Internet Service (Newport: house, live, design)

[JC3]

Is anyone using Hughes Satellite for internet service? Verizon Wireless?
If so, how is the service for either one and is the signal strength or down time an issue? The speed okay?
(Don't get too technical please....I know how to turn a PC on and how to shut it off..and I even screw that up at times)

[Submariner]

Yours is a common concern, it has been discussed here. I think that Starwalker was the last to really look into it closely.

I am very fortunate that our telecomm company is tiny, and spent the money to bring DSL to all of their rural customers. Neighboring townships who are serviced by the bigger BabyBell companies do not have DSL even in more densely populated communities.

[starwalker]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

Yours is a common concern, it has been discussed here. I think that Starwalker was the last to really look into it closely.

I am very fortunate that our telecomm company is tiny, and spent the money to bring DSL to all of their rural customers. Neighboring townships who are serviced by the bigger BabyBell companies do not have DSL even in more densely populated communities.

I really cannot speak to this OP as I have no idea where in Maine he is investigating. "your mileage may vary" is my usual refrain... and whether the speed, throughput (you must consider that with satellite... they have a "fair use" doctrine which sounds great by name but pretty much knocks out anyone who might want to work or play online games, such as WOW, because if you go over your allotment -- which they are not very open about -- you quickly get penalized by being choked back to slower than dial-up speeds and still have to pay their high rates through the end of the contract.) and down time is acceptable.

I work via the net (graphic and web design, often emailing 2000k files back and forth with clients and uploading much more than that by FTP during a busy week) and the other half plays World of Warcraft. For our use, we decided that the ONLY option was to locate in an area served by TimeWarner/Roadrunner. To find out where this was, I pretty much had to phone each and every town hall in our area of interest and ask them about Internet services available in their town -- taking into account that most of the folks I spoke with were not at all "Internet savvy" beyond the plug it in, turn it on and pray it works level...

When I found a property of interest, I had to get the address and have Time Warner "vet" each one.

Good luck to the OP!

[inthewoods]

We had Hughes Satellite for about 5 years until just about a month ago (we've finally been able to get a different service). They advertise "high speed" but we've always experienced only about 90 kbs? at most. Plus their "fair access policy - FAP) only allowed for 250 MB download a day. If you exceeded that amount, then you were completely cut off for the rest of that day, plus another 24 hours. They didn't throttle you down to dialup speed... they cut you off. You can use a download manager program to download stuff during the free time (I think it's between 2:00 am and 6:00 am). We hated Hughes the entire time we had it, but we had no other choice except dialup. Dialup speed here where I live is only 26.4. We were more bothered with the FAP though. There were times that we couldn't download updates because they were too big. We had to always be careful of news sites that have videos and such, fearing that we'd go over the limit. Don't even think about watching a TV program.

IF, you do have to resort to them, please be careful of how it's installed. Our 'wonderful' installation technician drilled a hole and ran the cable right up the front of the house (he went right by the side of the house where he could have come right in). Looks stupid. Also, he grounded the system to a plastic water pipe.

I would only choose Hughes if it was your absolute last resort.

[JC3]

Thanks for the info folks...I should have mentioned the location...Newport ,but no cable down where I will be..and the telco doesn't have DSL that far out from what they told me. So am looking for an alternative and was wondering how good the service was.

May have to check where catv stops and if they will bring service in.

[Casper1212]

Don't know how Hughes is in you area. We had it in Texas because there was no other option for internet at the ranch. It was satisfactory. Most of the time, we had service, which is more than you can say for most satellite providers. The band width would automatically narrow, though. So much for promises of good download speeds. Compared to what is available in civilized areas, the speed is very slow, not good for gamers. I've never used Verizon. We have TWC now, and their download speed is extremely good. Their service, so far, has been good as well.

[Elcarim]

We went with Wildblue. It's alright. We were on DSL in Texas, so the slower speed is taking some getting used to, but I don't find it to be what I'd consider "very slow." Compared to dial up, I'm happy with it.

I believe that Hughes Net is the most expensive satellite provider we looked into, and I wasn't impressed with their customer service. Of course, that was before we had dealings with Fairpoint! I probably wouldn't say they're THAT bad.

[truthseeker2012]

Hi try this company, I use it and it works great they offer phone, internet (DSL), and Satellite tv..
TDS Telecom: Telephone and Internet Service for Home and Business

[JC3]

Originally Posted by truthseeker2012

Hi try this company, I use it and it works great they offer phone, internet (DSL), and Satellite tv..
TDS Telecom: Telephone and Internet Service for Home and Business

Thanks for the help. Reason why I asked this question was TDS told me they didn't provide DSL out where I will be. I do not want dial-up.

I just went to the site you gave and put in a neighbor's phone number which I had given them when I spoke to them asking about service. Now it shows DSL MAY BE available. I sure hope that is correct.

Thanks again for the help. I had TDS in another part of Maine and always had good service with them.