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Satellite Revolt: ViaSat’s WildBlue Customers Upset Over “Bait & Switch Upgrade”

Getting Internet service in rural America can involve a whole lot more than calling the local phone company to check if DSL service is available.  When it is not, satellite broadband is often the only realistic choice to access the Internet.  Unfortunately, navigating through the options, terms and conditions, and restrictions requires the help of a lawyer or rocket scientist.

Kevin Hanssen, a dairy farmer in rural Wisconsin is just one of a dozen Stop the Cap! readers who access us over a satellite Internet connection.  He, along with others, have been writing requesting assistance navigating an increasingly confusing amount of detail about recent upgrades taking place at the parent company of his provider — WildBlue, a service of ViaSat.

As Stop the Cap! recently reported, ViaSat is placing a new satellite into service that will bring improved service for certain customers.  Long time customers like Hanssen have waited more than two years for company-promised upgrades that would bring better speeds and more generous usage policies. Currently, Hanssen faces a tiny usage allowance and “broadband” speeds of well under 1Mbps, especially in the evening.

“As a long term customer, I have lived under a plan that gives me 7.5GB in downloads and 2.3GB in uploads, but my experience with WildBlue may be very different than other customers, because the company has so many legacy and special plans that apply to different customers, so it is very hard to say ‘this is WildBlue’s policy’ because it can vary so much,” Hanssen tells us.

Indeed, over WildBlue’s history, ViaSat has changed its access policies several times, sometimes raising, but often lowering usage allowances accompanied by rate adjustments.  Since 2005, WildBlue customers who originally faced a simple 30-day consumption limit that reset after each billing cycle now face a combination of a usage allowance under the company’s “Fair Access/Data Allowance Policy (FAP),” and an even more confusing rolling speed throttle called the “Quota Management Threshold (QMT).”  Exceeding a monthly usage allowance guarantees broadband speeds of dial-up or less.  Speeds are also curtailed temporarily for customers who run browsing sessions that consume as little as 30MB over a 30 minute period.

WildBlue's Quota Management Threshold starts reducing your speeds after a heavy browsing session.

With the help of Cisco, which created the throttled bandwidth technology, WildBlue’s combined FAP and QMT systems make it impossible for a customer punished just once by speed throttles to completely clear their record as a ‘known bandwidth abuser’ unless they avoid using any bandwidth for a month.  For most customers unequipped to fully grasp the highly technical explanations of both policies, customer service representatives boil it down to something easier to understand: the less service you use, the better the chance you will not face a speed throttle rendering your connection practically unusable.

WildBlue's confusing throttle.

With strict limits in place, WildBlue not surprisingly scores among the lowest of all Internet Service Providers for customer satisfaction, and its nearest competitor Hughes does no better.

“As you have written before, satellite really is ‘take it or leave it broadband’ — heavily rationed, confusing, and very expensive,” Hanssen says.

For Hanssen and other Stop the Cap! readers who rely on satellite Internet, the promise of new capacity and faster speeds were supposed to turn “satellite as a last resort” into something more comparable to 4G wireless in America’s most rural areas.  But as our readers share, there is a big chasm between marketing hype and reality for customers on the ground.

Confusing Brands & Pricing

ViaSat has not been content to offer customers a single brand of satellite broadband service.  In addition to WildBlue itself, ViaSat markets plans under the American Recovery Act (the broadband stimulus program), co-branded service from DirecTV, DISH, AT&T and the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC), and forthcoming service on its newest satellite, ViaSat 1, which the company is marketing as “Exede” Internet. Customers west of the Mississippi who qualify for the American Recovery Act program get free installation and more generous usage allowances of up to 60GB per month.

“For two years, WildBlue has told us better usage allowances and faster service was coming with the new upgraded satellite, which we assumed would service all existing WildBlue customers,” Hanssen shares. “Now it turns out they are leaving existing WildBlue customers behind on the old satellite and creating a brand new service to sell new customers on the new satellite.”

Indeed, for marketing purposes, WildBlue and Exede are two different entities, and WildBlue customers looking for faster speeds from Exede will need to pony up at least $150 for new equipment, sign a new contract, and switch to a new Fair Access Policy that actually delivers many customers a lower usage allowance than their existing service from WildBlue offers.

“It’s total bait and switch, promising us faster service and then reducing the usage allowance that goes with it and adding around an $8/GB over-usage fee on Exede,” Hanssen says.

For customers served by the new ViaSat 1 satellite, Exede sells service based on usage, not speed.  The advertised speed (not independently verified) is 12/3Mbps, which will cost $49.99 for up to 7.5GB per month, $79.99 for 15GB per month, or $129.99 for 25GB per month.

“Highway robbery I call it, because some of those caps are lower than on WildBlue so you are paying for better speed you won’t be able to use unless you agree to pay a lot more for a bigger allowance,” Hanssen says.

New Customers Get Priority Over Old Ones?

