Archived and Closed
This conversation is no longer open for comments or replies and is no longer visible to community members.
18 hours on board and already 15.3 GB usage!? And more than half of the time it was night and I was sleeping.
I can't even AUDIO stream without constant buffering.
Down throttling of youtube unbearable. I am coming from a 'service' of 1.5 mb with a different company and switching to 'unlimited' (hahaha hahahahaha hahahaha, ROFL) 12 mb bronze plan. With my old provider I could stream youtube at 720HD, albeit with interruptions, with Viasat that doesn't work at all any more. Ok, i thought, I will download the news, downloading speed should be ok. No, it isn't. Throttled to max of 66kb. FYI, I keep Verizon as backup, they downloaded same youtube newscast with 1200 kb, that's almost 20 times as fast!
Let me get this straight: I paid $ 45 for the other 1.5 mb service, could audio stream my favorite radio station as I have done for 15 years. Now I am paying $ 130 including taxes with Viasat but can't even audio stream?! Even though download speed clocks in at 15 mb, it doesn't feel faster than the old 1.5 I had for a third of the price. There is a lot of throttling going on here. And something smells very fishy.
Verizon lets me see exactly when and how much I used my data. With viasat I am in the dark - all I know is that I DID NOT USE 15 gigs in about 9 hours of usage!
Within the first 24 hours of connecting with Viasat I am ready to throw the towel, and pay the penalty to get out and run away from them as fast and far away as possible. I live in an area that is completely off the grid, 40 acres parcels. Extending for miles and miles. I have about 200 neighbors, we are a small extended community and, we all know each other and get together once a month. I already got a couple of calls from some of them, asking how my new service with Viasat is. I am the guinea pig here. I told them under no circumstances to switch from Hughes Net, that the term "unlimited" is a marketing gimmick by Viasat attached to plans because of the stigma of the hard caps satellite internet service has. And that Viasat has been 'wordsmithing' the term 'unlimted'.
I can't even AUDIO stream without constant buffering.
Down throttling of youtube unbearable. I am coming from a 'service' of 1.5 mb with a different company and switching to 'unlimited' (hahaha hahahahaha hahahaha, ROFL) 12 mb bronze plan. With my old provider I could stream youtube at 720HD, albeit with interruptions, with Viasat that doesn't work at all any more. Ok, i thought, I will download the news, downloading speed should be ok. No, it isn't. Throttled to max of 66kb. FYI, I keep Verizon as backup, they downloaded same youtube newscast with 1200 kb, that's almost 20 times as fast!
Let me get this straight: I paid $ 45 for the other 1.5 mb service, could audio stream my favorite radio station as I have done for 15 years. Now I am paying $ 130 including taxes with Viasat but can't even audio stream?! Even though download speed clocks in at 15 mb, it doesn't feel faster than the old 1.5 I had for a third of the price. There is a lot of throttling going on here. And something smells very fishy.
Verizon lets me see exactly when and how much I used my data. With viasat I am in the dark - all I know is that I DID NOT USE 15 gigs in about 9 hours of usage!
Within the first 24 hours of connecting with Viasat I am ready to throw the towel, and pay the penalty to get out and run away from them as fast and far away as possible. I live in an area that is completely off the grid, 40 acres parcels. Extending for miles and miles. I have about 200 neighbors, we are a small extended community and, we all know each other and get together once a month. I already got a couple of calls from some of them, asking how my new service with Viasat is. I am the guinea pig here. I told them under no circumstances to switch from Hughes Net, that the term "unlimited" is a marketing gimmick by Viasat attached to plans because of the stigma of the hard caps satellite internet service has. And that Viasat has been 'wordsmithing' the term 'unlimted'.
Posted 2 years ago
Brad, Viasat Employee
I am talking about constant buffering when streaming audio, buffering for 5 minutes and then reconnecting for only 10 seconds. You saying streaming radio will potentially use up a fair amount of data shows me where Viasat is at. That tells me enough already. Streaming radio 24 hours a day, for 30 days a month uses 35 gigs. Obviously I am not doing that. i was just trying to listen to a show, or at least 5 minutes of news! and it starts buffering after 12 seconds. I never got to use the audio! BTW, I'm on a mac, and I keep complete control over what is updating! Since you are charging me anyway in a couple of days, I 'll stay on for a month and then I'll be out. But rest assured, everybody in my neighborhood will profit from my 'bumpy' experience with Viasat. In the end it will be the satisfaction of your customers who will decide if you are going to make it in this market or not.
