DirecWay must die

This is truly worthy of a rant. If you ever have the crazy notion to go out and sign up for internet service via DirecWay (the satellite internet provider), do yourself a favor and skip it. I needed service in a location that has neither DSL nor cable internet, and thought that would be a suitable option for part-time use.

I was terribly wrong, and they refuse to tell you the limitations of the service until it's already installed (and you've paid the installer's fee).

First of all, they do not allow access to POP email accounts. You can access some webmail, but they would rather that you use a direcway.com email account. Yeah, right... I'll get right on that...

They also don't allow any VPN access, and although our MLS is not run via VPN, DirecWay thinks it is and won't allow access.

I cancelled the service on the same day it was installed and have yet to receive a refund after 2 months. They haven't even managed to send me the return box...

The best part: their customer service is outsourced to India.

All political correctness aside, I did find a CLASSIC web animation piece from Ill Will Press about outsourced tech support and customer service. It's well-worth a couple of minutes of your time... Note: there is language in this piece that is likely not suitable for office environments or small children...

Since there are good DSL and cable broadband options in San Francisco, this may never be a problem for you, but if you ever have to consider other options, make sure that DirecWay is not one of them.