Bob Buchanan
Well-known member
John Canfield said:I've heard that Starband customer care was? even worse than Hughes if that's possible? :? A Starband customer cornered me somewhere and was asking about my Datastorm - his Starband experience had almost permanently turned him away from a mobile solution.
John, I've heard similar stories from new HughesNet users -- and even worse "horror" stories about getting assistance from HN tech support. So your random sampling of "one" is fortunately not representative of the quality of Starband. ?For each unhappy user you hear about, I can list 100s who are very happy with the service -- including myself. I will set my system up beside yours or any other HughesNet system and gladly compare results -- and monthly fees.
One major difference is that Starband "does" allow mobile users. I just spoke to a major dealer that attended their current dealer training and testing session -- and that was reinforced to him. If anyone knows of anything to the contrary, I would appreciate postings of your references. So that is my understanding as of today. The problem they have been having (and HughesNet also) are all the fly by night dealers that a springing up marketing dishes with little of no training. Starband does not authorize that kind of sale to mobile users.
Starband discontinued their Mobile Flyer system earlier this year. The reason being that it was just too much trouble to supply the equipment to dealers. The kit included everything down to the wrenches involved -- which was a bad idea in the first place. It was found that dealers themselves could put together the tripod systems for far less cost -- so the flyer did not make that much economic sense anymore. It was "not" because they were discontinuing mobile system support. Dealers around the country are very actively selling and supporting mobile systems.
As a Starband user I received training (as any purchaser of Starband receives), was tested in depth on that training, then received a certificate signifying that I am a Certified Starband Installer. With that in hand, I can set my dish up "anywhere". When I call for assistance, I do not have to be prepared to lie about my current location. My calls have been few, but have always gotten through right away and I received (in well spoken English) all the tech support I needed. Also, and very important, John -- a XPol on a Starband dish is done "after" going on line, not as a requirement before going on line. That way, the user can send emails to users groups or whomever to ask questions if having a pointing problem. If a problem exists, SB will send an email asking that it be corrected.
Anyway, hope this clears up any of the misconceptions you might have had about Starband.
BTW, I "am" a Certified Installer -- not a dealer. I have never sold a dish to anyone else. However, I plan to become an installer for a dealer in the future so will have to be careful about my postings here in terms of advantages of one vs. another. So far I have tried to just clear up the misconceptions posted.