how-to block ads
|
»next review in page
Review by Cruiser98z 
Posted: 121 days ago
member for 121 days, 1 visits, last login: 114 days ago
 Cynthiana,Harrison,KY
 Contract price not specified.
 "A lot faster than dial-up, only option for rural living."
 "Heavy rain/snow blocks the signal, lose connections."
 "If dsl or cable not available, this is the best option."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)
|
We had some trouble in the beginning, had a lot of down time. When we finally got someone out here who knew what they were doing, it improved 90%. The issue was
bad installation, and the cable run was way too long. Keep the cable run short, grounded correctly, and you should get good service. The technicians have a lot of tools available
to check your equipment, so don't let them b.s. you. We even get reception in a medium
rain now because it is set up right. Heavy rain/snow will block it out, but usually not for a very long time. I wasn't too crazy about how they handled phone calls in the beginning, but I've seen some improvement in that area. We get close to the speed we ordered, 1mb. I usually run 850 to 980 in speed test. I did some tweaking with the computer too, and that helped as well. Got rid of junk running in the background I didn't know was there. If we had only gotten a good install from the get go, I would give Wildblue a higher rating. I guess it's not really their fault, they can't watch each installer do his job. It only shows when you want to get on the net.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of WildBlue |
 | »next review in page (previous review)
Review by humboldt_CA
Posted: 150 days ago
member for 2.7 years, 76 visits, last login: 21 days ago
Redcrest,Humboldt,CA
Contract price not specified.
"decent download .8-1.3 (1.5 adv.)"
"terrible upload speeds 70-80 at best,(256 adv!!)"
"reliable,upload a ripoff!"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
much better than starband pro or hughes except for the upload,i purchased 256 and get 70 -80
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of WildBlue |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by dsvanp65
UPDATED: 170 days ago
member for 2.6 years, 28 visits, last login: 149 days ago
Eureka,Woodford,IL
Contract price not specified.
"OK for us country folks"
"too costtly for the speeds as compared with cable and DSL"
"If I had other options would not choose WB or any other satellite provider"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I am a GOLD level subscriber at $70.00/month... Wildblue is turning out to be a joke. Their FAP (Fair Access Policy) is something which a potential subscriber should be aware of. They (WB) only provide a cheesy "gadget" for monitoring usage and it covers the most recent 30 days so the subscriber only sees a cumulative value and not a daily usage. I am currently in a dispute with them over some usage amounts. Thus far they have refused to provide me details of the usage. My wireless phone provider gives me a daily breakdown of calls and minutes used.
All this to say... let the buyer beware... I would definitely NOT be a Wildblue customer if I had any other option. In fact, they have ticked me off so much recently that I am seriously considering going back to dial-up
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of WildBlue |
| »next review in page (previous review)
 Review by Island Jeff
UPDATED: 173 days ago
member for 4.3 years, 1484 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Beaver Island,Charlevoix,MI
Contract price not specified.
"Solid connection, great installers, friendly helpful service"
"latency of wildblue traffic shaping, but still better than previous starband system"
"Doesn't hold a candle to dsl or wisp, but got me by when nothing else was available -great from 2005 until 2006 w/o shaping"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
My Other Reviews ·TDS
|
After another maintenance event, raw speeds for larger files are again as advertised and quite good. Significantly for me, FTP is now working again which is a very very good thing and much appreciated as well. However secure sites are still noticeably slower than they were prior to 11/17 -- secure pages that were taking 10 seconds are now taking 30, which is a large drawback in my view. Also the doubled latency makes ssh very slow now so it's difficult to type much less correct a typo. I would currently recommend a wait-and-see approach: we know the wildblue hardware is capable of a very responsive and nice broadband system, but it seems the loading on Beam 17 is now too great and everything except non-secure http performance has been de-prioritized and there is not enough bandwidth to support activities other than non-secure site browsing and file transfers. I have high hopes that the new satellite will allow them to once again provide the truly wonderful system that wildblue was between September of 2005 and November of 2006.
