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Review by eddie446 See Profile

  • Location: Fort Worth, Tarrant, TX, USA
  • Cost: $70 per month
Price is reasonable
After 5 yr service with Dot11...Skybeam broke equipement and couldn't fix
Poor customer service and equipment they don't understand
Install process:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Had Dot11 service for 5 yrs and it worked great with excellent customer service when needed. Skybeam bought the company and I began having technical problems. They sent out a tech twice who replaced the equipment twice. Skybeam could never get it working. I cancelled in Oct and am still getting billed for service in Dec. They say it is because they haven't retrieved the equipment yet. There problem, not mine. These folks do not have any customer service skills at all. No way to resolve problems. Would not recommend them. Go with ATT Uverse or even a laptop card works better. My opinion is they are hustlers and will fraudulently bill you and hope that you pay them to go away.

member for 13.3 years, 1 visits, last login: 13.3 years ago
updated 13.3 years ago

Peanutsdad
join:2007-01-04
Ferris, TX

Peanutsdad

Member

Skybeam just can't get it up

And no amount of viagra will help.
They bought out Aircanopy after aircanopy finally got their act together, and in less than six months managed to turn the service back to crap.
I'm writing this review while tethered via my cellphone because skybeam service has been out for the last 26 hours. In fact, I seem to spend more time tethered than on their wifi.

I just got off the phone with their "after hours tech support", which happens to be in Utah,, oh yeah, and he cant access the tower in Ferris Texas.
Really. THATS tech support???

Review by rtrip3 See Profile

  • Location: Alvarado, Johnson, TX, USA
  • Cost: $62 per month
no good points
lack of service, connection reliability, server cojestion with dropted site connections, constant e-mail outages, no call backs
Pre Sales Information:
Install process:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

If you like to pay for a service to internet provider that offers unreliability and little repairs to service through their support team , this is the service for you. Their equipment is over loaded (the servers) causing lost connections, lagged communication when communicating, e-mail outages, and if any bugs are flying the connection will just go away. On the chance that their is a cloud in the sky some where, you do not need to even try to be on the internet, their will be a hit and miss situation of any connection. I fully recommend this service provider for those who want to wast time and money on something in life, but offer this advice for a internet provider find someone else. My package is for a very high rate of speed and unlimited upload and down load of data, which I suppose they are living up to their agreement if you are able to connect and stay on line through their service, at $62 a month not a bad price, what do you think?

member for 13.5 years, driveby review (so far)
lodged 13.5 years ago


Ugliness
@aircanopy.net

Ugliness

Anon

Unhappy camper

Have to say, in all honesty, this has to be the worst ISP I've ever used. I cannot strongly enough state to use/consider another service provider if possible. The list of complaints is too long and too troublesome to post.

As far as i can tell, Aircanopy selling out only made Phil (the original owner) some money. Not much has changed. Poor quality. Poor Customer Service. Poor Speeds. The only thing that does work is their automated billing. The bill seems to arrive on time. Hmmmm....

I'm currently on hold for 47mins to find out what non-truth reason for the whopping 5k speed I've been enjoying for the last several days. What shall it be this time? Packet Storm? No...another customer has a virus. Wait...we had a storm sometime last week. (I've been told all 3...) I KNOW...i have malware on my system. Well, until i inform rep that I have a Mac. Then the inevitable "Hold please while I investigate." At which time they come back on and randomly toss out one of the previous 3 typical answers.

This is the absolute worst ISPs of all time. My next stop is the BBB site to file a complaint for misrepresentation. This company just plain, old fashioned sucks. Please AT&T, Comcast...hear our pleas. Bring service to the wanting.

(Nice...have been on hold for so long I don't even get the pleasant "Please be patient. Your call will be answered shortly.". Just dead air then a disconnect. Real professional folks.)
Ugliness

Ugliness

Anon

Re: Unhappy camper

Still no information provided, no call back, no answer to my email inquiries regarding the issue. Not one bit of the promised follow-up. Normally I'm an understanding person as I've been working in the I.T. support field for a couple decades. Simple fact - stuff happens and usually in an ugly way. I completely understand that. However, six days without a follow-up contact as promised, no resolution, no time estimate for resolution, just shows that I'm foolish to have believed anything stated, whether verbal or written.

After another two days of slow-death (waiting on hold for 2hrs32mins between 3 calls - first call last night I was dropped again after waiting 43mins), I get "I'm sorry but I'll update your ticket." That's it. Nothing of substance.

