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ComplaintsBoard
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12:00 am EDT

WildBlue Communications, Inc. WildBlue's ripoff FAP policy and throttled connections

Wildblue’s satellite technology limitations, the “bent pipe” as it is called coupled with Wildblue’s desire to make sure that the bottom line is maximized.

The “bent pipe” if you can imagine the USA as one large rolled piece of cookie dough with one little round cookie cutter knocking out pieces as close together as possible so as to not waist any dough. That’s the “bent pipe” this technology limits the number of users per circle. Now, to overcome the limitations they “Wildblue” have perpetrated a fraud upon paying subscribers with the so called FAP policy “pure spin”. This policy has been instituted only to cover up the out right theft of paid for bandwidth. Yes that’s what I said theft; you are punished for efficient uses of you’re paid for subscription package by “Throttling” your connection. What is “throttling” you say. The bandwidth that you are supposed to get is stolen from you so they can squeeze in a few more paying subscribers all under the guise of FAP “Fair Access Policy”. This “throttling” of your connection is basically choking it to less than 1/3 of what you pay for. Their supposed 512 kbps down and 128 kbps up package rate is cut to 125 kbps down and an unbelievable 23 to 25 kbps UP! Hell, you can’t even upload a small text file to your favorite website, I’ve tried. Hardly better than dialup because of the severely choked UP rate. Their technicians refer to this as “a FAP condition”. If you pay for a 512 kb pipe then that is your limitation, neither DSL nor Cable choke their connections this way. By downloading or uploading only a few files, to much surfing, and deleting the files stored in your browsers cache requiring the re-loading of a web page or web sites that you visit. All these things can cause you to easily exceed these ridiculous limitations. Your bandwidth is taken from you for 30 days or more. All the while you get to pay for bandwidth you can’t use. They ignore your requests to cancel service and try to sell you more expensive packages instead. Half of their helpdesk people can’t answer a technical question and their favorite response is to have you call into their main number so you can be put on hold for 30 minutes or so. Don’t even think about WildBlue as a high speed access choice.

WildBlue wants you to use “ www.toast.com and www.testmy.com “ test sites for determining your connection speed however, these test sites use small packets, these small packets will falsely indicate your connection speed. A better test would be www.speakeasy.com/speedtest there large packets are used to test your true connection speed. Why large packets; the internet is a high bandwidth “pipe” using large amounts of data “large packets” so only test at sites witch transfer large packets. Sending a mouse down a small pipe may work try sending a rabbit, your connection gets choked. Once again Wildblue puts “SPIN” on their explanations to trick you into thinking wow they are looking out for me. Nothing could be further from the truth they are out to deceive their customers so they can increase their bottom line by crowding their “pipes” with more users than their “bent pipe” technology is designed to handle. By the use of “throttling” WildBlue can re-distribute unused bandwidth to even more paying customers.

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ladypearl2138
Cardington, US
Jul 07, 2013 3:39 pm EDT
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First our installers installed our dish wrong. broken seal, had to deal with lag / no connection for months until they sent someone out to fix it. Installer did not run enough cable, nor explained anything to us.

Now we are ALWAYS over our GB's a month and we hardly use the internet anymore. 15gb's in 2 days? where? how? we are paying 79-100$ a month for no internet, ( YEA THE PRICES VARY MONTH TO MONTH?) I have to use a friends internet 90% of the time. IT IS THE 7TH AND WE ARE OVER, we wont reset until the 20th! LETS not even mention when bad weather comes threw, never fails "connection lost" forums are cluttered with complaints, have reset modems at least 100 times, false usage etc...

SICK OF this. this company takes advantage of people who have no other options when it comes to internet! you are better off with dial up! NO JOKE!

ExedeZac
ExedeZac
Davenport, US
Jul 08, 2013 2:15 pm EDT
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Hello ladypearl2138.
I would like to assist you with your issues as I do understand you are having concerns with your data usage and installation. We can definitely work to get this corrected as we do appreciate your business. I would love the opportunity to assist you with your concerns. Will you please send me an email to wildbluelistens@viasat.com with your name, phone number and a good time to contact you. Please be sure to mention you posted from Complaints Board too to help expedite a resolution for you. Thank you!

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danneace
Tellico Plains, US
Mar 03, 2013 10:49 am EST

I have had Wildblue since May of 2017. At first is seemed ok but not as fast as my phone line DSL. After a few months Wildblue reared it's ugly head and the problems began. Since last September I bet I have reset my modem at least 100 times. Sometimes several times a day but at least 2-3 times a week. I have not had uninterrupted service for more than a week in a row without encountering service problems. When you call customer service they all tell you to reset the modem. Well, that is their issue and I should not have to solve their problem for them. If there was an alternative I would ditch them in a heart beat and pay the penalty. Of course they know you have no choice and they are the last resort which is why their service stinks. Pay up or do without is their company mantra and it stinks and so do they.

