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Review by brawney See Profile

  • Location: Frederick, Frederick, MD, USA
  • Cost: $60 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 7 days
Nothing
Slow, oversold service, FAP
Stay away!

On June 10, 2002 Direcway 2-way satellite service offered by DirecTV was installed at my home. The install was $199, hardware was $399, monthly fee is $59.99, and the service contract is 12 months. The first week was a nightmare. Download speeds were under 100kbps every evening and upload speeds were as low as 15kbps on a regular basis. Two of the first four nights were so slow that it was unusable. One night was bearable and one night was pretty snappy browsing. Not good results in my opinion. I get equal or better performance out of my 56k dialup modem most of the time. After a couple nights I quit keeping track and gave up on Direcway. By June 12th I had ordered ISDN to be installed. On June 22nd I called Hughes and cancelled my account and asked that they come take this system out of my home.

What I noticed is that the Hughes system seems to slow down during peak times. Peak times are in the evenings during the week. If you do speed tests between about 3:00am ET to about 8:00am ET you will get very good download speeds. So if you stay up at night and sleep during the days you should be in better shape than most of us. Many times I tested in the 1,400kbps range (that is 1.4megs folks) for downloads. Speed tests at 7:00pm ET gave me under 100bkps download speeds most of the time. The latency (delay) caused by the signal having to travel 23,000 miles up to the satellite, then 23,000 miles back down to the Hughes operation center makes browsing seem slow even when your download speed is 1.4 megs. Playing games will not work at all. And the signal has to travel that same distance when coming back to you. I saw inconsistent performance that did not always match the download speed test results. For example, sometimes when my speed tests were showing 1.4 megs I still had long delays between when I clicked a link in the browser until the page is fully loaded. Yet at other times it was down right snappy browsing and when I checked the speed rating I was getting only 90kbps download speed.

Hughes will apply a Fair Access Policy on you (FAP) if you download a large amount of data in a short period of time. I don’t think the terms are real specific and nobody really knows what the threshold is before they apply FAP. But if you download about 150 megs in under a few hours they will apply FAP. FAP will throttle your speed back to something very slow for the rest of the day. I have never been FAPed (because my service was never fast enough for me to download that much) but they tell me that it is miserable to be FAPed.

The knowledge of the installer is very important. I recommend finding a local installer to do your install so you can call them back if there are problems. My installer was great. He was a true satellite guru and did a great install. From what I could see he lined up the dish perfectly. The problem is not the install in my case. It is the service from Hughes.

The first night I had the service I called Hughes tech support because it was so slow. They walked me through the normal checks and concluded there was nothing wrong on my end. I was getting 47kbps download and 15kbps upload speed while on the phone with them (this is modem speeds folks). They said there was nothing more they could do other than pass this info to the tech people who manage the system. You will notice that they don’t advertise the speeds you will get in their marketing literature or on their web site. I could not pin him down on what speed I should be expecting from the system. He said they are constantly changing things to make it work better.

The bottom line (in my opinion) is that Hughes network is over sold and slows down with heavy traffic almost every evening of the week. They are making changes almost daily to the system and the users see problems migrate from group to group on a regular basis (read the Satellite form messages). It is too unstable for me. Even when it is fast it is not real good for surfing because of the delays associated with satellite communications. It would be very good for downloading of large files (at 3:00am) except for the fact that they will throttle your speed down (FAP) if you download a lot over a short period of time. So basically, it is not good browsing, large downloads, games and VPN doesn’t work either. What is it good for then? I would get satellite only if I could not get anything else and my dialup line was really bad. I would even use a good dialup line with a 56k modem before buying Direcway.

