Wildblue helps rural area families connect to Facebook

The problem most families in rural places all across the United States face is keeping up with modern day technology that’s available all over inner cities and suburban areas. Now more than ever millions of people of all generations are hoping online for social networking with Facebook, or just for personal reasons like banking, shopping, homework or whatever the need maybe. WildBlue can help rural areas obtain the same benefits.

One thing that many people love about Facebook is that it allows you to reconnect with old grade school friends you have not seen in years. Members in rural areas who have Wildblue are pleased that they can connect with neighbors they grew up with that they no longer see. See growing up in small rural towns once you finish high school it’s usually off to college, the military or stay around and find a local job. Small towns are usually tight knit communities that like to keep in touch usually by word of mouth, but Facebook gives them the option to see what their old friends are up to with having to go to local coffee shop to catch up on the latest gossip.

It’s amazing what one website can do to help people stay close to their loved ones. So if your in a rural area and looking to find a way to connect to old friends without waiting for days for your Dial-up system to load, check out WildBlue and see what they can do for you.

WildBlue customers beware of scams on Facebook

With the growth of popular social websites such as My Space and Facebook comes the growth of scams being committed on these sites. Whether your in a city or rural area, by now everyone should know that you need to be careful when checking messages even emails from unknown senders. But now computers hackers are good enough to hack into Facebook profiles and send messages without someone knowing.

The newest scam to hit Facebook actually isn’t new at all. It’s called the “ Stranded Travelers Scam” it’s when you get a message from a friend saying they’re stuck in some foreign country and need you to send them money. In reality it’s a hacker that took over your friend’s account trying to get money out of you.

Even though it seems hard to believe that people would actually send money right away after receiving one of theses messages. The truth is many people fall victim to these scams everyday. Most people feel that social networking sites are safe and secure when really they can be harmful just like getting your wallet stolen. People tend to put to much personal information on their Facebook profiles making them an easy target.

The best thing to do when receiving messages from a friend about money is to contact them directly face to face or by phone. Make sure it’s really them and if it checks out feel free to help a friend in need. But by no means respond to a message on a social networking site asking for money to be sent, 90% of the time it’s a scam.

Wildblue Satellite Internet looking to Improve Internet Speed with Stimulus Money

There are parts of America believe it or not, that do not have access to High Speed Internet. While customers of cities and settled towns price T1 cable lines and Fiber optic connections with speeds advertised sometimes over 25 Megabytes, many residents in rural areas rely on dial up speeds. This is due to limited access of hardwired Telephone or cable lines.

Satellite Internet Providers have been doing their best to connect rural America to the Internet at an improved speed, and with 7.2 Billion dollars in Fed Stimulus Money set aside to help rural areas to acquire Broadband Access the speeds offered at the moment may see a significant increase. There has also been an increase through cell phone providers to add Internet usage via their cell towers using what is known as an air card.

Currently the speeds offered by Satellite Internet start at 512 kilobytes and range up to 1.5 megabytes. This seems slow to some areas of the country who have cable or DSL connections. However the average speed of a dial up connection is between 30 and 56 Kilobytes. With today’s Web Pages designed with Flash Players and Media Players a dial up connection can take at a minimum 20 minutes or longer to load. When a customer begins service with a satellite provider the starting speed of 512 Kilobytes is a major improvement comparing to dial up. However, those moving to rural areas from cities or towns well equipped with cable or DSL providers have had difficulty accepting the fact the maximum speeds satellite Providers offer is 1.5 Megabytes.

With a request of 300 million in Federal Funding from the stimulus, Wildblue and HughesNet plan on sharing a Satellite that could provide speeds up to 10 Megabytes to present and future customers of the Satellite Internet Providers. Although WildBlue services approximately 400,000 customers, there are an estimated 11 million households that currently have limited access to the Internet.

Pricing does play into some decisions of attaining the Satellite Internet Service; a majority of rural America just does not live in an area that has the infrastructure to acquire Broadband Internet. Part of the problem is that those without Internet include schools, businesses, and libraries. The stimulus is an attempt to bring Hi Speed Internet to those mentioned who cannot connect at speeds faster than dial up. The first round of funding will be rewarded within the coming months.