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triple777
Williston, US
Sep 19, 2011 2:45 am EDT
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They have a daily cap when traffic is high they will push the disconnect button to try and stop your browsing session, this seems to occur when you are streaming video during your session. All these people complaining about having to unplug the modem works but only temp until they disconnect you again. I've had Wildblue for 23 months, everyday problems, I can say it isn't even worth having if you do any type of streaming. Not worthy except for video free web browsing and email and occasional downloads, thats it. And if you think the new SAT is going to get you a sweet deal, think again! This company is waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy crooked!

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Not Content
Riverside, US
Jan 06, 2010 4:43 am EST

BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID!
Avoid the stress and tether your cell phone as a USB modem it is much faster and cheaper.
Or drive to a FarceBucks and use their WiFi, or use your 1980's dial up for comparable speed.
Or respect our Amerindians and learn smoke signals to communicate, or just talk face to face.
But DO NOT fall victim to this company's false claims of fast speed through a satellite.

When it is 2AM and a 22MB file transfer takes 2 hours, that is less than dialup speed!

NO OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE YOU WORKING SERVICE
Naturally the slow speeds are proven after signing the contract and believing the WildBlue sales claims. But you cannot do anything about a refund or otherwise. You have to pay for the full contract term. If you cancel service, they charge you for the 2 years at that time. Scammed, they won.
If the service is down for a week or a year, you still pay and have no recourse, they are not obligated to provide any network service levels to you at all.

BBB STILL SHOWS THEM ACCREDITED
The BBB (Better Business Bureau) site shows thousands of complaints, even after the BBB recently and generously reset the previous complaint count for them, knows how high it was before. Most of the complaints we still see documented were just closed without any resolution? Yet the BBB still lists them as "Accredited".
Maybe there is another reporting service we can rely on for the truth of the complaint volume.

NO SUPPORT
Technically they do have an 800 number to call in to, but that is it.
Yes also technically you have a satellite network installed at your house too. But whether it works, or doesn't, and at what speed is not their problem to support.

1) Everyone eventually realizes the service is slow and problematic about every other day.
If you don't believe yourself, most home firewall systems or browsers can track the speed from the firewall through WildBlue's "network" to anywhere and you can prove to WildBlue it is them, and not your PC or the entire web. But the support line will argue with you as if it is your PC.

2) After an hour of frustration, you win the waiting game and they finally agree with you -- but just say, "We do not guarantee any service levels or networks speeds, sorry." (click).

3) It is one thing for another "American" company like WildBlue to demonstrate their U.S. loyalty by outsourcing IT support jobs abroad so their customers can enjoy rude incoherent-English, but to not even support you, or be accountable for providing anything for your money is normally considered criminal (outside of politics).

4) What is also NOT disclosed in the contract, but discovered when you call to report slow speed, is that you can only be "supported" if you install their special optimizer software on each machine that will try to be using their "network service". After that if you have problems, as mentioned above, they say we are not required to deliver any service levels or speeds or uptime. Sorry. (click).

SPECIAL SOFTWARE?
For most users and especially remote business workers installing software other than your network drivers you already have is not only an impossible security authorization to get approved for install, but as an IT professional this is not even needed. Besides who needs another product in the mix to have problems with.

This software ends up mostly being a support, accountability and confusion stall tactic. Or it is basically just some compression software to make you think your surfing faster by compressing and/or caching what you have received, or it builds or caches a table of places you've been to avoid looking up the names again to make it seem faster. More proof that the speeds are not real.

Which means if you cannot install the software for security reasons and DO call support, and CAN waste an hour or so proving they are slow; you have to have build a dedicated system just for WildBlue Support to get them to admit it is their service and not your PC. After rebooting the placebo machine they worked on speeds magically starts working again.

But the transfer speed on the machine that you were using before you called are also faster, and you did nothing to it, nor even rebooted it. This really means that your support call is only an escalation to temporarily open up the network pipe for you that has been oversold by WildBlue to too many customers, to close out the issue and blame your system needing a reboot. Tag you're it again, but working after an hour of hassle.

INSTALLERS
The local sub-contracted installers WildBlue finds and hire scam you into an ugly pole on the ground so they shorten the flat rate install time that WildBlue pays them. Or they try to charge you $300 extra for running the wiring in the attic instead of across the windows outside your house and drilled in through the walls at their convenience.
You have to be savvy on installation stuff to argue with them on what can be done to avoid the extra charges and brackets they say are not part of the deal. If you tell them you will take the 5 minutes and run their wire yourself to avoid the $300 attic charge (which I had to do, since WildBlue sales tells everyone the Installation is all FREE!). They did not gouge me for the attic fees since I ran the wire myself. But they did gouge my stucco out front with a large black wire clamp placed every 3" on my beige stucco wall to hold down the wires. It is beyond ugly. But hey, if the West Coast ever gets Hurricanes I can count on the ground wire still being attached to that part of the stucco wall as the house flies apart.

