Can ANYBODY help me.
I have been plagued by this crappy DirecWay service since day one - two years now.  I have replaced the modems (twice) the Dish, every cable, have moved and reset up the machine etc.. etc.. have spent literally HUNDREDS of hours on tech support - and still no resolution.
The last time on tech support was SEVEN hours - they managed to mess up my machine so bad that I had to do a roll-back - and that still didn't fix it.
Third level support is just as bad.
I'm was a third level network ops specialist (8 years ago) so I do know something about all this.... but I can't figure this one out.

I'm running the 2-way system with the USB modems, have XP Pro the system with the modems, and a little netgear hub/switch which connects two other XP pro machines.

Have lost track of all the hundreds of tweaks and such i have made to this system... but can check anything you suggest.

My biggest complaint (and I have many) is that it is so inconsistant.  One moment I'll be getting 1.2mbs - then BANG.... 8-80Kbps for hours and hours.  Rebooting anything doesn't help...
Suspiciously, nearly every time I get on phone with tech support ..it gets faster...... even tho I have done NOTHING to the machines.....
Anyone? Anyone?
I've already lost 20 hours of work time to this nightmare in the past week.... anyone have a suggestion?

3:05PM
Here is a typical test:::::::::::.. Download Stats ..::::::::::
Connection is:: 44 Kbps about 0 Mbps (tested with 386 KB)
Download Speed is:: 5 kB/sec
Tested From:: http://www.testmy.net/
Bottom Line:: 1 times faster than 56K you can download 1MB in 204.8 second(s)
Validation Link:: http://testmy.net/cgi-bin/get.cgi?Test_ID=LFSEYCCV5

Now one from 3:16PM

::::::::::.. Download Stats ..::::::::::
Connection is:: 156 Kbps about 0.2 Mbps (tested with 386 KB)
Download Speed is:: 19 kB/sec
Tested From:: http://www.testmy.net/
Bottom Line:: 3 times faster than 56K you can download 1MB in 53.89 second(s)
Validation Link:: http://testmy.net/cgi-bin/get.cgi?Test_ID=D22YOC8TQ

Thank you for a great reply !...
So often people are snooty and pedantic on forums like this... so I totally appreciate your attitude.
Ok, lets see...
I can completely disable and disconnect the computer with the modems from everything ... and nothing changes.  I did in fact have the whole setup installed on what is now one of my networked machines... but after 6 months of nightmare connections, I actually went out and bought a whole new system JUST to run the satellite.  
Still the same issue.
I thought, because of much of what i have read, that it might be a static electricity issue.... and I didn't really trust the ground that was there.... so I replaced all that .. and I KNOW it is grounded now.... but the problems continue.
I have been on tech support at so many levels and so many times, that when I print out my log of JUST the times and dates I call - been tracking that since day one.... it is over 8 pages of text.

Another issue I face is that even at 3rd level support as soon as I get a decent connection by doing their dances with settings, they go.... "OK, you're good to go" .. and that is it.  When it fails again, and I can't stand it any longer I have to re-call in and go thru level-one's song and dance for 1-3 hours....
Curious about this company (DirecWay) they will NOT, under any circumstances transfer you to a manager ... they say they will call you back, and I have waited as long as 3 weeks for a call back.... NEVER.

And, if you want to be transferred to someone else, honest to god here.... they transfer you to Accounts so you can close your account.
Can you frickin' beiieve that.
And I can't seem to break the magic code to get thru to these people that the damn thing doesn't work ....period.

I've had so many MSCEs and networking geeks try to get it to work.. and it never does.

Now, I WOULD go with another ISP if I really had any choice.  I live in the boondocks  -- DSL is not even predicted to be in the area for another 5 years..... the phone company here had never even heard of ISDN, both cable companies are going broke and aren't going to install cable, and I since I'm a business.. and already have 2 phone lines... I get charged by the minute to be on-line thru dial-up....
So, I'm basically at these bonehead's mercy.