Experience the difference an always on, no phone line required, fast Internet service can provide. Get WildBlue Satellite Internet and get flying.

Seeking A New Job In The 21st Century

When I got out of college 12 years ago there was only one traditional way of applying for employment. After combing the classified section of the local paper I would form a list of jobs I was interested in applying for. I recall going to the store to purchase good quality paper with matching envelops and mailing each company I was interested in working for a copy of my resume and cover letter. After a trip to the Post Office, my job was done and the waiting game began. In some rare cases a follow up call to a HR representative at the company was in order to make sure that they have received my resume. The entire process was slow, expensive, and very time consuming.

I have been very fortunate being employed for the same company for the past 12 years. I guess I was lucky, but also understand this to be very rare in today’s society. With that said, I have been out of the job hunting loop for many years Recently I began to search for a new career. It was time for a change and I needed to start to learn the new way of applying for jobs in this extremely competitive environment.

Today finding employment is very different. I am not even sure if people would still “snail mail” a resume to a potential employer. Today a job seeker uses the power of the Internet to reach potential employers around the world in a fraction of the time.

I spent a few hours updating my decade old resume and began to research online help. I came across companies like Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com that offered assistance in posting resumes at no charge. This was a pretty cool experience. I learned that I could search for jobs by type, location, or even salary ranges. This sure beats going line by line in the local paper! This seemed to good to be true. I was sure I would find a job in record time. I was even able to apply for jobs without reading the description by using their “auto reply” feature. I spent a few days posting resumes and then sat back and waited for my phone to ring and for a company to offer me the job of a lifetime.

A few days pasted and I was disappointed by how few phone calls I had received. I guess I had under estimated the poor economic status of the country and how record unemployment rates effects finding a job. When I stopped to think about how many people are applying for the same position that I was interested in I quickly realized that I might have to take the next a step in finding a new job.

A friend of mine told me about additional websites that he felt might help with my search. He sent me an invitation to join his Linked In professional network. This proved to be the best move I had made. Within a few short days I was “linked” to dozens of young professionals that were able to help each other find work through contacts they had made. In this environment I learned that you almost need an “in” or an introduction to find work. I have been on several interviews over the past few weeks. I have not found the right fit for myself yet, but I am confident that opportunity is not far down the road.

I live in rural America and there are very few Internet providers in the town where I live. The use of the high speed Internet was critical in my search for a new career. I was a dial-up customer for years until I signed on with a company called WildBlue. The service is much faster and reliable than the dialup I was using. I was pleasantly surprised that the cost of the service was reasonable and the service has been great. I highly recommend that if you are looking for a new job, get yourself a reliable Internet provider. Chances are the Internet is where you will find your next career opportunity. Don’t make the already stressful task of looking for employment worse by doing so with a dialup Internet connection.

WildBlue Satellite Internet has been helping customers all across the United States access the information they need on the Internet. Information in many cases that is just not accessible through a dialup connection.

ViaSat To Purchase WildBlue For $568 Million

ViaSat Inc. a Carlsbad, California satellite equipment maker for defense and consumer markets, announced on October 1 a deal, in principle to buy privately held WildBlue Communications Inc. of Denver, Colorado, a high-speed Satellite Internet provider, one of the nations top ISPs, for a reported $568 million in cash and stock. The move will allow the two companies to reduce long-term costs and risk, as they seek to expand their position in the consumer broadband satellite Internet market.

The ViaSat SurfBeam networking system, which pioneered the use of unprocessed Ka-band spot beam technology to provide increased capacity and lower the cost of bandwidth, currently powers WildBlue. ViaSat has plans to launch ViaSat1 a new higher-capacity satellite in the first quarter of 2011, which will enable WildBlue to run at speeds between 2-8 Megabits per second, similar to the speeds cable companies provide their customers. The increase in speed apparently will not be accompanied by a rate increase, as ViaSat plans to keep WildBlue service prices at their current levels, ranging from $39.95 to $79.95. Currently WildBlue speeds reach 1.5 Mbps and start at 512 Kbps.

At the moment WildBlue has roughly 400,000 customers, with 90% of that total having just dial-up Internet service as their only alternative. The increase in speed will allow WildBlue to compete in DSL and Cable markets as well.

