With the Internet quickly becoming our lifeline to unlimited information access, it is imperative that we find and select a reliable Internet provider. Not an easy task with all the available competition out there to keep a person dazed and confused. There are the so-called broad band satellite systems-Hughes Net, Wild Blue, Skyway, and Starband. There are also the DSL systems that go through your phone line without tying up your phone. There is also Cable, along with the old familiar dinosaur-dialup-which does go through your phone line, and will tie up your phone unless you are computer savvy enough to work your way around it.
Selecting an Internet provider may not be as much of an issue for some as for others since many providers do not cover remote areas and choice is limited, such as rural districts. Some areas of the country have only wireless or satellite or worst case scenario-dialup. Several years ago, my first (and only choice) of Internet service was dialup. After much stress, hair-pulling, and gnashing of teeth over the snail pace of surfing the net I opted to spend the small fortune to have the new Starband's satellite Internet installed.
The pros for Satellite Internet service at the time were the facts that beyond dialup, it was the only other service available in my particular area and the fact that they promised very high speed Internet.
The cons for Satellite service, I regret to say, were many. The initial cost for installation and equipment was astronomical and has come down very little over the years as first-time products usually do. Secondly, the after installation service is very hard to obtain; first you must go through the automated menu questionnaire that leaves you in a quandary as to which button to push. Then you are placed on hold to enjoy the entertaining ‘elevator music' so graciously provided at no cost to you, while waiting for the next available technician for the next fifteen to twenty minutes.
Finally, provided you have punched the right button, a real true-to-life person will come on the line. However, unless you have just emigrated from India, you will have problems understanding what the technician is trying to tell you. Frustration quickly sets in on both ends of the phone line and you know the guy is trying very hard to maintain his the-customer-is-always-right demeanor-your cool having been lost shortly after the start of the conversation.
Hughes Net, another satellite provider with which I am familiar, quickly washes their hands of any issues or problems you have by explaining to you that you must take up your questions or point of contention with the contractor that has come out to resolve your problem. They (Hughes Net) no longer seem to know you and definitely have no interest in your problems with their service. If the service technician seems to know very little about his job and takes four trips and a two-hour conversation on the phone with a real technician before he can finally get you up and running, then sends you an outrageous bill for taking up his valuable time; well, that has nothing to do with the Hughes Net personnel. Oh, and by the way, their high speed Internet is only as fast as the amount of money you wish to line their pockets with each more-where more is slightly faster.
As I have only had personal dealings with dialup and satellite, I can't debate intelligently about the good, bad, and ugly of wireless, DSL, or cable. But, since I will be moving into the city around the first of August, I will be dropping my satellite provider like the proverbial ‘hot potato' and signing up with Sudden Link cable Internet. I'm looking forward to the new experience and hope to finally find a reliable service in my new neck of the woods.
tweet this!