I have seen others recommend getting the 1-way satellite and I tend to agree. If I had to do it again I would probably get a second phone line and buy a 1-way satellite dish. From what I understand the 1-way has the following advantages:

1. You can install it yourself and save money.

2. The purchase price is less and the monthly fees are less.

3. The latency is lower because you’re using dialup phone line to send, effectively cutting the delay in half.

4. I’m told there is no long-term (12 month) commitment with 1-way service.

5. If you get AOL-Plus 1-way service, there is no FAP.

I cannot get DSL, cable modem or wireless internet access where I live. I ordered satellite as a last resort. However, after satellite did not work for me I quickly researched the possibility of ISDN and it looked attractive to me. ISDN provides 128k in both upload and download directions and has very low latency times. I believe it will meet my needs. The price for the line plus my ISP is going to be a bit more than the satellite, but I believe the aggravation level will be much lower. I will leave that information for my review of ISDN and my new ISP once I get it installed and running.

member for 22 years, 4023 visits, last login: 8.3 years ago
lodged 21.7 years ago

PSedrish
join:2001-06-03
Pearl River, LA

PSedrish

Member

ISDN

I ran 128 ISDN for 4 years or so before the DirecPC debacle (which mercifully ended when cable & DSL arrived this spring). I can safely say ISDN is pretty close to bullet-proof. It never goes out, it always delivers its advertised speed in both directions (but never more). It is, however, mad expensive. I think installation cost me about $300, plus a modem (I needed a router too so I got a 3COM Office Connect which was like $400!....anyone who wants mine now can write me anytime), plus an ISP, which for dual channel access ISDN will be at least $40 per month. Add to that whatever the local TelCo charges for just the ISDN service (was $79.95 per month here) & you have one hefty package. After having forgotten about the start up costs, I was pleased with the svc but the monthly $120 charges (TelCo + ISP) really made me long for faster, cheaper alternatives. Now I run DSL & cable as a backup & still pay less than I did for ISDN. All that being said, I would go back to ISDN in a heartbeat before ever thinking about DirecPC or any other satellite rip-off. (PS anyone who wants my satellite stuff is welcome to it..free...just come and take it away!)
brawney
Premium Member
join:2002-03-02
Frederick, MD

brawney

Premium Member

Re: ISDN

Feel free to read more on my web site about my ISDN costs as well as all the other connectivity methods I tried before ending up with ISDN. »www.screaminet.com/~braw ··· rial.htm

In short, I'm paying Verizon $64 a month for the line with unlimited service, Screaming Internet $25 a month for unlimited dual-channel 128k service, and I got a 3Com/USR modem off eBay for $31. Then I bought a 3Com LAN Router off eBay for $46. I'll keep the original 3Com/USR modem as a backup.

I have been happy with ISDN. But you're right, it is expensive for the speed you get. As soon as cable or DSL comes around I'm moving to that, but really only for the cost savings.

Thanks for the comments on ISDN. I appreciate hearing other's opinions.

Review by eberharts See Profile

  • Location: Miamisburg, Montgomery, OH, USA
  • Cost: $99 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 7 days
Quick Install
Upload speeds, of course, but still better than dial-up most of the time.
Good value when you have no choice... country bumpkin.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Value for money:

Excellent installer, on time, knowledgeable, and very patient with NOC. Spent 1 1/2 on ladder with NOC, then got disconnected and had to start all over again.

Once tweaked, excellent download speeds (even at peak times). Fortunately I don't need quicker uploads (YET!). Anyone not using this forum though would be dis-satisfied. You guys/gals got me up and running with the dish and a brand new home network and ICS in a few short minutes.

Downside is gaming. Hubby plays alot of that, so I'll have to keep dial-up for him. Maybe in a year, DSL will be available to that box 1/2 mile from our house, but until then I'm using the air.

Up Up and Away!!



member for 22.2 years, 67 visits, last login: 9.5 years ago
lodged 21.7 years ago


W8ASA
Biet Noi Tieng Viet Khong?
join:2000-07-31
Dayton, OH

W8ASA

Member

What speeds?

Please tell us what speeds you're getting, or post them. I've been curious about how that system works. I live in Centerville, and can't get DSL either, but I'm lucky enough to have RoadRunner service here.
eberharts
join:2001-12-28
Miamisburg, OH

eberharts

Member

Re: What speeds?

