I lose internet about every other week with Comcast, where I lost it twice with WB in 2 years.  Like I said above, once was snow (we also lost the tv which was also sat) & the other was a nasty wind storm that actually moved the dish!  (Also lost tv.)

RIght from WildBlue's FAQ:

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.


Based on an analysis of typical customers, we have set a rolling 30-day limit on data usage per customer,
called a Usage Threshold. As shown in the table below, this threshold varies based on the service plan you
selected. For each service plan, the Usage Thresholds are significantly above the amount of data that is used
by a typical customer. Every day, we measure your upload and download data usage (“Actual Usage”) to
determine if your total Actual Usage, as aggregated over the previous 30 days (“Usage Total”), exceeds the
Usage Threshold for the service plan that you selected. At any time, you can see your Usage Total versus your
monthly Usage Threshold under the Customer Care section at wildblue.net.
We will notify you via your WildBlue contact email address if your Usage Total reaches 80% or more of the
Usage Threshold. If at any time your Usage Total is above the Usage Threshold, your usage has violated the
FAP and we will reduce your WildBlue access speeds, typically to 128 kbps in the downstream (from the
Internet to you) and 28 kbps in the upstream (from you to the Internet), and you may experience a loss of
connectivity during peak usage periods (collectively, “Reduced Access”). Once your speeds have been
reduced, you must decrease your usage to bring your Usage Total to 70% or less of the Usage Threshold.
Once your Usage Total reaches this level, your access speeds will be restored to the original speed levels by
the next day.
If, however, you do not decrease your Usage Total to 70% or less of the Usage Threshold within the next 30
days, this failure will constitute a second FAP violation. If you violate the FAP in each of four consecutive
months or in each of five calendar months within any twelve month period – whether by exceeding the
monthly Usage Threshold or by remaining in a reduced-speed status -- your use of the service will be limited
to Reduced Access and restricted to Web browsing activities and to sending and receiving e-mail. Again,
once you reduce your Usage Total to 70% of your Monthly Usage Threshold, your speeds and access will
return to normal.
You are likely to avoid any limitations imposed by the FAP if your use is typical of the majority of Internet
users and consists primarily of Web surfing and a reasonable amount of downloading. The table below shows
the monthly Usage Thresholds for each plan. These limits specify the amount of data that you can upload and
download before your access speed is reduced. Please note that your Usage Total is far more likely to exceed
the Usage Thresholds below if you use peer-to-peer file sharing programs, you use a webcam or you download
full length movies, large quantities of music files, full software applications or similar high-bandwidth
activities.

What is the impact of latency? Can I play real-time Internet games or make Internet phone calls on your service?

The WildBlue system is engineered to help offset the impact of latency,
which is the delay caused by sending signals from the earth to the
satellite and back again. However, there is a delay as the signal
travels up to the satellite, back down to the gateway, up to the
satellite and back down to your modem. For most applications this
latency does not affect performance, however, there are some
applications like voice over IP (telephone service delivered over the
Internet, also known as VoIP), or real-time interactive gaming, where
latency will have a noticeable effect on performance over the WildBlue
network, as it would on any satellite-delivered service.

Is the WildBlue service affected by weather?
The WildBlue
service is only minimally affected by inclement weather – typically
only under severe conditions. You may notice slower WildBlue speeds
during rain and snow showers, but this normally only lasts until the
rain or snow stops. Total loss of connectivity should not occur unless
the storm is unusually severe.

We used to have it, and I hated it. Every time it rained hard, which is a lot in the summer in FL, the internet would go out.

Hooloovoo77 wrote:We used to have it, and I hated it. Every time it rained hard, which is a lot in the summer in FL, the internet would go out.

 

That is so weird!  We lived in the middle of nowhere, lots of trees, stuff like that, and in 2 years lost connection 2 times!!  It was sooooo much better than this cable crap we have now!  And both of the times we lost connection it seemed reasonable to me to lose it.

I take sales calls for an independent installer for wildblue, and have also used it personally. If you have something else available (cable, dsl, etc.) go for that. If your choice is between Wildblue and dial-up, wildblue is a LOT better. There is no such thing as overage charges, but there is a Fair Access Policy. Hughes Net has a much worse FAP than wildblue, and most people who have told me they hate Satellite internet have had hughes net. My customers have all been happy with it. Oh, check into stuff like Verizon wireless too, that might be another option.As far as weather interuptions, it is a little more sensitive than satellite tv, but I've only had mine go out once every other month or so, and it comes back on as soon as the weather clears.

You should also know that there is no "trial" period. Once you have service, you have a two year contract. You have to pay a penaltly of $15/month to cancel remaining months.

Keep in mind you can not use VOIP (vonage) or gaming (xbox live, online gaming where response time is critical) with any satellite service.

If you have questions, you can email me...nms_6454@yahoo.com

Bottom line, if dial up is your only other option, wildblue is a huge step up. But if you have other options, go for something else.

Niki

Why aren't cable/dsl available would be my question. 

My parents have satellite - they are in the middle of BFE...and it's the only option for them.

Dee-Cajungaltx wrote:  Why aren't cable/dsl available would be my question. 
My parents have satellite - they are in the middle of BFE...and it's the only option for them.

 

In a lot of rural areas they aren't an option.  DSL JUST became available in my town, like during Oct.  We bought this house 3 years ago this month.  When we bought it, cable was also not available.  By the time we moved in 6 months later it was.  It really isn't unusual.

I have Wild Blue through Dish Network. I *hate* it. We have their "Platinum" package - which is close to $90 a month.  It is UNBELIEVABLY slow.  If it is cloudy AT ALL, we have little to no service.  (And we live in OK where it tends to rain a lot.)  We have no options on who we use or anything, so we are stuck with it. 
 
I honestly have nothing good to say about the service.  Even with the Platinum package (which is thier largest), we go over our "FAP" often.  Which means they slow us down to where I can't even check my email. 
 
When we have issues with it (like their stuff screws up or breaks), it is a 2 week wait to get a service call.  IF they show up, they tend to not have what they need to complete the job, and we have to wait again. 
 
Last year, we had an issue where we had no service due to a problem with their equipment.  I called. Was told it would be 2 weeks.  2 weeks came and went.  Nobody called me to say they weren't coming. I called back.  They said the guy couldn't make it and we would have to wait another 2 weeks.  It came and went.  No show again!! I called and they said they were short on workers for OK, so we would have to wait again.  I called Dish at this point, and finally got a "Big" manager, who started researching for me.  She set up the next service appointment.  On the day of that appointment, no one showed up, so I called Wild Blue.  They said "All of our technicians called in sick today." I asked to speak to their manager.  She says "He had a heart attack and isn't here today."  REALLY?  ALL of their technicians are sick AND their boss had a heart attack? On the same day? REALLY?  So, I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.  The "Big" manager from Dish called me to make sure someone came, and when I told her what happened, she went through the roof.  She called in a technician from Texas, and credited us two months of our TV service, as well as 6 months of internet.  It ended up taking 2 months for someone to come fix the satellite dish for our internet.
 
While Dish tries to make things right, Wild Blue is SO bad that it makes both companies look bad IMO.