Another $50 wasted this month.

Heed my advice folks. Stay away from this ISP. For those that have stable access or good support, I wish you would have played the lottery. You've burned good luck and fortune on a service that will at some point fail you in a long, bad way.
Ugliness

Ugliness

Anon

Re: Unhappy camper

And now we're into day 7 of no contact, no follow up, no resolution.

Thankfully the internet deities have heard my plea. There is another ISP provider available in my area.

I am giddy with anticipation in contacting Skybeam and canceling my account. I'm sure they'll say the typical "I'm sorry we're losing your business blah, blah, blah". What they're really sorry about is losing $50/month for poor quality service knowing a majority of their customers having no other choice for other providers.
Ugliness

Ugliness

Anon

Re: Unhappy camper

Day 10...

Now they're sending out a tech. Nice. Do I waste my breath by telling them again that before 11a CST the speed is actually pretty decent? After that, its deplorable...a joke. I've already told the many techs that the speeds within the domains are actually decent. (sigh) I've had better conversations with my blind, deaf dog than talking to this organization.

How bad is the speed? Hotmail times out. Can't download a 22k Word file from Yahoo. Google searches? Ha! Time enough to go bio, make a grilled cheese or smoke a cigarette.

Oh, bonus... On the bill Skybeam sends out, they proudly display the BBB seal of approval. Unfortunately, they just don't specify what state. I'm sure in bum-tuck Wyoming, they're the greatest thing since running water and septic tanks. (sorry...no offense to WY peeps but this company is only in 4 cities).

Co user
@skybeam.com

Co user

Anon

Skybeam.net

I have t say I agree completely! Worst ISP ever, they bought our local provider Mesa Networks in Colorado. Mesa was very good at customer service!

Review by MichaelColey See Profile

  • Location: Mansfield, Tarrant, TX, USA
  • Cost: $52 per month
They respond to BBB reports
Incredibly unreliable, inept tech support, long hold times
I really wish I had another option. Skybeam is useless!
Pre Sales Information:
Install process:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I'm a former Dot11 customer in Hidden Lakes, before Skybeam bought them. I was always unimpressed with Dot11's network and support. Now I wish I could have Dot11 back.

Not long after the acquisition, the connection went down completely. A few days later, they got the rest of the neighborhood up. Mine didn't come back up. They scheduled a tech to come out. He switched out the equipment. I was back up, but with speeds that made dialup look good. This went on for WEEKS. Finally, I filed a complaint with the BBB. After FOUR WEEKS of being essentially down, they got it fixed.

A few weeks ago, it got bad again. I've been calling regularly, trying to get someone to look into it. It never gets resolved. Guess it's about time to file another BBB report.

Technical support is awful. I've been told that the problem is with my computer, with my router, with my antenna, with the sites I'm trying to access (you mean Google, Yahoo and Skybeam, I asked?), the weather, etc. Anything but them. I've been told that managers would call me back. They don't. I've had them tell me numerous times that I'm the only one having problems (that's what you've told all my neighbors, I replied).

I've now been on hold for OVER TWO HOURS waiting for a tech. My 7-year old son even commented earlier today about how annoying their hold music is. (Yes, we've all had to listen to it enough that it's annoying.)

I really wish there were other options here. We're (way) too far from the central office for DSL. There's no cable. We're right on the border between 3G and EDGE for the various cellular companies. A T1 is expensive. Satellite is too flaky, has high latency, is weather-dependent and isn't cheap. I don't know of any other wireless broadband companies. The T1 gets more and more tempting.

member for 13.5 years, 2 visits, last login: 13.5 years ago
lodged 13.5 years ago

kernelpanic9
join:2010-07-06
Crowley, TX

kernelpanic9

Member

support is definitely lacking

last time I was down, I emailed them through my phone - they called 3 days later, lol
MichaelColey
join:2010-09-21
Mansfield, TX

MichaelColey

Member

Now they think it's the tower (but it isn't)

They're now telling me that they need to move me to another tower to fix the problem. They tower I'm connecting to is less than half a mile away, and I get NO packet loss between me and the tower. (It's the next hop where I start losing packets.)