WHAT ABOUT HUGHESNET?
Well, just re-read this and replace WildBlue's name with HughesNet, Direct (owned by Hughes).
Seriously use a cell modem tether (384Kb) or a dial up (56Kb). If someone is reading an email or two once a week it might be great for your great grandma, but a waste of money for just that.

For the rest of us in America that are indirectly forced to rely on network connectivity for our jobs and communication and need reliable 256Kb bandwidth, just give up on Satellite.

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badbanjo
Greensboro, US
Jan 04, 2010 10:14 pm EST

I just returned from visiting my parents in Colorado. They signed up with Wildblue and were told they had purchased a .5mb service. The download speeds they are receiving are .04mb off peak (11:30 pm to 5:00 am per Wildblue customer service) and .012 during peak times. I called Wildblue while visiting and was told that they should never expect to see .5 mb and that .2 would be exceptional. They did say that if the service were upgraded to a more expensive service they would get a faster connection. No definition or guarantee of connection speed if they pay another $20 and month. I have done some research on the BBB website as well as site like this. I firmly believe that Wildblue is a company that everyone should stay away from. The only reason to use this service would be if you do not have landline phone service, do not have cellular service, and can afford $60 a month to send email. My parents have cellular service at their house and were told that the satellite service was faster. Wildblue is preying upon our friends and family that are less savvy. Please do all you can to spread the word and prevent anyone else from being taken advantage of.

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Anonymous
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Nov 09, 2008 6:12 pm EST

There is no real easy solution yet to getting internet in rural areas and there are so many different reasons why people exceed their limit on the Wild Blue network. One cm0mon mistake I see constantly as a tech is an unsecured wireless network. Essentially this allows anyone within range (your neighbors) of your wireless router to have access to your network and tax the allotted download limit by your Wild Blue Internet provider. This is easily fixed by securing your wi-fi network with an SSID. All the latest routers support this function so look in your manual or ask some questions online on how to activate this function.
Another problem I often see is when there is a computer savvy Teen or Adolescent in the house. They can easily delete the content. cookies and history of the websites they have recently visited and make it appear to the lay-person as if no activity has occurred on the computer. There are many ways to monitor your connectivity and some routers can actually be set so that they limit both the amount of bandwidth and data that is being used by any specific ip. address. You can also restrict web pages or view what sites have been accessed. This can be a helpful tool provided your savvy teen does not have access to the router via your password. Software also exists to monitor what goes on your computers browser but this can easily be sidestepped when a new browser is installed. I have seen cases where the new browser was completely hidden from view hidden even from the typical directories and in one case actually installed on a separate usb hard drive. The latter two of these cases are rare yet still occur.
That being said there are obvious flaws to satellite internet. If your dish is not peaked correctly you will have signal degradation. Older antennas and or improper cabling can cause various other problems. There have been some large leaps to correct this problem by implementing stricter pointing/installation procedures and as the technology advances it will become cheaper. The newer Ka band satellites (and the proprietary ones that the government uses) have a monstrous download and upload capacity. The difference is their bandwidth is not dispersed amongst millions of individual homes. The solution is relatively easily fixed by sending more high yield Ka band satellites into orbit. And it is still comparatively much cheaper to do this than run millions of feet of copper cable to people in rural areas. This is why satellite communications is where we are all headed.
We are not there yet and the people who do buy in to satellite communications are spearheading the way for everyone else. The Wild Blue and Hughesnet satellite internet providers are still going through some growing pains but have some promising projections for the future.
All things aside the technology on either of these two companies is not meant for heavy downloads as of now because of the data cap in place due to the Fair Access Policy (FAP) that is implemented by both. However there is a difference in the way they go about this and depending on your preference it might help you make your decision if you are considering one or the other.
Wild Blue has a monthly cycle on their data cap (or the amount you are allowed to download). This means that you can download freely until you reach your data cap for the month. For instance if you are downloading movies say from netflix you may do so freely until you reach that cap. Then your downloads are limited until the beginning of the next cycle.
Hughesnets Data cap is considerably smaller however they are on a daily cycle. So if you overtax your limit by mid day, your access will be restricted the remainder of the day. However you will have full access the following morning to your allotted data cap. There is also a window on the Hugesnet network from 11:pm to 2:am CENTRAL TIME where they open the floodgates on the amount of data you can download provided you have not previously gone over your data cap and have been restricted for the remainder of the day. If you have you will have to wait until your cycle resets which is basically midnight Central time. If you know how to schedule your downloads during this window it means you can download unrestricted during this time without the danger of going over your data cap.
It is important to note that the amount of data allowed varies per company and per plan so do the research and find out where you are and what you are getting with each package. Additionally bandwidth is particularly low during peak hours. This is no different than if you had the lowest rate plan of dsl.