Customers eager to switch to the new, faster satellite broadband service report they are encountering roadblocks from ViaSat and their large independent dealer network responsible for sales and service of the satellite reception equipment.  An often-heard accusation is that current customers are taking a back seat to new customers already invited to sign up.

That is a charge ViaSat, through its support forum, has strongly denied.

“We’re not giving preferential treatment to new vs. existing customers,” says WildBlue Forum Administrator Steve. “The dates we’ve quoted to existing customers who call in are approximately April/May, but yes, it could be sooner. It all depends on the number and availability of certified installer technicians in a given area. If someone absolutely wanted it now, we’ll try our best to accommodate that along with the big flood of new orders we’re receiving.”

Steve explains the delays to upgrade existing customers are occurring because new customer installations are currently “through the roof.”

An independent dealer offers new customers a better deal.

But Stop the Cap! has also learned from an independent WildBlue dealer that ViaSat is offering a bonus for dealers who sign new customers, an incentive not paid to upgrade existing ones.  Some new customer promotions also offer free installation and deep discounts until the end of 2012 for 15GB ($49.99) and 25GB ($79.99) service on the new ViaSat 1.  Existing customers do not get the discount pricing and have to pay a $150 installation fee for new equipment required for the new satellite.  Customers within a 2-year initial contract term pay even more: $250.

Customers Revolt

The government-sponsored Broadband Initiative program required WildBlue to provide a more generous usage allowance in return for broadband stimulus money.

Customers learning about the new pricing are unhappy.

Bill Cameron feels let down as a loyal customer by ViaSat’s pricing:

This new Excede 12 plan is an absolute joke. 12Mbps is awesome but the top plan limits you to a up/down total of 25GB and its $129.99 +$9.99 lease fee. So what good is 12Mbps if you really cant use it? Forget Netflix, Hulu or any Video on Demand. I have DirecTV and was hoping to be able to do some streaming but there is no way. If I want to stay at the same $80/mo price point I will loose 7GB of monthly cap since the mid tier plan is 15GB combined up and down. I don’t know what WildBlue is thinking here. Come on, $140/mo in the middle of a recession? Plus there is a $149 setup fee and even customers who have been with them for 7 years, like me, has to pay it. My loyalty is not rewarded one bit. A brand new customer pays the same amount.

A Broadband Reports reader sums up his views about WildBlue’s broken promises:

[…] We have been living with low caps on Wildblue for years, then for several years they -promise- an upgrade that will change everything. Then they up the speed to something most people don’t need, and REDUCE the amount of data available by a LARGE amount, increasing the price as well significantly. It was not what we were lead to believe. This was supposed to be an upgrade, but the speed is useless without quantity, that point has been made over and over.

And it doesn’t take someone sitting all day to go over the caps. It can take a little over an hour every day for one person to go over on the current 512Kbps plan, imagine with more speed how easy the person can go over with about 23% less data available.

Bottom line, it was not an upgrade, period, for many of us. Every neighbor I know is thinking the same thing, some currently drive 30 miles one way to get to a free hotspot to have enough bandwidth for online classes. The offered new plans are not enough for what they do either. Is anyone that understands the limits of satellite asking for anything unreasonable, NO. We were expecting an increase of some sort, any kind, not further insane restrictions after years of being restricted. A downgrade and overcharging is not an upgrade no matter how they try to spin it to us. If so few use what’s available as they say anyway, what would have been the harm of doubling the current caps. PERFECTLY REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS.

Kevin Hanssen wishes he had better options:

At this point, just about anything would be better than WildBlue.  Since AT&T shows no interest in bringing me DSL service, it’s probably going to be wireless broadband or nothing.  We have spotty cell coverage in this part of Wisconsin, but should a provider do something about that, we would still be facing tiny usage allowances in the 2-10GB range.

This is why universal service policies should extend to broadband service, to make certain rural America has reasonable access at reasonable prices.

There is nothing reasonable about satellite or wireless Internet at these speeds, allowances, and prices.  WildBlue wants new customers at all costs, even if they walk over their loyal customers to sign them up. But why shouldn’t they? Their only effective competition is Hughes, and they are actually worse!

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Pymm West
Pymm West
12 years ago

Nice article, I learned some things about Wildblue I didn’t know. For instance QMT allowances. Never heard anything about that from Wildblue techs, not that I ever experienced speeds fast enough to reach a QMT threshold. We live in rural Southwest Mississippi with the same situation, no DSL or cell service. ATT is simply not going to get off its derriere either. Just this morning I search the ATT site to check for broadband service, wind up being given a number for ViaSat. I’ve resignedly signed up for ViaSat. Now that ATT is messed up in this we can be… Read more »

Cory
Cory
12 years ago
Reply to  Pymm West

It is apparent to me that much of the anger about speeds and pricing stems from ignorance. Unfortunately when you live in rural America there’s a price to be paid. The idea that it is some sort of right to have high speed Internet is completely ridiculous. I’ve been patient and waited three years before getting Excede installed at my house. I have no preconceived ideas that I will be able to stream Netflix, download albums upon albums of music or anything else. If you live in rural America, embrace it. Be thankful for what you have, that your able… Read more »

