I am a soldier deployed to Iraq. SniperHill is the only internet service provider where I am, in Tallil, southern Iraq. The only other option besides sniperHill is a sattelite service, where you have to purchase the sattelite (in excess of $2,000) and pay monthly an extremely high charge over $150. Since most all of us cannot afford that, SniperHill is the only other option. With CAT5 cables already in the housing unnits, all you have to do is plug it in and the login page comes up (sniperhill.net) Announcing "The best internet service in Iraq and the middle east" and "Fiber optic networks" and "High Speed Access" none of which are true.
The reality of it is, they are the only option for 95% of the troops out here that aren't high ranking officers. Not "the best" Now they say they have upgraded to a fiber netwok, which is much more stable and will guarantee connections, no more disconnections, etc. Well that is a lie too. The service disconnects just as much, if not more so than it did before the "upgrade." and finally, 128KbPs connection. Thats kilobits, not kiloBytes mind you. What the other angry consumer said about his 10 year old 56k dial up being faster, is one hundred percent true.
With all the disconnections, we are lucky to have service only a few hours a day. And working 12 hours or more a day, you only get a short time online. When you get that time, you expect it to work. 9 times out of 10, it doesn't. Of course, for every little disconnection, the on site manager has some sort of excuse. Some of the excuses given to me were "well there was a power outage in the living area where the main tower is" well, i live in that living area, and there was no power outage. Also "with so many people on the network, the signal is too weak to make it to the main fiber station off post, we are working on installing a microwave transmitter that will cease disconnections" and "disconnections are due to our partners in kurdistan and turkey"
All this headache. For $88 a month where I'm located. The cheapest package is 64 dollars a month for 56 kilobits per second. With that, you can't even check your email. Especially if you have a lot of messages. The only reason we keep paying is because we have no other option. I HAVE to pay for the "Expert" package at $88 a month, because I call home to my family through Skype. Any of SniperHill's lesser connection options won't allow skype because they are too slow.
If anyone knows of any lawsuits against them, please let me know how to sign on. I will gladly give a statement against SniperHill.
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