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Review by CMoore2004 
UPDATED: 1.9 years ago
member for 5.9 years, 1197 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Jonesville,Hillsdale,MI
 Contract price not specified.
 "Broadband speeds, pretty reliable, networkable equipment"
 "Occasional outage, fair access policy"
 "A decent alternative to real broadband."
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Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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I've had this several months now and wasn't real impressed. In january I got about 700kbit down when they installed it. After a while I noticed that it was really slow and it stayed that way several months. I don't believe it to be DirecWay's fault, though. I ran websetup and found out it was actually registry problems with the networking configuration. At times I can get almost 2 mbit down and the claimed 64kbit upstream, but only at off-peak times when I haven't been using the system much. I have heard that the reason my system suddenly quits working at times is because of static, but unplugging and plugging back in the modems seems to solve the problem temporarily, while being an inconvenience. The NOC weather combined with MY weather seems to cause several outages a week. They do have online 24/7 support and I've never had to wait long, although they sometimes treat me as if I have no idea what I'm doing and don't understand when I say I've already done it, I REALLY DID DO IT. I run an (linux) IRC server and help out on another IRC network, I'm a tech aide at school, and they tell me how to restart my computer. It is a nice feature, but they should allow you to choose your computer skills or something. The months of poor service can not be blamed on DirecWay as I think it was my network settings in my registry. Don't edit them if you don't know what you're doing. It's got very high latency and I have to try connecting to MSN Messenger Service at least twice before it works, while the latency is also a problem in gaming. DirecWay advertised me no actual speed, but I'm the basic home user. The install was hell. The technician who did it was a nice guy, and the support representatives said over the phone there would be NO more charges. He gets here and tells us about the fee JUST to come out here, then it's more to do a drop ceiling. If it happens to you, don't get pissy with the installation man, it's DirecWay's fault they have people working on commission. The IP isn't routable, which sucks for file transfers. It's networkable, just not easily and requires a "host" (server). Overall, better than dial-up but nowhere near as great as cable. The FAP policy sucks. If anything they should do monthly bandwidth FAP.
Update
01/24/2007
We upgraded to a DW6000 modem several months ago and have had a much better experience than we did with the DW4000. Not only is there a noticeable performance increase, but it has built-in networking capabilities and doesn't require a "host" PC or Internet Connection Sharing. This works great, since I almost never use the desktop. My speeds are generally 800kbps to 1mbps during off-peak times, and I don't see anything slower than 400kbps during peak times. Overall, I'm much more satisfied with the service than I was before, but if you read the satellite forum you'll see results like mine aren't all that common. It seems to be hit and miss, but I got lucky this time. On another note, I'm on the edge of a Sprint EVDO area and I'm very impressed with my connection card. When they add the Sprint equipment to the Nextel tower that's staring me down every morning, I'll be switching over because of the lack of a FAP, more consistent speeds, and customer service that puts Hughes to shame.
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