internet connection (direcway)

[confederate]

I am a longtime lurker who is considering the satellite service for high speed internet offered by Direcway, a service of Directv. Any comments from someone who has tried this for online poker are appreciated. I am about one mile beyond the DSL distance limit of 18000 feet and other options in my area are also out of range. I just moved and my dial up connection speed dropped significantly (distance from central office and two line segments I am told by phone company).

[Frozen]

Look, for big downloads direcway is very useful...for internet poker it's no good. You'll suffer at least one disconnect every hour or two...sometimes much worse if you have poor local weather conditions or they've got problems on their end. Satt TV is great, but thumbs down on satt internet.

When my cable company finally made cable broadband internet available in my neighborhood, I was ready to kiss them.
I ditched the direcway and paid the $300 cancellation fine faster than you can say 'disconnected'.

[ohkanada]

I have had direcway for 8 or 9 months.

It works fine ( not great) for online poker. I am able to play with little or no problems. I can play 2 tables with no issues. On Party it usually says my speed is good with the occasional poor or very good. Occasionally I will get disconnnects for a short period of time. I play mostly pokerstars, party and ultimate.

For me it is better than dial-up although I am looking forward to when my area gets cable (soon) or dsl (who knows when).

When the weather is bad (storms and such) it is best not to play in tournies because one never knows if the satelite will lose connections.

I know when I first started with direcway I seemed to have more problems. In the past 4 or 5 months those have gone away. I was having a lot of disconnections but I rarely have that happen now. I know there have been a few direcway software upgrades.

If you have other questions feel free to pm me.

Ken Poklitar

[confederate]

Thanks for your reply. I had all but decided against direcway based on Frozen's response...and I am convinced that he had problems. Your input causes me to reconsider. Like your situation, who knows when I will get cable internet or DSL. I also have the added factor that there are three computers and three internet users in my household juggling two phone lines. I really need some kind of broadband to set up wireless. So, I am still on the fence. A good online poker connection is high on the list though. Thanks for the reply and I may have questions later.
Jack

[ohkanada]

I have 3 PC's in my house. Direcway goes into the fastest PC and I have wireless connecting to the other 2 PC's. I have less issues on the main PC and that is where I usually play poker.

One thing I will add is that some areas of the country get better satelite signal. I believe mine is pretty good. Not sure how you could figure out how yours would be before purchasing it.

Good luck on whatever you decide!

Ken Poklitar

[Vinnie]

I use Starband here at work. Not the exact same but close enough. I have no problems playing from here. I would definetly get other broadband if you have access but am not that unsatisfied by Starband.

[Frozen]

Elite trader thread on Satt internet:

http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16040&perpage=6&highlig ht=sattelite&pagenumber=1

BTW, Confederate...why that particular choice of name?

[confederate]

First Ken, I count 4 or 5 direcway dishes w/o trying very hard nearby. I might just knock on a door or two.
Frozen, confederate is my name on Pokerstars. I have to say that i have not put much thought into handles..different one at four sites. I am a little bit of a civil war buff--two great grandfathers fought for the South, one killed at Fredricksburg, the other captured and held at Point Lookout, MD. Also I am from SC. LOL

[Uglyowl]

Confederate,

I like my Direcway for the most part with no other options. Two negatives:

1. Lag- It takes about a second to register your move, normally not a problem with the advanced click boxes, but good luck getting in a Sit n' Go tourney at Party. I have to connect through my phone to register and then disconnect back to the satellite.

2. Direcway is a bit pricey compared to other options ($59.95/month)

There are lots of people who have problems with cable once there neighborhood get saturated with use from what I hear. Even though my parents just got cable access and WOW it is awesome. I wonder if it will stay that fast for them. First time I have seen something faster than direcway for downloads, or picture heavy pages.

1

[AliasMrJones]

[ QUOTE ]
There are lots of people who have problems with cable once there neighborhood get saturated with use from what I hear.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've heard this as well, but never directly from anyone who's experience it. (Frankly, I write it off as phone company disinformation to get people to buy DSL.) I've had cable internet in two different houses in two completely different parts of the country from 2 different cable companies. Both blazingly fast. As in T1 fast on downloads, consistently. I have no hesitation recommending cable for internet if it is available for you. (Even though I would recommend the dish for TV.)