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GlobalTT Satellite Internet - Consumer Report

Philip Lawry. 09 February 9, 2011

My satellite internet experience has been a complete failure. The technology seems mainstream and should work, but in my case I expended time, money and stress with nothing to show for it. Here are the details.

Provider and Cost.

After rigorously looking at the various domestic satellite internet providers for Gabon I chose www.GlobalTT.com. They offer internet access at approximately €100/GB paid in advance. A 5 GB in Platinium Quota refill is €500 and valid three months). Access is 5 x cheaper 6pm GMT to 6am GMT (€20/GB).

Equipment and Shipping

For the complete kit I paid €840, plus €176.40 21% Belgian VAT, a €500 initial subscription and €150 shipping to NL for forwarding to Gabon. Up front that’s €1,666.40. The kit comprised three boxes; 1 x 8 Kg - 27 x 29 x 31 cm, 1 x 3 Kg - 30 x 26 x 21 cm and 1 x 22 Kg - 125 x 130 x 15 cm. Quotes from a freight forwarder CIF Libreville airport was €600.

Installation.

Equipment arrived in good condition. Assembly instructions were somewhat of an intelligence test but we got there. Once everything was hooked up we aimed the dish at the satellite using the inclination and azimuth provided. There was no signal in the vicinity what so ever. After searching the sky and emailing photos to GlobalTT they concluded there was a line of site issue. “Lift the equipment” was the advice. So we installed the dish onto a seven meter pole using local professional V-Sat installers (see photos). This installation was quite inappropriate; a dish at that height will bound to be struck by lightning and all my equipment damaged. Also at that height keeping the equipment still and stable in the wind is pretty much impossible. Another aspect is their satellite at 24 degree inclination. For a green leafy tropical environment like Gabon this particular satellite is inappropriate. It is just too low on the horizon.

GlobalTT still argued there was still a line of site issue. So I installed the equipment at our boat club on the shores of Lake Yenzi. Of course this location is about 300 m from my house and I don’t want Internet access there, but I wanted to confirm the equipment worked. Again once everything was hooked up, cables checked, connections inspected and instructions reviewed we aimed the dish at the satellite using the inclination and azimuth provided. Also used an iPhone application that based on GPS location calculates, inclination and azimuth then superimposes satellite locations on the camera (photo). Again there was no signal in the vicinity what so ever. After meticulously searching almost the entire sky and emailing photos to GlobalTT they concluded we needed an installer. Even though our own satellite, IT and electrical engineers had tried everything to make this equipment work. Unfortunately bringing an installer from Libreville would cost me well over another €1000 with no guarantee of success. Mobilisation, airfares, accommodation and €500 day rate would all be for my account. By this stage my GlobalTT three month pre-paid subscription had expired too and another €500 was required to reactivate that. It just didn’t make economic sense to persevere so I halted the project and commenced looking for an alternate service provider.

GlobalTT Reaction.

Staff were sympathetic and responded to e-mails promptly but quite intractable on relaxing their terms, despite the circumstances. They argued GlobalTT.com isn’t responsible for the installation of the equipment and recommends a professional V-Sat installer for this operation (which I did). Using up the €500 pre-paid subscription during this phase seemed completely unreasonable to me. They wouldn’t entertain the idea their equipment could be faulty, even though that’s the most likely explanation. During my last phone call to them they reluctantly offered to check it for me, but of course shipping to and from Belgium would be for my account.

Conclusion.

Not recommended. Without a realistically priced installation option coordinated by GlobalTT this product is completely flawed.