Every person I've talked to in the neighborhood says that they've been having the same problems I've had. They're telling ALL of us that we're the only one.
rwwhite
join:2010-10-13
Mansfield, TX

rwwhite

Member

Re: Now they think it's the tower (but it isn't)

Micheal I live in High Ridge Court Like you and have similar experiences. Over the last week here is my experience...
I tried to access the system on Friday Oct 8th I couldn’t. Called the support number and the message said they were having extended hold times due to issues with the Hidden Lakes Tower and someone was in route to fix it.

On Sunday Oct 10th I once again was unable to access the system. I called the support number again and once again the message said they were having extended hold times due to issues with the Hidden Lakes Tower and someone was in route to fix it.

On Tuesday Oct 12th I couldn’t access the system. I called the support number and had to wait 1 hour except this time the message during this time said they were having issues with the Midlothian Tower. About the time I got the tech the system began to work. I asked what is going on and was told that on Monday they had issues with the Hidden Lakes Tower and now they had a work order for someone to come out and fix it on Wed.

All of this has occurred after they switched me to canopy equipment that was suppsoed to fix all my woes and actually didn't fix anything.

I have seen on this forum that the GM of SkyBeam has commented about caring for customer service well let me tell all I was told a manager would call me today Wed Oct 13th to discuss this. It is now 8:50 at night and I never got a call. This is the second time a manager was supposed to call with no action It seems to me that they don’t value their customer base and have no intention of satisfying them with adequate service. I would take Dot11 any day compared to the unreliable and unrepsonsive service I get now.
kernelpanic9
join:2010-07-06
Crowley, TX

kernelpanic9

Member

Re: Now they think it's the tower (but it isn't)

said by rwwhite:

I would take Dot11 any day compared to the unreliable and unresponsive service I get now.
I have to agree with that - Dot11 had very knowledgeable people - granted they weren't there 24/7, but once you got a hold of them, they took care of the issue pronto.

Review by FaustusDFW See Profile

  • Location: Ferris, Ellis, TX, USA
  • Cost: $59 per month
Its not dialup, good latency.
Badly Overloaded
Its better then dailup but very frustrating .
Pre Sales Information:
Install process:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

In my area it used to be Air Canopy, back then sometimes things would get a bit slow during peak usage times but eventually it would be fixed. For a small town it was heaven.

Then they became Skybeam.

For over a year now I'm lucky to get 0.5mb during peak access times.

I've had to resort to setting up downloads to go in the middle of the night when the service actually runs at advertised speeds.

They know it, they just don't care.

member for 14.1 years, 3 visits, last login: 13.5 years ago
lodged 13.5 years ago


Review by TheWookie See Profile

  • Location: Burleson, Johnson, TX, USA
  • Cost: $42 per month
None
You name it, it's broke
Go somewhere else
Pre Sales Information:
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Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Alright, i'm about to blaspheme, Hughes was better than this.

I'd been with dot11 for three years before the buy out. Our installer was Dot11's only technician and a family friend. Many of the old Dot11 customers may remember him, little blue hatchback he putted around in.

At church recently i was talking to him about the degradation in service since the buy out and rattled off a laundry list of things that had changed immediately after the buy out that really confused the world out of him and had caused him equal issue in the months following Skybeam's take over.

Fun facts he imparted on me:

Before the buy out, Dot11 was buying their bandwidth from a company called JAB wireless, Skybeam owns Jab and therefore is using the same backhaul and should have the same or bandwidth than dot11 did.

Skybeam terminated all existing employees of Dot11 who were knowligent of the network and insisted on using there own prexisting employees.

He's able to monitor his connection due to the fact that he has access to his radio unit and even when his speeds dip to the point that basic internet browsing is possible, his actual signal is great. He said he had mounted his radio in an oak tree that has perfect LOS and that he's with a mile of the tower.

Skybeam bought out all the wisps except some random ones he named that i dont remeber in the south fort worth area, for sake of monopolizing the area and removing competition for disgruntled to turn to.

Edited for spelling and after verifying specifics with him.

member for 13.5 years, driveby review (so far)
updated 13.5 years ago

kernelpanic9
join:2010-07-06
Crowley, TX

kernelpanic9

Member

care to try that again?

quote:
Edited for spelling ...

yeah, right - try again please. Not to mention that your "facts" are flawed in so many ways.

The Wookie
@aircanopy.net

The Wookie

Anon

Re: care to try that again?