Scott
Scott
12 years ago
Reply to  Cory

That’s what they said when rural Americans asked for electricity and a number of other services we take for granted today. Internet Access is a necessary service today, and what speeds you have available determine what you can do with that service. Just as if you were only allowed enough electricity to run an oven, do a load of laundry, run a light for a few hours for kids to read/study compared to someone elsewhere using as much as they wanted. That may sound ridiculous now, and that’s exactly how it was perceived before the act was passed to provide… Read more »

Pymm West
Pymm West
11 years ago
Reply to  Cory

Well who said I believed I had a right to high speed internet service? Now having vented I want to brag on my exede service that I signed up for thru Holmes Satellite. The speeds are great. I pay $59.00 monthly for 10 gigs. I can use voip so I don’t need a lineline. I use Sprint’s airave and have an adequate cell phone signal. Now I’m saving money and can do what I want on the net. My Holmes Satellite folks take care of any issues that are arising. So for now I’m happy. I know cell phones have… Read more »

Dida M
Dida M
11 years ago
Reply to  Pymm West

I have wifi internet but I am paying too much just to play farmville
I am thinking about changing to excede , can you tell me if it is good enough to play farmville?

Herrmadl
Herrmadl
11 years ago
Reply to  Dida M

I had to stop playing farmville because my farm got to big and it would not load. It uses a lot of the time that you get. I only play cafe world now. It stays the same size. And I still run out, I am on the old wild blue and I pay 89 amonth I am at the max of what I can get at 17,000 per month I get back today what I used 30 days ago. You never know how much that is so I am constantly checking. The bad thing is I live off 190 a… Read more »

Douglas Brown
Douglas Brown
10 years ago
Reply to  Herrmadl

I do computer repairs and do a lot of updates for this, so I chew up a lot of my monthly 15GB cap. And, my phone is over the sat, via MagicJack, which works well and a great savings. VOIP will chew up about 800MB/ hr., in case anybody was wondering. Yeah, I would like to have more data, since living in the country, away from crime, feels like a crime! There’s a trade-off for country living, and since companies are looking for the all-mighty buck, we country folk don’t have a chance of getting unlimited anything. I’m not that… Read more »

ahansen
ahansen
11 years ago
Reply to  Pymm West

We do, however have a right to get what we pay for, and Wildblue, er, Excede, er ViaSat, er Google doesn’t deliver. At least my (backup) rural dialup is reliable, and frequently downloads faster than this horrible Excede, er, Wildblue, er ViaSat, er Google service. Total scam, I hope it gets the class action suit it so richly deserves. Our tax subsidies at work…. Here is a copy of the letter I sent them: When I changed over from Hughesnet after ten years (a monopoly in my area) I thought to myself “Thank gods they’re gone from my life forever.… Read more »

Falconx1
Falconx1
11 years ago
Reply to  ahansen

It’s VERY easy to push these satellite companies out of business. However, Government is backing them, considering it’s the gov’s (actually tax payer’s satellites). The Gov. gets a % of any company that leases their equipment. As this is entrapment, forcing people to purchase, something they’re clearly not getting. As I too, am an Excede customer, I am very DISPLEASED, because they do throttle anyone they get a chance. If you go over your usage allowance, they say they throttle you down to 128 kbs. Well, knowing the IT world, browsers will purposely time out, if a threshold speed is… Read more »

James R Bivins
James R Bivins
12 years ago

This is wildblue at top and now goto bottom and see cable.Now who wouldn’t want cable and you can even goto get a cable modem for little for nothing at low price and save cable modem fees.Or check out link .If you can get cable take it .I’m with Wildblue and I would recommend in a heartbeat LocationsCharter.netContact UsCart TV » Internet » Phone » Bundles » Business » Support »Support Overview » TV Help » Internet Help » Phone Help » My Account & Billing » Existing Customer? Log inCreate Account My Account Pay My Bill Check Email Find… Read more »

Tim Johnson
Tim Johnson
12 years ago
Reply to  James R Bivins

Stop the cap? Are you serious? You have a whole website based on non-sense? It appears that you do not understand how satellite internet service works. Essentially, there is limited space available on the satellite. What the internet service providers do, is divide up the space and sell it to customers as they need it. It is inherently more expensive than cable or DSL. If you stopped the cap, you would essentially stop the service. If you removed the cap, what would happen is a handful of people would use up all of the available space and what you would… Read more »

Tim Johnson
Tim Johnson
12 years ago
Reply to  Tim Johnson

It seems like a lot of people are truly stupid…haha…of course cable is much cheaper! satellite companies are not trying to compete with cable services, satellite service is inherently more expensive…with cable you are just running a line from point a to point be…with satellite you are paying hundreds of millions of dollars to launch and maintain a satellite…it is for people who cannot get cable or dsl…how much do you think it cost to repair a satellite if it goes down? Use your heads people, come on.

