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DIRECTV Broadband Shuts Down
Phroggy writes "Effective today (Friday the 13th), DIRECTV Broadband is officially out of business. The company will remain partially operational for the next 60 to 90 days, and we will work to transition our roughly 160,000 customers to another provider. Details are still sketchy. So, anybody gonna be hiring in the Portland area in a couple months?" There's a press release about the shutdown.
I guess it's "last post" for them!
For those of us who do tech support and sometimes run into DirecTV broadband issues, can I just say, yippee!
DirecTV is the only residential provider in my area that provides static IP, hopefully i'll run across somewhere else. btw the support phone number has a message basically saying that they are shutting down within the next 30 days and to please not call them anymore.
Please keep in my that my ADHD keeps me a little scatter brained and I sometimes can't focus long enough to
I dunno why they posted this under "Ask Slashdot", but here's some more info:
DSLReports (forum)
DirecTV DSL (info for customers)
Press Release from Hughes (parent company of DirecTV)
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$x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
Well, here's their customer FAQ that explains a lot.
Kill Trolls Dead. Here's
I swear I saw advertisements for DirecTV DSL just the other day. Is this sudden or what?
I don't read or respond to AC posts
Not too big of a surprise. You have no idea how many times people would ask me (sys admin) about internet connections and DirecTV-DSL came up. Of course the number one question - DOES IT WORK OVER THE SATELLITE!!!??? People could never get past the DirecTV name, and therefore seemed to shy away from the service because they were either confused or thought they had to subscribe to satellite service to get the service. The term "DSL" means nothing to anybody but people like us. To everyone else, they only look at the DirecTV part and make assumptions on that. I mean, their satellite service is named DIRECWAY - that's a hell of a lot more separation than DIRECTVDSL. Of course, they probably thought the name would be the selling point - but unfortunately, DSL and satellite service don't mix.
So, how large was their employee base?
What does this bode for folks in nearby cities (like Seattle, for example) who are currently battling an already shitty tech market?
-Unemployed in Seattle
I got to reading some other headlines about broadband companies. This got me to thinking -- is anyone doing well in this market right now?!
... Satellites, digital subscriber lines and cable modems are the three ...
... DirecTV Broadband, based in Cupertino, was acquired by Hughes in April ... it's working ...
... help ISPs stimulate the UK broadband market, which has already boomed over the last ...
...
... necessary because he has heard residents complain about the lack of options from ...
... why doesn't BT act as a branded reseller for third-party cable service providers? ... Instead ...
This is really upsetting because broadband is so important to so many people these days. Geeks, eBay'ers, etc. need to be connected, and ISPs, telcos, etc. don't seem to be able to provide fairly cheap, reliable service.
Hughes shutdown strands broadband users
CNET News.com - 8 minutes ago
major ways Web providers deliver broadband to homes and offices.
Hughes to close terrestrial broadband operation
Bizjournals.com - 1 hour ago
toward transitioning existing customers to alternative service providers.
Hughes Shuttering a Fast ISP Unit - TheStreet.com
Broadband prices to rise in early 2003
ZDNet.co.uk, UK - 7 hours ago
12 months. "Recent advertising campaigns from BT and its service providers
BTw in new year ADSL promo - The Register
AOL's Iffy Broadband Deals
InternetNews.com - 12 Dec 2002
But the hefty carriage fees it faces from cable providers add up to iffy
prospects for making money off broadband, consumer advocates say.
The Layoffs That Stole Christmas - Washington Post
AOL's Iffy Broadband Deals - InternetNews.com
AOL's Parsons: "This Isn't Terminal" - BusinessWeek
Local cable TV, Internet choices debated
Hampton Union, NH - 7 hours ago
AT&T Broadband and Comcast, the town's current Internet and cable providers.
BT fails to make the connection
CW360.com, UK - 14 hours ago
of waiting until the local level of demand for broadband justifies an
Yeah, they have a tech support call center out here in Beaverton just down the street from Stream (where I work). Apparently they took everybody into a room, unplugged all the phones, and sent them all home.
"Bold as Love"
...but it looks like I was beat to the punch. Oh well.
/. has the news. If anyone has info, or is in the same boat as me, please post any news you get about returning your gateway and dropping service before it begins. I figure it'd just be easier to wipe my hands of the service before it even begins, and sign up with someone else.