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Bob
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Jun 21, 2008 8:25 pm EDT

This Wild Blue service is what I call " High Cost not High Speed" I have been using them for 2 1/2 years since I am on a farm with no hope for a high speed connection anytime soon. Dial-up was too slow and satellite seemed faster. Big issue is the latency issue for real time connections, the FAP limit, blocked service in bad weather and really bad tech support.

Recently I exceeded my upload limit by some accident that I still don't know what happened. The only answer I get from them is you are over your FAP limit, too bad for you. The first person said, I should take my PC to a repair shop to get it looked at. Gezzz thanks a bunch for your help I said. I went on and on with different people looking for an answer to how this could happen. After I was asked some pretty insulting questions regarding my knowledge of how my computer works I was told that my teenage son had caused it. Now that made me mad, since after this long we know how to use the system properly.

My big issue was if I exceeded the limit and you can't even tell me what kind of traffic was uploaded how can I believe you. I found no evidence on my PC to show what happened and they could not access the upload info themselves. Basically I went from my usual two years of a 200 MB average upload to Exceeding 5000 MB in seven days, yes it went from from 200 MB to 5000 MB. I wanted answers and they couldn't say anything except thats too bad. No answers or help.

I am now limited so bad that I can't access my personal website without a reset. I can't send out anything in E-mail or I will just add to my upload issue. I don't trust their traffic monitor, and since this has happened I have been turning off the device to lower my usage yet, in 9 days time my upload graph has not changed. It is all too suspicious for me and they won't answer my technical questions.

I hold a degree in electronics and my son is attending college for networking and networking security. I guess this company figures they can milk you for all they can and think we are all too dumb to see the fraud. I hope this warns potential customers not to use Wild Blue.

Sincerely;
Bob

Chehalis, WA

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Shanna McKee
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Jan 17, 2008 7:45 am EST

Mike -
Thank you for fully explaining what was going on! I couldn't get a straight answer out of Wild Blue, although one of their technicians (on yet another 2-3 hour service call) did hint that there were FCC security blocks on data sharing across their satellite.

I KNEW ping tests were only a bite and argued with the company at length over this issue. Any secured socket layer I tried to access was immediately bogged down to an 8-10 minute load IF it loaded at all... this includes normal everyday internet use such as online shopping and payment, online banking, sharing photos thru photo books and the like.

Wild Blue's answer is to charge ME $95.00 for an onsite service call!
They refuse to cancel their contract and continue to bill be at the rate of $79.95/mo!

TOTAL SCAM!
Consumers beware!

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CharlieJ
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Jul 08, 2007 5:44 pm EDT

After seeing nearly a hundred posts regarding WildBlue - and NOT ONE of them positive - I have to thank ALL of you for posting about your experiences. I live in a rural area of NC - 15 miles from the place where former President Clinton stood and said we would have "rural broadband" within two years. BTW, that was nearly EIGHT years ago (typical of Clinton promises).

Anyway, the ONLY two choices I have for faster than dial-up Internet are: HughesNet and WildBlue. Now, I have learned from reading these posts that neither is worth the cost or hassle. I guess I'll have to stay with dial-up for another couple of years.

THANKS for your time and information.

ComplaintsBoard
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12:00 am EST

WildBlue Communications, Inc. Advertised service not provided!

I have had Wildblue service since about March 2006. It was great for 3 months but then curiously began to lag. It is now FREQUENTLY slower than my dialup in the afternoons, if I even get a signal at all. I get reasonable connections in the wee hours--go figure, everyone else is sleeping. My opinion is that they have oversold service on the beam that I am on, which serves one of their most--if not THE most--populous service areas.

If you can tolerate the uneven level of service, fair number of outages, and it's your only other choice besides dialup, well... just be aware of what you're in for. Possibly new customers will see better service if you sign up after March 2007 when their new satellite is put into service. Us existing customers are SOL since their apparently is no plan to move us over to the new satellite to cut down on congestion.

As far as customer service, I've called several times. Never had too long a wait to get to a tech, techs are always friendly, but they don't appear to have a lot of knowledge or tools at their disposal for helping customers. They have never provided me with a good (or honest) explanation about why my connection speeds vary so dramatically throughout the day.

Even though my employer reimburses me for my monthly Wildblue charges, I am still considering NOT renewing my contract when it is up in a few weeks. It's just too damn frustrating to deal with. At least dialup is consistent.

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LWCA
Suffolk, US
Jul 23, 2010 9:59 pm EDT

WildBlue is no longer reg with BBB. They have a grade letter of D to where Hughes Net has a grade letter of A+. If anyone could find a way of getting out of the contract without paying a high price, please let me know.

