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 Review by CM 
Posted: 6.8 years ago
member for 7.6 years, 2600 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Vaughn,Cascade,MT
 $70 per month (12 month contract)
 about 14 days
 "Tech support tries to be helpful, and sometimes even succeeds."
 "Tech support is not connected thru satellite so they can't see what you do."
 "Large provider who will probably stay in business over the long term."
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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.
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 Review by new2it
Posted: 6.8 years ago
member for 8.1 years, 517 visits, last login: 192 days ago
midwest
$69 per month
"Connecttion Speeds , I could never go back to dial up."
"Latest software is bad, only install the satelite part."
"28.8 was best dial availabe, heck still is, Its truly comparing a lemon to a tasty navel orange."
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I have to leave a few of the details out , like time for ordering , and contract ect.
I had Pegasus first, and they sold accounts to Earthlink,Thus the questions do not apply to earthlink.
There is nothing to complain about for a user like me. I had some disconnects a few weeks back , kept telling me the modem was not plugged in. I had tech support tell me it was a bad usb cable . Boy was he surprised to hear that yes i have another hang on a sec while I hook it up......and yes that was the issue.
There was one outtage since switching over, and while waiting for tech support it came back up.
Only one thing to complain about. Their latest software that was sent to me,
took over my entire computer. nothing would work. Took it off and only loaded the satelite software.
The price is high, 69. per month, I justify it due to my love of the internet and its cheaper than alot of other hobbies.
All in all, the satelite is the way to go if you live in a place with only diap up.
I wold do it again in a heartbeat.
I have the large two way white dish, and usb modems. I have run everything from win 98, currently, to win xp pro.
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 Review by drwelts
Posted: 6.8 years ago
member for 7.3 years, 688 visits, last login: 3.7 years ago
Becket,Berkshire,MA
$69 per month
"Fastest Home Connection available short of a T1"
"Tech support could be more informed of global network problems/outages etc."
"Good service, if you are up for maintaining a Sattelite connection, you can't go wrong."
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Pegasus sold me to Earthlink this Fall after 2 months of service. Earthlink provided a much improved access policy, more email accounts and something that Pegasus never provided, that is, web space. I am pleased with Earthlink as the tech support has been pretty good and when I needed equipment replaced they were prompt and courteous. Their support website is well designed and easy to navigate. All in all, I'm pleased with their service and would recommend it to anyone considering a sattelite connection.
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Review by gotwww
Posted: 6.9 years ago
member for 7.8 years, 38 visits, last login: 2.4 years ago
Attica,Lapeer,MI
$69 per month (12 month contract)
about 30 days
"always on, very fast download esp. on large files"
"browsing speed slow, upload speed could be better"
"worth every penny when it's your only option"
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I have had the Earthlink 2-Way for one year tomorrow. It has only been down 3-4 times for an hour or so in that time. Never had to re-load any software. It's always on and serves a small business office with 6 workstations.
Downloads are as high as 1800 Kb/s (1200 Kb/s average) and uploads average 80 Kb/s.
We are a web design company and do more upload than down.
Nice thing is that even when the phone and power are out around here I can still get to work (generator).
Watch where you put it so you can clear the ice in the winter (if you have that problem) and watch the bees. I had a horn full this summer that actually blocked my signal until I figured it out. I sealed the openings and no problems since. I hear they like the EMF.
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Review by mrlabonte
Posted: 6.9 years ago
member for 9.2 years, 108 visits, last login: 3.2 years ago
Haverhill,Essex,MA
$69 per month (12 month contract)
about 40 days
"only broadband available at my house, fast downloads"
"pokey web browsing, goes out in a bad snow storm"
"get it only if DSL and cable are not available"
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First a caveat: installation went very poorly a year ago, but according to message boards the service has improved since then.
I have Earthlink 2-way satellite service because there is simply no other broadband option at my house (ok, a neighbor is paying through the nose for microwave service). Unlike older satellite systems, a telephone line is not used, except for once when the software is installed. It is also able to use the phone line as a backup at times when the satellite service goes out, in a snow storm, for example.
The transmitter/receiver boxes are fairly elegant, and they require a USB connection to a PC. In my setup that PC has Internet Connection Sharing running, with a wireless access point connected to the ethernet jack on the PC. The fact that the satellite interface box does not have an ethernet jack is a sore point for me, as it renders me unable to use a dedicated firewall box to protect all my computers (4). To do so I would have to sacrifice the PC that has the satellite interface, leaving it outside the firewall with minimal installed software.