PING google.com (72.14.207.99) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 72.14.207.99: icmp_seq=0 ttl=237 time=1458 ms
64 bytes from 72.14.207.99: icmp_seq=1 ttl=237 time=1191 ms
64 bytes from 72.14.207.99: icmp_seq=2 ttl=237 time=1740 ms
64 bytes from 72.14.207.99: icmp_seq=3 ttl=237 time=1305 ms
64 bytes from 72.14.207.99: icmp_seq=4 ttl=237 time=1459 ms
64 bytes from 72.14.207.99: icmp_seq=5 ttl=237 time=1685 ms
64 bytes from 72.14.207.99: icmp_seq=6 ttl=237 time=1240 ms
64 bytes from 72.14.207.99: icmp_seq=7 ttl=237 time=1168 ms
64 bytes from 72.14.207.99: icmp_seq=8 ttl=237 time=1324 ms
64 bytes from 72.14.207.99: icmp_seq=9 ttl=237 time=1211 ms
64 bytes from 72.14.207.99: icmp_seq=10 ttl=237 time=1413 ms
64 bytes from 72.14.207.99: icmp_seq=11 ttl=237 time=1188 ms
64 bytes from 72.14.207.99: icmp_seq=12 ttl=237 time=1178 ms
64 bytes from 72.14.207.99: icmp_seq=13 ttl=237 time=1728 ms
64 bytes from 72.14.207.99: icmp_seq=14 ttl=237 time=1279 ms
64 bytes from 72.14.207.99: icmp_seq=15 ttl=237 time=1209 ms
64 bytes from 72.14.207.99: icmp_seq=16 ttl=237 time=1643 ms
64 bytes from 72.14.207.99: icmp_seq=17 ttl=237 time=1187 ms
64 bytes from 72.14.207.99: icmp_seq=18 ttl=237 time=1605 ms
64 bytes from 72.14.207.99: icmp_seq=19 ttl=237 time=1735 ms
64 bytes from 72.14.207.99: icmp_seq=20 ttl=237 time=1300 ms
64 bytes from 72.14.207.99: icmp_seq=21 ttl=237 time=1191 ms
64 bytes from 72.14.207.99: icmp_seq=22 ttl=237 time=1530 ms
64 bytes from 72.14.207.99: icmp_seq=23 ttl=237 time=1168 ms
64 bytes from 72.14.207.99: icmp_seq=24 ttl=237 time=1160 ms
--- google.com ping statistics ---
25 packets transmitted, 25 received, 0% packet loss, time 32029ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 1160.896/1372.305/1740.754/205.001 ms
------
November 17, 2006
On 11/17/2006 a firmware update was pushed to wildblue modems that reduced performance by 50% compared to the previous 13 months of service and introduced a number of glitches even browsing due to frequent stalls and 4,000+ ms pings. Until this problem can be resolved, I would not recommend a new wildblue install in this area.
------
September 2005 until November 17, 20006
Midwest Energy ( »www.wild-blue.coop ) just finished my wildblue install today. After using starband for 3 1/2 years, I'm blown away.
Wildblue is awesome.
The installers were top-notch - very very smooth install and GREAT people to deal with! I can't thank Midwest Energy enough for an amazing job even in my difficult location!
:::.. Upload Stats ..:::
Connection is:: 239 Kbps about 0.2 Mbps (tested with 2992 kB)
Upload Speed is:: 29 kB/s
Tested From:: »testmy.net/ (server2)
Test Time:: Mon Sep 12 2005 16:12:38 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
Bottom Line:: 4X faster than 56K 1MB upload in 35.31 sec
Diagnosis: 90% + Okay : running at 100 % of your hosts average (123.148)
Validation Link:: »testmy.net/stats/id-UFRKYA4XC
:::.. Download Stats ..:::
Connection is:: 1555 Kbps about 1.6 Mbps (tested with 2992 kB)
Download Speed is:: 190 kB/s
Tested From:: »testmy.net/ (server2)
Test Time:: Mon Sep 12 2005 16:10:02 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
Bottom Line:: 28X faster than 56K 1MB download in 5.39 sec
Diagnosis: Looks Great : 2.71 % faster than the average for host (123.148)
Validation Link:: »testmy.net/stats/id-B2F1KTN8Z
I'm very very happy with both upload and download speeds. For $79 a month, it blows my previous staband $69/month system out of the water which was delivering ~450-510 down and 45-55 up plus required a windows computer to run the software.
I expected browsing, downloading, and uploading to be improved, but best of all, two things that I always had trouble on with starband, that I thought were just bad due to the high latency of any satellite connection, ssh and ftp, are working much better with wildblue! Much better! Secure sites are also performing 10x better than they did on starband - I can now use web control panels and online banking sites, shopping checkouts, and ebay without waiting an eternity for pages to load as on my previous satellite system.