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Brent
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Apr 04, 2008 7:50 am EDT

I have been paying WildBlue for 7 months now and have had connectivity for maybe 10-12 hours TOTAL. I have never been treated so rudely by "customer service", ever! I have been hung up on 33 times and have spent more time on hold then I have on the internet. I am going to take a different route, I am going to continue to pay them and continue to copy my chats and phone calls and when I cancel my contract at the end of our year agreement. I am going to sue WildBlue and will get every dime back from installation to monthly payments. Once I am done collecting that I am going to add hours I've spent trying to amicably work this out with WildBlue and charge them MY rate, which I assure you will stagger their puney little pathetic minds! Please everyone take the time to report them to the better business burea and tell everyone you know that WildBlue is nothing more than a scam.

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Tracy
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Mar 11, 2008 7:28 pm EDT

I highly agree. Their service was actually pretty good for the first 10 months, then began to lag significantly. My 1 gig service at times was running at only 70 kpbs. I also found that my power receptacle on the modem was loose, only to find that a 'service call' was required in order to get my wararnty service. Oh yeah, did I mention that a 'service call' costs $100? What a ripoff. Alltel is now offering 3G via cell towers, and I am switching to that in 2 months.

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Rafael Novo
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Mar 10, 2008 10:44 am EDT

I agree with all complaints they are terrible, the tech reps are not knowledgable at all. now with this google change over for email I can not send or receive email since feb. 22 and I got no answer to the multiple emails I sent, I'm dumping them NOW

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Debra Kepiro
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Jan 10, 2008 4:29 pm EST

I strongly agree with all the complaints against WildBlue. They claimed (and still do) "lightning fast connections, always on, no more delays" and living in an area where DSL is not available the salesperson really sold me on the package. Paid $289 for equipment and 23 days later my installer showed up. From day one I have never, ever experienced fast internet. I was told if I upgraded to the pro package that would solve the speed problem. It proved to be slightly faster than our old dial-up. One-third of the time we could not even connect. It became a joke that a butterfly must have landed on the dish. I would call and be put on hold for so long I would give up. I would voice a complaint and be put on hold. I actually waited on hold for one hour and twenty minutes once. We simply quit using internet as much as we used to. After many, many phone calls and complaints and six months later, the system went totally down. Called service and was told that they would schedule a servicecall for us at a cost of $95.00 and perhaps they could get there in three weeks. That was it...I called and informed their retention department that I was cancelling and of course they said absolutely not, you have a contract and you must pay the remainder months. I am trying to warn others...stay away from this company. They do NOT care about service after the sale !

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Diane Bruers
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Jan 07, 2008 12:01 pm EST

I agree with all the complaints i see here concerning Wildblue.
My speed does not even match the lower package that they offer and i am on the medium package. My big complaint is that they want to charge me for someone to come and bring me up to the speed that i am paying for. Its like saying we are screwing you each month by not suppling you with what we sold you now let us stick it to you some more by having someone come out and fix that.. I would rather have dial-up.

DB

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Dick Easton
Idlewild, US
Jul 08, 2007 12:12 pm EDT
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I have to STRONGLY agree with what I see posted here! There is nothing but dial-up in my area so when I heard WildBlue could give me DSL I jumped on it !

WHAT A WRONG MOVE! I have not even had it a month yet, and it flat don't work !

It worked about 3 days, then went to screwing up if on more than 3 hours. now it doesn't work at all! I have called support twice and while they seem nice, all they can do is tell me to unplug it & try again, reboot my computer, run a new virus scan, and crap like that.

Then they tell me they will report it and I should hear in 24 business hours . DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH! They never call, service only gets worse, and now I can NOT get on at all! Thank god I still had my dial-up service that I am on NOW or I could not be here at all!

I have not had them long enough to get the first credit card bill, but I am going to call Visa and tell them not to pay! This is crazy! I sure won't pay for service I can NOT have !

Damn, I had to buy a router and a wireless thing for my computer that they don't provide and then find out they can't give the service they were supposed to provide!

In short: DO NOT GO WITH WILDBLUE! IT FLAT DON'T WORK!

ComplaintsBoard
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12:00 am EST

WildBlue Communications, Inc. Mispresented product!

I had Wildblue Internet installed at my home 7 months ago. The service has never functioned properly. I have problems getting any internet service on a regular basis, and am constantly finding I cannot send or receive emails. After 7 months of constant complaining and troubleshooting with Wildblue, the company is still unable to fix the problem. I want out of my contract and they refuse, indicating I am responsible for paying for the last 5 months of the contract. The company has far from lived up to its promises in its contract. Most recently, I called the company about 3 weeks ago and said I wanted to cancel and it is no longer authorized to take money from my account. Guess what? They took money again two days ago without authorization to do so. I recently loaded dial up on my computer. It's faster than Wildblue's supposedly fastest package. I have filed complaints with the Federal Trade Commission and the BBB, and this company simply does not care!

DO NOT GET INVOLVED WITH THIS COMPANY. IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS WITH THE SERVICE, YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN!

