A FAP Question

[jeg97]

Hello all,

I am a Wildblue customer through directv and five days ago my connection slowed down. I called directv and was told that my connection was slowwed because I was at 72% of bandwidth and that once I got below 70% speed would return. I called back the next day and was told it was now 75%. After that I found the usage meter and I have been at 74% for the past couple of days.

When I read the FAP it says that speeds will be slowed at 100% and remain slow until back below 70%. Based on my first call I don't believe I have been over 100%. When I pointed this out to Directv they said the policy had changed and that the speed was slowed over 70%. I was told that Wildblue was updating their website to reflect the new FAP terms.

Has the policy changed?

I would like to talk to Wildblue directly but when I enter my account into the customer service line it tells me I am a wholesale customer and to go talk to Directv. I feel like I am getting the run around and would like an explanation as to what the current policy is, whether I triggered it and how I need to manage my account to prevent this in the future.

I feel like using the usage meter and the current FAP from the website wont get me there since the usage data provided to me leads me to believe I have not exceeded the FAP limits.

Please help me understand this.

Thanks

[CelestialStorm]

Unfortunately you do have to talk directly with the company from where you signed up for service. You do not get fap'd until you reach a full 100% ; restored when you drop below 70%. There is a delay until usage gets posted so it may appear you were fap'd at less.

[Shane]

Well said CS.

[jeg97]

Thank you for trying to help.

Unfortunately both companies seem willing to takke my money and then pass the buck.

If someone was telling me that I went to 100% I would be unhappy but right now I am being told by directv that FAP starts at 70%, that directv can't see my usage any differently than I can, and they don't control any of this. What I want is to understand how to prevent this in the future and that starts with what are the rules of the road. Is it too much to ask for someone to offically confirm the policy and that it was violated?

What is worse in all this is that 30 days ago from the start of my problem I was away for the 4th of July. All the computers were off and usage during that time should have been zero. I have a hard time believing I was at 100% but then 1.5 to 2 G dropped of from that time frame.

I don't think it is too much to ask for something as simple as an email that confirms the official policy and maybe has a graph of daily usage for the last 30 days at the time of 100%. At least then I could understand better how to avoid in the future. Right now I feel like neither company wants my business.

[CelestialStorm]

The Wildblue employees are off for the weekend. Please send a private message to WB Steve and he will get an answer to you this week but he also has his full time job for them. If you have the name of whomever you talked to include that along with your name and contact number.

I'm only a moderator and am not any type of paid employee of Wildblue but I know where you're coming from and I assure you he will find a solution for you. And I'm sure since Directive handled your contract and they are an official reseller he will help you resolve the issue.

Hang in there please.

[CelestialStorm]

LOL oh....and tell him you think I need a raise :-)

[Shane]

Here is where to find DirecTV's FAP for the Wildblue service that is sold through them: http://s24294.gridserver.com/faq/agreements/FAP.pdf

Sending a PM to WB Steve is a good way to go as he may be able to help escalate your case with DirecTV but you still have to contact DirecTV for any and all questions or service help for a product that is sold through them being they are the managing partner.

As for what caused the bandwith to go over, there are several things that could have caused it. You can find many by doing a search on these forums. I would like to know, was it the download or the upload usage that you went over on?

[wm4bama]

As you can see from the document in the link Shane posted WB/DirecTv has not changed the fap policy...and if/when they did everyone would be informed in a very official way...and more than likely, the change in fap policy would be upward, not downward.

You were mislead by a misinformed person at DirecTv's customer service organization. The fap policy has not changed, and you have to go over 100% of your allowed rolling 30 day usage to get fapped...then you stay fapped until it drops below 70%...they were confusing the 70% somehow.

One thing to complain about and do research on is why you did not get an email from DirecTv when you got to 80%...that should have alerted you that something was wrong and allowed you to correct it before you hit 100%.

Also, verify DirecTv has a valid email address for you on their system.

[Shane]

It is possible that they did not get an email because a contact email was not set up at the time of install by their DirecTV installation technician or the contact email set up at that time was incorrect. This is why it is very important to have your contact information setup correctly!! There is a difference between the email set up at the time of activation with a @wildblue.net, @directv.net, @dishmail.net, @gotsky.net etc as a contact email that you check ALL THE TIME like @yahoo.com, @aol.com. @gmail.com, etc.

[Shane]

After looking through when MS last did some big updates on our computers here at the office and at home, I found that they were right at the end of June and then again mid July. The ones at the end of June were very large so could be part of the problem that you have with your FAP level rising. You may need to go into your settings and disable the automatic updates on your PC. This does not solve the problem you have now but could prevent future problems. If you can hold on for a little bit more the big updates in mid July shall be rolling off your usage in just about a week.