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Review by mauser See Profile

  • Location: Hastings, Barry, MI, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
Fast speeds, decent ping times (for satellite)
Data caps stink
Best option for my location
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:

After being bamboozled by AT&T who lied about DSL service at my address (we bought the house under that assumption 2 years ago) we went with HughesNet. We tried everything else - every cable company around, ordering a T1, business cable, local WiMax provider (we are in a low area and cannot get a signal through the dense trees). We looked at 3g and 4g hotspots, not enough signal. We suffered with HughesNet (they will receive my full wrath in a separate review) for 2 years, when a co-worker mentioned he had just gotten Exede installed.

I waited for a month or so to see how his experience was, and he was pleased. He has the good luck of an error on their part where his metering seems to be broken - no matter how much internet he uses, it shows as his full 10gb. Wish we had been that lucky, but really can't complain.

Based on his experience, I ordered the service, making sure I had the same installer he had used - install is INCREDIBLY important with satellite. Our installer was great, he pointed the dish, set up the modem, then re-pointed the dish for greater precision. Most installers are in a hurry, as many of them get paid by the job, not the hour, and skip the second step. Without that second calibration, customers will often experience frequent outages due to wind, rain, etc.

We have almost 20mb down and 3mb up, consistently. The problem, which we already knew about, is the data cap. 10gb goes away fast at those speeds. The free zone is less convenient than HughesNet, which lasts 2-7am (now 8am) - with Exede, it only goes midnight to 5am. I'm not usually up at midnight, and get up at 5:00, so I miss the free window. We are less than 2 weeks in, and have used 75% of our allowance. To be fair, we have watched a few Netflix shows which, even at the lowest resolution, are data hogs.

Right now, we are waiting to run out of full-speed internet to see how bearable the throttled speed are. If it is consistent with what I was told, I can probably live with it until we get refilled. Worst case, we fork over more money for a beefier plan.

I don't like the broadband industry - they soak us for more and more money and meter our data mercilessly. That said, Exede is our best option... for now. I look forward to when something better comes along and all of these companies who have strangled their customers with limited data get what's coming to them.

UPDATE, 5/15/13 - the company that installed my Exede service misrepresented what Exede will do once data runs out - I was told speeds would be around 1mbps AFTER throttling, which would be completely useable, if not speedy. The actual speeds are more like 20kbps (slower than dial-up). I called Exede, and they apologized for their agent's misinformation, and reset my internet (one time only) to get us through the month. Although the service is certainly fast enough for streaming video, there is not enough data allotment to watch any appreciable amount of video even at standard definition, hi-def would run out the plan in a few shows. I will need to meter my own usage, much as I did with HughesNet.

Overall, I am still pleased with the service, the speed and reliability are good, just wish there was a bigger allotment of data so I could do more with it. The one customer service rep I spoke with was cordial and helpful, and was based in the United States, so she could actually understand what I was telling her. Imagine that.

member for 10.9 years, 4 visits, last login: 10.8 years ago
updated 10.8 years ago