

Alex, Viasat Corporate Communications
- 675 Posts
- 305 Reply Likes
Posted 2 years ago
Bev, Champion
- 3287 Posts
- 1463 Reply Likes
Gwalk900, Champion
- 451 Posts
- 471 Reply Likes
Deku (The #1 Hero Data Saver), Champion
- 931 Posts
- 505 Reply Likes
- 2 Posts
- 3 Reply Likes
Brad, Viasat Employee
- 3518 Posts
- 1320 Reply Likes
- 2 Posts
- 3 Reply Likes
Brad, Viasat Employee
- 3518 Posts
- 1320 Reply Likes
- 2 Posts
- 1 Reply Like
I have no major complaints about service or speeds overall. Occasionally there's a hiccup for a day or even two or three at the outside, but overall I can just get service folks on the phone and everything gets taken care of with a minimum of hassle.
Anyway, I read a comment on this thread that the new satellite will double bandwidth for the company? Good news. Do they anticipate faster speeds for customers and/or will that require a plan change do you think?
I'm a rural customer and I read everywhere that US speeds for those of us living in the back 40 are measurably slower than what urban customers experience --- but also in the same article I read that a few of our Musk, Zucker-FB, Google, Bezos innovators and manufacturers with big ideas and equally big cash buckets to back them up, are putting into motion ideas to change rural speeds globally.
It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out. Any forecasts you have, from where you sit, would be welcome.
Brad, Viasat Employee
- 3518 Posts
- 1320 Reply Likes
- 7 Posts
- 1 Reply Like
- 374 Posts
- 159 Reply Likes
Congratulations.
wm4bama, Champion
- 427 Posts
- 274 Reply Likes
We saw the same happen for original WB customers after VS-1 was put into service and existing customer switched from their classic services to the new Exede bird. I was on an Anik-F2 beam and gradually got faster speeds as existing customers switched to the new VS-1 plans, which I eventually did.
So I'd expect by the middle of 2018 that customers staying on VS-1 will start to see noticeable improvements and probably offered new plans with more bandwidth and faster speeds...
http://www.exede.com/history-of-exede/
Brad, Viasat Employee
- 3518 Posts
- 1320 Reply Likes
- 96 Posts
- 14 Reply Likes
Steve Frederick-VS1/Beam314, Champion
- 3176 Posts
- 2042 Reply Likes
Alex, Viasat Corporate Communications
- 675 Posts
- 305 Reply Likes
- 96 Posts
- 14 Reply Likes
ah ok....thanks for clearing that up.
so it would probably be best to wait until early 2018 for the new VS-2.
Steve Frederick-VS1/Beam314, Champion
- 3176 Posts
- 2042 Reply Likes
VeteranSatUser, Champion
- 5133 Posts
- 3176 Reply Likes
- 320 Posts
- 205 Reply Likes
Brad, Viasat Employee
- 3520 Posts
- 1320 Reply Likes
- 9 Posts
- 2 Reply Likes
Brad, Viasat Employee
- 3520 Posts
- 1320 Reply Likes
With that said I don't know if I would ever comfortably fully endorse cord cutting on this forum and that's just because the amount of content an individual may watch. Someone may watch a few hours a week while others will surpass that person's viewing total in a day! With satellite being finite in bandwidth there's going to be some sort of barrier. The unlimited plans have an inflection point where you may be deprioritized after a certain amount of data is used but that is kicked in during peak hours. I know in this response I used the word "cater" and I still think this is accurate as the new plans are more streaming friendly than before when considering data limits on the norm at the time.
With that said a few things can be factored here:
- If you are on a Unlimited plan you might be trying to stream at a higher resolution than your plan allows. All plans are capped at a resolution limit and that's not always detected by services like Netflix (which sets automatically at HD) so if you're like on a Bronze plan, you can stream at 380p (slightly below SD norm of 480p) and if you try to stream on default settings you're going to certainly see buffering.
- If you are on ViaSat-1 you MIGHT benefit with moving to ViaSat-2 (you will have the white pyramid modem...if you don't you're still on the ViaSat-1 satellite, ViaSat-2 requires different equipment and a service call and customers are not automatically switched over.) Some areas the move is very beneficial considering speeds. We can consult if you'd like at viasatlistens@viasat.com
-Of course if you surpass a certain point you may see the deprioritization.
I would recommend above all else to email us at viasatlistens@viasat.com if you have any follow up questions or concerns.
This conversation is no longer open for comments or replies.
This conversation is no longer open for comments or replies.