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 Review by Sat_Man 
UPDATED: 1.7 years ago
member for 6.8 years, 2696 visits, last login: 9 days ago
 Gray Court,Laurens,SC
 Contract price not specified.
 "No DSL! No Cable! Then Satellit is the only game in town!"
 "FAP, slow Upload speed and Lack of Customer Service!"
 "IF it's all you have, then it's great!"
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I've been running DirecPc's (DirecWay) Satellite return (SRS) for 17 months. Before SRS I had the One Way system (DRS) for about two years. I'm in an area that does not have any other broadband options, however, DSL in the near future. Overall I have been pleased with both systems. The sore point of SRS is FAP (Fair Access Policy). I'm not a big downloader, but using a download manager will allow you to download large files over a period of time. So this is not a problem for me. Customer Service is lacking. The problem is everyone at DirecWay has to go thru someone else before a decision can be made. Billing is a nightmare! If you have a problem, don't expect to call them and have it straightened out on the first call. It sometimes takes several calls and e-mails. Even though DirecWays business plan does not include Customer Service, Satellite is invaluable to remote rural areas. If you are content using a Modem then this is not for you. However, if you want some similarity to broadband then this is the only game in town!
>Fred
Update: I'm still happy with my system. Tweaks still keep the download speed high. The only problem I'm having is my dish has settled and I will have to fork out aroung $200. to get it pointed again. It still works great except during a light rain I loose the signal. DSL is all around me at this time. They just haven't finished installing the system on my road. The fiber optic relays have been in place for over two years. I probably stay with my Sat when they get it up and running. Price will be about the same but the speeds will be about 1/3 of DirecWay.
>Fred
11/09/03
Update, My system is still going strong! I haven't re-pointed my dish as it is working ok. I may have to move it to another location due to a two story attached garage I had built. There are a few new upgrades available for SRS, however I'm not going to upgrade. Just more money for no improvement! If it ain't broke, leave it alone! Still the main problems with D-Way are customer service, billing and tech support. Do a BBB search and you will see that DirecPC and DirecWay have an unsatisfactory rating.
[quote]Bureau File Experience
Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau. An unsatisfactory record is given when a pattern in the company's customer complaints causes us concern, when the company does not respond to complaints, or when it will not substantiate its advertising claims.
In this case, our complaint history for this company shows a pattern of unanswered and unresolved customer complaints. In those cases where the company has responded to the complaints brought to its attention by the Bureau, some remain unresolved because it appears that the company did not give adequate consideration to the customer's side of the dispute.
A Better Business Bureau report is based on our file information and experience with an individual company over the past three years.
The Better Business Bureau does not endorse, recommend, or disapprove of any company, product, or service.
Customer Complaint Information
Complaints against this business concern contract disputes, credit or billing disputes, delivery issues, guarantee or warranty issues, product quality, refund practices, repair issues, selling practices and service issues. [/quote]
>Fred
7/1/04 Update:
Well I'm still trudging along with my system. DSL is all around me and it looks like I'll be the last in the county to get it. The thing I have noticed is for the last couple of months it seems like the NOC is more susceptible to weather outages than in the past. Heavy rain/storms use to really not effect the connection that much. This year it seems any rain at all over the NOC it goes down. I stayed with my DW4000 and didn't upgrade. I couldn't justify spending more money for something that wouldn't improve my system. From what I've read on the forum, customer service has gone down more. I refuse to call them so I don't have any first hand experience lately.
>Fred
02/20/2005 Update:
Still holding my own with DW! DSL still has not been activated in my grid. I've made a habit to call them once a week and ask when it will be available. DW has slowed down a bit and XP-SP2 has caused some problems with some systems. I'm still over the 1mb DL speed but it's sluggish. My system still works great, however I'm ready to try something different.
>Fred
10/06/2005 Update"
Just a quick update to say nothing much has changed. My system still works great. The only thing that I have done is to setup a SETI farm. I'm running 6 computers 24-7 with no problems with Dway. It stays online without having to reboot. The only time I have to reboot is when an update or install requires it. I'm adding 2 more computers to it this week.
>Fred
06/17/2006 Update"
Well after all these years on G11 990 thing finally went down hill. I had to get moved to G11 1410. It helped a little but I'm still getting some connection problems. Downloads are a lot slower on 1410. I'm going to give it a little more time and I'm going to see if I can get back on 990. The telephone company still refused to activate my grid for DSL. I guess they figure my area is too sparse and they won't make money if they activate it. At least I still have my Hughes Net!
>Fred
10/19/2006 Final Update:
Finally a final update to Hughes.net. As of 12 Oct I have DSL!  The best package they have is 1m down and 512 up. I'm getting 870 down and 510 up. Everything works so much better.
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