Wildblue is very consistent for me right now:
ping -n 10 yahoo.com
Pinging yahoo.com [66.94.234.13] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=648ms TTL=48
Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=727ms TTL=48
Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=730ms TTL=48
Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=726ms TTL=48
Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=723ms TTL=48
Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=723ms TTL=48
Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=641ms TTL=48
Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=642ms TTL=48
Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=654ms TTL=48
Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=643ms TTL=48
Ping statistics for 66.94.234.13:
Packets: Sent = 10, Received = 10, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 641ms, Maximum = 730ms, Average = 685ms
ping -n 10 google.com
Pinging google.com [216.239.37.99] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 216.239.37.99: bytes=32 time=682ms TTL=238
Reply from 216.239.37.99: bytes=32 time=600ms TTL=238
Reply from 216.239.37.99: bytes=32 time=600ms TTL=238
Reply from 216.239.37.99: bytes=32 time=695ms TTL=238
Reply from 216.239.37.99: bytes=32 time=680ms TTL=238
Reply from 216.239.37.99: bytes=32 time=679ms TTL=238
Reply from 216.239.37.99: bytes=32 time=678ms TTL=238
Reply from 216.239.37.99: bytes=32 time=645ms TTL=238
Reply from 216.239.37.99: bytes=32 time=644ms TTL=238
Reply from 216.239.37.99: bytes=32 time=603ms TTL=238
Ping statistics for 216.239.37.99:
Packets: Sent = 10, Received = 10, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 600ms, Maximum = 695ms, Average = 650ms
ping -n 10 boatdesign.net
Pinging boatdesign.net [67.19.227.229] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 67.19.227.229: bytes=32 time=642ms TTL=48
Reply from 67.19.227.229: bytes=32 time=606ms TTL=48
Reply from 67.19.227.229: bytes=32 time=603ms TTL=48
Reply from 67.19.227.229: bytes=32 time=644ms TTL=48
Reply from 67.19.227.229: bytes=32 time=646ms TTL=48
Reply from 67.19.227.229: bytes=32 time=604ms TTL=48
Reply from 67.19.227.229: bytes=32 time=605ms TTL=48
Reply from 67.19.227.229: bytes=32 time=615ms TTL=48
Reply from 67.19.227.229: bytes=32 time=654ms TTL=48
Reply from 67.19.227.229: bytes=32 time=646ms TTL=48
Ping statistics for 67.19.227.229:
Packets: Sent = 10, Received = 10, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 603ms, Maximum = 654ms, Average = 626ms
What's interesting is that even with pings of 626-685 ms, ftp works much much better than it ever did with starband. The time between changing folders and getting the folder list is about 3x faster in wildblue. With starband it would often timeout before getting the remote folder list - with wilblue, no problem - click - it's there faster than the list was retrieved with dialup! (there's more latency obviously but the transfer speed makes up for it, and it works. With starband it would take 5x as long to get a simple folder list, with wildblue on a medium sized folder, it's a bit faster which is great!) Not sure how to explain this improvement, since the data being sent is small and one would think it would come down to latency, but somehow it just is much faster for me with ftp. Likewise, ssh lag seems noticably reduced when simply typing shell commands at the prompt. How? I'm not sure, but I have a wildblue system on one computer here and my old starband 360 system on the other, and there sure is a nice difference in favor of the wildblue system!
Thanks to Wildblue and Midwest Energy for a great system and GREAT service!!
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of WildBlue |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by (hidden by request)
Posted: 173 days ago
(review was emailed from domain yahoo.com)
Goodrich,Polk,TX
Contract price not specified.
"none"
"everything"
"Wild Blue is uncaring"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I am a widow with 2 small children. I got Wild Blue because it was the only high speed in my area even though it is too expensive. I now have to move home to take care of my sick mother and she is not allowed to have a dish. I called Wild Blue with my predicament and they are going to charge me the early termination fees anyway. They don't care if my kids get fed or not.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of WildBlue |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by sliketyrik
Posted: 192 days ago
member for 212 days, 2 visits, last login: 178 days ago
Portageville,New Madrid,MO
Contract price not specified.
"It does pretty much what it is supposed to do."
"Fap policy,weather woe's"
"It works very well,and is fairly reliable."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)
|
It came down to WildBlue,or Hughs.I chose the WlidBlue becuse of the lower initial cost for installation.I started with the "Value"(cheapest)package,but soon upgraded to the"Select" package.Over-all,I have had very good expeirience with customer support,and technical support.The Fap Policy sucks,but that is what you get with satelite.I was pleasantly surprised that they offer a Dial-up service to suplement your downtimes.It costs you extra,but not any more than a different Dial-up provider.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of WildBlue |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by busboy789
UPDATED: 192 days ago
member for 7 years, 3469 visits, last login: a few hours ago
undisclosed location
Contract price not specified.
"better than dialup"
"latency, weather outages, bandwidth cap, cost"
"if it is all you can get, it is all you can get"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
WildBlue is satellite internet. Latency isn't fun, neither are weather outages, and of course there is the bandwidth cap.
As an only option other than dialup, satellite internet is better.
WildBlue performs as advertised. Overall, I am pleased with the product.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of WildBlue |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by Icemaker
Posted: 192 days ago
member for 208 days, 1 visits, last login: 192 days ago
Fresno,Coshocton,OH
Contract price not specified.
"ease of use, fast installation"
"none really"
"does what it was advertized to do."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
Where I live there is only dial-up. On a good day I got 2-4 kbs.