Brad, Viasat Employee
If you change your mind feel free to email us. We're with the corporate office and will gladly look at this for you. Without knowing your setup (this forum is in no way tied to your account) I just threw out some of the "usual suspects" for new customers. While the Mac can be spoken for other devices (phones or streaming devices for example..again just guessing without seeing the account) could consume a lot of data as well
please, I know what amount of data I have been using for years on average with many different providers and in many different countries, you are not talking to a newbie here! You are giving me corporate mumbo jumbo, that's all. Once again, something smells very fishy with viasat generally. Your wifi/router has no capability either, it drops off in my house where no other router/wifi has dropped off since wifi cam into service! i have already seen enough, in fact I have seen it all over the years, that's how much I know after having checked out your service for not even 24 hours. Your 'unlimited' is a sales gimmick! It might work for now, but people are a bit more intelligent and will catch on in no time. In fact they already are, I am sure you are well acquainted with this board, jsut look around what they are saying. And I wish I had looked around more myself before I cam on board.
Viasat is a rip-off with they data that’s what it’s is
I’m on the liberty plans in it’s suck so much I have to deal with it when my contracts is over I’m talking this equipment n send them back they things I promise I am I been with them since February.. I’m working on moving to a city that have cable internet because it’s unlimited n that I can’t watch movies n things online n I don’t have to worry about no data plans
GabeU, Champion
cinderhill,
It certainly is lucky for you that you know everything, as I don't know that anyone will bother trying to help you after it's become obvious what type of reply they will get from you if they do.
I had a couple of questions and possible suggestions regarding what might be going on, but it's good to know you have it under control.
It certainly is lucky for you that you know everything, as I don't know that anyone will bother trying to help you after it's become obvious what type of reply they will get from you if they do.
I had a couple of questions and possible suggestions regarding what might be going on, but it's good to know you have it under control.
When someone says they know what they are doing after they come here for help, it's time to throw your hands up and let them vent. The people that have the most problems are the ones that let you know how "computer", "satellite", "internet" smart they are. They never take any advice.
(Edited)
Bev, Champion
I agree, which is why I let it go, no point in offering suggestions when the one your giving them to isn't listening.
(Edited)
Steve Frederick-VS1/Beam314, Champion
I agree, cinderhill has it all under control, and no help can be rendered.
I agree 100% worse service I have ever had but they always revert back to my data. "Your over your high speed data allowance" what high speed are they talking about? Nothing but issues from the beginning.[
Stephen Rice, Champion
I'm having a little trouble understanding the original poster's problems.
1.) They were able to stream HD content on YouTube using a 1.5 mbps connection on their old provider. Okay, I'll buy that. You could probably stream 720p with 1.5 mbps. What I don't understand, is the original poster signed up for the Bronze Unlimited plan, which specifically states you won't have video quality above 360p. Naturally, it is going to buffer if you are trying to watch video content that is 480p or higher. If you want higher quality video without buffering, pay for higher quality video.
2.) Original poster states they are paying $130 a month for Unlimited Bronze. I thought Unlimited Bronze was $70 plus a $10 lease fee. That is $80 a month. Of course, I could be completely wrong since some of the plans are priced different across the country. Whats even more strange, is the original poster should be paying even less than the normal rates. New customers get a three month discount.
3.) Customer was able to use 15 gb of data in nine hours yet isn't able to stream audio. This is the strangest one of all. Don't kid yourself about your data usage. I've had mystery data disappear as well, only to later find out it was a Windows update that I thought I had disabled. What I'm having trouble understanding is how on earth you could be having trouble streaming audio. That sounds like the only legitimate complaint. I would say it is an equipment failure, but obviously something is working if you are able to download 15 gb in nine hours.
As far as the HD video buffering, that is exactly what you signed up for when you selected a plan that is only capable of doing 360p video. You get up to 12 mbps for everything else, but video is capped well below 1 mbps because that is what you signed up for.