I JUST signed up with DTV DSL, and my gateway was in the mail as of yesterday. I'm really pissed, but at the same time I really feel for those hundreds of folks that came to work just to find out they didn't have jobs anymore.
I am a bit pissed that not a single email has been sent out about this. Apparently people are just finding out via forums, and now
Thanks, and good luck to those who were laid off.
Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.
Sorry, but DirecTVDSL had nothing to do with satellite broadboand, just dsl. They had a good service at a good price (never had a problem with mine).
Unfortunately, this was largely due to the large amounts of bandwidth unfairly utilized by the "power users" of the network, who used applications such as KazAA and Napster most likely to pirate music and other questionable activities.
This was not the problem. The main problem was having to do business with ILECs, which are monopolies that compete against us. A secondary problem was some not-so-bright management decisions, and not being able to offer value-added services (and collect additional revenue) because the main database system was designed by morons.
It is sad that we will no longer be able to get satellite TV here because a few people using DSL had to ruin it for everyone else by getting greedy.
Huh? DirecTV Broadband has nothing to do with DirecTV satelite.
Why can't people just take what they need, instead of running off with everything that isn't nailed down?
Because they're offered unlimited service.
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I highly recommend speakeasy if you need another option. The provide good service and have the smoothest installation I've seen. I also got a free PS/2 out of them when I signed up :)
This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
Comment removed based on user account deletion
What does DSL have to do with a dish service? Did people have to have the satelite service + the DSL service as a package to get it? Was there any discount?
Marketing had some package deals going on, and I think they managed to get combined billing working, but other than that, no, DirecTV Broadband has nothing to do with DirecTV.
$x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
$x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
Stream, XO, Powell's, Wal-Mart, Plaid Pantry, Fred Meyer ....
Oh, you want a high-paying IT job? Better start thinking about your own business, and I don't mean consulting. It's death valley for IT in Oregon right now.
Finding God in a Dog
About two or three years ago, Hughes bought out Telocity and rebranded Telocity as DirecTV DSL.
It was about that same time that (IIRC) Rhythms went under. Anyway, I remember I had something like 30 days to find another DSL provider because Telocity (now DirecTV) would no longer run on my Rhythms line. Too bad -- because it was SDSL 1500/1500. Pretty nice speed actually.
Anyway, I ended up going to Speakeasy and haven't had a problem. I pay twice as much, though -- almost 100 bucks a month.
*shrug*
So it goes.
Does this mean I stil have to mail them their modem or I get to keep it permently? I would nto mind keeping it so I can hack around with it. Any ideas? Can it be used as a normal DSL modem?
The funny thing is.. there is a sticker on it and it still says Telocity.com on it.
NO! NO! Please don't mod me, I'm too young to die a troll. *click* Oh the pain, the pain...
I would seek a "cancellation fee", hell the wireless and satelite companies have been doing it to us for years, now it's time to get one back.
Why is it ok for them to charge us to cancel but they can stop providing service at a moments notice and not be liable.
Kind of a double standard.
And yes I know it's probably written somewhere in the contacts that they are not liable.. blah blah blah. It's simply unfair to the consumer.
Chicago2600.net more than a lifestyle, its a survival trait.
They saved me from low bandwidth hell a couple of years ago. They were the first to offer broadband service to my house.
$50/month with a static IP address. Hughes spent some money when they bought Telocity. When I first got the service (Telocity days) there were a lot of dropped packets and a few problems but it was better than nothing. Over the last year, it has been great. Never goes down, fast transfers.
I guess I need to go find a new provider now. Good luck finding a static IP for $50/month. At least I write off the service as a business expense so Uncle Sam takes part of the hit as well. Serves them right for their dipshit telecom policies.
Not sure if DirecTV offered a Linux compatible satellite internet solution, but I think I would have noticed it if they did.
As far as I know, you're correct, DirecWay and DirecPC are Windows-only (maybe Mac too, but I'm not even sure of that).
As opposed to DirecTV Broadband, which has UNIX installation instructions in the manual.
$x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
$x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
I'm on DirecTV DSL right now...so I have 60-90 days to switch to new ISP?
