ViaSat Satellite Internet Service.......

[Axxe55]

Does anyone have any experience with this satellite internet service? Would like to hear any input possible.

Over three years ago we switched from a landline DSL to a satellite internet service provider, HughesNet. The first two and half years, the service was great, and internet speeds were pretty good for what was expected. For about five or six months now, our service is getting crappy since I think they have moved all customer service, billing and tech support outside of the United States. Some of them if you call, can barely even speak English.

When we first switched to satellite internet service over three years ago, ViaSat was actually my first choice, but at the time were not available in our area yet. Since that time they have have expanded, and their rating is much higher, they offer more data available per month cheaper and download speeds are a little higher.

Looking for input, or suggestions. Not going to go back to a landline, since where we are located in a very rural area, there is only one provider, Windstream and that was a constant ongoing battle for over ten years with them. Extremely poor service and repairs.

 

[candcallen]

Elon is providing beta service. Ever check into that?

 

[Axxe55]

Elon is providing beta service. Ever check into that?

Best information I can gather, it's not available yet, or at least here. From what little I have read, it's suppose to be pretty good. Better service and much faster speeds.

 

[Fishkiller]

I started off with an outfit called WildBlue that became ViaSat. I had no issues with customer service and really no issues with them except for the install. they installed the dish on the roof and ran the wires along the outside of the house to the entry point. I would have preferred running thru the attic and down the wall, but the install guy said it was a no go. The service is what it is. It was not the fastest and there is a limit to the data. Now I canceled when I moved to Texas in 2016, so my information on speed etc. is a bit dated. As I recall speed was about the same as DSL. When we first got is the wife tried to downloads a movie from somewhere. Anyway the download stalled out about 75% in and used up our data for the month. As I recall that was about the only time we used up all the data, except when I used it a lot for work. If I recall it was about $75 per month and that was for 15GB and every extra GB was $15. Never had outages except in severe rainstorms, just like DirectTV. Overall we were happy with the service as there was no other option at the time. Lastly when I went with ViaSat they were cheaper and faster than Hughes. Hope this helps.

 

[Darqhelmet]

I have heard mixed feed back on Via from some neighbors here. I have been in the wait list for starlink since February and have had ZERO updates and am able to get ZERO information from Starlink about when I’m going to get service. So it’s throw 99.99 at them and hope.

 

[kbaxter60]

HughesNet: if you can get *nothing* else where you are, it IS Internet. I would not call it broadband. Don't plan on streaming movies. There will be many sites/pages that just will not work. Took us five minutes to load a two-minute YouTube video. SO GLAD our electric co-op brought us fiber. Way out here in the sticks. Nice.....

 

[Axxe55]

HughesNet: if you can get *nothing* else where you are, it IS Internet. I would not call it broadband. Don't plan on streaming movies. There will be many sites/pages that just will not work. Took us five minutes to load a two-minute YouTube video. SO GLAD our electric co-op brought us fiber. Way out here in the sticks. Nice.....

I already have HughesNet. Up until about four or five months ago, we had no problems streaming movies from YouTube, NetFlix, Hulu, Philo or any of the other streaming services we have. Only time it slowed down was towards the end of the month when the data ran out. We had unlimited data from midnight until 8 am.

When the data ran out, it did make accessing the internet slower as well. Right now, we can't stream or use the internet at the same time because the speed is so slow.

 

[Rhino]

Satellite sucks, period.

 

[Axxe55]

Satellite sucks, period.

I'm really limited with the options available if I want internet.

 

[Sasquatch]

Question for you - a few actually:

Who is your cellular provider? Do you get reception at home?

We use Verizon Wireless for cell. They offer "Home LTE" which is a hotspot for your home. It is unlimited data, and added $40 a month to the phone bill. We're just outside the 5G coverage in the Houston area, but 4G works fine here. We can stream movies / YouTube all day long, multiple browser tabs open. Its way cheaper than satellite, no equipment to buy. The LTE router/hotspot is just a little larger than a paperback novel. You just need to be able to put it near a window for best signal strength.

 

[Axxe55]

Question for you - a few actually:

Who is your cellular provider? Do you get reception at home?

We use Verizon Wireless for cell. They offer "Home LTE" which is a hotspot for your home. It is unlimited data, and added $40 a month to the phone bill. We're just outside the 5G coverage in the Houston area, but 4G works fine here. We can stream movies / YouTube all day long, multiple browser tabs open. Its way cheaper than satellite, no equipment to buy. The LTE router/hotspot is just a little larger than a paperback novel. You just need to be able to put it near a window for best signal strength.

I'm using a Trac Fone for my cellular provider. ell phone reception is still a bit spotty at times. But it's only $20 a month, and unlimited talk and text, with a 1 gb of data rolled over every month.