Well, thank you, thank you for listening to my crab-session....
sincerely,

NorCalWM,
Your welcome and hope you keep coming back....Ca3le Guy has built a really nice site and we have some cool and smart members that post here. Someone else may post more ideas so stay tuned...I have heard this nightmare before when a signal has to travel so far many things can and do happen, and theres always the outside interference that can cause one to get gray hair before its time. Often I have seen problems to be the last thing you think it is, which makes matters worst...anyway good luck and hope you enjoy the site:)
  Microwave©

I've been plagued by poor downloads as well, and get service through Ground Control, right now me thinks I am paying $99 a month for always on dialup.

Ground Control, DW4000, G11 1370, BE 4.2.1.10

Sometimes I get what is meant to be, but in all its just poor service period.

Right now its good to go, that will change.

::::::::::.. Download Stats ..::::::::::
Connection is:: 2059 Kbps about 2.1 Mbps (tested with 1496 KB)
Download Speed is:: 251 kB/sec
Tested From:: http://www.testmy.net/
Bottom Line:: 37 times faster than 56K you can download 1MB in 4.08 second(s)
Validation Link:: http://testmy.net/cgi-bin/get.cgi?Test_ID=6G90KGYM6

Ah, the continuing saga of battles with Dway customer service.  I have to hand it to you, sticking in there with speeds like that.  I have been having troubles with speed as well and I've been tweaking for the past couple of days, now  it seems to be getting a little bit better.  If you're looking for faster browsing, Firefox is the browser that I have found to work the best with DirecWay. The Mozilla browser I downloaded on Hughes site is of course much better than IE, but firefox is even faster.  Broadband Reports and Digital Insurrection both have great tweaks for DirecWay, and on DI, there are tweaks for networking with Dway which may help.  There is no way that you should be getting those speeds unless your being FAP'ed, but I can understand the frustration of dealing with customer service.  I would definately report your whole experience to the BBB, in your case it seems that they haven't lived up to the guaranteed speed.  New to the board, so I don't know if it's acceptable to post links, so you can IM me on yahoo under sainted_serenity and I'll send you the links to tweaks you may not have tried.

I ran mozilla firebox on my computer and it ran slower than IE. I had Mozilla tweaked out, and still ran the same. Ive never had any trouble out of DirecWay. Besides my upload it sucks really bad

I have before network 2 other computers to mine when i got DirecWay, and never had a problem. Well ofcourse i never seen the same speed that mine computer that had the recevers pluged in to. I still the max i seen on another computer was alittle over 100Kbs. I was running regular Cat5 Cable and a 10/100 hub. my computer had the realteck network card, and the other computer had the Dlink cards. my computer is running Windows XP home, and the other two computers were running Windows ME. Oh God i love Me  I had more problem out of the os than the internet. lol  Maybe this will help you. and good luck

Connection is:: 883 Kbps about 0.9 Mbps (tested with 579 KB)
Download Speed is:: 108 kB/sec

ok, my question is why is my download speed so slow?

im using the DW6000 connected with a cat5 directly into my NIC.  of course, tech support appears to be outsourced to India.  so, that rules out their help because i cant understand a damned word they say.  they told me to test my speed at this site, and my skepticism says you people are in cahoots.  hopefully not, as being in cahoots with DirecWay is grounds for a flood of ill-tempered posts from angry hillbillies everywhere. that would eat up some serious server bandwidth.  

i like the "always on" connection.  i like that it is better than dial-up.  i like it alot except for the FAP and other things other people dont like.  im sure you have read too many posts about all that before, so i digress.

for the price, DirecWay should only be used by people in the Amazon jungle.  as i live in the hills of Arkansas, i qualify.

now, before i fire up my bass boat and head across the Atlantic to strangle a tech support Ghandi, can someone tell me if there is anything i can do about my download speed?

thank ya'll.