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Katherine George
Challenge, US
Apr 08, 2011 12:48 am EDT
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stupid me I have had wildblue for 2 years. I hate it. it is slow. I have emailed the ceo the better bussness people. I call at lest once a month. They told me that for them to come out I have to pay them $95.00 for a service call. You know where I told them to go. It is sick that we have to pay $87.00 for slower then slow speed. On top of that there is no office to go to to talk to anyone just the phone and they can sure hang up on you. I can't afford to go with another service as it cost $300.00 to $400.00 just to try another one and I hear hughes net is not any better. These people are sick but then we all should drop them get a lawyer and sew them for the money we have to put out because of there lies

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ali__bloom
Creight, US
Apr 21, 2010 9:52 am EDT

we too suffer with paying for highest package and get 200-300kb should be getting 1500 upload of 3kbps yes you read that right! We have no other choice right now but to continue as we are in a rural area with no other internet options. When we bought our new computer the computer geek guys said that wildblue doesn't have enough satellites to handle the amount of customers that is why during peak hours we all have crappy internet. He told me not to expect it to get better only worse as they we not sending up anymore sat in the near future. I asked about hughs net and he said they have even less sat's like maybe 3 vs. 12 with wildblue. Until wildblue gets enough pressure to put up more sat's nothing will change with the speed issues. Federal Trade and BBB need to hear that you are paying for something and not getting it. Face it, our dollar needs to go farther these days not shorter. I haven't had customer service issues as our internet wildblue comes from a reseller and all issues go thru them.

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Arbalist444
Carnation, US
Apr 02, 2010 12:42 pm EDT
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So where is the Class action law suit i can join. I too got WB as i was told they were fast but I found the Download speed to be 20K and the upload avbout 10K That is worse than the dial up I started with years ago. DSL was far better even though kept losing my IP address.

I wrote WB the other dat but don't expect a reply from seeing all these complaints. So again why don't we have a class action law suit to get out of the contracts and reimbursed?

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Rick D
Springfield, US
May 15, 2009 11:34 am EDT

I had issues with Wildblue service. Poor customer service, uncaring, less than a call center robot. I cancelled my service after about a month of poor connectivity and slow speeds. I had their fastest service available. they had told me that it was comparable to DSL which it isn't. I closed the account that they would auto debit from and then cancelled the service after they had told me that I would NOT have to pay disconnect charges.
About 4 months after I got an invoice from them for the disconnection fee from a collection agency, I called Wild Blue (WONDER IF IT WILL WORK)and told them who I spoke to and they said they weren't authorized to offer that. I paid the charges reluctantly and 1 month after I paid the charges Wild Blue reported it as not paid on my credit report.
I logged a complaint with the BBB and got no satisfaction
NEVER USE THIS COMPANY !

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Todd
,
Nov 07, 2008 8:51 am EST

I'm actually shocked by the experiences of this post. I at one time became a authorized installer of Wild Blue and thus a Dealer. My problem wasn't getting the equipment to work, however it was getting equipment (the dish and router). I did however receive one set and installed it successfully. I check periodically with my customer and they have never had any issues. Obviously, if it is 'heavily cloudy', such as in a sever thunderstorm or winter snow storm, connectivity suffers. I'm curious how many of these installs have been done correctly. I find that the installers are typically those having experience setting up TV dishes. That does not qualify them alone.

Wild Blue has very strict specifications to follow for installation.

I have 13 years experience in Computer Support and thought it would be 'fun' to get the experience installing this technology. I now work for myself with my own company.

I'm looking to get back in with Wild Blue despite your experiences. (Although it has made me think twice.) I would suggest, if you are really serious about getting this to work, go back to Wild Blue and have them send someone directly from Wild Blue back out to get it installed correctly and demand them to 'restart' your contract. Have them deduct everything you've paid thus far on the last period and apply it to the next contract. For one, they would be interested in 'signing' a new contract, you should get qualified persons directly from WIld Blue. "Don't" accept anything but perhaps an installation instructor from Wild Blue.

Another thing you will need to acknowledge; make sure your computer is working properly. I mean it! If you have the ability, buy a new computer! Vista has issues, why not problems with Vista and Wild Blue? Additionally, if it were me, and I don't look to spend anymore money on a new computer, trust me, back up your files, and re-install your operating system.

Don't use the system restore programs built into your computer. These may install copies of Norton or McAfee together. Don't use SpySweeper. If you have someone work on your computer, do so with someone that does not use Norton! It is the number one reason I have as much buisness as I do. Norton does not protect your computer and further causes issues connecting to things like WIld Blue. I'd suggest using Trend Micro. If you've had Norton, remove it using Symantec's tool downloadable online.

I hope this helps, if you need to e-mail me, please do so, I'd be happy to give you a few more of my 2 cents.

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alex hogan
,
Oct 31, 2008 9:17 am EDT

I had WildBlue service for almost 3 years. During that time I never had the speeds that they claimed. The best performance I had was recorded through an online speed checking service as 364kbs. Far below the 1.5mb+ I was promised and was paying for.
However that is only a small part of my issue with WildBlue.