Obviously busy nights are worse than mornings. But compared to 28.8 modem connection, if I reach 100kbps download I'm happy as a clam. I did get up to 1,000 kpbs Saturday and Sunday morning for download. Upload isn't anywhere close lowest was 16k highest 32. Fortunately I don't do alot of that.

Toadman
Hypnotoad
join:2001-11-28
Mystery

Toadman to W8ASA

Member

to W8ASA
I think you would need a labotomy to go with Direcpc rather than roadrunner, just wait until you deal with FAP and Latency issues, this is why most people jump on anyother broadband when it becomes available if they had sat before.
eberharts
join:2001-12-28
Miamisburg, OH

eberharts

Member

Re: What speeds?

A lobotomy was not a choice, nor is any kind of cable service where I live. We don't even have cable TV and am 1/2 mile from those who do (Time Warner refuses to run the cable for 4 houses in a mile stretch). Thus, the choice for Direcway.
eberharts

eberharts to W8ASA

Member

to W8ASA
speakeasy.net
2002-06-26 06:21:56 EST: 623 / 26
Your download speed : 623865 bps, or 623 kbps.
A 76.1 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 26472 bps, or 26 kbps.
Your upstream result was very slow! .. not good

Direcway.com
854 down/35 up
eberharts

eberharts to W8ASA

Member

to W8ASA
2002-06-26 06:21:56 Speed test (wdc.speakeasy.net) 623/26 kbps
2002-06-25 06:07:41 Speed test (wdc.speakeasy.net) 940/28 kbps
2002-06-24 20:59:05 Speed test (wdc.speakeasy.net) 115/17 kbps
2002-06-24 20:57:08 Speed test (wdc.speakeasy.net) 135/25 kbps
2002-06-24 05:41:27 Speed test (wdc.speakeasy.net) 1002/30 kbps
2002-06-23 11:29:57 Speed test (wdc.speakeasy.net) 959/34 kbps
2002-06-22 18:14:09 Speed test (wdc.speakeasy.net) 605/14 kbps
2002-06-22 16:13:50 Speed test (wdc.speakeasy.net) 485/17 kbps
2002-06-22 15:59:31 Speed test (wdc.speakeasy.net) 564/16 kbps
2002-06-22 10:08:44 Speed test (www.phl.speakeasy.net) 540/17 kbps
installdude
join:2002-05-08
Arlington, TX

installdude

Member

I JUST KILLED YOU DUDE!

Hi-
No problems with the NOC here in Texas, but the farther north you go the harder it is to "tweak' it! It is a "noise' thing- no I do not know exactly how it works- but- you do not want to interfere with the guy buying gas or a lottery ticket! Gaming? Please check out past posts- not the best for most of them- it is the latency thing- 23,000 miles out then 23,000 miles back!- even at the speed of light a real human can DOB! you if he has DSL!

ForYourInformation
@direcpc.com

ForYourInformation

Anon

Re: I JUST KILLED YOU DUDE!

You don't need to call the NOC if you do the automatic cross-pol with your lap top. It takes about 5 minutes.

Review by messemore3 See Profile

  • Location: Florence, Rankin, MS, USA
  • Cost: $99 per month (12 month contract)
Nothing Good
Tech Support & Service Sucks
Stay Away - Nation Wide Scam
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:

Avoid at all cost. I signed up for a DirecWay 12 month contract. With a 30 days trial period. I had the service from July 13 thru 21st of 2002. The First day the service was installed I got 50k download speed. I call tech support to be told that the service did not come up to full speed for 24 to 48 hours. I said ok and hung up. I call back the next day, to be told that I need to disconnect Direcway modem, power down the system, discharge the static from the line. Then start everything up. After about 30 minutes of this he said there was nothing more he could do and that he would transfer me to teir two, but teir 2 was gone for the day. Lovely! So I desided I would start writing email I wrote 3 email on saturday and sunday. They Responsed to one email. Imagine that. The emal said that If I was having such back service I should call. The message on the hold music says for faster response to use there website and email. Right! So I call back the teir one tech tells me he can't transfer me to teir 2 until we disconnect the modems and powerdown the sysyem. So I do, doesn't help. He told me that he could transfer me to teir 2 but there was a 45 minute wait, but if I would call back in a hour and 15 minutes the wait time would be less. I said I would call back. I waited the hour and 15 mintues and call back. I got another tech this tech again he can not transfer me to teir 2 until we discoonect the modem and powerdown the system I do this again. After it comes up and the tech see that it did not help. He says I would transfer you to teir 2 but they are gone for the day. Now I am really made. So he transfers me the cancellation department. The guy at cancellation tells me that it could be my UPS. So I plug the modems directly in the wall. Then he has me powerdown and disconnect the modems. No Help. He says I need to talk to Teir 2 and he will send an email to them and have them call me within 24 to 48 hours. So I wait 48 hours and call to be told that it will be another 24 hour before I get a call. So I cancel the service. The service that I have yet to get to work. They want to charge me another $100 for early termination. So I get screwed out of $200 for a FREE trail. I had to pay $99 up front to have them connect it. A $200 mistake. Do not sign up for this service. Read the forums. You will see that I am not the only one. Even those tech support say nobody else is having the same problem.

member for 21.8 years, 5 visits, last login: 20.7 years ago
lodged 21.7 years ago


dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

dvd536

Premium Member

dont forget FAP

dont forget FAP. Once you get the system up and running half way decent, they'll penalize you for actually using it. if one must go direcPC go through AOL. AOL doesnt have the FAP.

RRedline
Rated R
Premium Member
join:2002-05-15
USA

RRedline

Premium Member

DOn't pay them!

How did you pay these clowns? If you used a credit card, just dispute the charges! It is insane for them to expect you to pay for service you never received.

A year ago, I was tempted to try satellite out. I am very glad that I decided to suffer with 56K until cable was available in my area. I am just a few months away from FINALLY getting cable!

I am very surprised that anyone is using satellite anymore. I thought it was common knowledge that it is overpriced garbage? I guess there are some people who find it worth the $70 or whatever per month to keep it. The latency issue alone would drive me insane.

cheebee
@uswest.net

cheebee

Anon

Re: DOn't pay them!

As if it were that easy. I am ten months past a the beginning of a billing dispute with direcpc. I disputed several charges, and they are now sending a collection agency after me for their mistake.

I have a simple opinion about direcpc: if they make a mistake, they will make you pay for it. They will stonewall you by ignoring all messages you send them, and then lying about their response.

The best way is to file complaints with government agencies, and to warn others to avoid this direcsnake.
xrobertcmx
Premium Member
join:2001-06-18
White Plains, MD

xrobertcmx

Premium Member

What amazes me

I live in a townhouse community and have DSL, and what I find astonishing is that one row of houses behind me I have a neighbor who has DirectPC...why?
installdude
join:2002-05-08
Arlington, TX

installdude

Member

IT IS THE INSTALLERS FAULT!

Hey Dude!
It is obviously the installer's fault! You should have been surfing before he left! YES! Tech support SUX for the most part, however an experienced installer should have helped you through the software install AND helped you with other obvious problems!
MOST problems are not with the software BUT with your computer! If you are able to log on to the internet- go to mydirecway.com and sign up-
I could probably help you but I cannot give my E-mail address out here-
OK here is an E-mail address you can contact me at if you still want to make this work-
If not- don't bother- pendrak@yahoo,com

Review by FullTimeRVer See Profile

  • Location: Livingston, Polk, TX, USA
  • Cost: $59 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 8 days
Exceptional Service By Installer. For 1st 3 months, avg speeds DOUBLE the advertised rates. Excellent!
Unable to get customer service to respond to me
Thrilled/Delighted/Ecstatic with installation and service.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:

OK, I admit it; I'm an installer's worst nightmare.