James R Bivins
James R Bivins
12 years ago

Phillip ,That what I talking about better options for rural areas,not just satellite and wireless.They haven’t got,what cable has got for low income people.Cable is what like and can’t get

Chuck Warnock
12 years ago
Reply to  Tim Johnson

If there is such limited space available via satellite, how come Directv can download so many gigabytes of HD TV 24 hours a day?

Rex Conard
Rex Conard
11 years ago
Reply to  Tim Johnson

Tim Johnson says: February 11, 2012 at 10:54 pm Stop the cap? Are you serious? You have a whole website based on non-sense? It appears that you do not understand how satellite internet service works. Essentially, there is limited space available on the satellite. What the internet service providers do, is divide up the space and sell it to customers as they need it. It is inherently more expensive than cable or DSL. If you stopped the cap, you would essentially stop the service. If you removed the cap, what would happen is a handful of people would use up… Read more »

David
David
11 years ago
Reply to  Tim Johnson

Tim –

If what you say is true, why did ViaSat / WildBlue give me *6 months* of unlimited bandwidth data with the newer, faster service earlier this year ?? How were they able to do this without slowing everyone down?

Doug
Doug
10 years ago
Reply to  Tim Johnson

Tim Johnson, I agree! Generally, people don’t realize how expensive these birds are, or the base stations that manage them, nor do they realize the limitations of supplying bandwidth to serve the million subscribers. The way I understand it, Exede has fulfilled the million subscribers to there first satellite, and I believe they have, or will launch another satellite. This is the best show in town for me. No cable or DSL here, although it’s sad that cable runs down the main drag in town, a mile and one half away. I guess they don’t think it’s cost effective to… Read more »

James R Bivins
James R Bivins
12 years ago

I know how satellite internet works,it signal comes from space and cable comes from on electric poles that cable run pole to pole.I have satellite internet and they aren’t close to cable,they are more wireless and higher cost and companies can charge more and have less GB’s and BS for control.And the caps is how,they have more control and they can tell people what they want to hear with their ad.But, So they can tell you that they give it too you because they know you want and they can make their big,big profits,because of that control.But they don’t give… Read more »

James R Bivins
James R Bivins
12 years ago

I don’t believe these companies know what unlimited is and they claim they have wireless all over the place but when I had the AT&T Wireless USB Aircard,they said I had 3G and i was bearly getting 1 to 2G and took yrs just to get new tower down the road from me to get 3G and took about 5 months just to activate it and I was paying $60 just for 5 GB’s.So I went to Wildblue where is no better,$50 a month with 7.5 GB’s that not counting,you only get 75% before,they say they slowdown and it was… Read more »

Rosario
Rosario
12 years ago

Wanted to give you feedback on my wife’s and I’s experience concerning the new WildBlue Excede Service. Signed up on Feb 17th with first available install date on March 3rd. Never received a phone call 2 days prior to install date as promised. March 3rd installer setup dish but could not get Modem to activate and connect to the bird. Explained they were experiencing this all week due to technical difficulties because of an upgrade on WildBlues side. After not hearing anything more, Called WildBlue on March 5th to reschedule for March 10th. Called installer directly to touch base on… Read more »

Lady
Lady
12 years ago

I work for WB and we are told that existing customers do not qualify to get the pro plus package(faster service) only new customers.

Leslie
Leslie
12 years ago

I have been trying for over 3 weeks to upgrade from wildblue to exede. To this date I have yet to be able to get a date for installation therefore I have no true comment on the speed. Apparently there is some ‘error’ messages that noone in the tech department can figure out or by pass there fore leaving me in complete limbo on my upgrade. And now after reading some of the nightmares of the actual installation I’m even more worried. Unfortunately because I live in the middle of no where they have me and many like me by… Read more »

James R Bivins
James R Bivins
12 years ago
Reply to  Leslie

Call Dish,Im existing customer,talk to them.Them don’t have 7.5GB,it starts at 10GB for 49.95 service+ modem lease for 10.00 and it don’t slow until you hit 100% and you don’t get charged per GB over 100% and I pay $6 for maintance on my dish/exede and so haven’t been charged no high cost for sending techand the installation was lower.This my only opition for higher speed service

Leslie
Leslie
12 years ago
Reply to  James R Bivins

Unfortunately I am still within my 2yr contract with wildblue directly so opting to go with another company for the service would require more money than I can afford at the moment… I am stuck just harassing customer service daily now to get anything done and complaining where I can on the internet and warning others to stay away if they are able. But thanks for the info. Hopefully it will help someone else. Have to admit I have had few problems with Dishnetwork in 10yrs for my tv service. Too bad they were not offering internet when I finally… Read more »

James R Bivins
James R Bivins
12 years ago
Reply to  Leslie

That is where I started with the old wildblue over6 months ago though dish when I got the new service just over a month ago and they void the old wildblue 2 yr contract to the new 2 yrs contract