I use to have Verizon years ago, and their reception out here isn't any better. We are just quite a ways from the closest towers. On a good day, I can get maybe one, or two bars of reception.

 

[Sasquatch]

I'm using a Trac Fone for my cellular provider. ell phone reception is still a bit spotty at times. But it's only $20 a month, and unlimited talk and text, with a 1 gb of data rolled over every month.

I use to have Verizon years ago, and their reception out here isn't any better. We are just quite a ways from the closest towers. On a good day, I can get maybe one, or two bars of reception.

Oof, well there goes that idea!

 

[Axxe55]

Oof, well there goes that idea!

With spotty cell phone reception, it's just not even worth messing with.

Land line and DSL are not worth messing with either.

No cable either in our area. Closest cable is about nine miles away! My brother just got cable provided internet a few months ago.

 

[kbaxter60]

I'm really limited with the options available if I want internet.

Yeah, that sucks. Have been there.

Did you check out Terrestrial WiFi? (TWISPs) We have one in our area, but could not use it, as a hill blocks our view of their tower.
But it ALMOST worked. They can provide a pretty good connection, if you can get service. I think the outfit near us was called Rock Solid?

 

[Daley_G]

Used to support satellite internet in the oil fields several years ago, and no matter who you go with they all suck. Both in terms of service delivery as well as customer service. Luckily 4G LTE came along and I did what @Sasquatch suggested: I'd get the business-class version of a Verizon hotspot and would run remote branch offices off that. What about the ones that aren't near a tower? I'd get a cellular amplifier with indoor and outdoor antennae. Most remote site I ever connected was 13 miles from the tower in the mountains of Colorado. Had the obvious benefit of boosting their cell signals as well.

If it were me, I'd look into an LTE modem and possibly a cellular amplifier. Not sure if I can post links to equipment I've used - if so, I'll do it. If not, I'll PM anyone who asks.

 

[jrbfishn]

They do make vell phone signal boosters for your house. You have to get specific ones for your service and phone.

Sent by an idjit coffeeholic from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

 

[Rhino]

I’d be looking at a small tower with a cell phone repeater and a major provider…

 

[Darqhelmet]

I have ATT DSL at the house and it’s expensive as hell and meh at best. Cell coverage is poor to crap on all carriers and we have no cable providers in the area. Fixed WiFi isn’t an option unless I can get about 15 to 20 neighbors to cut a bunch of trees down. So Satellite is my only option. Neighbors have a mix of Via and Huges no one is happy some have to have it and make due. I’m waiting for starlink.

What is annoying is we giving the telecoms tax breaks and shelter them from competition but they don’t roll out any new service to us rural folks. We aren’t worth the “investment”.

 

[Sasquatch]

I have ATT DSL at the house and it’s expensive as hell and meh at best. Cell coverage is poor to crap on all carriers and we have no cable providers in the area. Fixed WiFi isn’t an option unless I can get about 15 to 20 neighbors to cut a bunch of trees down. So Satellite is my only option. Neighbors have a mix of Via and Huges no one is happy some have to have it and make due. I’m waiting for starlink.

What is annoying is we giving the telecoms tax breaks and shelter them from competition but they don’t roll out any new service to us rural folks. We aren’t worth the “investment”.

I know that pain. I grew up in a rural area 10 minutes outside "civilization" - DSL service ended 1.1 miles from our house, at the exact opposite end of the road I grew up on. Cable was available, 1.5 miles away where they terminated the service. We had dialup the entire time, and shitty dial up at that. The *best* connection speeds we ever got, despite the "56k all day" claims of the local telcos was 23k down, and uploads usually hovered around 10k.

A few years after I moved out, the grand parents got HughesNet. It was trash. After my grandmother died in 08, my wife and I gave up the house we were living in and moved in with my grandfather to help take care of him and the house I grew up in. HughesNet at that time gave us, IIRC 100MB *per day* of data. You hit that wall and you lost service for 24 hours, they didn't even have a "bill me" option for data overages. They just shut you off. About a year after that, ClearWireless became a thing in our area, and I got a Clear cellular "modem" that gave us 3G internet at home - the problem was a USB device, so you had to hope it from device to device if you wanted to use it. We wound up with 3 devices, so my wife and grandfather could each have Internet service. I don't remember if it was unlimited, but I don't recall ever having overages. 4G was just becoming available when my wife & I moved out and an aunt moved in.

We moved back toward the city and got cable internet. Living rural has a lot of benefits, but fast internet is rarely one of them!

 

[Davetex]

T-Mobile now offers home internet if you can get a decent signal where you're at.