1.) They were able to stream HD content on YouTube using a 1.5 mbps connection on their old provider. Okay, I'll buy that. You could probably stream 720p with 1.5 mbps. What I don't understand, is the original poster signed up for the Bronze Unlimited plan, which specifically states you won't have video quality above 360p. Naturally, it is going to buffer if you are trying to watch video content that is 480p or higher. If you want higher quality video without buffering, pay for higher quality video.
2.) Original poster states they are paying $130 a month for Unlimited Bronze. I thought Unlimited Bronze was $70 plus a $10 lease fee. That is $80 a month. Of course, I could be completely wrong since some of the plans are priced different across the country. Whats even more strange, is the original poster should be paying even less than the normal rates. New customers get a three month discount.
3.) Customer was able to use 15 gb of data in nine hours yet isn't able to stream audio. This is the strangest one of all. Don't kid yourself about your data usage. I've had mystery data disappear as well, only to later find out it was a Windows update that I thought I had disabled. What I'm having trouble understanding is how on earth you could be having trouble streaming audio. That sounds like the only legitimate complaint. I would say it is an equipment failure, but obviously something is working if you are able to download 15 gb in nine hours.
As far as the HD video buffering, that is exactly what you signed up for when you selected a plan that is only capable of doing 360p video. You get up to 12 mbps for everything else, but video is capped well below 1 mbps because that is what you signed up for.
Let me clarify: yes i knew what i was signing up for, streaming 360p. Nevertheless I assumed, that I could watch 720HD with buffering. that's what I am doing with the 1.5 mb download service I have. You just need patience and come back to the computer 5 minutes later and you are ready for another chunk to watch. Not so with Viasat. It's not even buffering! Nada, nilch. Just sits there, nothing moves. that's why I concluded: ok, let me download the youtube newscast then (I have an app for that). Well, that also was capped at 66kb. Letting my Verizon connection do the same thing, it downloaded at 1200 kb.
I was able to download at 500-650 kb from a different non streaming site. And yes, there I downloaded 3 gigs, but not 15! ;)
Once again, I decide what i update and download and when, I have no ghost downloads. I know the mac system very well. And when the computer is turned off, there are no data downloading ;).
Look, it's a 2 year plan that you are locked in, so forget the initial 3 months $ 70 plus 10. so you have for 21 months $ 110 plus another 15 - 20 for taxes. BTW, the sales person told me that I could test the system once it is hooked up before I sign the contract. No, you cannot. I was initially refusing to sign, my argument being: look, you don't buy a car before test driving. I had seen too many promises not kept with countless other companies. Taking into account that the installer had to travel over 150 miles to get to my location (I had to pick him up also at the HWY because i literally live in an area where the streets have no names, even more, there are no streets.) And seeing him slaving away at the job, digging through some pretty hard to penetrate terrain, and knowing that he is only getting paid $ 130 for a job that he spent almost 10 hours on and has to pay for his own expenses like gas etc i decided to not spoil his day and jump into the cold water.
BTW, the whole ordeal already cost me 2 days: the first installer came on Friday (from 250 miles away!), same thing meeting him at the paved road etc. to guide him to my place. But he didn't have a pole. So we had to reschedule for yesterday.
I hope that clarifies what I originally posted.
I was able to download at 500-650 kb from a different non streaming site. And yes, there I downloaded 3 gigs, but not 15! ;)
Once again, I decide what i update and download and when, I have no ghost downloads. I know the mac system very well. And when the computer is turned off, there are no data downloading ;).
Look, it's a 2 year plan that you are locked in, so forget the initial 3 months $ 70 plus 10. so you have for 21 months $ 110 plus another 15 - 20 for taxes. BTW, the sales person told me that I could test the system once it is hooked up before I sign the contract. No, you cannot. I was initially refusing to sign, my argument being: look, you don't buy a car before test driving. I had seen too many promises not kept with countless other companies. Taking into account that the installer had to travel over 150 miles to get to my location (I had to pick him up also at the HWY because i literally live in an area where the streets have no names, even more, there are no streets.) And seeing him slaving away at the job, digging through some pretty hard to penetrate terrain, and knowing that he is only getting paid $ 130 for a job that he spent almost 10 hours on and has to pay for his own expenses like gas etc i decided to not spoil his day and jump into the cold water.