Yup, I'm one of those that none of the satellite companies will "support". Look at my user name for clarification of this fine point...

And there's the matter of my insisting on doing most of the installation myself, prior to the installer's arrival. See, without being "supported", it was imperative that I made the installer's life a little less hellish by ensuring in advance that everything looked "normal" so that he could go about his business and be done with it.

That having been accomplished, I waited with trepidation for him to arrive. To my great surprise, he telephoned not once but THREE times to advise me of his arrival progress. This is a good sign.

Upon arrival -- here comes the frightening part -- he glanced at the pole-in-concrete mount, deemed it acceptable, evidently, and went right to work. Phew!

A couple of hours later, he was done. The remaining substantial time was spent with his trying to work successfully with the folks at the NOC. It's amazing how much grief they put these guys through; the general public has NO idea, methinks...

Now let me talk about the service, vs. my expectations. I expected 400K downloads. After three months of carefully watching, I can report an average of 820K, during a variety of times during the day. Yes, sometimes it's down around 200K. And yes, sometimes it hits 1.5 megs or so.

And for those of you who haven't figured out my situation (see that user name above, folks!) it's all truly amazing, and utterly difficult to imagine.

But it works. Really well.

Now if I could just get those pesky customer service droids to respond...

member for 21.7 years, 9 visits, last login: 21.7 years ago
lodged 21.7 years ago

installdude
join:2002-05-08
Arlington, TX

installdude

Member

Take It With You Dude!

Hi-
Nice to see that a fellow installer is getting good reviews. Your system was probably installed several months ago when the isolation on SatMex5 was a lot stricter. Your pole mount may have been not exactly plum and the installer may have used a laptop to sight it in. I use a "Bird Dog"- I am able to check both download and upload noise so rarely have to move the dish to make the NOC happy- I actually have an install on a houseboat on a local lake! It is working just fine. The dish is mounted on the pier so there is only up and down motion for the most part- but during bad weather when there is side-to-side motion he looses it. We have become close friends because about every month or so I have to go out and do a realign and spend time fishing and drinking his Crown Special Reserve. I usually do it on a Sunday afternoon.
Full time RVR? Do you realize that there is a way to take it with you? Pole mount in a bucket! Use your pointing software already loaded in the Direcway file for Azimuth, Altitude, and Polarization- you also need to buy a "Bird Dog" to sight it in. You need to be slightly smarter than a rock to figure out how to use it.
DISCLAIMER! Per the FCC- your dish should be mounted at least 6' off the ground, properly grounded, and re-crosspolled each time it is moved. However, I have seen a lot of sloppy and incorrect installs on service calls- and- I have yet to run across a FCC inspector!
ltwombat
join:2002-06-06
Mcallen, TX

ltwombat

Member

Re: Take It With You Dude!

(Use your pointing software already loaded in the Direcway file for Azimuth, Altitude, and Polarization- you also need to buy a "Bird Dog" to sight it in. You need to be slightly smarter than a rock to figure out how to use it.)

Hi there. Where exactly is this software located? We have livestock and one of them decided the pole was a good place to lean and now my speeds are misserable. I am assuming the thing has moved but due to my location the original installer wants over $100 to come back and re-align the darn thing. If I can do it myself, wonderful.

Thanks for any info you can provide. Kevin

OH, P.S., does having a former career of flying military jets qualify as being "smarter than a box of rocks"??
doubleTdude
join:2002-07-15
Lubbock, TX

doubleTdude to installdude

Member

to installdude
I have the 2way system and when it was first installed I was getting signal strength of 85 and great download (between 1.2mbps and 800kbps) now after about a year and some very high winds (I'm from Lubbock, TX need I say more) my signal is about 60 and speeds are about 200kbps tops. Do I need to have my satellite re-aligned? It takes them forever to come out and doe something if I need it. I have been waiting on them to come install the TV arm for a year now and I keep calling about every 3-4 weeks and still no arm. Is there anyway I can get that installed and have it re-aligned with out having to wait a year or two?
type6
join:2002-02-20
Toms River, NJ

type6

Member

how fast?

