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Review by BigBlue18 See Profile

  • Location: Christiansted, Saint Croix, VI, USA
  • Cost: $100 per month (24 month contract)
  • Install: about 5 days
Can't Think Of Anything
Horrible Speeds If The Internet Works At All
YOU DON'T GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR
Pre Sales Information:
Install process:
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Installation took an extra week because Installer needed a second person with him.
So other people who hadn't even paid for the services yet got their internet connections running while I had already paid BBVI, and I had to wait for yet another week for two people from the company to show up at my house together to do a 10 minute job.

I have been paying $100 a month to Broadband VI for over a year now, and I have internet issues AT LEAST once a week. Usually more.

I am paying $100 every month for 5 down and 2 up (already a rip off in and of itself) and if I get internet at all, it barely even gets halfway to what I am paying for.

So far, I have given this company FIFTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS for basically NOTHING.

My constant emails requesting that they fix my internet seem to do nothing. I say this because they will fix my internet, then within a few days it is horrible again. Are they just counting on me not noticing? Or do they just genuinely not care about ripping off their customers? It's really hard to tell.

If you work online and your livelihood and survival is dependant upon simply having an internet connection, DO NOT sign a contract with BroadBand VI. They are a total rip off. They charge too much to begin with, and DON'T give you what you pay for.

They do, however, process your payments in a very timely manner so that they can be sure to get your money. Other than that, this company couldn't care less about the services that they "provide".

I can't wait to get out of my business agreement with this internet company - They are useless.



member for 8.1 years, driveby review (so far)
updated 8.1 years ago


Review by trialbytest See Profile

  • Location: St Thomas, Saint Thomas, VI, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
BBVI all washed up

BBVI is constantly disconnected, LoS issues, Speeds are substandard to todays market. Choice communications has now brought real broadband to the islands. 5Mb/sec speeds blows away the competition and their sales/customer service has become the gold standard....if you want good service DONT chose BBVI, go with Sprint, ATT, they offer evdo at comparable if not better data and prices. Go choice if you want streaming media

member for 13.3 years, driveby review (so far)
lodged 13.3 years ago

pirateking
join:2011-01-10
St Thomas, VI

pirateking

Member

Choice

No longer offers 5mbps service, their network couldn't deliver, and they have ping times 200-300ms to the mainland. Good luck streaming video, music or using VoIP with that performance. BB VI still has best network when it is up, but they've had a lot of issues lately while they have been upgrading their network. Agree that customer only cares if it works.

Review by MRCHILLA See Profile

  • Location: Christiansted, Saint Croix, VI, USA
  • Cost: $49 per month
When its up and running it can't be beat.
Tech support leave a lot to be desired
It's the best on the islands presently
Pre Sales Information:
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Well when I started the service I was experiencing some problem but that had to do with the location everyone in that area was having trouble. After I move to Richmond and could see Princess tower and had some changes made to my radio it worked super and am big gamer to so it meant the world to me, till I used a bit torrent to download some movie. When got home from work I found it was causing some issues with there system so they turn my service off, I contact there tech who ask me to remove the bit torrent from my computer which I did. After that was taking care of I call back and was turn back on, but told I would be monitored. Ever since that my service is working like dialup, after informing there tech several times all there telling from there end am working fine. Now am using my sprint as a modem cause faster than my ISP right now, at this point I sure wish there were some competition.

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member for 14.9 years, 7 visits, last login: 13.9 years ago
updated 14.9 years ago


Review by joseph881 See Profile

  • Location: Frederiksted, Saint Croix, VI, USA
  • Cost: $50 per month
  • Install: about 2 days
Decent uptime and speed, good burst rate and pings, and quick install.
Behind several NATs, occassionally loses packets out of nowhere, and not so great tech support.
Best provider in the USVI so far.
Pre Sales Information:
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I was previously with CHOICE Communications. BroadBand VI is a step up from them in all aspects except one. Their order to surfing time is great. I signed up online and within a day I was called asking me when it was a good time to come and install the radio at my house, I got it installed the next day. I'm a big gamer, I have a gaming quality PC, PS3, Wii, and Xbox360, and I use online services for every one of them. The random packet loss issue sometimes hinders my gaming, but it's not that bad. What really holds me back is the lack of a direct route to the internet.

BroadBand VI has kind of a weird wireless distribution setup. It seems they have several large bandwidth pipes at their office and they use MikroTik Equipment to send out 5GHz wireless signals to their customers. When you sign up for residential service, they supply you with a MikroTik RouterBoard to connect to their wireless signals and a POE box to supply it with power and allow your equipment to connect to it via Ethernet. I was supplied with a RouterBoard 411, but what others get varies. The RouterBoard is the radio they speak of. Through this alone, you're behind a NAT as your RouterBoard has an IP address on their WLAN and you have a separate IP address assigned to you from the RouterBoard. From your RouterBoard, data is routed to their AP Station wirelessly and then whatever they have after that. So, you are behind several NAT routers, and are unable to have anything outside their network connect to you directly. This is not very good for gaming and not good at all if you need to host a web server, FTP or anything of the like.

Speed is great compared to other providers on the island and so is the uptime. They currently have 2 packages for residents, a 512Kbps package for $49.99/mo, and a 1Mbps package for $99.99/mo. Each package has a $200 one-time installation fee. I opted for the 512, and it's pretty good. Everyone receives a burst rate of up to 2Mbps. They advertise it to be that way for the first 40 seconds, but through my own experience, it fluctuates in the middle of transfers and is dependent on other traffic they're getting at the time.

All in all, BroadBand VI is the best in the territory, but that one shortcoming does get to me because I do a lot of IP intensive activities, but if you just surf the web and occasionally download files, BroadBand VI is the perfect ISP for you.

member for 15.2 years, 10 visits, last login: 2.8 years ago
updated 15.2 years ago


Review by talmorin See Profile

  • Location: Frederiksted, Saint Croix, VI, USA
  • Cost: $100 per month
Knowledgeable staff. Good followup.
Small operation, so some growing pains
This is the best available ISP in the USVI
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There are limited broadband options here in the US Virgin Islands. Broadband VI's primary competitor is Choice Communications. We have a connection through both so if one connection goes down, (and the other hopefully stays up) we will still be able to operate.

I have the same speed package with both companies for the same price, and Broadband VI consistently operates at a faster rate and experiences less downtime.

member for 16.3 years, 483 visits, last login: 167 days ago
updated 15.3 years ago