Such as? I know i was getting a consistent 2MB in both directions on speedtest.net before the buy out. Now i'm lucky to get a connection at all. Speedtests come up with failures everytime, my jitter test, when it finishes, rates the quality at an F. The few times tech support has called me back they say the problem MUST be in my computers since my signal is in "the mid 50's," which i'm assured is very good... There's no way in hell 4 computers and an ipod touch are just simultaneously busted, and i've tried every unit i can through the direct hardline and with 2 different routers.

So by all means mister nay sayer, tell me where the problem is if not the new provider!

Review by kernelpanic9 See Profile

  • Location: Crowley, Tarrant, TX, USA
  • Cost: $42 per month
works great - fast and reliable
service tech was pretty useless
problem solved DIY
Pre Sales Information:
Install process:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

We were with Dot11Networks which was ok, but Dot11 sold out to Skybeam. Our initial thoughts were this was a good thing - Dot11 support hours were 8 am to 5pm M-F - Skybeam has people there 24/7 and as early as 7 am.

Been with Skybeam now about a month and been down 3 different times for a combined total of about 24 hours. Some of that was changeover woes to be expected - one 4 hour down period was weather (fog) related. Tech support guy said fog should not do that and scheduled us for a service call.

Service tech arrived on time but was pretty useless in solving any issues. Dot11 used the Mikrotik stuff (update: it's actually a Tranzeo CPQ-15) - our line of sight is marginal at best (trees), but it's been working for about 5 years.

The tech was moaning about power readings of 85-90 and it should be under 70. When Dot11 did the initial install, I remember the level was 65-68, and in the years since then I recall Dot11 saying it was high (80-85) on a few occasions.

Tech installed a Ubiquity radio - claimed it should see through the trees but tempered that with "but I've never seen it work" - and it didn't. He ended up leaving the Tranzeo radio up.

He gave me some sob story about how Skybeam has 22 towers that were hit by lightning (including the one we connect to) and only 6 tower techs then proceeded to tell me that he wouldn't blame me for leaving - that he disconnected 6 people yesterday and one this morning. He basically seemed disgruntled to me.

Originally the equipment location was chosen by Dot11. Our radio is on a roof mounted tripod with a 10 foot pole. Last night I did a site survey - something the tech never attempted. If the radio were mounted on a ground mounted pole about 35 yards west of where it currently is - on a pole that was 10 - maybe 20 feet tall - the top of the water tower is in full unobstructed view.

My choices now are to try again to make this work with Skybeam or find another ISP. Some of the stories I read here about Skybeam are a bit scary.

---------------------------------------------

Update: I wrote to support and asked that my letter be forwarded to a manager - no response at all.

---------------------------------------------

Update: I finally moved the radio myself - had to plant a pole and then dug about 80' of ditch - $10-15 worth of conduit, elbows and fittings and 90' or so of cat5e cable off my 1000' spool that I've had for several years.

Now it works fine - previously, I was getting 1-3 of 5 signal LEDs, now have 4 consistently. New mounting does not allow any wind sway (old one was terrible - a tripod roof mount with 10' of pole and no guy wires)

I shouldn't have to do it myself - but I tired of the lack of support. I doubt any company would pay for a pole and to dig the ditch, etc, so I did it myself - we already had the pole, so it was less than $25 out of pocket to move the radio.

The one other thing I noticed in all this - my original setup was never grounded - not even improperly, so I am adding that protection. Lightning seems to like our place - lost 1 tree last year and half of one the year before.

---------------------------------------------------------------
Update: Skybeam has contacted me and things are working out well. At this point, I would have to say that I will recommend Skybeam to others!!

The key to this whole thing would have been the service tech "thinking outside the box" so to speak. He tried all kinds of things - new radio, different brand of radio, tried to "see" a different tower location - nothing worked. In the end, all it took was changing the antenna location - something he never considered.

member for 13.7 years, 109 visits, last login: 11.3 years ago
updated 13.6 years ago

kernelpanic9
join:2010-07-06
Crowley, TX

kernelpanic9

Member

site survey

I just rechecked the site - I can stand on two 8"x8"x16" blocks stacked (16" total) and see the tower. Add that to my 6'+ for a total between 7-8 feet, so a 10 foot pole would work perfectly.
kernelpanic9

kernelpanic9

Member

solved

Lost connectivity during rain today. After the rain, I went up and added 7' to the pole the radio is on and the speeds are much better than they ever where.

