I used an air card for RVing in the USA. Fantastic convenience when coverage was available. Those dead zones, however, suck royally. (The internet coverage was not as extensive as cell phone.) Always double-check the coverage ahead of time, when planning your stops. btw: Though my plan involved no FAP, perhaps it is true that some do today? :shrug:

Relax...everyone on here, has pretty well concluded that CJ really is WildBlue...Flaming. They got caught doing so, on other sites. Just ignore him...as he bows toward Colorado Springs on his prayer mat every day. He is not at all reality here...and indeed...being in the very small minority...it is he who does all the whining. Nobody takes him seriously anymore. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~ Not everyone online doing work there, does games. I personally never do games...find them to be extremely boring, but hey...I'm not 18 anymore either. There are uses for broadband beyond games. Just upgrading all of your software as needed, uses up your available bandwidth, in a heartbeat. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~ When they first came out, the people at Verizon limited usage, to discourage peer to peer exchanges. Sprint had unlimited and was trying to sew up the WiMax market. Sprint ran into economic problems doing so though, and had to scale back their plans. WiMax implementation is extremely expensive. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ We in Appleton, WI, can get neither...even though it was the place 3G WiMax was actually tested. Now both Sprint and Verizon have limited usage plans...and WiMax has not reached everywhere. With the changing technologies, I am not at all sure it ever will. The new things are very reasonable to implement vs. WiMax. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ Intel fiddled with the software side of everyday WiFi, and has stupendous ranges using it...70 miles actually. They have to also have worked out the thing with interferences in the 2.4mhz spectrum and going through trees, because it is all over southeast asia...jungles and all...and is going to africa now. The startup costs are extremely much lower, and I suspect WiMax will be dead before it is even fully implemented...a victim of newer technology. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ Actually a 900mhz bridge with polarized signals goes miles through trees very well also...but for some reason...works better in some areas...than in others. It appears though, that the intel WiFi is the new thing, and that can be used anywhere with a normal WiFi card/router setup. Sprint originally wanted to blanket the entire country with their WiMax (much like india, china, and europe have done)...but came up short on funds...then lost a pertner in the venture. It is not happening. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ I sure wish intel would bring their technology here...instead of to all of the underdeveloped countries. We have huge gaps in the WiMax system...very few 900mhz systems...and no coverage in certain areas with a great many people. That creates a ripe market, for losers like WildBlue to exploit. I am one mile froem the county airport...three miles from the area's biggest mall...but am in a dead zone...no high speed internet available what-so-ever...nothing. That to me is totally ludicrous. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ Satellite is tempting then, but it is not what it could be. It is a shell game...a rip off at best. I have seen working satellite internet, and what they have is not really even close. Anytime that there is such a lopsided signup agreement, with so many pages, that proposes to violate your consumer protection rights in so many ways...then Caveat Emptor! Satellite internet is a scam...nothing more...nothing less.

Paranoid Horse-Loving Transvestites not withstanding, my my beef is with the general level of complaining. And since Dr. D. probably got beat up a lot as a kid for sticking his tongue out at whomever he liked as he does here, I continue sticking up for those of us who find Wildblue a reliable, quality service. Let's keep this a civil forum, shall we?

I will say that I have not had any problems with customer service with Wildblue, in fact they have been very nice and efficient. I called yesterday to cancel, and had a very professional lady, who took care of my request. (At least I hope so, I'll keep an eye on my credit card statement). When I told them I wanted to cancel, they offered to send someone out to repair my problem at no cost to me, if I would stay with them. I told them their offer came too late, I already was using something else. But FYI out there, to those who have been told they have to pay for a service call...maybe threaten to cancel????? Thanks for the reply, drd, so in conclusion - check with Verizon first to see if the air card will work in your area. I am near Knoxville TN - but I live in the next county - the boonies- and the Verizon wireless air card works perfectly for me. Thanks to you and CJ for your responses (is there anyone else out there listening? LOL!)

One more thing, I forgot to mention about the wireless air card - you can use it for 30 days to see if it works ok where you are. You can cancel any time within the 30 days and get out of the contract. So, there's really no risk - you could even wait to cancel WildBlue until you find out that the air card works ok - that's what I did! Byee for now!

