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Review by grahamsz 
Posted: 235 days ago
member for 4.4 years, 4 visits, last login: 139 days ago
 Erie,Boulder,CO
 $60 per month
 "Good coverage in places that aren't served by DSL or Cable. Fast upload (when it works)"
 "Horribly unreliable"
 "I've been with these guys since 2005 when they were Mesa Networks and the service has degraded horribly"
| Pre Sales Information:
Install process:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
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I signed up with Mesa Networks in May of 2005 and at the time was thrilled. While not as fast as the DSL or Cable I can get in my neighborhood they were rock solid and had great (tech literate) technical support people.
Sometime in 2009 they got bought out by Skybeam and everything went to hell. My service that's been rock solid for four years now scarcely makes it through a day without dropping. I no longer get the advertised speeds, and it takes forever to get a support person on the phone (if their wait system doesn't hang up on you first).
If you can't get DSL or Cable then they are certainly better than dialup, but after years of singing their praises I can't recommend them if you have another option.
Followup comments:  
storm311
@skybeam.com | Skybeam Actually Mesa wasn't bought out - it was a merger and the network hasn't been changed in any way. | |
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canoedf
@skybeam.com
| Re: Skybeam Being a subscriber for a few years it seems that the network SHOULD have changed. Oversubscribed? I do not know about that but a little TLC would help while the dust settles.
My perception - service is interrupted more now than before the merger.
The Skybeam website could use some help.... the current version is just lacking depth. I do NOT want to talk to a live human sales type when I should be able to click and get the information I want. Let me sell myself and THEN I will call in person if needed.
Now if I could just get some redundancy for the network piece...... | |
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Skybeam Customer
@skybeam.com
| "...hasn't been changed in any way." Really.
If the Skybeam network hasn't changed in any way why did my static IP address change? Also why have I been getting significant lag and random outages for the past month since the merger or whatever it was?
All I know is Skybeam customer service is basically non-existent, in addition to the outages and lag compared to Mesa Networks. Skybeam has not responded to any but one of my six complaints in the past month and your tech support voice mail is on infinite ignore.
Not a good way to come to our town Skybeam. | |
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Former Fan
@nsc.com
| Can you say oversubscribed? Mesa Networks was AWESOME. Since the merger of Mesa and LP Broadband into Skybeam (they took back the old name) the speed has fallen off a cliff. I had the 2.5Mbps package with Mesa and usually got better than that during the day and seldom below 1.5Mbps in the evening. Now I'm lucky to get 500kbps in the evening and 250kbps is not unusual. The network may not have been changed but the available bandwidth sure has gone down. If you've got a choice, RUN AWAY... | |
| | grahamsz
join:2005-06-01
Erie, CO | Re: Can you say oversubscribed? Yeah, mesa were great. I downloaded a 33 gig file over a vpn connection once and it worked first time. It took all weekend, but i'm lucky if i can stay hooked to work for more than 2 or 3 hours right now. | |
| mattmcl
join:2001-10-05
Erie, CO
 ·Comcast
 ·Skybeam.net
| Network HAS changed, or Skybeam doesn't know diddly... I was with Mesa when they opened their doors, and had stellar service and performance. Early on, I had an uncapped connection and was hitting 10mbps consistently. They later figured that out, and capped me at 2.5. At some point, I switched to the 1.5 plan.
Then Skybeam came along, and connection speeds dropped to .6 mbps. I asked to upgrade to their highest plan, and was told my tower couldn't support that speed.
So if the network hasn't changed, why was I able to get 10mbps almost TEN years ago, and now I can't get a tenth of that?
I strongly suspect something fishy, as my recent speed tests show downloads of .6 mbps, but uploads of 1.5 mbps. So it's not a connectivity issue. I complained about this several times, and have been told my connection was "reallocated," and speeds improved for a week or so. Then slowly I'm back down to a crawl.
Why Mesa, why why why did you leave us? | |
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unhappy customer
@skybeam.com | Re: Network HAS changed, or Skybeam doesn't know diddly... I couldn't agree more. Was very happy with Mesa for years. As soon as Skybeam entered the pictures this service has tanked. It blows to say the least. I couldn't even recommend Skybeam to a enemy. I'd like to see the place go under personally. | |
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Silent Partner
@skybeam.com
| Re: Network HAS changed Darn right it has changed. MesaNetworks was great. Skybeam and their tech support are the pits. I know more about their network than they do, due to all the problems we have had since they became Skybeam.
Last time, to get resolution to the problem, I had to write to a local newspaper and copy the manager of sales at SkyBeam. Then someone took a look. This was after two weeks messing with "tech" support. I think all the real "tech" people have moved on.
If you want to know their standard operating procedure. It is their is something wrong with your equipment. Then we might be having problems an our backhaul (I keep pointing out that their DNS servers are dropping - so it could be a switch, router, the server itself, etc - turns out they are using some Linux "box" as their router(s), who knows what the switches are) then it will be something about your radio not working correctly. See if I am wrong.
I've had to tell tech support "damn my lying eyes" three times now. (Spoof a MAC address - get assigned to a different subnet via DHCP, and viola! It's fixed). Tech guy told me my radio was dead. Sheesh.
Avoid them if you can. We got this house after thoroughly vetting MesaNetworks. Now I have no other providers and am stuck. (My wife and I are both full time telecommuters). Skybeam has bought all the competition. They don't have to provide reasonable service or quality if they are the monopoly. | |
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