Wildblue as an ISP

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Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 2:50 pm

Anyone here have Wildblue satellite internet service or know anyone who does? I'm rather tempted by the promises of fabulous download speeds and bundling with Dish Network, which is already installed, but their scary-arse contract that makes even the old school cell phone contracts look wishy-washy and some of the complaints I've read online scare me off a bit. I'm not going to just go and spend $600 to try a service and find it sucks.

And don't suggest DSL/cable. Not available.

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 5:06 pm

Never tried it, but as a frequenter of DSL Reports I have heard a lot about Wildblue. It's an oversold network, but I think they just launched a new satellite so it should help things some. I do know that Wildblue slows a lot during the peak hours. If you are/planning to be a heavy downloader, their Fair Access Policy is rather strict. Personally, I'd take 3G mobile phone service as a better and cheaper alternative(as long as it isn't from Verizon). But if you can't get DSL/Cable/FTTH you probably can't get 3G either.

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 7:56 pm

Since there is also no cellphone coverage to speak of, that's not an option, either. Some days, I would gladly offer any cell phone company a free knob top. (Cingular and Nextel don't reach my house, at least. )Other days, I kind of like being cell free.

What you posted backs up the impressions I've gotten so far. In some areas, they've obviously oversold. Given that I don't live in a really densely populated state, I'm hoping that won't be a huge issue if I decide to go with it.

If it would reliably offer me something well over the speed of dial-up and give me that "always-on" option, I think that would likely make me satisfied, if not wildly happy. I'm probably not going to be a massive downloader right off the bat. I'm not into downloading movies online, internet radio, lots and lots of online games, and a couple of Audible audiobooks a month is probably not going to be a huge strain.

My dial-up is currently playing up, which is leaving me looking longingly at options. Any. Other. Options.

DSL reports shows two reviews for my state, both happy campers. Not a wide scientific sampling, but encouraging...