One challenge for WildBlue has been a lack of capacity to meet the demand for their service. This has caused some potential customers to be acquired by satellite Internet rival HughesNet, who is typically higher priced and more costly to start up. The merger should alleviate this problem and accelerate WildBlue’s already robust growth. Great news for customers in rural areas where dialup is the only other option and better news for customers that have DSL and/or cable available for Internet, the advent of another player in those markets can only be good for consumers.

The deal is expected to close in early April, subject to regulatory clearance and other conditions. The final transaction will consist of $443 million in cash and another $125 million in newly issued ViaSat stock shares. Based on how the Street has embraced this deal the stock may come out to be even more valuable than first anticipated. ViaSat shares rose sharply to a new 52-week high at $28.34 per share.

Stuck with dialup? You don’t have to be. WildBlue Satellite Internet is available everywhere and can take you anywhere on the Internet you want to be. Always on, high-speed and best of all, no phone line necessary.

A Fast Growing Solution to Dial-Up

Are you in a rural area in the United States, where cable or DSL Internet services are not available? Have you had to suffer through long waits to connect to your dial-up service only to have your connection drop? Have you had to add another phone line to your home because you have a dial-up Internet provider – or – do you just let your phone line go unavailable while you are using the Internet? If you have answered yes to any of these questions – satellite Internet may be the solution for you.

Satellite Internet is growing by leaps and bounds over the past several years. Rural Internet customers are quickly realizing that they are not cornered by the “trailing edge” technology the dial-up ISP’s offer. There is a better way to access the Internet and satellite is it.

Satellite Internet provides customers with an always on, lightning fast connection without dial-up delays, disconnections or the use of your phone line. Surf the Internet up to 30-times faster, download with ease, read emails, send pictures, or just browse to your hearts content.

Satellite Internet is available within the 48 continental United States. You will need a clear view of the southern sky and a small dish, either mounted to your home or attached to a pole in your yard. As demand for this faster Internet service rises more and more great promotional deals pop up. Shop around and you will be able to save on equipment, installation and monthly service rates. The service is simple to use and setup. The satellite Internet modem simply plugs into a wall outlet and to the Ethernet port on the back of your computer. There is no dialing into an ISP as the service is always on and available 24/7.

There are a few satellite ISP’s out there, but WildBlue and HughesNet are clearly the leaders in the industry. The main difference between the two is how they deliver service to customers. HughesNet uses KU bands, or frequency to transmit, where WildBlue uses KA band. The main difference is that KA is much less crowded than KU band. KU delivery uses one large beam covering the country while KA used by WildBlue uses individual spot beams to cover the same area. The spot beams allow WildBlue to reuse frequencies in other beams in order to maximize bandwidth for its satellites.

Because satellite Internet has a limited amount of bandwidth, they use a Fair Access Policy to regulate the use of the service. Basically, in order to assure that each customer has the same quality of service a limit is placed on the amount of uploading and downloading a customer can perform in a set period of time. HughesNet uses a daily FAP policy, where WildBlue uses a rolling 30-day period of its FAP usage levels. No matter which way FAP is delivered, it is important to note that only 4% off all users get “FAPPED.” If you are over your allotted limit you are simply reduced to dial-up like speeds until you gain more threshold in your account.

Satellite Internet can also be a solution for small rural businesses as well, however, it is important to note that the service performance is not recommended for more than two computers. Other limitations on the service would include, Voice Over Internet Protocol over VOIP. Examples of VOIP would be Vonage phone service. Also, the service is not recommended for Virtual Private Networks (VPN) access, because of the latency in the transmitting signal from the modem to the satellite and back down, VPN connections, which require constant authentication simply drop and require authentication over and over.

The cost of Satellite Internet depends on the speed that you require. No matter what your needs are, however, the prices will be competitive with most cable and DSL providers. Like many traditional ISP’s the satellite providers will provide many of the same extras such as; web-based email options with anywhere from 5-10 addresses. Web space usually between 10-20 MB. Virus protection software, alternate remote access dialup service, should you need to access the Internet away from your base setup, the ability to maintain existing AOL accounts if you prefer and equipment warranties.