During the month of May of this year my service got sporadic. It would be on for an hour then would go off for anywhere from several hours to the entire day. This would repeat for the next couple days before I contacted WildBlue technical support.

Technical support took me through the basic reboot of the system and stated that they were unsure what the problem was and to call back. Upon calling back with my ticket number I was redirected to another support individual that stated, "We're unable to identify what the problem is. You need to schedule an onsite service call."

When I asked how much the onsite service call was I was told that since my initial 2 year service contract was up it would be, "$120.00 for the service call and $199.00 for parts.., or I could sign another service agreement and the service call would only be $120.00 with no charge for parts."

Frustrated I grudgingly agreed to the later of the two fees and scheduled the service call.
The service call date came and went with no contact from WildBlue or the service technician.

A week after the intended service call date I received a call from a technician that claimed to work for WildBlue and wanted to reschedule the service call stating that I wouldn't have to wait the two weeks I had waited before for the service call date. I rescheduled the service call for the following week.

Three days after the second service call date when no one showed up or called I called WildBlue customer support and requested to talk with a manager. I was told that there weren't any managers at the call center location. When I asked how I could get in touch with a manager that I wanted to complain about the service and treatment I had received I was told that I could write to a PO Box address and that they didn't give out the phone number to the corporate headquarters.

I was also told by an operator who identified herself as Maria, "If you submit a complaint in writing I can't guarantee that your account won't be canceled."
During this time my credit card had been billed two months for service that I wasn't receiving.

I immediately asked for my account to be canceled. At this point I was transferred to a supervisor who confirmed the cancellation of my account.
Several days later I received a call from a WildBlue technician requesting to set up a service call date. I called customer support again and found out they had not submitted the service cancellation that I had requested days before and I restated that I wanted my service canceled.
This was in August.

This month, October, I received an email from WildBlue containing an invoice for last month's, September and this month's service charges in the amount of $166.76 which is consistent with two months billing of $83.38 which was my previous monthly amount. They state that unless I pay this amount in a timely fashion I will be reported to the credit bureaus.

They are effectively trying to charge me for the months of September and October after I canceled my service in early August. The bill for October $105.34.

I have registered complaints with the BBB and FTC. They have neglected to respond. I have logged my complaint on [redacted].com and will continue to file complaints on every venue on the internet.

This is a company that needs to be put out of business.

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Chris
,
Aug 06, 2008 7:15 pm EDT

I purchased the highest package available from Wilblue, ProPak back in Feb. 08. Ever since then, it has been slow and losing connectivity in Sunny weather. We rarely have rain here so I don't understand how there's a signal problem arising out of nowhere. We were promised, both on the Phone, the Webpage and a technician that came to our house that we will get at least 1.5 MB/s download and 256 KB/s upload. So far I have never gotten past 150 KB/s. I tried calling WB and asking them why I don't get my speed. I explained to them that we were promised we'd get 1.5 MB/s. She said "We would never say anything like that." If Wildblue ever promises you something, get it in paper. The contract is void if Wildblue doesn't hold up their end of it. Sue the pants off of them.

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James Yarbrough,SR
Walnut Cove, US
Apr 10, 2008 8:47 pm EDT

I don't see how any other ISP could be as bad as wildblue. i got hooked up with wb only because i called DIRECT TV and they said wb was only one available in STOKES COUNTY, N.C. on 12-28-07 and was installed on 1-10-08. lost internet connection about 3-4 hours after hooked up. you are on hold as long as 2 1/2 hours just to talk to someone at wildblue then a lot of times you suddenly get a busy signal. wildblue even started charging my credit card and i never gave them them the number or told them to charge to it. They won't even tell me how they got the number, but i only gave the # to DIRECT TV on 12-28-07 to pay for total installation and equipment i needed for wildblue. then installer came on 1-10-08 had everything hooked up except modem when he asked me was i paying him by cash or check. i told him i'd already paid for complete installation and he said no you owe me $215.00 which i felt i had to in order to get hooked up. The installers name was WILLIAM BROOKS and he said he worked for DSI.

I beleive DIRECT TV;dsi and WILDBLUE should be investigated for conspiracy;CREDIT CARD FRAUD AND I'M SURE other things that is just not right. I have filed a complaint with BBB in DENVER, CO. AGAINST WILDBLUE.

I CAN NOT GET A INTERNET CONNECTION OVER 50 PERCENT OF THE TIME. . I'M GOING TO WAIT ABOUT 30 DAYS FROM FILING COMPLAINT AND THEN I'M GOING TO CLOSE ACCOUNT AT BANK SO WILDBLUE CAN NOT STEAL ANYMORE OF MY MONEY.