Are those kilobytes or kilobits?

CDBlazer
@midwest.net

CDBlazer

Anon

Re: how fast?

Kilobits per second. I find the advertisers of service speeds to deceive the average user, because when you are downloading a file, it will tell you in KB (kilobytes)/sec. If my math is correct, 8 bits are in a byte, so if you divide your say 500Kbps by 8, you will get your average KB throughput. I work on a T1, and achieve around 50KB/sec, or 500kbps/sec, people see those numbers, and think that consumer satellite/dsl/cable is faster, when its really not. Poor job on companies part deceiving customers. I'm looking into satellite for myself, I live in the boonies, however the only thing making me think twice is the upfront fees, and the latency issue. From what I'm hearing, Hughes is doing alot better job than they were a year ago, especially for support on P2P apps. Games I don't think are physically possible unless you play Age of Empires or checkers that requires a second or two for each action by the player. Anyway, hope this info helps any who reads it.

Review by chalo See Profile

  • Location: 85440
  • Cost: $69 per month (12 month contract)
sometimes good downloads
upload sucks and FAP too, if you want download don't buy this antenna
think very well before you buy
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:

if you want expent money and just look some http pages is fine for you, but if you realy want a powerfull system and download wherever you want, search another options

member for 22 years, 349 visits, last login: 17.1 years ago
lodged 21.7 years ago







Review by CM06 See Profile

  • Location: Vaughn, Cascade, MT, USA
  • Cost: $70 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 16 days
Download speeds in 800 to 1200 Mbps during off-peak hours
Slow during peak times, weather 2000 miles away can knock you out.
Better than dial-up most of the time, technical knowledge required.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:

EARTHLINK Tech Support will run you in circles if you let them. Once your system is up and running and you have some time to watch speed trends and go through a few NOC outages, TRUST your equipment. When TS wants you to uninstall and re-install your software, do what YOU think is best. If your system is stable, many of the 'fix' actions they will suggest are useless. A large percentage of problems are caused by equipment at Hughes which Earthlink has no control over.

I'm not saying that Earthlink TS is useless. They were helpful when I first got online. And I have never dealt with anyone at TS who was impolite or uncivil. But, they have to assume that the customer needs to be led by the hand through each step. If this is not the case with you, and you can politely make them aware of it, they will work with you until your problem is resolved or they run out of options.

When the 'option bucket' is empty, turn to the Satellite forum. You will probably find what you need.

member for 21.9 years, 3016 visits, last login: 11.8 years ago
lodged 21.7 years ago


toolazytoregister
@direcpc.com

toolazytoregister

Anon

um 2000 miles?

hello fellow montanian
I live in missoula, and go through pegasus. I am very disapointed with the service, and the stability. but still wheather 2000 miles away cannot affect your signal.

you point directly into the sky and only the wheather above you affects you (at least line of site from dish to satellite)

I get perfect signal during the worst snow storms ever. The only time I lose signal is when snow actually sticks to the dish. This does not happen too often.

I suggest looking into other options. A new wireless service has just become available in missoula similar to bluetooth. multidirectional.
missoula is the only place to have this type of network (odd it started here). You could look into several types of wireless

you could also look into cable or dsl, which i leanred cable is available in libby. whats up with that?! libby is tiny and the whole town is capable of getting cable? thats senator baucus for you (he grew up there)
and dsl, which is becoming more and more available to everyone except me of course

why did you choose earthlink earthlink?
dr_boom
join:2002-04-10
Pataskala, OH

dr_boom

Member

Re: um 2000 miles?

