Broadband from directv

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

In article <1110845049.587283.24830@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com>
"Boothbay" <harri85274@aol.com> writes:

>Does anyone here have the broadband "Directway" from Directv? I thought
>I saw a commercial about such a connection on chnl 200, only, i believe
>it was called 'Gateway". I did a search in directv and only Directway
>came up. Was its name changed? Any recommendations on this and cost?
>Cost was never mentioned, unless I give my life history, which i'm sick
>of giving.

At the time I checked, about 9 months ago there were two ways you can go,
either purchase the equipment outright for approx $600 and thereafter pay
approx $60/month, or pay $100/month and lease the equipment. Obviously
purchase is a better deal if you're going to keep the service. D/L speed
varies but overall averages about 1/2 that of conventional 1.5 Mbps DSL.

"Certified Professional" installation is required. You can not do it
yourself, even if you know how. The only way to get it is to have it
installed. A phone line is *required* but only for installation and set
up. Once up and running the phone line isn't needed anymore.

There is also a daily download cap after which you're severely throttled.
I don't recall the amount of data, but it seemed to me at the time that I
might hit it occasionally. Don't quote me because I don't have or recall
the specifics here, but it seemed like the download cap was something like
512 megs per day.

Bottom line is I felt it was pretty expensive and way too much latency for
any online gaming. However, the service is in no danger of going away.
Hughes is marketing the heck out of it to commercial customers as a
replacement for leased services to remote metering devices used by
interstate pipeline companies

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

If your primarily an online gamer, it won't work.
Waaaaay too much latency.

Boothbay wrote:

>Does anyone here have the broadband "Directway" from Directv? I thought
>I saw a commercial about such a connection on chnl 200, only, i believe
>it was called 'Gateway". I did a search in directv and only Directway
>came up. Was its name changed? Any recommendations on this and cost?
>Cost was never mentioned, unless I give my life history, which i'm sick
>of giving.
>
>
>

--
Ric Seyler

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

"Boothbay" <harri85274@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1110845049.587283.24830@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> Does anyone here have the broadband "Directway" from Directv? I thought
> I saw a commercial about such a connection on chnl 200, only, i believe
> it was called 'Gateway". I did a search in directv and only Directway
> came up. Was its name changed? Any recommendations on this and cost?
> Cost was never mentioned, unless I give my life history, which i'm sick
> of giving.

I had Direcway for about two weeks and gave it up. When I polled for email,
it took a long time to retrieve it. Web browsing wasn't much better. The
only thing it did fairly well was a straight download. Once the download
started, it went fast. The problem was starting each process, whether it was
browsing, file download, or email, took a long time. Cable modem service
eventually became available in my area and I made the switch. Direcway is
better than a telephone modem if you do a lot of large file downloads,
otherwise try something else or stick with a modem.