Satellite Internet providers have enormous customer satisfaction ratings with independent polls showing 94% of satellite internet customers saying they would recommend the service to their friends and family members. Among the areas where satellite service scored highest, reliability of service, speed, price to quality of service ratio, tech support and customer service.

For PC users the requirements include: 300+ MHz processor, 128 MB RAM, Windows ME, 2000 or XP operating systems, 100 MB of free hard drive space and an Ethernet NIC card. For Mac users: 300+ MHz processor, 128 MB RAM, OS10.2+ operating system, 100 MB of free hard drive space and an Ethernet NIC card.

As you can see, there is very little reason to put up with the frustrations of a slow dialup service – if you are ready to go fast, drop that extra or unused phone line and get things done WildBlue can have you up, soaring and remembering all of the things you used to love about the Internet.

A Day Without Internet

We take a lot of things for granted in life. There are the obvious things like your car, house, or even your cell phone. Sure if you went a day with out one of those it would be difficult, but what about the Internet? Could you go a day with out Internet?

These days we are so used to lighting fast Internet that we get upset when it takes even ten seconds to load your FaceBook page. We are now so used to having all the information in the world at our fingertips that if it were taken away, a lot of people wouldn’t know what to do. Some of you may be too young to remember, but the Internet wasn’t all ways that fast or useful. It was called…DIAL-UP!! “GASP”

Believe it or not, dial up Internet was our only way of getting connected to the thing we love the most, the Internet. It was just a phone line that plugged right into your computer. Your computer would then dial a phone number to connect to the Internet. That’s right a phone number as if you were going to call a person. This process could sometimes take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes. What? That’s too long? How are you going to check your MySpace? YOU’D HAVE TO WAIT!!

Unbelievably, this monster that we call dial-up is still being used, mostly in rural America. This is where the population is so low that the cable and DSL companies that provide us with Internet, won’t run lines in those areas because they would not make enough profit. The only alternative solution for dial-up customers in those kinds of areas, that I have found is satellite Internet. Satellite Internet providers like WildBlue can offer a much faster speed then dial-up ever could and without the hassle of tying up your phone line. People in those areas may never see cable speeds like we have in the big cities, but this can get them close.

Think about all the things you do with the Internet. It’s a lot more then you think. Let me run you though my typical Internet day.

I wake up in the morning and the first thing I do is check sports scores on line. Then I answer email from my friends or send a few myself. I typically download music and video files and sometimes grab a quick shower while they load. Next comes a quick check of the weather before I venture out. Upon returning at the end of my day, enjoy a movie from my Netflix account.

Let me run you though the same day, but without Internet. Wake up and run to the local newsstand to check sports scores. Then to the post office to buy some stamps so I can write and send letters. Then back home for a shower. Back out again to buy a new music CD and rent a movie. The video store was out of my first choice. Guess I shouldn’t have wasted all that time writing that letter. On my way back home I got caught in a downpour, didn’t have time to see the local weather forecast before I left. Found a phone book that was keeping my kitchen table level and looked up the number to a pizza place. I only ordered a small plain pizza because I spent all my money on stamps and gas going from place to place. Then I watched a “Law & Order” marathon on USA, because the movie I settled on was terrible. In conclusion I am broke, hungry and board out of my mind!!

Internet is with out a doubt the thing we take for granted the most in life. We don’t realize how much we use it and how much it makes our life easier. What ever you need to use the Internet for tomorrow, stop and try to perform the task with it. Maybe then we can all start appreciating the luxury of the Internet.

If you are stuck with dialup and frustrated getting nowhere fast on the Internet, get the always on, high speed, no phone line needed,
WildBlue Satellite Internet service and get living.

An Investment in Education

You wouldn’t paint a house with a toothbrush, or cut a tree down with a steak knife, so why would you ever attempt to educate yourself online with a dialup Internet service. In all three instances, way too slow and, more importantly, not the right tool for the job.