IT Guy
IT Guy
12 years ago

I made the mistake of switching to ViaSat (Exede) only to found out it was WildBlue. I called the number on the mailer card, as 12 Mbps sounded much better than the 800 Kbps from Hughesnet. We’ve been loyal customers to HughesNet since 2007 and lived with 800 Kbps which was only slightly better than dial up. At $79.99 a month it was pretty frustrating so I was eager to switch to 12 Mbps and $49.99 (plus $10 for some additional monthly charge). It was still cheaper than HughesNet and faster speed, so I called HughesNet to cancel our service… Read more »

Leefeller Guy
Leefeller Guy
12 years ago

Glad to find out I am not alone in the Wildblue bad dream act. I called my old Wildblue number and now find out it is Excede, Viastat and Wildblue. I may have done some downloads which caused them to call me a web abuser, but when I called to find out when it would return to a faster then 0.12 download and 0.04 upload they gave a fuzzy discretion BS story about how it would take 30 days for them to make sure I behave myself. So I have been off the computer for a week and it has… Read more »

Gary
Gary
12 years ago

I recently got hooked up. It was my installer’s first go at the new system, so he understandably had some hiccups. When he finally got done, I immediately ran a speed test. 18 down, 3 up. Tickle me happy. Then he left. What I experienced over the next 10 days was utterly disappointing. The service would simply disappear. After researching online, I learned a trick to reset the modem and router. This would fix the problem temporarily until about 20 minutes later where it would happen again. After 2 service calls were scheduled, then cancelled without any notice, I was… Read more »

Frogville
Frogville
12 years ago

When I hear the word “Wildblue”..my blood just boils! I have been a customer since 2007, and it’s the worst company I have ever had to deal with…not responsive, and each representative tells you something different. There isn’t any consistency or processes regarding issues with services, billing, etc. I wish there were better options in my area, however, we are stuck with Wildblue; hopefully Verizon will have technology that will exceed WildBlue. My VISA account was overcharged twice due to a WildBlue error…I kept on calling and was ensured the “credit” was in process. The end result is WildbBlue does… Read more »

John Spounias
John Spounias
12 years ago

For those of us stuck in a rual area there ARE options now, it just takes a little work on our behalf, quit paying wildblue. I know, I know, get a cellphone for now and use its tether, its faster and typically cheaper now. as communities invest in cheap WiMAX technology, and build your own backbones. Its that simple, and it is simple, technologies like ubiquity are going to be allowing this VERY soon. Most places also have some other form of WiMAX or 900mhz wireless in their area, call every ISP in your area and check. My small neighborhood… Read more »

Leslie
Leslie
12 years ago

Well I am keeping good on my threat made earlier in this thread… I’M OUTTA HERE FINALLY!!! In a week I will be paying the early cancellation fees and dropping Wildblue… Finally have an other option in my area called FlashByte that my boyfriend and I have been testing out and it works a 100 times better with no limits and a ton cheaper. So anyone in southern California that has been stuck on satellite services might want to see if its available to them. It probably is what John above is talking about , I am just not that… Read more »

Brad H
Brad H
12 years ago
Reply to  Leslie

@Leslie. Have you tried Flashbyte? I’d be willing to eat all my costs and get on that service especially for the price I am paying now with Exede.

thx!

Tom
Tom
12 years ago

After reading all the comments here on ViaSat, I guess changing from HughesNet will be like going from the frying pan to the fire. They are introducing a Generation 4 eqivilant to Excede in September. But after 2 years of absolute HELL with them, I’ve come to the realization that ALL satalite internet is a complete rip off, joke and not worth a dime let alone $50-$130 base rates per month. They have a captive auduiance and exploit it. If they in fact receive government money such as I have read, then being our tax money we deserve better. But… Read more »

James R Bivins
James R Bivins
12 years ago
Reply to  Tom

I agree what Tom said,we are the government so this means we are paying double price.I still having problems out of Viasat system,even after over 11 Dish techs out here.And they good,but still learning on this system and the bad thing,there is cable out here and that is what I want.And I told them,if,that is a big word,I see cable coming.This stellite internet is gone and right now t,his is my only opition.What makes me mad is ,federal and state maps shows there is cable and it not.These companies don’t know what reasonable is,especially for low-income people and rural

Chuck Warnock
12 years ago

I’ve recently upgraded to the Exede and the speeds are as promised. Unfortunately, the way they measure usage is jacked up. I get to my 15 Gb. in around a week, no matter if I don’t download anything. Recently a customer support rep told me it must by our smartphones, that we need to turn off the wifi when we get home. Unbelievable. No one is downloading anything and yet we still reach the 15Gb, even though we never reached the 1.5 Gb. under the old system. Then they slow you down. I installed two different third party apps to… Read more »

