Review by LesZ 
Posted: 2.1 years ago
member for 3.2 years, 624 visits, last login: 1.5 years ago
 Scales Mound,Jo Daviess,IL
 Contract price not specified.
 "worlds better than dial up"
 "high cost of satellite internet, poor tech support and communication from Hughes"
 "I wouldn't consider going back to dial up"
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Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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As most users would say, consider Hughes service only if you have no other alternatives other than dial-up. That said, Hughes service is significantly better than dial-up, and I would not consider going back to dial-up. I started with the residential pro plan and then moved to the pro plus plan. With each of those plans, speeds were good for about 18 hours in a typical day. During peak time, however, speeds would plumment to about 1/4 of plan max speeds. Since the spring, 2007 FAP revisions, peak time slow downs aren't quite as bad, but they are still significant. Recently, I upgraded to the small office plan, and it is like a completely different service. My download speeds are virtually constant at plan max 24/7. Upload speeds vary a bit more, but they are typically at around 275 most of the time, and, when they drop, it is usually only for a few minutes.
Service is, for the most part reliable. There are a few times a year, during a severe storm, when the service may be out, but my DirecTV service goes out long before the Hughes service goes out, and, if it does go out, it is usually only for a few minutes. Also, a couple of times year, I may lose service because of an issue at the NOC, but, generally, those outages have been less than 30 minutes.
There is no getting around the fact that the satellite is an expensive way to provide bandwidth. The 3 residential plans are, unquestionably, low end plans in spite of the cost relative to that of a terrestrial ISP. Moving up to the small office or business plans provides a significant difference in the consistency of the service. While, a few years ago, I could not have imagined spending this much for internet service, I would have a hard time doing without it now.
While the service provided has been generally good, Hughes gets failing grades for tech support and communication. I've dealt with no other business of any kind that does any worse than Hughes in these areas. But, like with the actual performance of the system, moving up to a small office plan also comes with a significant improvement in support.
So, the bottom line is that, while I wish that I had other internet options and ones that would provide higher speeds for a lower cost, as someone who is not likely to have those alternatives at any time soon, it is an easy choice to pick the Hughes service over that of a dial-up provider
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