Starry — Local services in New York

Sorry for the length of this review, but I have some things to say. My experience with Starry was great!. The Starry people were promoting in the lobby of the building in which I live. My friend who was staying with me at the time asked them questions. She then told me that it sounded less costly than "Karma." We both went back to the Starry desk.We were told that I would get 2 months free trial no matter what plan I choose. Starry is strictly for internet service. It is not some "Package deal" like with Verizon or Time Warner in which you have to pay for cable and phone and internet even though you may not need all three and besides there is an entrapping contract. Starry's plan seemed to be what I needed because I don't watch much TV. I mostly need the internet to communicate with people through email, to look up information, to use websites etc,, and when I want to watch a TV show, or the US Open via the internet, I can sign up for a "trial" with "Fubio" or "Sling" and then cancel which I have done in the past. (My experience has been that Sling allows two different one-week-long "free trials" per customer, and one of their customer-service people even told me that if I use a different credit card I can do the same thing again. I don't know if this offer is still available though). The Starry people told me I can sign up for a $15 a month plan or a $50 a month plan (from what I recall there might be other plans). They said that the $50 plan offers more 'power" for things like gaming. Of course I don't use my computer for games, but I was told that there are no binding contracts and that I can sign up for the $50 -a month plan and then later change my mind after the trial and choose the cheaper plan or I can even choose not to continue with Starry at all. The price per month stays the same no matter how much I use Starry in the month. Since I often download or upload documents or photos or whatever, it sounded good. Also the "Starry device" looks like a square-ish router with four irregular looking antennas sticking out of it. I asked if it falls off of the shelf and breaks am I responsible? The Starry people just told me that the device is sturdy but if it breaks I am not responsible: They will just replace it. No charge.Also there is no termination fee if you decide to quit using or paying for Starry. Before Starry, I was using "Karma" which some of you are familiar with. It too has no-binding contracts and you can change plans or discontinue any time but the thing is that it is EXPENSIVE and I had to pay $200 to buy the device and then pay for service. My experience is that downloading or uploading really drains Karma of its GB and I often had to buy extra GB before the next billing cycle. It often cost me $125 a month to use Karma. One GB costs $15. Twenty GB costs from $50 to $79. Customer service with Karma? Mediocre at best. I should say though, that Karma is a small device that you can travel with, Starry isn't. But I don't travel long-distances much either. So I signed up for the $50 plan and an appointment was set up for the installation techs to come. It was to be a Saturday, but then on that Saturday the Starry people called me and said that the tech cannot come because it takes 2 techs to do the installation and only one is available so the appointment has to be rescheduled, BUT as compensation for the inconvenience, I would be given 3 months free trial. Great customer service! So a different appointment was arranged. When the Techs came, the guy who installed the cable and the router and other devices was very well mannered and professional. The Starry device isn't as large and bulky as the box-like device that Time Warner put in my apartment for their service. Since Starry was installed I have been happily accessing the internet. Also any friends who visit me can also access the internet on their devices and there is to be no extra charge to me. I have been telling other people to give Starry a try. I will update if there are...

What can I say... to make a long story shot, I wasn't happy with original internet provider. But, I am loyal person- that's just who I am. But, it got to the point where it was a one sided situation so when I say Starry , set up in the lobby of my building I stopped by and started asking some questions. It took me about a week or so (actually when my next internet bill arrived from my previous provider) before I decided to do what was best for me, and change. I AM SO HAPPY THAT I DID... Not only did the technician show up on time, but he was a few minutes early, and apologized and offered to come back, if it wasn't a good time. The technician was very polite, as were his coworkers who were setting things up in the hall, which you don't find to be the case almost anywhere. But the main tech also insisted on staying around until I was fully up and running and all of my questions were answered. He wasn't trying to run out as fast as he could, he honestly wanted to make sure that my transition went smoothly. We also did an internet speed test, before we switched my service. And then we did another after I switched... what a huge difference there was. Starry's internet speed was much faster and on top of that A LOT LESS..! I'm not talking just a few dollars less then what I had been paying with the other ISP. Oh, and I have to mentioned that the representatives that I've either spoken with in person, on the phone or via email... Have all shown the same kind of kindness and consideration as the technician. I don't write many reviews, I actually think this is my second. But when you find a company that is human, I feel like I have to and...

I looked into their supposedly low cost internet service and found some very good reasons NOT to use this provider. First off, it is a wireless internet provider and the technology seems sketchy in my opinion based on what I have read online. I heard of people who in the past had Satellite TV and had reception problems and loss or degradation of their service due to poor weather conditions. Additionally, this company appears to only be a startup that has not been around very long at all and with what appears to be a very limited coverage area. I live in Manhattan, and found that they do not even offer service to my building. I personally would not take a chance with something as important as my internet connection to try to save a few bucks. About Starry from Wikipedia: "Analysts are mixed about Starry's prospects. Some point to the failure of Clearwire (which operated WiMax on the 2.5 GHz band),[8] or to technical challenges: "The physics are tough to overcome, and technology has been slow to improve here."[9] Others note that if the expected low fixed costs per user are achieved, "they could profitably offer competitive broadband speeds for a fraction of the current price of wired...