If you stay with DirecTV DSL, we'll try to migrate you to a new ISP and make it as painless as possible (no guarantees about that, but we'll do our best). If you cancel, you have to wait for the LEC to release your line before you can sign up with another DSL provider, so you're looking at around a month of downtime if you choose to go that route. However, I have no idea what the new ISP will be, and they may not offer a static IP. Check the web site (don't call!); there may be more info on Tuesday.
$x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
$x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
Stay away from Hughes "Directway" Sattelite Internet!!! They have a policy affectionately known as "FAP" (Fair access policy) that effectively turns your "high speed" connection into something closer to dialup... for more information, see this page.
I got nothing but crap from DIRECTV Broadband in the wake of the Rhythms collapse last fall. Despite being guaranteed that my SDSL service would continue, it shut down mid-September. I tried for three months to get it repaired and got repeated promises that it would be fixed. Finally, I "cancelled" (how can you cancel non-existant service?) in frustration. Three months later, the bills starting rolling in. DIRECTV was trying to charge me for two months of service I never got, and they claimed that I cancelled my service!
Needless to say, I was furiously pissed. I spent six months trading letters and faxes, got sent to collections, appealed, and was denied. I finally deemed the issue not worth my time and paid the stupid bill.
So, F*ck You, DIRECTV. You got what you deserved. I've spent the last year at 26kbps dialup. Thank God that AT&T/Comcast will finally be completing their broadband upgrade in my city next month.
- Necron69
I guess it may be their last post, but this operation has always been kind of a "phoenix", rising from the ashes. (Or perhaps soiling themselves with said same.)
Here's why:
DirecTV DSL, a subsidiary of Hughes, which is in turn owned by General Motors, was formerly known as Telocity until Hughes purchased them in July 2001.
In my part of the country, the switch to the corporate entity Telocity occurred at about the same time as Northpoint bankruptcy forced a CLEC switch from Northpoint to Covad for some customers of Megapath. In October 2000, Megapath had purchased the assets and customer base of an ISP. Megapath kept the business customers of that ISP and spun off their residential customers to Chicago-based Telocity.
And the name of that ISP? Formerly-St. Louis-based Phoenix Networks, founded by a guy named Peter Roberts, who evolved a one-man network integration business into a rapid-growth internet service. Of course that Phoenix should not to be confused with Phoenix the BIOS that has the legal team that is making Phoenix the superlative web browser change it's name, none of which is happening in Phoenix.
Dizzy yet? I know I am. Hope I got at least the broad strokes right. Anyway, I'm glad I got off that Merry-Go-Round during what seemed to be a weekend-stay at MegaPath, though I supported a few friends throught the multiple changes that followed. Maybe the ride finally is coming to a stop.
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I've been through a lot of providers in the last 2 and half years (phoenixdsl sdsl, megapath sdsl, telocity sdsl, and directvdsl most recently, all "ceasing service" for one reason or another), and have just (luckily, and by chance) signed up for speakeasy dsl to replace my directvdsl (sorry speakeasy customers, this may doom them too). So far, speakeasy has been great, even though the service was due to work as of today and does not yet. But overall, even with the bellsouth-provided hardships I had with directvdsl, I have to say their tech support people were by far the best I've ever encountered. A particular one named "Erin" was the best broadband techie individual I've ever experienced. In this day of really really really lousy tech support (bellsouth, bellsouth, bellsouth and bellsouth) they were a shining beacon of hope. Hate to see them go, even though I was about to cancel anyway (speakeasy gives me adsl with 2 static ips and better upload). Good luck to their tech support dept.
I'm surprised no one has picked up on the fact that DirecTV DSL's demise was largely due to the failed merger between Hughes and EchoStar (owner of the Dish Network). Anytime a large merger fails, the losers have to jettison the dead weight that might have otherwise been supported through the strength of the combined companies. DirecTV's broadband operations are expected to lose more than $100 million this year, so it's not surprising that Hughes pulled the plug. Especially when you consider the service did not share infrastructure with the satellite operations (essentially Hughes bought Telocity a year and a half ago and repackaged it with the DirecTV service).
Speakeasy is a good service, but expensive, and upload is capped at 128K (Covad) for low-end residential ADSL vs SDSL.
Replace DirectTV DSL with Cyberonic (Worldcom/UUNet reseller)...