Scott
Scott
12 years ago
Reply to  Chuck Warnock

We have yet to see a metered internet provider’s equipment that is accurate or reliable to date. I’d recommend next time you’re taking a vacation or will be away from home that you turn off your router for 48hrs, make note of the days, then check your usage to see if anything is reported by Exede. If you get ok cellular signal in your home you could also disable WiFi on your phones, typical usage is only 200mb-1.2gb a month, but it’d be another way to rule those out. Seems other users have noticed questionable “leaking” of metered data as… Read more »

tony mercede
tony mercede
12 years ago
Reply to  Chuck Warnock

I am with you, I recently got throttled down to barely anything, couldn’t even open a web page! my data meter with the wild blue meter showed 130 GB but it never reset from day 1 but they told me that it was correct, and i must of talked to 10 different reps 2 months before they started throttling, about my meter not resting but they told me not to worrie that it wasn’t affecting my speeds, but i said what about when they start? I’ll be throttled right away with all this on the meter, and a week ago… Read more »

Wade
Wade
11 years ago
Reply to  Chuck Warnock

I was thinking about going with Exede, but after all the complaints. I’m staying with my Wireless Provider.

Brad H
Brad H
12 years ago

I just got hooked up with Exede because I had to switch from Hughesnet, because it was the worst for me. I paid $220 for lifetime lease of the equipment or it would have been $9.99 a month. Do it now or loose the benefit deal. I paid $49 for the install and $159 for the first part of one month and next month. I get 12Mbps d/l and about 3Mbps u/l. My gripe is not trusting the data tracking with Exede. I don’t know if the tracking of usage is accurate. Of course WildBlue says it is, but there… Read more »

tony mercede
tony mercede
12 years ago
Reply to  Brad H

YES- WB meter’s are running twice the data speeds i think or even triple its funny i can stay under my 3 gm cap on my cell phone tether, but when i had WB i was over the 15mb in 4 days. i am getting an attorney a class action one that can handle every state, I know for a fact they are ripping people off and their not going to get away with it! I AM SO TIRED OF GETTING SCREWED AND DOING NOTHING, THIS TIME I AM, So hold on people you’ll hear good news soon, I’m sure… Read more »

Brad H
Brad H
12 years ago
Reply to  tony mercede

Well, guess what? I got rid of WildBlue and Hughesnet and found Razzolink! Yea! Have you guys heard of WISP (Wireless Internet Service Providers)? Check them out by searching on Google and you might just get lucky so you can drop the junkie satellite service. But if you can’t then, it is what it is unfortunately. Anyhow, WISP are line of site connections to a Wireless Access Point (WAP) using microwave technology. My service is now 3Mbps download and 1.5 Mbps upload with UNLIMITED data usage and at $48 a month…I’m soooooo stoked! I don’t care about the slower speed… Read more »

Doug
Doug
10 years ago
Reply to  Brad H

Well, I have Exede satellite, with 12Mb/sec, and sometimes 25Mbs. I have had it for several months and it screams! Also, I use magicJack over it for my telephone. It works great! It’s a different frequency band than their old Wildblue satellite.

Jim
Jim
11 years ago
Reply to  tony mercede

I will happily Join in the lawsuit. I was a customer with Wildblue for years. The speeds they promise are not even close to reality. I called to cancel. I was not in contract. They gave me a 3 hour run around. I finally agreed to swith to Exede. It did not run from the minute it was installed. I called to get it resolved and got no where. It took three long phone calles to cancell. They are not trying to charge me fees for all sorts of stuff that are not valid. They ket charging my credit card… Read more »

Rick
Rick
11 years ago
Reply to  tony mercede

I am definitely interested in the class action suit
let me know

David
David
12 years ago

I am interested in participating. Please email suggestions for router meters.

Thanks,
– David

Lompoc, Ca
[email protected]

Gail
Gail
11 years ago

I have been using Wildblue for a couple years. i am lucky .. my 2 year contract runs out in 2 days. I got the scam email saying i was approaching the limit in bandwidth … although I haven’t changed anything I do on the internet for over a year. Anyway, they talked me into exceed. Just $20 or so more a month, for the same or a little better speed, and unlimited download (she said once) … double what I have she said once … I got confused. But whatever, it seemed that i would have better, faster or… Read more »

Brian
Brian
11 years ago

Like y’all I signed up to wildblue caused there wasn’t any dsl service where I live. And to tell the truth while it is better than dile-up it could be a lot better the bandwidth isn’t verry good but since I live out in the middle of nowhere it was the creepiest thing I could afford at the time. But now that verizion has the unlimited plan I haft to weight till the 2 year contract is up before I can get it and I know it’s better than what I’ve got because he brought his phone to my house… Read more »

Brian
Brian
11 years ago
Reply to  Brian

Sorry about the miss spells forgot to check on that.