If the NOC is about 2000 miles from away from you montanians out west then when the NOC has bad weather and their signal goes down so does the rest of us. Heck, I live only a few hundred miles from the NOC and if my signal goes down due to the weather, I can almost bet that it will do a repeat in a few hours when it reaches the NOC. I have had Direcway for about 3 months now and yes it does have its bad times but for the most part it works just fine, that is IF you don't mess with it. If it ain't broke don't fix it!

Review by unkyjoe0 See Profile

  • Location: Seguin, Guadalupe, TX, USA
  • Cost: $99 per month (12 month contract)
Speed, Installation, Support
FAP
A Good buy.
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:

Had my 2-way DirecWay system installed on the 4th of June, I live in Marion TX and previous to this I had a 128K ISDN connection that I was paying $80.00 for + $20.00 for the dial-up ISDN internet account $100.00 so the math was real easy for me. No DSL and NO Cable even though SWB built a new switching station not 2 miles from my home. The installer was late, but with good reason, Pegasus installed it after I bought it from Direcway directly. Him and his son showed up, they looked like the guys from Deliverance but they knew there stuff, they securely mounted the dish to the side of the house and had it done within a hour. I installed the software myself. The first receive modem was bad, he had a spare and replaced it and it came up and was running within 2 hrs tops.

I went to toast and got speeds I was not very happy with but after some tweaking I got on average about 500-700KBS.

Saturday night I got a 0 signal on my system checked everything before calling Direcway to no avail. I called tech support and got through immediately. The tech walked me thorough checking voltages, cables etc, all this at 10:00pm at night, he was never rude or annoyed. Finally he admitted he thought it was the power supply and bumped it up to level 2 support which as promised called me back just an hour ago. The level 2 tech upon asking my level of confidence in repairing this myself walked me though a gambit of tests and procedures. Finally having me go outside and verify voltages at the dish itself. After 1 hr with this guy I was back up and running, evidently a short in the cable due to a crossthreaded connector which I replaced. Now thats support!!

Speeds were slow at first, I run my modem on a 2000 Server using ISA server to share the connection among 4 other PC's in the house, and I am now very pleased with the speeds I achieve.

This $99 dollar install and $99 a month for 12 months is a great deal. Keep in mind they are not charging you interest on this equipment financing either! All in all a great experience so far compared to my ISDN line which was fast enough. Thier support was great. Now I will see if the FAP gets in the way.



member for 21.8 years, 128 visits, last login: 19.3 years ago
lodged 21.8 years ago


happ$
Smile
join:2001-08-23
Hudson, MA

happ$

Member

Good Buy

Hi Unkyjoe. You are a welcome addition to the brotherhood of DirecPc users. After reading your story I feel the service you received wasn't the only thing exceptional,
your optimism and tenacity was as well. The one thing you can count on is, your patience and other attributes will be tested in the future.

You will do just fine.

Hap

Review by SeArChEr63 See Profile

  • Location: Dryden, Lapeer, MI, USA
  • Cost: $60 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 90 days
Very fast downloads at times
very poor upload speeds and lousy FAP!
Only alternative to dialup
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:

Since I moved, I mounted and grounded myself. Installer cost $60 to point it. I'm still stuck with it.

member for 22 years, 349 visits, last login: 14.6 years ago
lodged 21.8 years ago







Review by wilddave1970 See Profile

  • Location: Noel, Mcdonald, MO, USA
  • Cost: $60 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 2 days
  • Telco party AllTel
  • CLEC party: @link
My download speed is excellent
uploading files suck dont know why
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:

My downloads are great but i keep getting a proxy server error when the proxy is clicked to the on postion i cant surf the net havent gottin any support from direcpc sometimes loses the site identifing number and i have to manually put the number back in ...... any suggestions would be helpful ......thanks dave in missouri

member for 21.8 years, 1 visits, last login: 21.8 years ago
lodged 21.8 years ago

satdoctor
join:2003-05-23
Diamond, MO

satdoctor

Member

The Dish Doctor

Dave,

Try groundcontrol.com

There is the latest software and LAN config. if you are sharing and lots of info on the subject.