SkybeamTX
Premium Member
join:2003-09-17
Weatherford, TX

SkybeamTX

Premium Member

Skybeam - GM - We do care and do want to help

I would like to check some of the details on this trouble call. We do value Dot11 customers. We do value our Skybeam customers. Skybeam's intent is to acquire a wireless provider and improve their speed and service. That process can take a little while. Our goal is to integrate all of the acquisitions and then work toward a common, better performing, network.

I would really appreciate feedback and additional details.

Please contact me by dslreports email or instant message.
or
use tx-support@skybeam.com...make sure to note that they forward to the GM.

Thank you,
Skybeam Texas GM
kernelpanic9
join:2010-07-06
Crowley, TX

1 edit

kernelpanic9

Member

Re: Skybeam - GM - We do care and do want to help

Thanks - I solved our problem - was clearly a LOS issue.

As mentioned, I did a site survey and found a place that has clear LOS. I planted a small telephone pole, dug a ditch, laid some conduit and ran 90' of cat5e out to the new pole, then got up on the roof and moved the radio down to the new pole.

Works fine now - haven't really had a chance to aim/tune it in yet but I have 4 out of 5 signal strength LEDs and better speeds.

regards,
kp

p.s. I did send pretty much the same letter to the email address you provided and asked that it be reviewed by a manager - that was before you answered here - I never got a reply - I've still not had a reply to that email. That's why I decided to just deal with it myself.

Maybe you need to hire me to do service calls, lol

SkybeamTX
Premium Member
join:2003-09-17
Weatherford, TX

SkybeamTX

Premium Member

Re: Skybeam - GM - We do care and do want to help

I did get your message. Thank you for the response. Was there any other action that we need to take in order to improve your service? I am sorry that the technician was unable to solve your issue. We are looking into procedures in order to improve the next customer's experience. Your post will help us with that process.

kernelpanic9
join:2010-07-06
Crowley, TX

kernelpanic9

Member

Re: Skybeam - GM - We do care and do want to help

I'd say the key is considering all possible solutions which the service tech did for the most part. Even moving the antenna location didn't occur to me until later that day. We were all working under the assumption that Bob at Dot11 had picked the best location when he did the initial install.

putout
@pacbell.net

putout

Anon

Dear GM.

I am in the Hidden Lakes Sub-Division in Mansfield and a former Dot11 client. Since you took over our internet service has been out for two weeks. Your service tech came out to replace the radio that signals to a box in clear view. Since your tech did the change our Internet link has been as slow as it can be to the point it ultimately disconnects. A very, very frustrating process when you are trying to work! so, make that 3 weeks without Internet. PLEASE, we need a solid fix and not just a patch up job to the lack of bandwidth you are experiencing. I want to stress how frustrating it has been since Skybeam took over!!!

SkybeamTX
Premium Member
join:2003-09-17
Weatherford, TX

SkybeamTX

Premium Member

Re: Dear GM.

Please send to tx-support@skybeam.com and request forward to the GM. I will review and discuss with the Inf Manager.

Thanks you for posting.

Review by buelatfb See Profile

  • Location: Fort Lupton, Weld, CO, USA
  • Cost: $44 per month
typically faster than satellite or dialup
80% of the time, slower than advertised. oversubscribed Terrible tech support
Get, if this is all there is in your area. Don't expect VOIP or Video to work well.
Pre Sales Information:
Install process:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

They have had tower issues in the Brighton area for over 1 1/2 years and nothing seems to be being done about it. Speeds are getting slower and less reliable every month. Speeds are dropping in the triple digits quite often lately.

Don't expect to get more than 2 meg service out of the Brighton/Hudson area, eventhough the radio might be set for the 7 meg service.....

member for 14.7 years, driveby review (so far)
updated 14.7 years ago


Jack Mueller
@qwest.net

Jack Mueller

Anon

Skybeam Sucks

I was transferred from GWE.net to Skybeam.

What is this? No tech support, now the webmail is down,
I get a bogus notice that makes no sense.

This is clearly a financial instrument of funded takeovers
of smaller ISP's w/out the mission or infrastructure to
support customers.

I'm going elsewhere, hope the investors lose
their cynical bundle.

Jack Mueller
jackmueller@gwe.net

sheriinlongmont
@skybeam.com

sheriinlongmont

Anon

Skybeam is totally the worst

When Mesa had it everything was great. Since Skybeam took over I have daily outages, long hold times and over the past two weeks I've stopped being able to go to a lot of websites, msn.com as one of them. I am a home based business so this is a huge problem for me. Unfortunately, I have no options but wireless. I never, never thought I would say this, but Skybeam is worst than Qwest in every way shape or form. If you have other options, I HIGHLY recommend going with someone else. You will not be happy with Skybeam.