BTW, the whole ordeal already cost me 2 days: the first installer came on Friday (from 250 miles away!), same thing meeting him at the paved road etc. to guide him to my place. But he didn't have a pole. So we had to reschedule for yesterday.
I hope that clarifies what I originally posted.
Thanks for being understanding of the installers plight
Stephen Rice, Champion
Just out of curiosity, what website are you streaming audio from? Maybe some of us can test the same website and see what happens. I doubt latency would cause buffering issues with audio, but it is a possibility.
try any of them: after 11 seconds it starts buffering, and buffering and never comes back.
http://www.deutschland.fm/ As i said, no problem with verizon or speedconnect, the service I am migrating from to Viasat.
http://www.deutschland.fm/ As i said, no problem with verizon or speedconnect, the service I am migrating from to Viasat.
Stephen Rice, Champion
Thanks for sharing the link. I got to 12 seconds and the radio stopped.
I have a very solid Viasat connection so I definitely think you are right about blaming Viasat for this issue.
If I were you, I would send an email to Viasatlistens@viasat.com with your account info and that link. This is probably something that can be fixed.
As far as your idea on buffering HD content, I really don't think that is going to work out for you.
I have a very solid Viasat connection so I definitely think you are right about blaming Viasat for this issue.
If I were you, I would send an email to Viasatlistens@viasat.com with your account info and that link. This is probably something that can be fixed.
As far as your idea on buffering HD content, I really don't think that is going to work out for you.
Stephen Rice, Champion
This is interesting, I tried WDR1 Live and it locked up at 12 seconds. I tried four others and they worked perfectly fine. Attached is a screenshot showing the time on one of them. I am still listening to it as I type.
I would still send that email to have the issue looked into. You should be able to stream audio no matter what.
I would still send that email to have the issue looked into. You should be able to stream audio no matter what.
Stephen Rice, Champion
Bev, Champion
Try here: https://tunein.com/radio/Germany-r100346/
That 11 second halt seems to be a site issue. I tried 3 here, they stream fine.
That 11 second halt seems to be a site issue. I tried 3 here, they stream fine.
interesting..my favorites are inforadio and radioberlin, and they both stop after 11/12 seconds, and the strangest thing is, I just tried it on my iphone, same broadcast over viasat and it works with these 2 stations!
Stephen Rice, Champion
I had issues connecting to my website, DMCToday, five years ago on Viasat. The issues were eventually resolved. It wouldn't surprise me if they have to do something behind the scenes to make your radio website more reliable.
Bev, Champion
I get the same results, stops and does not resume at the 12 second mark on my computer in Viasat Browser, Edge and Internet Explorer. I disabled my firewall, same problem but, it's fine on my iPhone.
Windows 10 V 1803 by chance? That's what I have and, i'm thinking it may be something in the new Exploit Protection that came with that update causing the problem. You may want to play around with those settings or, I will tomorrow, it's getting late and, even champions have to sleep sometime. :)
Windows 10 V 1803 by chance? That's what I have and, i'm thinking it may be something in the new Exploit Protection that came with that update causing the problem. You may want to play around with those settings or, I will tomorrow, it's getting late and, even champions have to sleep sometime. :)
I'm taking it that the original poster is in a Large beam since he mentioned "12 mb Bronze". As most of you know, I'm in a large beam and put my system in right after our beam opened. The way my Large beam system works compared to my VS1 system is truly comparing apples to oranges. My VS2 system works great with some sites and downloads and awful with others. Something about VS2 large beam systems is that they tend to not work very well with Youtube...no matter if you are watching it or using a downloading program ( I use MP4 downloader ). Case in point: I saw a news story the other day about the volcano lava flows they are experiencing in Hawaii, there were two videos embedded. One was a Facebook link, the other a Youtube link. I right clicked on each to copy the video link address and put both in my MP4 downloader for downloading. The one from Facebook downloaded at near 2mbps....2,000kbps for those of you in Port ST Lucie, the one from Youtube downloaded at about 70kbps which is what I almost ALWAYS see with Youtube videos.
