Wild Blue or DSL?

Tango · #1 03/21/07, 11:15 AM

Yesterday, replying to a query I sent back in October, Wild Blue e-mails me to say they now have service in my area.The special is free installation, one month free and thereafter $49.99 per month. The equipment is $299. I know Wild Blue has a good record and has provided good service from reading the threads on this board. But now the phone company is finally bringing DSL to our community. It is still 10 miles off but they are progressing. DSL has a special of free installation, and free equipment. Three months of a reduced rate and then I'm not sure what the rate is, they haven't published it. I think DSL would be more reliable for most people but my phone line is not always reliable. It's buried directly in the dirt for 1/3 of mile from the post to my house. The line behaves erratically in certain weather. Satellite could experience down times in inclement weather as well. With dial up I just suffer through whatever but I'd like some smooth surfing now. Wondering if anyone can help me decide?

seedspreader · #2 03/21/07, 11:23 AM

DSL all the way.

No latency issues to deal with.

A simple description is this:

The up and downtime to the satellite is a consistent... regardless of whether it's sending 23 kb of text or 2,300 kb of music.

I had satellite (when it was my only choice) for over a year.

It was superior to dial up (overall), but inferior to cable (or dsl). If I was d'ling something, the download time was impressive, but normal internet surfing isn't that impressive.

LisaInN.Idaho · #3 03/21/07, 11:28 AM

We have WildBlue now. We used to have Hughes (formerly DirecWay). WildBlue is far better than Hughes but I remember DSL fondly from my suburban past. I'd choose DSL if it were available here.

Tango · #4 03/21/07, 12:27 PM

So even if I have a poor phone line, the DSL connection will be good? Thanks for the feedback.

LisaInN.Idaho · #5 03/21/07, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tango

So even if I have a poor phone line, the DSL connection will be good? Thanks for the feedback.

Duh. I missed the poor phone service part. WildBlue is pretty darned good. We do get fadeout in really bad rainstorms and Sunday afternoons it gets a bit slower than normal. Must be people hogging the bandwidth.

donsgal · #6 03/21/07, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tango

Yesterday, replying to a query I sent back in October, Wild Blue e-mails me to say they now have service in my area.The special is free installation, one month free and thereafter $49.99 per month. The equipment is $299. I know Wild Blue has a good record and has provided good service from reading the threads on this board. But now the phone company is finally bringing DSL to our community. It is still 10 miles off but they are progressing. DSL has a special of free installation, and free equipment. Three months of a reduced rate and then I'm not sure what the rate is, they haven't published it. I think DSL would be more reliable for most people but my phone line is not always reliable. It's buried directly in the dirt for 1/3 of mile from the post to my house. The line behaves erratically in certain weather. Satellite could experience down times in inclement weather as well. With dial up I just suffer through whatever but I'd like some smooth surfing now. Wondering if anyone can help me decide?

I cannot give you an opinion based upon personal experience. However, I can tell you that everyone I know who had satellite gave it up the MINUTE that DSL became available to them, and never went back and never wanted to.

Also, lately I have not been hearing very good things about Wildblue. It seems they have grown too big too fast and are having a lot of issues both with the quality of their service as well as customer service problems. I would do a lot of online-research before making a final decision, if you decide to go with them.

My choice would be DSL, though. If it were available where I live (which it isn't).

donsgal

#7 03/21/07, 12:39 PM

Not sure you qualify for DSL if you're 10 miles away from the switch office. Seems like DSL is only good for up to 3 miles. Maybe only 2?

seedspreader · #8 03/21/07, 12:42 PM

If they offer it (DSL) I would think it would have to be stable.

arabian knight · #9 03/21/07, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stinkfinger

Not sure you qualify for DSL if you're 10 miles away from the switch office. Seems like DSL is only good for up to 3 miles. Maybe only 2?