Online4Life
@skybeam.com

Online4Life

Anon

Skybeam - Great Price

We have our phone service and internet connection with Skybeam and love it. The man who installed our service was wonderful and when we called technical support to setup our email they were very nice and professional. I've told my neighbors about the service and they enjoy it as well. We dont miss spending the extra high phone bills!
Bahnzo
join:2002-08-09
Loveland, CO

Bahnzo

Member

Re: Skybeam - Great Price

The above reply is either someone who has no idea what internet service should be like, or an employee of Skybeam.

11pm on a Saturday, and here's what Skybeam's service looks like:

»www.speedtest.net/result ··· 6523.png

Computing statistics for 100 seconds...
Source to Here This Node/Link
Hop RTT Lost/Sent = Pct Lost/Sent = Pct
1 2ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 10.0.1.1
2 58ms 21/ 100 = 21% 2/ 100 = 2% 10.9.64.2
3 63ms 22/ 100 = 22% 3/ 100 = 3% 1-253-73-208.skybeam.com [208.73.253.1]
4 57ms 19/ 100 = 19% 0/ 100 = 0% dvr-edge-11.inet.qwest.net [205.171.52.89]

Trace complete.

21% lost packets from their first hop, incredibly slow speeds....and this is what it's like during non-prime time hours, you can imagine how it is during "busy times".

For months now I've been told by Skybeam they are "Waiting on equipment" to fix the issue out here, but it's become obvious this is not true. I can only hope that anyone considering them for net service has other options and is smart enough to use them because, hands-down, Skybeam is the worst ISP I've ever had, and I've seen plenty...from Cox cable to PacBell to Comcast to Qwest. Skybeam makes them look like they invented the internet....






Review by mattmcl See Profile

  • Location: Erie, Boulder, CO, USA
  • Cost: $44 per month
Umm... upload speeds are kinda fast...
Terrible download speeds, horrible latency
Used to be great as Mesanetworks, now it barely beats dial up
Pre Sales Information:
Install process:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I'm paying for 1.5 mbps, and only get half that. Skybeam support told me my tower can't support anything faster, yet I was pulling 10mbps when Mesanetworks ran the show. I've been through a couple "network upgrades" from Skybeam and each time it gets worse. If you have any other option, go for it. For what they're charging and delivering, I could get two phone lines and a modem, pay less and have faster speeds.

member for 22.4 years, 24 visits, last login: 14 years ago
lodged 14.8 years ago


sbsuxskybeamcom
@comcast.net

sbsuxskybeamcom

Anon

No way Jose

stay away for sure - dead beat speeds and non-existent technical support. When you do reach someone they are mostly brain dead and only offer a canned, auto-bot response. This is a ship that went down a long time ago. find a life boat and bail. Too bad because Mesa Networks was a decent service with real support. Well at least it was about 3 years ago, oh well.

Next.

Review by Bahnzo See Profile

  • Location: Loveland, Larimer, CO, USA
  • Cost: $50 per month
None that I can think of
Unreliable, slow speeds, OVERSOLD NETWORK, poor tech support
If you have another option, don't choose Skybeam
Pre Sales Information:
Install process:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I've had skybeam since it was LP Broadband. For months now, my node has become oversold, and practically unusable, especially in the evening hours. Extremely slow speeds, high packet loss, and outright service loss is now to be expected.

And tech support from the company isn't much better. For months I called and emailed only to be told "Your connection looks fine". When I sent proof (speedtest.net and WinXP "pathping" screenshots) showing the slow speeds and dropped packets, I was ignored. It was only this week that someone in their "Tier 3" support took notice and conceeded that a "network upgrade" was needed to solve the problems. Taking the months of previous "support" into account, I have to assume that upgrade will not be soon in coming.

If I had any other option besides Skybeam for broadband service, I would've switched providers long ago. Skybeam seems to be a model for how NOT to run an ISP.

member for 21.6 years, 119 visits, last login: 8.5 years ago
lodged 14.9 years ago


Review by Seric See Profile

  • Location: Lyons, Boulder, CO, USA
  • Cost: $65 per month
Was first broadband to boonies
Too many drops and outages, latency too erratic
Too unreliable for even the most modest of internet users
Pre Sales Information:
Install process:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

I was with this service since it was Greenspeed. Was only a two man operation and had some bugs now and then but overall was decent. Then Mesa Networks took over but service quality remained splotchy and erratic, however, Mesa was very cooperative and motivated to fix issues. It would run well for a few weeks then fall apart until tech support worked with me to get it working well again. This pattern of breaking and fixing remain for the entire Mesa time.