On Amazon Music, it can take 1/3 of a songs original length to download it using my VS2 setup. I can switch to my VS1 system and the speeds dramatically improve.
I haven't tried streaming audio yet but I tend to believe that the poster could be experiencing exactly what he says he is.
Andy
On Amazon Music, it can take 1/3 of a songs original length to download it using my VS2 setup. I can switch to my VS1 system and the speeds dramatically improve.
I haven't tried streaming audio yet but I tend to believe that the poster could be experiencing exactly what he says he is.
Andy
Bev, Champion
I'm seeing that with my step son and myself. He's on VS2 walking distance from my house. Okay he has Bronze 12 Mbps and I have Silver 25 Mbps but, we should both be able to stream the same video at 240 res. without buffering.
Me no problem wherever at low res. Him, well as long as it's Netflix or off peak, okay but peak hours, I can stream low res and he can't except Netflix.
Thing is, even on VS1 the device makes a huge difference. My husbands 5 year old Dell with intel integrated chipset graphics and just a dual core 1.6 Ghz CPU barely streams at 240, ever. My i7 4.6 Ghz with dual Titan GPUs has no problem streaming ever at the resolutions my plan allows. iPhone 6 tanks but iPhone 8 is cool.
It seems it's a combination of the satellite and the customer's hardware.
Andy do you see more or fewer problems form those with custom built gaming or otherwise built for high demand graphics computers? Maybe Viasat needs customers to have better computers to deliver it's potential to customers?
Me no problem wherever at low res. Him, well as long as it's Netflix or off peak, okay but peak hours, I can stream low res and he can't except Netflix.
Thing is, even on VS1 the device makes a huge difference. My husbands 5 year old Dell with intel integrated chipset graphics and just a dual core 1.6 Ghz CPU barely streams at 240, ever. My i7 4.6 Ghz with dual Titan GPUs has no problem streaming ever at the resolutions my plan allows. iPhone 6 tanks but iPhone 8 is cool.
It seems it's a combination of the satellite and the customer's hardware.
Andy do you see more or fewer problems form those with custom built gaming or otherwise built for high demand graphics computers? Maybe Viasat needs customers to have better computers to deliver it's potential to customers?
Thank you, Andy! You described it very well. I use iTube Studio to download, and it caps at 66 kb. Thats' disappointing, I did not expect this. I am new to Satellite, is there any way to remedy this?
I have 32 gb of memory and a fast graphics card. My computer is used for video editing. My macbook pro is also rather new but I run into the same problem with audio as with my desktop. Strange thing is, I just tried to stream audio with my iphone, and it actually works, same broadcasts. the broadcasts are located in Germany.
No remedy that I know of until the engineering guys out in Carlsbad tweek things a bit. As I said, some files download like greased lightning...others like a turtle going uphill.
As for my computer setup. HP Elite Book Intel i5 2.4g cpu. 2g Nvidia GT216.
The thing is that you folks gotta remember that I have a rather unique setup....dang near totally unique....I've got a VS1 and VS2 Viasat setup here at the house so I can try something on one system and then immediately try it on the other. I usually never post any data until I've tried the comparison at least 2 times with each system.
My question, which remains unanswered is why is their such a disparity in speeds and why are Youtube and Amazon Music so incredibly slow?....both of these are definitely in the top tier category of customer used services.
For Netflix on VS2: on my laptop it plays okay. Using my Roku, it occasionally buffers. On VS1 Netflix runs flawlessly.
Andy
As for my computer setup. HP Elite Book Intel i5 2.4g cpu. 2g Nvidia GT216.
The thing is that you folks gotta remember that I have a rather unique setup....dang near totally unique....I've got a VS1 and VS2 Viasat setup here at the house so I can try something on one system and then immediately try it on the other. I usually never post any data until I've tried the comparison at least 2 times with each system.
My question, which remains unanswered is why is their such a disparity in speeds and why are Youtube and Amazon Music so incredibly slow?....both of these are definitely in the top tier category of customer used services.
For Netflix on VS2: on my laptop it plays okay. Using my Roku, it occasionally buffers. On VS1 Netflix runs flawlessly.
