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Starband - A Dealer's View

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Tommy of Linden TN (3/19/03):
My company is a telecommunications company that takes pride in our work. I made the executive decision to become a Starband Dealer (you know, to stay on the cutting edge of technology). Cutting edge, HA!

Let me begin by saying I have ten years experience in networking and communication systems. I am certified in different manufactures like Sprint, Cisco, Nortel, and Bay Networks. I have terminated and spliced more fiber optics than most people have driven a car. Needless to say, I am not a "hack". We took the on-line certification which anybody can become certified and have never even touched a wire. I put my company's good name on the line, which was a huge mistake, and sold a system. To stat things off, we were shipped a bad LNB and a modem.

I'm still not convinced that the software is worth a hill of beans. We installed the network in which different PC's could quickly share folders and files. Then we installed the Starband software and all hell broke loose. The network crashed, due to the modem dropping connection as all other PC's must connect through a host. When only one PC was connected, the speeds were comparable to dial-up, then it would crash. My customer was up only 50% of the time (if that).

When I called "tech support" (and I use that term loosely) they insisted that it was something to do with the install. After I proved to them that it wasn't, the rude individual told me that I had been speaking over his head technically for the past 30 minutes! I was over his head on his product! Later, a so-called customer service represenitive called my customer and proceeded to tell them that I didn't know what I was doing!

After fighting with this for longer than a month, we decided to do the right thing and refund the customer. Now, we are stuck with a system that won't work as advertised, that I wouldn't give to my worst enemy. Starband is in direct breech of our contract and you best believe that the fact that I have to travel to VA to sue them won't deter me or my partner. We will never again install, sell, or recommend Starband to anyone.