4 stars

If dial up is not working for you (and I can't imagine that it is) then get satellite if you can't get DSL or cable. If you understand the limitations of satellite up front, I think it can work for you. I have had WildBlue for 2 months and I am satisfied. But keep in mind that you can't stream movies or game with any satellite system and that the access is shared by all users in a given geographic area. This sharing means the more people surfing the net, the slower your connection is going to be. As I work from home, the connection is just dandy most of the time - however from 5:30 to 11:00 it slows down quite a bit as everybody comes home from work. If I were a typical user meaning I went to work somewhere else and not at home to use my connection, I would likely be upset because I would only be able to use the system during the peak usage/slow times when I would be home from work. (weekend days are slower as well but not as slow as the evening.)

Also, when it was first installed it was really, really slow all the time. I called tech support and had a very helpful rep walk me through the tweaking of some settings. I wonder if many of the people complaining on this board have tweaked their settings to optimize for a satellite connection. After that it has been great. My download speed is 1200 -1500 kb during the day and my upload speed is 72 kb. Uploading takes awhile! Long and short, if I were only going to use the system during peak hours, it is expensive for what you get but still better than dial up regardless. Also, a wireless connection from your router would yield a much degraded signal. I strongly recommend only using a wired connection with satellite. All in all I am happy with my service.