Andy
VeteranSatUser, Champion
Interesting stuff.. Viasat-2 was highly anticipated, for almost a year since its launch. Instead, to say its rollout and performance has been underwhelming to say the least. A slow rollout, high density beans not being where exoected, plans announced in many areas that are very unappealing, and performance issues on top of everything else.
I am sure they will get a lot of bugs worked out. But because the satellite itself did not deploy as planned means we will always be thinking about what coukd have been versus what we have.
I am sure they will get a lot of bugs worked out. But because the satellite itself did not deploy as planned means we will always be thinking about what coukd have been versus what we have.
Stephen Rice, Champion
Fortunately, Viasat 3 is just a few years away.
Speaking of VS3. I had a heart to heart talk with someone at Viasat the other day and when the topic of VS3 came up it was mentioned that it has something like 3-4 times the capacity of VS2. There is a mindset out there that this extra capacity means it can handle WAY more customers than either VS1 or VS2 and that bandwidth issues will almost be a thing of the past. This isn't exactly "news" or super secret corp secrets I'm divulging here......virtually anyone who keeps up with the industry knows this.
Anyway, I quickly tried to inject some reality to the conversation. The pipe dream of VS3 having sufficient capacity is only true if the entire rural population agrees to cap their usage and agree to not buy any more devices that use data. The truth of the matter is that I see customer USAGE growing faster than capacity. Even with VS1 there is the mindset that as natural churn occurs that this will free up bandwidth and "speed things up". I actually disagree. There is a TON of pent up demand out there. Just because the average VS1 customer uses X amount of data NOW doesn't mean that this amount will remain static. To tell you the truth, the REASON most VS1 customers use X amount of data and not Y is because they CAN'T due to slow speeds. Any bandwidth that gets "freed up" will instantly be devoured.
I guess sometimes it pays to be someone like me who is out in the "real world" and actually sees what is going on behind the scenes.....I don't simply read reports and polls, I actually get to talk to customers AND hear from them long after I've installed them. There's an awful lot of "isolated group-think" going on these days with a LOT of companies and it's NOT a good thing.
Andy
Anyway, I quickly tried to inject some reality to the conversation. The pipe dream of VS3 having sufficient capacity is only true if the entire rural population agrees to cap their usage and agree to not buy any more devices that use data. The truth of the matter is that I see customer USAGE growing faster than capacity. Even with VS1 there is the mindset that as natural churn occurs that this will free up bandwidth and "speed things up". I actually disagree. There is a TON of pent up demand out there. Just because the average VS1 customer uses X amount of data NOW doesn't mean that this amount will remain static. To tell you the truth, the REASON most VS1 customers use X amount of data and not Y is because they CAN'T due to slow speeds. Any bandwidth that gets "freed up" will instantly be devoured.
I guess sometimes it pays to be someone like me who is out in the "real world" and actually sees what is going on behind the scenes.....I don't simply read reports and polls, I actually get to talk to customers AND hear from them long after I've installed them. There's an awful lot of "isolated group-think" going on these days with a LOT of companies and it's NOT a good thing.
Andy
Bev, Champion
So true. I can easily blaze through 150 GB in a matter of two days if I choose to do so and, I don't even have a smart home. I have my DTV system, that's the only IOT device I have connected. I COULD connect my refrigerator, cameras used to monitor the barn and shop from inside the house, my husbands drones, 2 smart TVs and, two cars if I had the bandwidth for it all but, then, I'd eat that 150 GB in a day if I also chose to do updates and, download a game or two that day.
I don't use the data because I don't have it to use. With a smart home, I could see something like 100 GB per DAY being needed to get good performance out of all of it.
Still, I'm glad no new installs are getting on my VS1 in my area - they can't use it if they aren't here. I just need to improve my pitch to get the neighbors OFF VS1 and onto VS2. LOL.
I don't use the data because I don't have it to use. With a smart home, I could see something like 100 GB per DAY being needed to get good performance out of all of it.
Still, I'm glad no new installs are getting on my VS1 in my area - they can't use it if they aren't here. I just need to improve my pitch to get the neighbors OFF VS1 and onto VS2. LOL.