If your problem happens after the computer has been in standby try going to the device manager, then to USB root hub, then properties, then power managment and turn off allow computer to turn off to save power

The satellite will lose its link after being in standby mode.






Review by zzzking See Profile

  • Location: Newton, Catawba, NC, USA
  • Cost: $59 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 6 days
Download speeds
I haven't found any yet
Good solid service so far.......
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:

I moved out in the country and no longer have access to cable or DSL. After being stuck with dial-up for 3 months, I took the plunge. I started with an AOL plus dial return, but that's for another review..... I became aware or the deal for Directv for Direcway. I called and within 10 minutes I had been signed up I pay $99.99 a month which includes paying for my rig spread out over a year. Not bad considering what the others wanted up front. I was contacted the next day by Wireless Home Communications to set up the install. They were willing to come the next day. I had to set an appointment for a few days later because of prior commitments. They arrived at the appointed time. Within 2 hours I was up and running. Very painless. ( This was a pole mount install )

I've been very pleases with the download speeds. Usually about 1000Kb/s
PCPitstop: Text Block Size 1000 KB
Download Time 7300 ms
Receive Buffer 474280 bytes
Transmission Speed 1096 Kb/s
Uploads are slower, but still 3x faster than my dial up. So far everything is lookin' good. Of course I'm still in the honeymoon phase, but feel that I'm getting more than I paid for.....



member for 21.9 years, 3277 visits, last login: 11.5 years ago
lodged 21.8 years ago

installdude
join:2002-05-08
Arlington, TX

installdude

Member

AOL SUX!? MAYBE NOT!

Hi Guys-
Looks like this is working- How about the old dial return AOL!
Yes AOL sux for most of us experienced web serfers.- however- in the "high speed" area
maybe not! Only about 1 in 30 of the work orders I receive are for AOL+. Most of those think that they are getting DSL or two way. Did you know that there is no FAP on AOL?
The main problem with the AOL installs I did prior to Feb. 2002, was due to the BS AOL software. Well guess what- the software now actually works!- no- it is still not user friendly, but if you have an experienced installer, you should have no problems.
I installed an AOL+ two days ago and when we did the after install test we were downloading through AOL on Internet Explorer at aprox. 60kbs. Yes guys- that is 10M in 3 minutes or less! (SatMex5, 1170Mhz). Yes, AOL sux but if you use it only for an ISP and use Netscape or Internet Explorer for your surfing, and can get better or same results
with NO FAP!- $50 bucks per month and $150 for equipment and install- vs- $600, (or the new $99 for 12 months) for DW. You do the math. It is real close. This is just an observation from an ignorant installer here. Duh! Give me another cold beer Sam!

zzzking
Premium Member
join:2002-05-09
Conover, NC

zzzking

Premium Member

Re: AOL SUX!? MAYBE NOT!

I never meant to imply that AOL sux. I bought my aol directduo rig at office depot for $50.00. I did my own install. My modem was bad, Hughes fedex'd me one. Software pointed the wrong way. Satfinder showed me the proper setup. On Satmex5. no idea what frequency, best download was 650Kb/s. mostly around 150Kb/s, signal strength was 92. 256 version works better than 259, so I had to reinstall. Tech support did sux. My daughter knows more. For $55 amonth I expect more....sorry
zigma_
join:2002-05-22
Brooklyn, NY

zigma_

Member

gaming?

is this good for gaming?

chrise
@tx.charter.co

chrise

Anon

Re: gaming?

No. It has a high latency, so gaming would be poor unless you wanna play checkers.
macattack7
join:2002-03-30
Mooresville, NC

macattack7 to zigma_

Member

to zigma_
NO,it doesnt
i race online and a friend got a dish, they only use it for browsing web, when he races he has to use the ole dial-up to get a decent connection.