Before you start reading... the X3 review is still ongoing. I will modify this thread and add more to it as my experience grows. in the meantime please enjoy my satellite internet experience...


I'd like to be the first to take the time to write this review of the new iDirect Evolution X3 System on the Bentley Walker network but first before i do that i am going to write a bit about my experience with the sat internet companies...

now...A little history about Bentley walker: Sadly their webpage www.bentley-walker.com lacks any  background history about how they came to be but i can tell you that from what i know is  they've been in the telecommunication business for quite some time.
Their website not only lacks history about the company but is very basic. For a company that claims to have 1000's of customers they sure don’t like to brag about it.  

My adventure in satellite internet started with the Starpro (Linkstar) system with BW and my experience with that system was absolutely breathtaking in the sense that it literally  sucked. You see, the agent that sold me the Linkstar unit bundled it with an unsupported patriot dish. BW doesn’t like patriot dishes and the agent knew that. for about 6 months i  spent 10's of hours with tech support about how slow and annoying it is.
Then came the Starnova (linkstar S2 system) which now supports dvbs2 technology.
I wasn’t in the mood for another Linkstar and i had been reading about iDirect technology and their amazing ways of making the internet feel like no other.
So i got myself a iDirect 3100 system. I was happy with it for most part.
I jumped a few companies here and there all to return to my original starting point with BW providing me with service.
It’s really a scary world out there especially the European market. They will take you for all you are and will rush to fight for your money. I am speaking of companies like Pl***sky   and others. It’s really fun when they use the shared internet excuse of "you're using 20:1 service and your share is xxx kbps so whatever you get above xxx is a bonus".  
Then I found a company that promised great service …something very fresh and new in this industry.  The guys who work for this company do a magnificent job of taking every minute explaining every detail to you... 10/10 for customer service but wait. They don’t do this for the hell of it or because they want to be friends with you but for the sake of covering their backs when later things start to show their ugly side.
I did see one difference with this company and I can understand their reasoning because they do a great job for the most part but charging the customer $450 dollars for activation (and testing) is a bit steep. Perhaps they should consider somehow inserting this fee into the service and not charge it upfront.  I do have to take the time to thank the guys for taking the time and putting in the effort to help diagnose some issues I was having. Sadly though I couldn’t continue with them because their prices were simply too high.
This was all about 6 or so months ago.

So by this time I decided to return to Bentley Walker because their prices are fair and their quota system while being very bad and hated by everyone takes some getting used to.
I had read about how they are now using what they call "Bentley Turbo" which is really nothing but Accelenet branded to their name. I won’t go into details about how Accelenet disconnects 80% of the time and only does a decent job when used with the low quality image option.

So then they announce that they will be abandoning their AM22/Express coverage and moving to the W6 network. They will also be using the Evolution X3 with new DVB-S2 technology which brags about how it'll make the user experience that entire better.
I decided to take the plunge and order the new X3 from them.
It took about a week until I got my new shiny BUC/PLL LNB and X3 modem. I was one of the first to actually activate this system on the BW network (I can’t say the Middle East region because Talia apparently started first).  
While its taking some time for the BW guys to grasp the new technology I keep finding myself  getting stung by the early adopters bite. You'd think they'd offer you a cookie for helping but all you get is disconnects and problems and I get to be patient and willing as long as I get to use X3 but wait...The X3 (again) brags about how it offers 30% return for the user and supposedly you get more bandwidth for your money because of the way it takes advantage of the dvb-s2 technology. To be honest I have yet to see that.
I can say this however that the X3 does feel much better in regards to surfing. Pages do appear and feel to come on the screen a bit quicker than the iNFINITI 3100.
The network is still undergoing lots of work and they are applauded for working so hard (Mainly Raja who is the iDirect engineer at Bentley Walker as well as James and Simon).
I can say much about the new system other than what I said above because the network...Well...not completely done. So I won’t rush into making this review final. I'll append more to it.

In the meantime I wish Bentley walker would consider extending their business hours after all this is a worldwide business...

To be continued..

Thanks for your comments, we take all feedback very seriously and pride ourselves on not only having a worldwide business but providing a world-class service; we will keep you updated regarding each of the issues raised.
Please note that we are not abandoning the AM-22 service, just encouraging all clients to upgrade to the DVB-S2 ACM service that you are beginning to enjoy.