Back when the first Exede plans were announced, with no free zone and about 25% lower caps than old Wildblue plans, there was some "backlash". I recall a mod on the original forum saying something like they had analyzed how their typical users utilized the network and determined the new plans would be enough (they promised we would be satisfied with the new plans before they were announced, months before). I said that didn't do much good. You have a "captive audience", with restrictions, penalties for using more than their allotment, etc., you aren't getting any type of accurate picture of how people use the internet, how much they "need" etc. The people in charge need to actually use the service themselves (with no "cheating"), that might help, a little. Companies can look at data on paper, but that does not give a true representation of how things actually are. No way will "enough" data be offered any time soon on traditional satellite for the reasons others state. The statements, marketing, etc. could be more honest (give accurate descriptions with less fine print), it would reduce some of the current issues.
Both of you have the situation pegged perfectly. Trouble is that most of the people making the decisions are on fiber and unlimited data.
Andy
Andy
Thanks to all for some clarifications and acknowledging that some of my viasat problems do exist ;).
Here is my biggest concern with Viasat, and I quote viasat: "after you use the following amount of data, we may prioritize your data behind other customers during network congestion, which will result in slower speeds: Bronze 12 35 GB ".
My monthly usage will exceed 35 gigs by far. I live 30 miles away from the next town (60 000 inhabitants) in a very rural area, completely off the grid. About 10-15 miles in every direction, there are maybe 200 people living, and to the best of my knowledge I am the second person who signed up to viasat in my area. In my understanding that means there will never occur a congestion. That's why I signed up. But, realizing how viasat interprets and twists the definition of 'unlimited', maybe they also have a different definition for network congestion. In my book that would mean that there are many people using viasat in my immediate area - immediate I define within 1-5 miles. That is not the case. Nor do I think are too many people in the closest town (again 30 miles away, and not much suburban area around it) signed up to viasat (Hughes net seems to be dominant here, partly because of viasat's/ exede's bad performance in the past in this area I was told). My question: Do I need to be concerned that Viasat would throttle me after 35 gigs usage even though according to common sense there logically cannot be a congestion?!
Here is my biggest concern with Viasat, and I quote viasat: "after you use the following amount of data, we may prioritize your data behind other customers during network congestion, which will result in slower speeds: Bronze 12 35 GB ".
My monthly usage will exceed 35 gigs by far. I live 30 miles away from the next town (60 000 inhabitants) in a very rural area, completely off the grid. About 10-15 miles in every direction, there are maybe 200 people living, and to the best of my knowledge I am the second person who signed up to viasat in my area. In my understanding that means there will never occur a congestion. That's why I signed up. But, realizing how viasat interprets and twists the definition of 'unlimited', maybe they also have a different definition for network congestion. In my book that would mean that there are many people using viasat in my immediate area - immediate I define within 1-5 miles. That is not the case. Nor do I think are too many people in the closest town (again 30 miles away, and not much suburban area around it) signed up to viasat (Hughes net seems to be dominant here, partly because of viasat's/ exede's bad performance in the past in this area I was told). My question: Do I need to be concerned that Viasat would throttle me after 35 gigs usage even though according to common sense there logically cannot be a congestion?!
Bev, Champion
Congestion on your beam does refer to the number of people using the internet on your beam. Those beams are not small. Mine for example covers roughly Texarkana, AR to just outside Memphis, TN to near Russleville, AR and, back to Texarkana. That is a few thousand square miles and, congestion is determined by how many customers are using the internet in that whole area for me.
That means people as far as 200 miles from me, depending on direction, are on my beam. How bad congestion will get and, how much that will affect you depends on how many subscribers are on your beam.
Those of us with unlimited plans MAY see full speed well after we use all of our priority data, especially off peak hours. We are NOT hard throttled. Freedom, Liberty and, other older plans are hard throttled to slower speeds, regardless of beam activity. We are only slowed if our beam is very busy at the time.
Think of it this way, you are checking out at a store, the cashier rings people wearing green up before people wearing red. When you have priority data, you're wearing green, when you don't you're wearing red. Now if you happen to go to the store when only two people wearing green are there, you still get through the line pretty fast, if 20 people are wearing green, not so fast.