Steve
Steve
11 years ago

I have been a wildblue customer for 9 years.Happy for the most part,living in a rural area .but for the last 2 months have been slowed down to dial up speeds. all I can say is that if there is a class action suite I am in also. these companies should not be allowed to limit our speed and bandwidth on the claims they have set fourth.My son is a network engineer and says there is no way that my wife and I could be using at the rate they claim for what we do on the computer.I will be… Read more »

Pamela
Pamela
11 years ago

Good morning all… Excede just came to our area and began advertising heavily in October. I’ve talked with sales reps several times now asking questions and have read up on nearly everything that I can get my hands on to make better, more informed decisions. I live in a rural community in southern Missouri and there is just nothing worth paying for here and why I am still on dial-up. The connection rates are miserable (19.2 kbps at this moment) and my computer locks up even just trying to access my email. I am really lucky to just be here… Read more »

Gary
Gary
11 years ago
Reply to  Pamela

Not sure what the cumotion is about, I was with wildblue for 10 years, I upgraded to viastat 6 months ago. Once I called to upgrade it took only 5 days for installer to arrive. I have fast speeds and work from home. Same price as I was paying before and only $50 to upgrade!

April
April
11 years ago
Reply to  Gary

Viasat and Wildblue is the same company.

Doug
Doug
10 years ago
Reply to  April

No kidding! But, a different frequency band (different satellite). It is very fast, consistently. I have had both, and am completely happy with viasat!

Gary
Gary
11 years ago
Reply to  Pamela

By the way Pam, I live in south east Missouri and have a home office.

James R Bivins
James R Bivins
11 years ago

I have had 30 techs at my house since feb. and alot and I mean alot downtime with the old and new system.I still have freezing all the time.It had been moved from one place to another and so I hate it.

James R Bivins
James R Bivins
11 years ago
Reply to  James R Bivins

Wildblue and Visat its what I talking about.

IGolf
IGolf
11 years ago

You’ll be sorry if you get ViaSat. I bought it and the salesperson didn’t even bother to tell me that there are data limits. Only 10 days into the month and we’ve exceeded our data limit so we got an email saying they were slowing our speeds down and the email practically scolded us for our Internet usage saying that we should “monitor our usage” and that they “reserve the right to further restrict [our] service if [our] usage becomes excessive.” “Excessive”?! So I called and spoke to one rude person who got me to a reasonable person who explained… Read more »

James R Bivins
James R Bivins
11 years ago

They want and have control over services,so they can push up the cost.All the ads they put out is false ads,so they can get the person under the 2-year contract or no contract,they still get you for the cost.This means to the companies,the customers are always wrong.They slow down the speeds when they want too.

Sharon Arnold
Sharon Arnold
11 years ago

All we want is to be contacted by someone. My husbands’ email, set up thru Wildblue will not work, and we have attempted to call and chat. many times….if I want to wait 27 minutes or longer, I will be put “next in line”….OR their system is down and I could contact them later. I eventually wrote a detailed letter to the MANAGEMENT. Obviously, they do not care either, since 3 weeks have gone by and still no response! We need to cancel the email NOW.

James R Bivins
James R Bivins
11 years ago
Reply to  Sharon Arnold

I had Viasat/Wildblue,the old and new system and it ,all started in end of 2011 and got rid of in Jan 2013.Between the old and new,I know I had over 50 tech at my home and just to say,I have wish I never got.They dont care about the customers,as long they can make their money and the false ads on all their service.When I had terminated the contract in Jan 2013,I still had to pay the temination fee and the system was still not working.I am in rural area where it is hard to get fast service in my area,like… Read more »

Pymm West
Pymm West
11 years ago

Well it’s been a year since my upgrade to viasat and we now have 15gigs per month @ $59.99 with free downloading on weekends between 12:00 to 5:00 am. Have had no service problems, speeds are good and dependable. I got my service thru Holmes Satellite in Tylertown,Ms and it’s billed thru bowie-cass electric in Douglasville,Tx. I agree with what Phillip said about rural options, more is better. But here satellite is my only option and I’ll take it. Comparing cap costs with wireless phone providers our exede service is priced better but probably slower than 4g. Phillip no doubt… Read more »

Wade
Wade
11 years ago

Sounds like to me ViaSat/WildBlue needs a good reaming themselves. They need to get their collective asses sued off if you ask me!!!!!

Raymundo Maldonado
Raymundo Maldonado
11 years ago

I just got wild blue and i pay $39.95 per month. Thanks to the recovery act I didnt pay for installation and the equipment is not rented to me for $9.99. I wanted 10.3 gb per month and thanks to the recovery act i get 20 gb per month. My speed was supposed to be 1 mbps but i get to see videos with no buffering at all. I love this service so far.

bill robbins
bill robbins
10 years ago

I have the been reading about the gripes about exede not being what they expected it to be .if you want movies get dish network or direct t v I have had my exede since Nov. of last year and i would recommend it to anyone I got my system from a local dealer and I haven,t had to call them once it has never went out .when i signed up it was installed 2 days later it sounds like some systems have not been installed right to begin with I live in northwest ALede. if anyone wants to know… Read more »

Doug
Doug
10 years ago
Reply to  bill robbins

Amen!!! I love mine too!! Can’t believe all of the bitching about it! You would think that everybody expects cable bandwidth! I don’t think anybody realizes how expensive satellites are, and the technology to run them.