Now Skybeam handles it and the system still has the usual reliability problems, and also seems to be oversold now. What makes Skybeam bad is they don't really seem to care much about the quality of the service and won't even look into issues without a lot of customer persistence. It became a big ordeal and chore to keep going through a week of arguing and convincing every time the network inevitably developed problems. So finally I just didn't have the will or energy anymore to keep going through it all so I switched to Qwest DSL (which became available in the area during Mesa years). The DSL is slower than the best days of Skybeam, but the reliability can't be beat (in the last year had a total of 8 hours downtime and maybe 24 hours of slow speeds). I also don't have to call when there are outages; Qwest always seems to know about it right away and gets quickly resolved. I used to only care about speed but after these experiences I've realized reliability counts for much more.

member for 14.9 years, 2 visits, last login: 14.9 years ago
updated 14.9 years ago


gharvey
@skybeam.com

gharvey

Anon

garbage company

5 years of living hell because they were the only game in town. Every negative thing that anyone has said is true for me. Started out as LP Broadband. Used the service for my business in town and out at my house. Had to stop using the service for my business because of the down time. Found the best way to force them to fix things is to go to their office and let it rip.

considering
@wildblue.net

considering

Anon

Re: garbage company

Ok, neighbor is getting this service and I am considering it. I'm with Wildblue as was my neighbor. Tired of the costs and outages due to weather, I'm obviously looking for something else.

Not much available around here, no DSL, No cable, a very bad at&t dialup which I lived with for 6 years.

Is this really such a horrible choice for services?
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

Re: garbage company

It will *probably* be better than WildBlue, but sounds like you can't count on it. I've heard good and bad things about Skybeam myself...
buelatfb
join:2009-07-09
Fort Lupton, CO

buelatfb to gharvey

Member

to gharvey
Their service is progressively getting worse the past year. What do you expect? They started out with 6000 customers, and couldn't handle it. Now they have worked up to 15,000+ customers. They are completely overwhelmed. Poor management throughout the company also.

DOOMED for failure....

Walking Away
@urbanbroadband.net

Walking Away

Anon

Good by, good riddance...

I signed up originally when the company was called Suburban Broadband. Service was great and the people were extremely helpful and responsive. The company underwent a few names changes over the last few years but the service remained fine.

Then Skybeam took over.

Over the last several months, internet speed has been slowing to a crawl. Simple websites now require multiple attempts before they will appear on screen. Upload times via FTP are ridiculously slow (200Mb file took 4 hours to upload). Download speeds are a joke. And this is with a DSL line!!!

I contacted tech support and got ZERO workable help. Not a clue was to be had by the two people I spoke with. I was told to expect a follow-up call to determine a solution... never happened.

Result: I've contacted QWEST and my service is being transferred this week. Am I happy about that? Not really. But I need reliable internet service and Skybeam is unable to deliver. And I don't have time to deal with tech support that is non-responsive to customer issues. Loyalty to a company stops when the company expects me to continue paying a monthly fee yet doesn't see fit to deliver on its promised service.

Avoid Skybeam if you need fast, reliable internet service.

urbanwarrior
@comcast.net

urbanwarrior

Anon

Re: Good by, good riddance...

Im not here to defend Skybeam as I was fired by Wispertel last summer, but just to clarify a few points and to be of help. Suburban Broadband was purchased a couple years back by JAB Wireless, mostly for its VOIP Structure. Suburban broadband has a couple hundred subscibers mostly on 802.11 wireless networks. A few folks like you were on DSL which was purchased and resold from Qwest. The DSL assests were worthless and no money was made on these customers unless they had VOIP as well. Suburban was a small responsive local company. JAB purchased quite a few wireless companies and merged them into other companies. Wispertel got Suburban and stopped reselling DSL.
Jab eventually purchased Mesa and LP and merged everything into Skybeam last winter.
Bottom line: Point to point fixed wireless is faster cheaper and more reliable if you are in a remote area and Wildblue is your only choice. There is no contract so you have not much to lose. The company keeps evolving and goes through growing pains. Eventually they work things out with customers they want to keep.