People not on unlimited plans, once "wearing red" always have to wait as if there were 20 people wearing green, even if they are the only one checking out at the time. That's the difference. We get to get in line, even "wearing red" and, are taken care of as soon as the "green" people are but, those on other plans wait (get slow speed) no matter what once they are out of data.
That means people as far as 200 miles from me, depending on direction, are on my beam. How bad congestion will get and, how much that will affect you depends on how many subscribers are on your beam.
Those of us with unlimited plans MAY see full speed well after we use all of our priority data, especially off peak hours. We are NOT hard throttled. Freedom, Liberty and, other older plans are hard throttled to slower speeds, regardless of beam activity. We are only slowed if our beam is very busy at the time.
Think of it this way, you are checking out at a store, the cashier rings people wearing green up before people wearing red. When you have priority data, you're wearing green, when you don't you're wearing red. Now if you happen to go to the store when only two people wearing green are there, you still get through the line pretty fast, if 20 people are wearing green, not so fast.
People not on unlimited plans, once "wearing red" always have to wait as if there were 20 people wearing green, even if they are the only one checking out at the time. That's the difference. We get to get in line, even "wearing red" and, are taken care of as soon as the "green" people are but, those on other plans wait (get slow speed) no matter what once they are out of data.
(Edited)
Wow! I am in northern Arizona, next big city would be Phoenix about 200 miles to the south, not too much in between. And no major city or even town in any other direction. Is there a way to look up how a 'beam' in my area is defined meaning how much area it includes? Thanks so much!
(Edited)
Bev, Champion
No but an installer or another email to ViasatListens@Viasat.com may be able to give you the boundaries of your beam coverage area, if you're that interested.
Also read some of the blogs, news and stuff. The technology and, what's going on with Viasat is interesting stuff if you're the tech head sort and, like learning about the technology, equipment, mechanics and, company behind your service.
https://corpblog.viasat.com/
https://www.viasat.com/news
https://corpblog.viasat.com/category/residential/
https://www.exede.com/blog/
https://www.youtube.com/user/ViaSatInc
Also read some of the blogs, news and stuff. The technology and, what's going on with Viasat is interesting stuff if you're the tech head sort and, like learning about the technology, equipment, mechanics and, company behind your service.
https://corpblog.viasat.com/
https://www.viasat.com/news
https://corpblog.viasat.com/category/residential/
https://www.exede.com/blog/
https://www.youtube.com/user/ViaSatInc
This is a VS1 map I have seen. I don't know if it's currently accurate. I haven't seen a VS2 map though I'd be very interested in one.
https://d2r1vs3d9006ap.cloudfront.net/s3_images/1207572/RackMultipart20150519-32063-1cyf5pk-beam_pri...
https://d2r1vs3d9006ap.cloudfront.net/s3_images/1207572/RackMultipart20150519-32063-1cyf5pk-beam_pri...
VeteranSatUser, Champion
No Viasat-2 map has been released. Given the problems it has, I question whether there ever will be one given out.
(Edited)
Deku (The #1 Hero Data Saver), Champion
david lightsey
Kathy Owen Morgan
Steve Frederick-VS1/Beam314, Champion
Also, you should try to find who or what devices are using up all your data. A decent router with traffic monitoring software is the best way to find out the data users.
Do not connect any Smart TVs, Directv or Dish TV receivers or DVRs to your home network, these can consume huge amounts of data without you even scheduling anything.
VeteranSatUser, Champion
Markgc, Champion
Steve Frederick-VS1/Beam314, Champion
Old Labs (VS1-329-L12FZ)
VeteranSatUser, Champion
I am sure at some point Viasat fixed the problem. But I got in the habit of turning off the modem and never stopped doing it. Saves power and data regardless:)
Stephen Rice, Champion
Old Labs (VS1-329-L12FZ)
Stephen Rice, Champion
GabeU, Champion
It's not for any particular reason other than having done so since I first got satellite internet in Dec 2004. I can count on one hand the number of times I've left it plugged in when not using it, and for all of those times there was a particular reason, with those reasons always tied to some sort of remote diagnostics being performed to remedy an issue.
Bev, Champion
Old Labs (VS1-329-L12FZ)