Exede scheduled for March 24

[micwa]

Called last night after the RFD TV Live show (they are offering $50 off for new customers and $75 off for existing customers for 24 hours -- ends tonight at 8pm Central). So I'm glad I waited. :P

The rep was nice and informative but sadly I could barely hear her. I don't know what is up with their headphones. I finally just told her I couldn't hear her and she spoke louder in the microphone but that really didn't help. Didn't someone else have problems hearing the rep when they called to upgrade a while back?

She flat out told me the new plans and what they consist of. So I know people can't complain this time around that WB didn't tell them how much data they are getting. But I'm not sure if she explained what happened if you went over... I may have missed it. I took the 7.5GB plan. She asked if I wanted to do the monthly lease or pay upfront.. I said monthly and she told me my bill would be $59.94 a month.

On the RFD TV program Erwin Hudson said it should take an hour to upgrade (but didn't it take some of you like 3-4 hours to be upgraded?) Someone called in the show and asked about usage and how would they keep track of it. Erwin Hudson said that ViaSat is developing a usage meter program that will run in your taskbar and would be released in the next "few weeks". Finally. Other callers was praising the service.. no drive by callers dissing the service or complaining about the caps. I'm sure the calls were screened.

I am scheduled to upgrade this Saturday (24th).

[wm4bama]

Glad you got a schedule...it took a little more than 2 hours for my installer to do the upgrade, but I made sure he was very meticulous in aiming the dish, and doing the push/pull test after all fasteners were tightened..he also stuck around while we ran some speed tests to verify a good install...the one thing he did not do was set the skew angle...he left it at 90º and it should have been set at about 53º for my location, so ask him about that for your location..btw...not setting the skew does not seem to effect the performance of my system...others say it can effect your upload speed and maybe keep a good connection to the satellite in very bad weather...so far no problem with that here.

Two things I looked at during the RFD program...first, I could not for sure determine what browser he was using during the demo...did you recognize it?

Second, his modem had the bottom 3 lights flashing constantly, even with no computer activity....this is not normal, and I suspect he had a special beam channel set up just for the demo to make sure he got 12mbs or more and his computer connected directly to the modem has some program running in the background to keep the link active....but rest assured, the lights do not blink when no activity is in process...every once in a while you will see the third light (uplink) blink 2 or 3 times, which I think is the modem staying locked to the satellite...but this is not very often, normally no blinking until it's in use..

They also did not mention the possibility of buying extra usage (rumored to be $8/gigabyte) so nothing "official" yet...but I suspect that will happen eventually.

Overall it was an impressive show...I enjoyed watching the launch again and seeing how big and complicated the satellite construction was in the factory...

My installer took my old equipment with him, but WB later sent me a pre-paid UPS box to return the Tria and Modem...I had to call and straighten that out, so be clear up front on whether he is to take your old equipment or if you're supposed to ship it yourself..

Also, make sure he does not cut off the unused coax....keep it coiled up for a spare..

You did good, getting $75 off the $149 upgrade fee...I hope others take advantage of that offer...

Looking forward to you posting results...I know I'm one happy camper with mine.

[Monkeyflesh]

Other callers was praising the service.. no drive by callers dissing the service or complaining about the caps. I'm sure the calls were screened.

Are they enforcing the caps yet?

[scorp64]

Someone called in the show and asked about usage and how would they keep track of it. Erwin Hudson said that ViaSat is developing a usage meter program that will run in your taskbar and would be released in the next "few weeks".

If this is our only way of tracking usage I hope it gets its data from their end or it's pretty useless. Would have to install it on each of our computers and add the amounts together, but that wouldn't include what our game console, dvr, and printer use.

[micwa]

Bama, I missed the first 15 minutes of the program. Going to catch the repeat.

I'm sure the installer will be the same one that installed WB in 2009. I haven't had problems with the installation so I assume he did a good job. I'll keep all of this handy and ask him about the skew, cable and equipment. I'm surprised WB wants the TRIA and modem back. Do we get a refund or something? :P

Also does the new SB2 equipment come via UPS/FedX before the installer gets here like when I ordered in 2009?

[ccmdguy]

Good luck on your upgrade! I was a new install and they had to bury cable so it took about 4 hours..but only a couple of hours were the aiming and modem install.

I had some real issues with the usage meter at the beginning (and it's been offline ever since!) and a bunch of us had issues with connection speeds going to almost zero after 5pm but over the last 8 days it's been rock solid...I've got an auto testmy.net download running every couple of hours and am getting from 7-10 Mbps consistently. I'm almost afraid to even say that for fear....

bama...my modem lights seem to be constantly blinking but I have a couple of devices hooked up to my network that probably cause minimal but constant traffic. I should probably shut things down at night. Gotta save every byte I can.

I'm anxiously awaiting that usage meter. I've been tracking it through my router and will probably slightly exceed (no pun intended, but maybe it is!) my 7.5Gb cap. I figure I'll be moving to the 15Gb plan.

[wm4bama]

Bama, I missed the first 15 minutes of the program. Going to catch the repeat.

I'm sure the installer will be the same one that installed WB in 2009. I haven't had problems with the installation so I assume he did a good job. I'll keep all of this handy and ask him about the skew, cable and equipment. I'm surprised WB wants the TRIA and modem back. Do we get a refund or something? :P

Also does the new SB2 equipment come via UPS/FedX before the installer gets here like when I ordered in 2009?

The installer will show up with the new equipment..no refund on returned Tria and modem (I assume you didn't buy them)...

[micwa]

I pay for it via the lease every month. :P

No, seriously I'm glad they take it. What would I do with it..

[wm4bama]

I pay for it via the lease every month. :P

No, seriously I'm glad they take it. What would I do with it..

Well, be sure to clarify with your installer if he takes the old hardware because WB will charge your account a lot of $$'s if they don't get the Tria and modem returned..

[oldogy]

FWIw, I left my old dish up where could switch back if Exede failed. I called a week later to cancel my old account thru Dish and they sent me a box to return the tria and modem. The installation took a couple hours and has worked quite well other than my original router not working with Exede. So far my speed have been good with no weather fade.