Anyone who has, or is attempting to earn a degree or certification will tell you, education is an investment toward a brighter future. The costs of housing, books, tuition, student loans and supplies have driven more and more students to the Internet. School is hard enough without the constant fight to get connected, stay connected, only to endure the painfully long waits to access information on the Internet though a dialup connection. Satellite Internet can provide students with an always on, reliable and more importantly fast Internet service. With Satellite Internet you can access the information you need and even download up to 30-times faster than dialup connections, for a cost that rivals most DSL services. Better yet, Satellite Internet doesn’t use a phone line, so you won’t be cut off from the world while you learn.

Having a fast Internet connection can open you up to a world of educational possibilities. Everything from Certifications to full-blown Doctorate Degrees are out there. The costs of learning online in some cases can be less than one-tenth the cost of a traditional education.

More and more traditional schools are offering distance learning now. Schools such as; Boston University, Bowling Green, George Washington, Gonzaga, Indiana State, NYU, and Cincinnati to name a few. There are also the online giants of the industry, DeVry, Kaplan and the University of Phoenix. Students are able to take their entire course load online and work at their own pace or take traditional classes and supplement the course work online, the options are limitless.

The need for a high speed Internet connection is not just limited to college courses, the computer age has come to grammar schools, middle schools and high schools. Though the Internet is not a substitute for a library, it does allow students to access information quickly and efficiently in the comfort and security of their own home. Students are able to accomplish homework assignments, term papers and projects. Some schools even upload homework assignments online and students are required to download them from home and upload them back to the schools site. If your child is on a dialup connection expect homework to take the better part of the evening.

Many educators feel that children who access information over the internet are more likely to get ahead in class in the areas of history, science, mathematics, reading and writing. Students and parents should explore the plethora of help sites out their for grade schoolers. Sites including online math homework help, homework help for middle school science, researching with the web, homework and study groups for children, building good homework habits, homework helper for grade 2 math and so many more.

The need for a fast, always on Satellite Internet connection is never more evident than when you are attempting to learn while you earn. Many full-time career people, moms and dads and even students who must support themselves, need the reliability and speed satellite provides. The precious little time a working individual spends to improve themselves through certifications, job developmental requirements or even a degree, shouldn’t be wasted trying to connect to information.

Learning online or e learning allows you to choose when, where and how often you participate in classes. Courses are usually conducted through a schedule, but with no live classes to attend, lectures and assignments take place when you want them to. Even if you have not been a student for years – or – weren’t a very good student back in the day, the control and pace has proven in studies to make individuals better performers the second time around.

Don’t let the “trailing edge” technology of dialup Internet services stop you from being all you could and should be. The sky is the limit and WildBlue Satellite Internet can get you there.

Understanding Satellite Internet Access

Satellite Internet services are used in every location in the United States were DSL and Cable Internet is not available and customers need an always on, fast Internet service that dial-up ISP’s can’t provide.

Although there are some technical issues for end users to be aware of, such as latency, this only affects customers seeking to play real-time interactive games online. Signal loss due to precipitation is extremely minimal and the service is up to 30-times faster than dialup Internet providers and considerably more reliable.

Latency is caused when the request for data is transmitted from your satellite modem to the satellite orbiting the earth and then returned. The delay is approximately half a second, not noticeable if you are browsing the Internet, reading email or even downloading. It can however cause significant headaches to customers trying to use applications like VOIP, VPN and video conferencing.

Another way satellite Internet differs from cable, DSL or dialup is the use of a Fair Access Policy, a device put in place to guarantee that every end user can download a pre-determined amount of files, using an allotment of bandwidth, without affecting other users. Ever been on a DSL connection that for whatever reason begins to crawl or attempted to connect to a dialup server but couldn’t because of capacity issues, satellite providers afford their customers this protection policy. It is also important to note that only 4% of all WildBlue Satellite Internet customers are ever affected by FAP. HughesNet considerable higher by comparison, however HughesNet offers a daily allotment of bandwidth to it users, while WildBlue uses a revolving 30-day period, in other words whatever you use today you will receive back in your account in 30-days. This rolling 30-day period makes going over your bandwidth threshold less likely.

Satellite Internet is not as scary as it seems, for the timid, the hardware involved is as follows:

• Satellite Modem – connected to your computer through a USB port, this allows the ISP’s routers to connect to proxy servers, which enforce bandwidth limits and guarantees fair use by all end users.
• Satellite Dish – The satellite modem connects to a cable that is run to the satellite dish, either mounted to the physical property or a pole.