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the person
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Jan 10, 2008 11:02 pm EST

The reason you get so much lag on wb is becouse it is satalite. If nasa cant get a signal to L.E.O (low earth orbit), which is where the satalight is, what makes you think that wb is able to give you the same latency times as ground based lines that dont have one tenth of the distance to travel. Oh and you said that you didnt know about the download limits, how about this, READ YOU DAMN CONTRACT BEFORE YOU SIGN IT. Is it a new concept for you to read a binding contract before signing it. Good lord people dont be so ###ing stupid.

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Earnest J. Tilley
,
Jan 07, 2008 4:15 pm EST

If anyone out there is doing research on wild blue to see if you wont to switch to it DONT! Lag Lag Lag a dialup or dsl or cable internet get between .2 sec and .600 sec lag (time between you computer and the internet back) wildblue has never been below 1.8sec lag for me. The tech came out and said it was my computer that it dident have windows xp well guess what when i asked him to put his laptop on the internet and see if it was any faster with his windows xp laptop he said it wouldent work (how stupid do they think i am). I have 2 pc's both running windows 2000 i have taken them both over to a friends house that has cable internet and the lag is never, NEVER under .5 sec.
So DONT GET WILDBLUE INTERNET! EVER! I hear sprint and at&t have wireless internet that is 3mb a sec with no lag ill post again after my contract if sup with wildblue and let you know how well that one work.

Ps. They never told me there was a limit to how much you could download a month before they left with my signature on the paper!

ComplaintsBoard
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12:00 am EST

WildBlue Communications, Inc. Poor service and false advertising

I started service with WildBlue Communications, Inc. March 23 2006, went down 1st time 3/28 for 1 hour. Has went down 22 times since that I can document for hours. I was told by installer I would lose signal much less than my Dish TV I have lost TV signal 3 times since March for a total of 15 minutes. When you call tech support be prepared for a long wait and hangups. Then they will run the same tests every time with usually a excuse of weather problems (their end). Load times began to equal my 55k dialup speeds in June. Had a sevice call in 8/2/06 (went down 2 times after he left after doing repair). Had modem and dish replaced 8/8/06. Did not help speed or reliability.

I have asked 3 time to released from remaining 4 month contract. There answer was no! Do not go with WILDBLUE RIPOFF. I have contacted BBB, my Attorney General, and Senators form Arkansas. My Mastercard will not stop withdraws from my account, even if I cancel the card. SAVE YOURSELF THE AGONY, NO WILDBLUE!

Don S.

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Valerie
Valerie
, US
Jan 04, 2007 6:02 am EST

Wow! Where to start?
Living in a rural area the only service available was dial-up so when i heard of wildblue i naturally jumped to subscribe. The initial installation went great and the installer was very helpful but the service was slow. The tests indicated we were getting the 1.5mb service we were paying for but the actual operation was barely faster than dial-up. Wildblue asked me to work with them and they sent the installers back out to check the set-up but found nothing wrong. By this time i am past the 30-day refund period and am stuck with the system.
I must say that the wildblue customer service is pretty much non-existent.
The service went out and after calling numerous times i finally got through to tech on the 4th day of calling. I even used their website chat for tech with no reply. It is very frustrating to have to pay $80.00 per month with service no faster than dial-up, not to mention the initial $400.00 equipment purchase price. After 6 days with no service, not even the dial up back up service i have paid for each month, a service tech came out and had to install a new part on the satellite dish. Service was restored but still no faster than it had been. I have found that the speed is much greater at 2:00am since most people are asleep at that time. This leads me to believe they have oversold their satellite capacity causing the system to be extremely slow.
I have sent several e-mails to wildblue since you can never seem to get through to their customer service personnel but have not gotten any response.
In short it seems that once they get you past the thirty day refund point you are ignored.
If there are any class action suits pending or organizing i would definitely consider joining.

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Lee Nimtz
,
Dec 13, 2006 3:51 pm EST

I have had WB for 11 months and the service has been usable for only 5 out of the 11 months. There are constant outages and slow downs. After 11/17/06 wildblue did a system wide change to there service, putting ping times from the 600 to 700 range to 1100 to 3000 range. I have 30 to 50 percent Packet loss on all my data, time outs on web page loads, and secure sites such as our bank, will take 3 to 4 minutes to load IF they do at all. Waiting times for customer support of over an hour, is not uncommon. They have changed the way they measure the amount of data you receive and send again, so it adds up to your monthly limit faster. After a year of hearing it will get better after they put up WB1 satellite ( It went up on 12/08/06) they now say they will not allow customers to change over when it becomes operational. Wildblue is by far, the worst company I have ever dealt with. I'm sorry I ever installed there service! Any other ISP or Satellite company would serve you better.

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This review was chosen algorithmically as the most valued customer feedback.

10/31/06 ORIGINAL COMPLAINT: I've waited a few months to write this because I wanted to be certain my rage and hostility had settled down. My WildBlue experience is one that lawsuits are made of. If I dared to want to waste my time filing complaints about them, I would. Aside from lodging one complaint with the state of GA, I'm done with WildBlue. Instead...

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