Yes you are correct it is 4 miles or less for the best speed etc. BUT if that persons phone company is like mine they went around the county and put in booster Boxes for DSL. So everybody is within close range of one of those boxes~!! And I am real lucky I am only a few hundred feet from one of those boxes~!!! Now this summer I may even DROP The Dish Network and go with IPTV~~ Which is Cable TV Over the DSL Lines~~~ Again phone my phone company keeping the money in MY area as my phone Co./Cable Co. merged and is an Co-Op~!!
Now Between DSL and Wildbue no contest DSL~!!!!!! IF now those things I talked about has happened. You Do have Booster Boxes OR you have Fiber Optic Phone lines Directly past your house~~~~
If Those are met. Then DSL By Far.~~~ If Not Then Wildblue~~~~

Peace n Quiet · #10 03/21/07, 12:54 PM

Maybe this applies only to the equipment that our DSL provider uses, but I am told that from the server, you must be within 18000 linear feet. (of phone line, not as the crow flies) I am just past that, at 18800 feet and the provider will not extend that distance for us. They say it would be too unstable. They must be right, as my two neighbors (at 17000 & 17600 lf) tell me that they have real problems with the service.

LagoVistaFarm · #11 03/21/07, 01:04 PM

We just added DSL. We also have cable and we are 10 miles from the closest switch. We have so so phone lines but the DSL is performing above the standards (6mps) that we signed up for.

Ravenlost · #12 03/21/07, 01:11 PM

Our phone company finally offered DSL out our way and we love it. By the way, our phone line is buried half a mile from the post.

P.S. I would be hesitant to use a company that takes six months to answer an inquiry.

southerngurl · #13 03/21/07, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ravenlost

Our phone company finally offered DSL out our way and we love it. By the way, our phone line is buried half a mile from the post.

P.S. I would be hesitant to use a company that takes six months to answer an inquiry.

I believe she had requested for them to contact her when they had it available in her area six months earlier, which they did.

Tango · #14 03/21/07, 02:07 PM

I may have miswritten that. It was a notification for when they had the service available. Back in October I was told they would contact me when they had a technician.

Sounds like DSL is the winner. It is not available to my house yet. I keep calling to get updates. It is now within 10 miles and I have to wait longer but don't want to get into an annual contract with another provider. Thanks for the replies.

zookeeper16 · #15 03/21/07, 02:53 PM

I'm not sure if this would apply to your area but around here (central WI), while they are still advertising WildBlue deals, the market is saturated and they are waiting for a new satellite before taking on new customers.

mamajohnson · #16 03/21/07, 03:14 PM

I have been on wildblue for a couple of years now. My only problem with them is, they have a "FAP" level you cannot exceed. Since we work online a lot (web builder) then We have a high upload/download ratio, we exceeded the FAP 3 times and then get to go at crawl speed until it levels out (30 day average)

I have been notified 3 times that dsl is available to me. The last time I even got the modem. I held out on cancelling the wildblue tho, cause I wasnt real sure about the phone company. Sure enough, the day of installing I got the bad news, I am 1800 feet too far from the switch. After much calling I was told they have no plans to extend or anything. Seems there is no interest in a dead end road with only 4 houses, and only 2 fulltime residents.

So, I would be sure they are gonna take the dsl to you. If your over that 18000 feet, dont count on it.

Jenn · #17 03/21/07, 07:19 PM

DSL all the way. We'll dump our Hughes net as soon as DSL is available.

Jen H · #18 03/21/07, 10:23 PM

I'm with the others. If DSL was available here, we'd drop the satellite in a heartbeat.

Kevingr · #19 03/21/07, 10:43 PM

I had Hugesnet, it was a joke, got rid of it as soon as WildBlue became available. Counldn't be happier with it, rarely ever drops, fast (I have the Propak which is $79/mo), and good customer service. If DSL ever became available (never will out where I am!) I'd drop the satellite in a heart beat.

deanm · #20 03/28/07, 05:29 PM

So to resurrect this post momentarily, the quality of your DSL has to do with how close you are to the switching box or whatever, not with the quality or age of your phone lines?

I had a disasterous experience with Yahoo DSL a few years ago. I could get no better than dial-up speed. I lived in a very old house at the time and they came to the conclusion that the speed was the result of the age of my phone lines and not their fault/problem. It was a nightmare getting back most of my initial investment and get out of the year contract.

I have been able to get cable internet, the last few years and it's been great; but cable interet isn't available where I am moving.

The small local phone company offers DSL (and digital tv through the phone line --never heard of that before.) I had kind of ruled that out based on my previous experience and since the house I'm moving into is 50 years old. I also really wasn't planning on getting a land phone line connection.

So I was seriously thinking about Wild Blue; but am unfamiliar with them, don't really have the money for the initial $300 investment, and the 18 month contract scares me.