1500/768, static IP, no port blocking, $40/$50
http://www.cyberonic.com/int_for_home_dsl.shtml
There are consumer reviews of their service here:
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/
I had Speakeasy for two years, excellent, but pricey. With Cyberonic (dumb name!) I get similar pings to my Speakeasy SDSL, and massive uploads.
Da Blog
Just FREAKING great.
Damn Slashdot finds out before the freaking customers do.
----- LoboSoft specializes in Digital Language Lab
Warning! Don't click on his sig!
You're using her as bait, Master!
Does this mean I stil have to mail them their modem or I get to keep it permently? I would nto mind keeping it so I can hack around with it. Any ideas? Can it be used as a normal DSL modem?
It's not fake, it really is a router - so no, it won't work with another ISP, unless you could get the ISP to spoof Telocity's servers, which they could only do if they had inside knowledge of exactly what the gateway is looking for when it tries to download configs.
You'll notice you're on a 4-IP subnet. Add one to the last octet of your IP address; that's the gateway's LAN interface. The gateway also has a WAN interface on a different subnet. It's a router.
$x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
$x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
"Warning! You really have reached the end of the internet. With us at least."
"We shall show mercy, but we shall not ask for it" -- Winston Churchill
F*ck You, DIRECTV... Thank God that AT&T/Comcast will finally be completing their broadband upgrade in my city next month.
You will be sorry. We all know what kind of service you get from the local bell. If it were not for them selling my number to telemarketers, I'd never consider paying them for an unlisted number or any of the other expensive anti-anoyance so many fools feel compeled to purchase. Read their ToS, weep, and know it will get worse as their competitors die off. Ever heard the phrase, "You can't fight the phone company"? You will come to learn what it means. Just try telling the local Bell to fuck off, it might be a federal crime.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
"A proper business plan would have included a limit. For example, 10 Gigs for $50."
No.
If we're going to take this simplistic view of their business model, let's at least think it through to a minimal level. First of all, you lose a number of potential customers who fear going over the limit (or know for a fact that they will). Secondly, you have additional costs associated with such things as having to constantly tell people how close to the limit they are and having customers dispute how much they've transfered in a given time period. You'll then lose those customers who you don't give in to and they'll generate significant bad press. You can also forget collecting the last month's bill from many of those who leave who will decide that since your company is so incredibly greedy, you deserve nothing. Next, for the few customers you have left, most of them will switch as soon as an otherwise comparable service without the 10GB limit becomes available to them.
So, after cutting off potential revenue, alienating otherwise loyal customers, racking up huge numbers of "uncollectable"'s, and generating enough bad press to make Arie Flischer cry, your company's offices are raided by your creditors just before your disgruntled former customer burn your offices to the ground. Congratulations.
Caps work in very specific situations: when you have a monopoly on high-speed internet access, when your customers are perfectly happy to take limits on their use, and when any potential competitors also have similar limits. A better idea would be to introduce a tiered pricing scheme with limits on speed, as opposed to data transfer. A service at around $20 per month with speeds only slightly higher than dial-up would slaughter the dial-up market (same cost, better speed, no dialing up/missed calls/annoying modem noises), a $50 tier with speeds similar to what we see today in home broadband, and one or two higher end services with speeds that go up along-side the price; perhaps in the $100 and $200 ranges. This effectively limits your customers' total monthly data transfers without imposing limits that would increase costs to you while alienating your customer base.
But then again, any business with a single and specific method of generating revenue is pretty much doomed to fail anyway. Diversification is a necessary component in any business model, along-side strong management and adaptability. While you may wish to turn a cold shoulder to the so-called "power users", I would much rather solve the situation by putting a well thought out tiered pricing scheme in place, and modifying it once a year to ensure costs stay in line with revenue.
Then again, I'm a "power user" who eats up plenty of bandwidth (no comments about pr0n/warez/etc necessary, I'm talking about dBase transfers), yet I pay Comcast twice as much as their average home user, and do so without complaint - as I suspect many "power users" would do if offered the chance. The simple lesson to be learned is this: don't restrict your customer, give them more options to choose from and ensure that any choice they make benefits you. You come out looking like the good guy while still maintaining a strong revenue foundation.
-- "Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."