Be careful...if you read the experiences on here, they will continue to charge your cradit card, long after you are done using them. Be sure to tell your credit people...no more charges from them...and do it in writing too...with certified mail. It will cost you much more, not to take this precaution...just another indicator of their basic dishonesty. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~ I had only one such beneficial experience with a WildBlue tech, and she did not stay there long. She admitted to me that the problems experienced, were indeed major issues on their end...and they cannot have that! It was always my fault..even with an entirely disconnected system. Like dealing with CJ, wildblue was always right, and I was always wrong. That was the starting point to any discussion...and there were very many. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ I sure am glad that CJ is keeping this discussion on a high plane...and does not resort to any name calling. He says he detests such...LOL! Such a case he is...if indeed he is for real. That issue has long since been in doubt...questioned indeed by very many posters on here. Way too many people have weighed in on the other side, for him to carry any significant weight, or even to have him come across as remotely believable. He can be ignored, but like leprosy, that will not make him go away. I suspect that he enjoys the limelight, and likes being a one man show...craves the attention. No one posting here, ever has had as many great things to say about wildblue, as CJ does. Every day, the rankings go further and further down...and every day, CJ tries to set us all straight. He is attempting to bail the titanic, with a teaspoon. I do believe William Shakespeare says it best..."Full of sound and fury...signifying nothing". I'll bet he really does have a prayer mat that faces colorado springs. Hey...he gets his checks from there...so why not.

The verizon system is very far from a nationwide phenomenon. WiMax is not at all widespread in the rural areas. It is just plain too expensive to place into service. You need volumes of people to make it practical. In the entire industrialized fox river valley, which consists of community upon community of people, it is not there...nor is it really even on the drawing boards yet. Milwaukee and Madison have it...but not anyone else...not in the entire state. Even EVDO is not at all prevalent...not in rural america. Some local enterpreneurs, have come up with specialized systems, in some areas. Most involve the 900mhz spectrum (like your remote house phones use), and also have limits to bandwidth usage, as well as range, like verizon has. Even with AT&T in the middle of it now, I seriously doubt that WiMax is the future for rural america, not anymore. The technology is changing way too fast, and it only costs about $500.00 to set up the new intel system for WiFi...more than twenty times that much for WiMax. Anything...is surely better though, than dealing with satellite internet...especially with the way they do it now. If you need a dependable service...but wish to dabble in satellite...you, like I did, will need to have dialup as a dependable backup...just the way it is. Satellite could work, and does for the navy. It most certainly does not work, for rural usage in general...no matter who says differently. Exhaust looking at any other option first. You...like most of us on this post...will generally be sadly disappointed with any satellite service. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ The thought of CJ, in his cute cheerleader outfit, waving pom-poms for wildblue, certainly cuts a distrubing image though...LOL!!! Sorry...could not resist...he is such an easy target.

Dr.D., please remove me from your late-nite sticky thots.

I wanted to give my update on Wildblue about my cancellation experience. I must say that it went very smoothly, and with much professionalism, so I upgraded my rating to from 2 to 3 stars. They offered to give me a $50 rebate if I returned the modem to them. They sent me a prepaid box via UPS - I did get the money credited to my credit card a few weeks later. They also gave me a credit for the unused portion of my service for half a month. I have checked my CC statement, and they are no longer charging my account (I will check regularly to ensure they aren't sneaking anything in).
I also want to say that I am very happy that I switched to the Verizon Air Card as the speeds are better than WB, the service reliable, and best of all, it's portable!

Yes but if they offer to send someone out to repair your system "free of charge", they will most likely still bill you for it and hope you miss it on your statment :/ This, unfortunately, was the case. The worker who installed our system didn't do a thing right and another one had to be sent out who told us we would NOT be charged for his service. Lo, and behold, WildBlue took over $150 out of Chris's checking account because $95 was from the working coming out to fix something that wasn't right in the first place! Now the refund will kick in soon, but we still have to wait 7-10 business until then. WildBlue's customer service is a JOKE!