I ordered the basic package @ $ 60 per/month. 512 advertized but really gets a real world download that bounces between 75-to45 kbs. That blows dial-up out of the water.
The order & install process was timely and the installer was far and away better and neater than past sat installers were.
Wild Blue equipment works with out a problem. Have lost the sat signal a fwe times but seems to get better with age...yeah I know that doesn't make much sense.
If I could get solid dial-up I might not do this again but I feel I get what I am paying for.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of WildBlue |
| »next review in page (previous review)
 Review by hdman
UPDATED: 196 days ago
member for 6 years, 2099 visits, last login: a few hours ago
New London,Waupaca,WI
Contract price not specified.
"The electrical co-op, the installer, WB and NRTC support on site"
"1st installation for local coop, used wrong cable, delayed 2 weeks"
"Strong, fast signal, great local support from coop, tad expensive compared to DSL"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings well above consensus)
|
I volunteered to be the first person to have WildBlue from my local co-op out of Iola, Wisconsin. They kept me in the loop with release, and equipment delays during the months that followed my agreement. Once the install began, we could not provision the modem. The co-op is Mid-Wisconsin DBS and the installer was from Alcom out of Manawa. The installer and I both figured the modem was bad. This was a Monday. On Saturday, he returned with 2 modems and spare "tria" or feedhorn. We had no luck, and a terrible experience with the people manning the phones at WildBlue, so he left VOWING to return with answers. Boy, he was not kidding. A week later on a Monday, 2 weeks after he started, he returned with an Engineer from WildBlue and one from the NRTC. In less than an hour, they learned that the installer had used the wrong cable, and that the dish was on too weak of a pole. They had the new cable installed, the modem provisioned, and were on their way within that hour. The brain power at my home was staggering when you consider I was a single joe schmoe customer with a $299 install and a $49.99 package. There will be people who will say "WildBlue will die if they have that big of an expense on too many houses...", but these are learning pains. I agreed to it when I signed up for it and the installer NEVER gave up. The experience with WB, NRTC, the co-op, and the installer were excellent. I dinged this review a little on tech support only because of the problem we had with WB on the phone on a Saturday. Other than that MINOR issue, it was AWESOME.
I also dinged the "value" part of this review because it is still $49 per month for 512/128, or about 3 times more than DSL....but this is all I can get, so the value is higher for me. For others, it would be lower.
UPDATE: Well, here we are one year later (almost). Being one of the first users of WB was a huge risk, but looking back it was the best risk I ever took with regards to isp's. I have been blessed with great service, great speed, few small issues, but nothing major and certainly less headaches than any other isp I ever had including dial up. I would suggest WildBlue to ANYBODY who asked, but I would always add the caveat that good performance is directly related to a good installation from a good installer. The service rocks, and the NRTC service line rocks as well. Great job WildBlue!!!! - HDMan
UPDATE: About 18 months ago, EVDO became available through Alltel. Now that Verizon bought them, I sure wish I had kept WildBlue. I truly had NO issues with WB, but I would be nervous to go back to them based on the reviews lately. The ONLY way I would do it is through my local NRTC Co-op.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of WildBlue |
| »next page (previous review)
Review by .
Posted: 215 days ago
(review was emailed in)
undisclosed location
Contract price not specified.
"Available in rural areas when little else is"
"Service has gotten really slow lately; plus bait and switch tactic used on us when trying to sign up mother-in-law"
"Can no longer recommend WildBlue"
| |
We switched several years ago from dial-up to WildBlue because no other fast service was available in our rural area. Except for the first "modem" frying itself and having to be replaced (at no cost), we have had good service. Until recently. I am writing this while waiting for a website to come in, and waiting and waiting. It is now no faster than the dial-up was, though may be faster if you want to do your internet work at 3 in the morning. We bought the equipment and feel stuck with it but don't recommend it to others.
All that said, it gets worse. Recently our area lost the last dial-up server so we had to search for a provider for my mother-in-law who lives across the farmyard. We checked WildBlue and it looked like they had the best deal for her - she doesn't need fast service. After our initial website contact and entering our exact location, we began to receive email offers from WildBlue and one looked good - $39.95 service "now available in your area". We checked the WildBlue website and it showed the same offer for our location so we followed up by phone (she couldn't do it on the web, or course, because she had no service). The representative who we could barely understand - in India? - went step by step through the application process which took at least an hour. Then at the very end the representative left the line and came back saying that the $39.95 service was not available at our location and the cost would be $54.95, plus all the other costs they tack on that they don't mention on their website. My mother-in-law could not afford that on her fixed income.
I call that bait and switch. Beware of WildBlue!
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of WildBlue |
|
|
WildBlue
(17)
(30)
(33)
·
·