> As long as T1's and T3's cost the price they do,
> _someone_ has to bear that. The customer
> complains it shouldnt be them it should be the
> ISP. But why is that exactly?
All this hype that has is circling around about 10% of the users sucking up 80% of the bandwidth and thus killing broadband companies and causing the price to rise is complete and utter bullshit.
I did an economic report on the broadband industry (I would gladly post if if I had more bandwidth) and the problem is *not* that too much bandwith is being consumed, but that *not enough people have signed up for braodband thus negating the economies of scale the broadband companies projected*!!!
The marginal cost of extra bandwith is miniscule compared to the capital cost of the equipment deployed for broadband. ATT, Verizon, etc all own the backbone and have a *lot* of dark fiber they could utilize at any moment if the demand were there (the cost of a T-1 is *only* expensive to businesses because they have to pay *extra for a balanced line specifically for them* -- and their business is a much further away from the hubs then a broadband router). The problem is that *demand is not there* and the users that they do have have to offset the capital costs that they sank.
Americans are not computer educated and have no need for broadband in general. Furthermore, there is no way to generate demand for broadband until broadband is widely used (for instance, to make high-quality video availible over the Internet the companies have to have a lot of users, but there won't be a lot of high-bandwith users until high-quality video is avaiable).
Furthermore, due to the FCC deregulation causing media keiretsus, the broadband companies will not offer any service to boost demand due to conflicts of interest. For instance, Verizon could *easily* offer long-distance toll-free telephone over DSL, but this would cause the substitution effect against their own telephone service with very little income effect becuase there is little demand for broadband.
Face it, this bullshit about 10% of the users costing broadband companies too much is just that -- bullshit. If it were really an issue they could implement token bucket weighted fair queueing and everything would be fixed. It is an attempt to convince their inelastic consumers that they are hurting and need more $$ from them. It is so they can suck up consumer surplus from their inelestic consumers by introducing a-la-carte pricing while avoiding backlash by spreading this myth.
The broadband companies are hurting very much, but it has *nothing* to do with people downloading too much -- it is completely due to the fact that the number of people that have signed up are *nowhere* near their projections thus they are trying to offset their capital costs by sucking $$ out of their faithful customers.
If you need evidence of this bandwidth myth, just look at South Korea -- they have 20Mbit connections to their homes chepaer then we do and they don't have bandwidth issues. What they did as opposed to us is that the government boosted demand before broadband rollout by offering computer education virtually free to the entire country -- thus the demand was high enough to offset capital costs at the introduction and because everyone had broadband they could create apps for broadband causing more demand for broadband (and the self-feeding cycle continues).
We never met that critical demand mass here.
In summary, don't listen to the bandwidth crap. It is marketing hype to calm the masses before they start introducing by-the-megabyte pricing to suck up consumer surplus (the people who use the most bandwith are the least likely to completely drop broadband, afterall). All of this is worse then the stupid 'viral' GPL marketing crap that MS put out and now everyone seems to quote.
If I upset you, mod me to hell. If you want to discuss make a good argument.
For my situation, Telocty (aka DirecTVDSL) was the best deal from technical and economic standpoints. Damn. They offered rock-solid static IP service that was down for only 2 hours out of the last two years. Damn. Their autoconfiguring routers were a joy to use and get up and running. Damn. I really don't want to go to SBC/PacificBell(SpecificHell) for my connectivity. Oh gawd no. Damn.
Service.
I have a little horror story of my own about these guys. About 7 months ago, my internet stopped working. I called up DirecTV and ask them why...they say because my credit card had been declined. I say oh right, I forgot to tell you I switched cards...here, have my new card number.
Here is where it got ludicrous
"I'm sorry sir, I can't reactivate your account. You'll have to go through the 4-week provisioning process again."
"What! Why? I already have the equipment."
"Because your account has been cancelled."
"Why?"
"Because its been three months since your card worked."
"So why didn't you notify me, or turn off the service before cancelling my account entirely?"
"I don't know sir."
"So you won't turn my account back on?"
"No."
"Then why should I pay you?"
"Uh..."
I went round and round with them for an hour, with exactly no results. I'm now using Earthlink DSL...and I kind of like PPPoE, even if I don't get a static IP anymore.
--"You can lead a man to knowledge, but you can't make him think."