That’s it!

For dialup and DSL users, no need for a phone line. The service is always on. For customers seeking to use Satellite Internet’s speed over that of a dialup ISP, for the purposes of working from home or distance learning or e-learning, a word of caution about the use of VPN’s. VPN or Virtual Private Network software doesn’t handle the delay or latency of packets sent to VPN servers. Because the VPN acts as a tunnel from one network to another it requires authentication and once accepted needs to keep that handshake throughout the process of working on that network. The latency will break that authentication handshake and cause the end user to constantly have to validate to access the VPN. Not recommended with satellite Internet, but consult the IT guru for the VPN for their input. Special IP stacks and possibly proxies can lessen the effects of latency, so check into it.

Satellite Internet is one of the fastest growing consumer electronic products out there and its target demographic continues to be rural America, where dialup is the only option. However the pending merger between ViaSat, a satellite equipment maker and WildBlue, the leading satellite Internet provider, will merge their technologies and provide customers with speeds comparable to cable Internet speeds within the next year.

WildBlue Satellite Internet – Same Internet, Just Faster

If you are living in rural America, you’ve probably seen the ads, received the mailings and considered looking into it – especially if you have been struggling to accomplish things online with a dialup Internet provider. Hopefully the information to follow can save you some trouble and help you decide if satellite Internet and WildBlue is right for you.

WildBlue began testing satellite Internet service for residences in June 2005. Since then the Colorado based company has grown to more than 400,000 subscribers. During the summer of 2005 WildBlue signed agreements with two national companies, RS&I and DSI Systems, to recruit, manage and train a nationwide for of dealers. The target demographic for the service is rural America throughout the 48-contigous states. Seeking customers who have no access to either cable or DSL providers.

WildBlue has gained increasingly more customers and popularity through superior performance in terms upload, download, reliability and price. WildBlue’s technological advantage over its competitors is due to the use of Ka band satellite technology rather than the more established Ku band used everyone else. This technology allows WildBlue to cover service areas with spot beams rather than a single large beam. This allows them to maintain high quality of service and reduce costs, which they in turn pass on to their customers, hence the popularity.

WildBlue currently uses three satellites, Anik-F2, WildBlue-1, and AMC-15. With the recent announcement of ViaSat, the leading satellite hardware manufacturer and WildBlue’s merger, the plans for a fourth satellite ViaSat-1, to launch early in 2011, will change the landscape of the satellite Internet industry dramatically. The new satellite will enable WildBlue to offer speeds in a range of 2-Megabits per second, up to 8-Megabits per second. This will rival speeds offered by cable providers and make WildBlue a solution for all customers, not just dialup users.

Currently though, there are some things to consider if you are new to the satellite Internet game. Things such as satellite latency, which can cause great frustration to anyone trying to play live online interactive games, videoconference or use VOIP applications like Vonage or Magic Jack. For customers just trying to browse, email, upload and download, you won’t even notice the half-second delay.

The equipment is a little more than DSL; dialup and cable customers are used too, but will be very familiar to Satellite TV customers. The service will require a satellite dish to be either mounted to your physical property or a pole. The rest is simple, a modem connected to your computer through a USB port, no software to download and off you go into the WildBlue yonder. DSL and dialup users will appreciate this; the service is always on, fast and requires no phone line.

Before you get too carried away there is also a Fair Access Policy to be aware of. FAP as it is know, simply put, is a protection for all customers. Each user is allotted a certain amount of bandwidth on a rolling 30-day period, go over the threshold and you will be slowed to dialup like speeds until your account regains some bandwidth. It is important to note that WildBlue is rather generous with this level and only 4% of its end users are ever affected. There are Google gadgets to help you monitor your use if you are a user who downloads numerous large files or uses streaming media frequently. WildBlue also alerts you with an email when you reach 80% of your threshold.

It is not hard to understand why WildBlue has grown in popularity so quickly – if this sound like a fit for you check into it ask questions and remember, there is an entire universe of information waiting for you and WildBlue can get you there!