The performance characteristics of satellite service are poor for the thing I do most: web browsing. Since web browsing involves frequent small downloads, the high latency of satellite makes the system feel slower than dialup. On the rare occasions when I use dialup I am pleasantly surpised at it's "speed". I think this is because dialup is slow bit steady. Satellite often seems to do absolutely nothing for 30 seconds at a time. This isn't latency; I think some transmissions are simply not received by the satellite, and have to be retried. Try to download MP3s, software, or do a Windows Update, and the advantage of satellite shines. It flies, especially after midnight when hardly anyone is using it. Download speed can be over 1Mbit/sec, but it can also drop to 120Mbit/sec in busy periods.
I have the standard dynamic IP service, so some things just can't be done. Connecting to my company by VPN works fine, however.
You *can* get a satellite dish that provides both TV and internet service. I would get separate dishes instead, because I have heard that keeping a single dish with 2 offset feed horns pointed correctly at 2 different satellites is a nightmare.
Cable internet will be available here in about a year, and I will switch to that ASAP. I have heard that DirecWay customers are more satisified than the customers of resellers like Earthlink, but I can't verify this myself. Overall, I have no regrets about getting it.
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Review by YankeeDragon2
Posted: 7 years ago
member for 7 years, 0 visits, last login: 7 years ago
Fredericksburg,Spotsylvania,VA
$69 per month (12 month contract)
about 2 days
"Always on, no cable slowdown"
"Can die in a HEAVY rain"
"More reliable than Adelphia cable, fast connection for those w/o cable access"
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I moved 10 minutes down the road from my old home and found myself outside of the local cable companies service area. Although, for $4500 they would be happy to run the cable to my home. Opted for two-way satellite hook up through Pegasus. If you aren't computer savy, you may find yourself with a learning curve. I actually had to help the installer with the software (it was his first installation). Pegasus service was good, but they did have some rough spots. Tech support was intially there 24/7, but dropped to 16/5. The folks were always knowledgable, polite and I rarely had a long wait. Service could be tempermentable during heavy rains or snows, but outages were rarely long. Earthlink bought out Pegasus a few months ago and I have to say things have improved since they took over. Signal strength is higher and outages, even in bad weather, are very infrequent. I also like the fact they give you 20 hours of phone connectivity a month as well. When I went on vacation, I had access without having to pay for a backup ISP. I had contact with tech support during the switch from Pegasus and the folks there were also knowlegable and polite and called me back to make sure everything was okay. I would strongly recommend opting for the two way connection. No sense in relying on a phone line for uploads. Downloading game patches, Windows updates, etc. has always been quick and reliable. I networked two house computers via a crossover cable and we can both play Everquest online at the same time with no problems. All in all, I've been very pleased and I kept $4500 in my pocket.
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 Review by jknowler
Posted: 7.4 years ago
member for 7.7 years, 437 visits, last login: 204 days ago
Argyle,Denton,TX
$70 per month (12 month contract)
"Availability"
"Tech support , Hardware and Software"
"Not for faint of heart or impatient people"
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Review by HighOaks
Posted: 7.5 years ago
member for 8.6 years, 193 visits, last login: 120 days ago
Golden,Jefferson,CO
$70 per month (12 month contract)
"Up 90% of the time."
"Horrible upload speeds"
"Better than dialup"
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When you live in the sticks DirecPC is the your only option for braodband. If you live in the sticks and want broadband service, don't use a "Powered By" use DirecPC directly. I made that mistake now I'm locked down till Aug 02 when I'll finally be able to switch my service to DirecPC instead of Earthlink.
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Review by mswabbie
Posted: 7.5 years ago
member for 7.5 years, 16 visits, last login: 7.3 years ago
Viola,Sedgwick,KS
$70 per month (12 month contract)
about 90 days
"The user group"
"Takes a long time to setup completely"
"Better then dialup"
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I was excited at the prospect. The installer had to come back twice. I finally formatted my drive, went from Windows XP, back to Win98 SE. I finally found the users group, tweaked, and now everything including the email is working.
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Review by snelsonermd
Posted: 7.5 years ago
member for 7.5 years, 12 visits, last login: 4.4 years ago
Fort Smith,Sebastian,AR
$65 per month
"allways on, good response from tech"
"net congestion limits speed, no attempt to make it better, cost for product poor"
"don't get, adveritsed speed not obtained"
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I am sorry to say that this service is vastly lacking. I have had it
now for about 7 months. It is expensive to install at about $600.
Initially speed was good. At times 400-600 but the uploads were always
very slow at about 30-40. Signal strength has stayed at about 60-61.
Now my speeds are in the 100-120 range and at times slower. I have
talked hours at a time and tried every trick in the book to boost speed
but the problem as explained to me is that there is quite a bit of
congestion on the bandwidth that Earthlik has and is slows speeds
accordingly. So I am now stuck with a satellite dish that delivers less
than promised download speeds. I have had little in the way of
Earthlink trying to solve this problem. I would NOT recommend this
product. I am going to try and find another satellite provider and see
if I can change my service.
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