Daniel Robbins
10 years ago

I have beena cable high speed Internet user since the start but sincei moved up in the mountains I’ve had to switch to satellite Internet. Wow! I’m not only paying twice much now, for their 12 mb I got a 15 gb cap which always runs out in 4 days. Even with Comcast I never usually went past 20gb in the WHOLE month of 2 heavy users. It’s a rip off. Upon calling I get the Ho and hum that never satifies my complaints.

Terri
Terri
10 years ago
Reply to  Daniel Robbins

I’ve always had the suspicion that Exede’s measuring of my usage is faulty. How would I know this? My usage consists mainly of emails and some downloading of Word documents. We are not on the computer on a daily basis. My entire family is at work/school/sports until 7 or 8 each night. My kids are not allowed to use youtube or download anything, and there is no computer usage on weekdays for the kids. My husband does look at weather radars from time to time. We’ve even stopped hooking our phones up to wifi. What the heck is eating our… Read more »

Dean Martin
Dean Martin
10 years ago

I live in the mountains of California. At first, I had Hughes. It barely ever worked and cost a LOT! Then I heard about Wildblue, switched and was happy. But their data caps were low and they had no better plan other than to buy a 2nd dish just for my wife, which I did. This went on for years. Finally, they introduced Exede. While there were several cancelled appointments (or even no-shows) by their techs, we finally got fairly good service. Highest DL rate I’ve ever recorded is about 18mb/sec. A few things- we don’t watch a lot of… Read more »

David Uhl
David Uhl
10 years ago

VIASAT/WILDBLUE SUCK!!! WHEN I CAN CANCEL MY MEMBERSHIP I WILL AND THEY’LL NEVER GET ANOTHER DIME OUT OF ME AGAIN! THEY MAKE ME SICK! STEALING PPLS HARD EARNED MONEY! THEM BASTARDS!! THEY ARE THE SHI**IEST EXCUSE FOR BROADBAND INTERNET I HAVE EVER SEEN!! YOU BETTER GET BETTER SERVICE BEFORE SOMEONE/I CALL THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU ON YOUR ASS!! HEED MY WORDS!!

Rich
Rich
10 years ago

Here are my experiences with Exede/WB: I’ve had nothing but problems with you people. 1.Your customer service is rude blaming me every time something goes wrong even if its their fault. Near every time they try to pass the blame on me and say it’s my fault even if it’s their fault. 2. Your service is rarely ever stable. I’ve had three outages in two days, more than five in two weeks. I was promised stable, super fast service and I haven’t gotten it. What’ I’ve gotten is throttled and blamed every time when it wasn’t ever my fault, as… Read more »

Frank Gau
Frank Gau
10 years ago

We changed from a slow provider to Wild Blue over three years ago. It worked OK but wasn’t much faster. You could download large files after midnight with no extra charges. That was the only good thing about WB. Several months ago, a repairman came out from WB and notified us that EXEDE now owned WB and was much faster. I ordered the upgrade and he installed a new dish and sattellite. It worked OK and was somewhat faster than WB. After about a month, it started slowing down. We called Exede and they sent out a new repairman who… Read more »

Douglas Brown
Douglas Brown
10 years ago
Reply to  Frank Gau

Frank Gau, Just because you had this experience, it doesn’t justify labeling Exede a bad product. And, it is definitely not grounds for a lawsuit, that’s silly! It sounds like either the TRIA (that thingy on the end of the dish), or the modem itself was bad. I have had Exede for several years now, and never have a problem with speed, and I also use apple products occasionally. I think a good technician is worth his weight in gold, and you obviously needed one. If you are thinking about Hughesnet, I wouldn’t advise it. They have the WORST, fair… Read more »

John Dorian
John Dorian
10 years ago

I disagree that satellite will always have it’s downside. the only downside really is greed. I mean give me unlimited internet at 5mps as oppose to 20 gig limit at 10mpbs. Or SOMETHING. They are just upping the speeds and not the caps. I agree thou that “hard wired” will always be better but that’s no excuse to provide an inferior product for a higher price and accept government money. They are in the business of taking advantage of people who have no other choice. And since they have partnerships with the cable companies there is no incentive for cable… Read more »

jeffrey black
jeffrey black
10 years ago

Terrible service, complained after 2 days and they charged me $278 early term fee. Then after speaking to over 10 different people they lied to me about the refund

Obviously I am not the only one after reading this page and also the BB

http://www.bbb.org/denver/business-reviews/internet-access-provider/viasat-in-englewood-co-9036631/complaints

John dorian
John dorian
10 years ago

This article is still relevant. But i’d like to add that the government gave them A LOT of money to provide internet to rural areas. Money which should have been given to fiber optic or cable companies. Sure they used the money and they FINALLY have speeds that are some what comparable to those options. BUT WHAT GOOD IS FASTER SPEEDS IF YOU JUST REACH YOUR CAP QUICKER. it would be like spending billions to build a train that can go 1000 mph but then only giving them half a mile of track. Yeah okay fine i have internet where… Read more »

John Dorian
John Dorian
10 years ago

And i’d like to add on that the “fair access policy” the data for that was based on CELL PHONES not on COMPUTERS!

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