Ours is a mobile, automatic system, up on the roof, that finds the satellite by itself. Normally, it takes it about a minute, sometimes two. It finds the satellite quickly. The system has a built in GPS, so when we stop and turn on the computer and tell the system "find satellite", it knows where we are and the software knows just where to look. But then it takes it a minute or so for the software system to fiddle with it trying to make sure it has the most solid signal. That fiddling is what takes the time. Just locking onto the satellite usually only takes it about 30 seconds.
We have friends with the manual satellite tripod systems. They are a LOT cheaper, but the day to day frustrations with getting the satellite when you are using it for a mobile application, we figured was a lot worse than the pain of writing one big check to avoid all those hours of frustration. Since we got ours back when they were first available, our system was really pricey, and costs have come down considerably since.
Most folks who get good with their manual systems can locate the satellite within twenty minutes or so, and of course, if someone were in a fixed based location where they would only have to find it once, not a big deal. But when you move sometimes constantly, and sometimes just want to run the dish up in a rest area somewhere to check your email, you don't want to fiddle with a manual satellite system if you can help it.
We were early adapters and got our system when they were first coming out. Our dish is from a Canadian company called C-Com in Ottawa Canada, and we get our service from Directway, (Hughesnet).
It's not as fast as DSL or some wireless systems because you do have the delay in the upload function to get the signal up to the satellite, although downloads are DSL speed. We generally have about five seconds between screens, and most of that is the upload signal.
It's been very reliable, though. And very good in adverse weather conditions. We chose C-Com because their platform was at the time the only one that was specifically designed for internet. The MotoSat platform, which was the only other one available at the time was originally designed for TV reception, so the tolerances and wiggle in the platform were more. When you are getting a TV signal, you're locking on to a signal that may, in the sky, be full moon sized, and for internet, you're looking at a signal that is about one and a quarter inches in diameter, in a big, big sky. The C-Com platform is incredibly stable and even in high winds, when the motorhome is moving, it stays locked onto the signal just fine.
We don't have any knowledge of WildBlue at all. The RVing folks we know mostly have MotoSat and DataStorm systems. We're the only ones we know with a C-Com system, as they don't do many residential type systems. Most of their business is commercial.....pipelines, trucking companies, etc.
Cost is pretty standard for the service, as most are using the Hughesnet satellite regardless of their platform. We pay $59.99 per month. I think our system cost about $5,500 in the beginning, although costs have come down quite a bit since then. Just part of the price premium for being an early adapter.
Hope this helps.....LooseChickens
