Topic: The Demon DirecWay

[pinestump]

I am having DirecWay installed tomorrow.  I chose to buy a used DW4000 system for various reasons.  I am looking forward to the service being up and running soon.

I have noticed people either hate or love D-Way.  The hour I spent checking it out at the dealer was very informative to me.  I admit, the upload speeds were not too impressive.  The download speeds however were very impressive.  The latency was there but it was never more than one second.

Bottom line so far is that to me D-Way is far superior to dialup.  Sure, cable or even DSL may be better options.  However, if one wants what appears to be a good alternative to 56k modems then D-way is it.

Of course, I am going to open my account tomorrow.  Maybe after a month I will be at my wits end with D-way too, but I doubt it.  I am at least going to give the service a fair chance with a fair comparison to other alternatives before I deem it as a waste of time and money.

I must say too that a clean computer is necessary to have an enjoyable experience on the web.  Those that do not keep antivirus programming up to date, don't have a clue what ZoneAlarm is and have never heard of Ad-Aware or Spybot will just be unsatisfied with anything due to the poor performance of their system overall.

So, please wish me good luck as I begin my journey on satellite internet.

[Aggr3]

pinestump ...I had a 4000 system for over three years..the majority of the complaints are 6000 users.  And more so from people like me that downgraded to the 6000....with the SAME GREAT SPEEDS....bull.
My 4000 gave me twice the speed and I only called them maybe 6 times in the three years....like E-mail issues.  So I'm unhappy cause I spent $250 on this slow piece of junk...due to false advertising.  And now they want $300 for me to go back to my 4000....or I would..and I'd be happier..

So good luck....but you won't need it with the 4000

[fikester]

Hey pinestump make sure you brush up your sand monkey 101 course.

Start with these words: proxy, modem, reset, speeds, http, //, ;

you will be a pro in a short time or hire an interpretor to laugh at! You might get lucky with the 4000 and not get to call much?

Make sure you get  a good install, insist on quad shield cable, proper grounding, and a peaked signal. If he seems to be in a hurry, likely short cuts are being taken. Sure wish I knew what should have been done when my installer arrived....ended up with junk coax run 130ft, loose connectors, no grounding, and poor site location due to lazy bones! I'm sure there are great installers out there that go above & beyond....mine drove 3.5hours to get here so he was already mad when he got here.

[pinestump]

Thanks guys for the words of encouragement.

I have read lots of forums regarding the DW4000 and decided to buy one of those used based on  what I had read.  My installers are local and seem very knowledgeable and personable.  I think they know what they are doing...

I will find out in about two hours

[fikester]

Local is a good thing...let us know!

As I said earlier there are some installers that go above and beyond, but many who just dont care.

[pinestump]

OK, DW4000 installed and running.

The installation of the equipment took 3 hours, getting tech support to clear the old account from the modem and swap me sats took another 8 hours.

Good news is my downloads are good...

Your connection is: 1012 Kbps      (about 1 Mbps)
You downloaded at: 124 kB/s
Your TRuSPEED: ^info^ 1083 Kbps :: 133 kB/s (7% overhead factored)
Bottom Line: You are running: 18 times faster than 56K and can download 1 megabyte in 8.26 second(s) 
Diagnosis: Awesome! 20% + : 26.66 % faster than the average for host (direcpc.com)


Uploads re very similar to dialup.

Bottom line?  Better than dialup so far for downloading.  Tech support was a nightmare.  Installer was good but could have been better for sure.

[LightningSatellite]

New User Here.

I have had DirecWay for approx 1 month. The reason I am here is I was having such MAJOR problems with it being slower than DialUp since connected I had called them for some help. Middle of Knowhere so no Cable or DSL avail.

After reseting system speed is much improved. There techs are outside of US the first few were clueless so kept calling back then finally got one who knew what was going on.

Found a lot of tips from this guy. From less than dial up to see below current speed. Will also try other options given to try to improve it. I am running a 4000 unit (freebie) Getting calls each day trying to get me to go for 6000. Think biggest reason for trying to get me to go to 6000 was would need a contract. Because of used system pay only monthly rate month by month. A few minutes ago was ready to dump whole system but now seems to be okay.

Speed Test Results
Your connection rating is:       [Test Home | Re-Test]
See our forum for speed tips
 


 
Your connection is: 1446 Kbps      (about 1.4 Mbps)
You downloaded at: 176 kB/s
Your TRuSPEED: ^info^ 1547 Kbps :: 188 kB/s (7% overhead factored)
Bottom Line: You are running: 26 times faster than 56K and can download 1 megabyte in 5.82 second(s) 
Diagnosis: Awesome! 20% + : 80.98 % faster than the average for host (direcpc.com) 
 
Results Comparison     
 
      ::You::
      direcpc.com (799 Kbps)
      Typical Cable (1500 - 3000)
      Typical DSL (256 - 1500)
      Satellite (700)
      ISDN (64 - 128)
      Dial Up (28.8 - 56)
Note:Your speed should be within the blue for your connection type. If you score higher... SMILE!
     

This was tested from a 12160 kB file and was downloaded in 68.906 seconds

 

[LightningSatellite]

OK, DW4000 installed and running.

The installation of the equipment took 3 hours, getting tech support to clear the old account from the modem and swap me sats took another 8 hours.

Good news is my downloads are good...

Your connection is: 1012 Kbps      (about 1 Mbps)
You downloaded at: 124 kB/s
Your TRuSPEED: ^info^ 1083 Kbps :: 133 kB/s (7% overhead factored)
Bottom Line: You are running: 18 times faster than 56K and can download 1 megabyte in 8.26 second(s) 
Diagnosis: Awesome! 20% + : 26.66 % faster than the average for host (direcpc.com)


Uploads re very similar to dialup.

Bottom line?  Better than dialup so far for downloading.  Tech support was a nightmare.  Installer was good but could have been better for sure.

PineStump, where are you located? I found a big help was in trying different frequencies. (also getting someone in Florida vs across the pond) speed I listed is with only a 70 connection speed. Mostly get 74.

[fikester]

OK, DW4000 installed and running.

The installation of the equipment took 3 hours, getting tech support to clear the old account from the modem and swap me sats took another 8 hours.

Good news is my downloads are good...

Your connection is: 1012 Kbps      (about 1 Mbps)
You downloaded at: 124 kB/s
Your TRuSPEED: ^info^ 1083 Kbps :: 133 kB/s (7% overhead factored)
Bottom Line: You are running: 18 times faster than 56K and can download 1 megabyte in 8.26 second(s) 
Diagnosis: Awesome! 20% + : 26.66 % faster than the average for host (direcpc.com)


Uploads re very similar to dialup.

Bottom line?  Better than dialup so far for downloading.  Tech support was a nightmare.  Installer was good but could have been better for sure.

You might want to use some tweaks specifically for the 4000....most of them are posting speed above 1500 some closer to 2000Kbps. Look around or post the question for them one of the 4000 users will help you. The 6000 peaks out at around 1000Kbps thats what I run.....so the tweaks are little different for it.

[Gusted]

Tech support was a nightmare.

hehe 

[pinestump]

Lightningsat

I am located in northern Michigan.  My satellite is G4R, freq is 970 MHz horiz.

I must say my upload speeds are very similar to dialup... my downloads are not too shabby.

[JoeOtto]

Regarding tech support...

I NEVER call unless the thing is out for more than several hours and I am sure it is not me. Then when you do call, you either get their stupid f*&%ing recording admitting that they suck and to call back when they don't (which is never) or you get a support guy who is driving a cab in NYC with one hand and talking on his tech support cell phone on the other. (Or maybe he is at the counter at 7-11)