All:

Living out here in the boondocks (so I can plant a tower and grow a credible aluminum microwave array) my internet options are dialup, verizon, and satellite.

Verizon was unreliable (couldn't stay connected; had to reset the device several times an hour), so gave up.

Looked at satellite, considered Wild Blue. Then heard bad things about them. Then they no longer served my area.

Went with Hughes, which was OK for a year or so, then fell on their sword. Paying for 1mb downloads, getting 200K to 700K. Most emails have to be "sent" several times before getting through without some kind of error -- which does not happen when I take the same laptop on the road and connect through a hotel network. I've been working with Hughes "customer service" since October --unsatisfactory: -- they have not been able to improve things for more than a couple of hours -- they cannot deviate from the script, and want to blame my router -- even when it is out of circuit -- they have difficulty with the language -- they are unwilling or unable to connect me to a higher level of tech support

So, Hughes is about to become history.

I've recently learned about a new satellite service called "exede", which I've traced to Wild Blue under a new name. They claim up to 12Mb download rates, but have a total capacity cap -- which appears to be well beyond my average daily use. (I only busted Hughes' daily limit once in 3 years, when I installed WindersXP on a new machine and had to get all the service packs and security "fixes".)

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience, good or bad, with exede/WildBlue. Please respond direct, off list, to wb4gcs@amsat.org

To list members and operators: thanks for indulging brief, off-topic but related, info.

Very 73, Jim wb4gcs@amsat.org