Anyone here use Xplornet satellite internet service

[Doc]

I am in Eastern Ontario and this service has recently become available. I am thinking of subscribing but I have heard both good and bad stories. I understand it has been available out West for awhile now. Can anyone share their experiences or point out some watch-outs with this service. It's either Xplornet satellite or dial-up for me, nothing else is available. Thanks.

[Azure]

Bad, bad, bad.

Is the experience I have had with it.

From what I understand, they work on a 'daily' bandwidth limit, and if you exceed that limit they'll slow you down to dialup speeds for the rest of the day. I've even had times where they just shut it off on me.

Nevermind the idea that I pay for a certain amount each month; some days I use more than others, but I tried not to go over my limit each month, which is why I thought it was ridiculous that they slow you down based on daily bandwidth usage.

On the other hand, if all you're going to be doing is browsing, with limited download and video watching, you should be good to go.

Is there some sort of trial period? The people I've talked to who have also tried it have said that they'd rather have dialup. At least they don't expect high-speed with dialup, instead of having high speed and being reverted back to dialup on a daily basis.

[GreenTeaFrapp]

Are you sure you can't get high speed wireless? Storm, Rogers and Bell all offer wireless in various areas around Eastern Ontario.

Here's a link to the communities served by Bell/Rogers:
http://www.inukshuk.ca/anglais/offre.html

And here's a map where Storm Wireless provides service:
http://storm.ca/map_wireless.html

[Rathji]

I am using Xplorenet and love it, no bandwidth cap ( I think there is a 40 or 50 gig monthly cap, same as cable/telco would have). If you have access to cable/DSL, take that instead of course. However this is a very close thrid to those 2 options.

If not, then this the best choice I have found between Xplorenet, dialup, and another wireless ISP in Calgary area. Problem is, being in Southern Ontario, you might have a bad local provider or bad LOS to tower, or some other X factor. It really depends on so many factors specific to your exact location that no one can say for sure untill they put the dish on your roof and you test it out.

Xplornet offers a 30 day install fee refund if you want to cancel service. One thing to realize is Xplorenet is a larger company that is buying up smaller wireless ISP's to expand the customer base, so if your local branch sucks, so will your service.

[Azure]

Wow.

If they have no bandwidth cap, thats great.

I used them when they were still called Direcway; I guess a lot of things have changed.