how-to block ads
|
Review by flyingrose 
UPDATED: 171 days ago
member for 5.4 years, 24 visits, last login: 145 days ago
 Kaufman,Kaufman,TX
 Contract price not specified.
 "Hasn't worked well enough to know if it has any"
 "Unreliable, slow, 10 hour system outage Sunday; down again Monday"
 "HN9000 is FAR worse than original Earthlink equipment way back when!"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I do NOT recommend HughesNet for anyone! Even if dial-up is all you can get it is NOT worth the aggravation - and you'll get more done with dial-up! You'll get more work done on dial-up. There is probably an independent wireless company near you but they aren't good at making themselves easy to find. Try the WISP database and Yahoo! Local. Then call 3gstore.com and ask about your cellular wireless options.
UPDATE 05/23/09 It was bad then and is far worse now. I have not been able to do any constructive work for going on two weeks. Every time my connection is throttled there will be many others cussing HughesNet at Twitter. (Just search Twitter for Hughesnet.) Someone finally started a Class Action lawsuit out in California and it looks like there need to be many more.
Contract price $0 down, $20/month for 24 months to pay for the equipment. Up to 1 meg for $59.99/mo. Reseller did NOT mention $125 cash up front extra for installation even though I specifically asked.
I was on the waiting list to get one of the original Earthlink (Hughes satellite) systems way back when. That system worked well even when it rained and in two different physical locations. After two different local wireless companies and DSL I moved again and went with HughesNet HN9000 and so far I truly regret it. Maybe they just don't have the bugs out of the new satellite(s) yet? Or this equipment?
I've had it a little over a week and so far it has never worked right. Tech support doesn't understand speedtests show "normal" (780.20 Kbps to 1.29Mbps) but pages can take 3-5 minutes to load. The third time I called the recording indicated that the HN9000 system was down for all users. Hours later that message was replaced with one indicating a system outage from midnight until 10 a.m. that night. Finally it worked fairly well - until it started gently raining and it went down again.
Tech support now tells me I've hit the "fair usage" limit and will have speeds slower than dial-up (which I confirmed here) for the next 24 hours - unless I would like to get online from 2 a.m. until 6 a.m. Since I don't download movies, video, books, or any other files of that type I didn't expect to run into that limit. I hit it either trying to update from Ubuntu 7.20 to 8.04 or when using ftp to edit a Web site for some friends. Tech support tells me even if I upgrade to the 3 meg option (at $189 a month!) I'll still hit the fair usage issue.
Trying to send this review, the system went down again. Tech support voicemail is again playing this message (which is the same as the one over the weekend): "We are currently experiencing a degradation of service. This degradation is impacting customers using the HN9000 system on a home plan." Degradation = up and down, doesn't load pages, takes 4-5 minutes to load one page, etc.
Anyone have any inside information on whether they're going to get these issues resolved or I need to take the loss ($125 for pole install) and use the money back guarantee and go with local wireless instead? I went with HughesNet because the local wireless company had a two week backlog and HughesNet was offering a $100 rebate plus $0 down up front which made them less expensive.
Followup comments:  Bluenote
join:2008-01-24
Silsbee, TX
 ·HughesNet Satellit..
| Tech Support ? flyingrose
I feel your frustration all too well. If it is not too late, you may want to reconsider the Hughesnet alternative. I think you have 30 days or so as I recall. Drop it, and try something else if it's available. I am approaching my last two months of the contract and I am looking forward to dropping Hughesnet in the dirt, reasons are too numerous. The first 9 months of the Hughesnet were not all that bad...but then...
Janurary started a newer trend of ripping off their customers. I have complained to the BBB and the Atty General of Maryland which finally got some actions taken by customer support if you want to call it that, however, after a month or two the service was back to near dialup speeds most of the time with the exception of say 11 pm to 2 am. I have had tech support here at the house on two occasions, both times for new equipment and a repoint, all to no avail. Overloaded bandwidth is their bottom line.
Yes it looks like they have oversold their bandwidth and continue to take on unsuspecting customers everyday, I do know that a business will not last much longer doing people this way. I am exhausted from their BS and intend to go with Verizon...perhaps the dish will make a decent birdbath?
Brace yourself for a rough ride, or perhaps learn a new language to talk with their "support" group. I wish you better luck than I had, and hope that your service eventually gets to "Normal" | |
| | iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO | Re: Tech Support ? Get the WiSP NOW!
99% of terrestrial ISPs (including WiSPs) have better support than HughesNet. Nobody should use Satellite internet unless all other options are unavailable, and they can't amortize a T1 across a few friends... | |
| | | bastnpny
join:2008-05-26
Morgan, TX
·HughesNet Satellit..
| Re: Tech Support ? Run as fast as you can to your nearest wireless ISP. It will be worth it in he long run. You do not want to be stuck in a contract for a service that is not working after only one week. I feel your pain. At least you have an alternative. I lives west of you and have no other alternative right now. | |
| | | | flyingrose
join:2004-05-27
Lott, TX
·HughesNet Satellit..
| Thanks for the replies Thanks for the replies. I managed to get out from under FAP and upgrade to the $119/mo. 500meg version. Except for having to stay up all night a couple of times to upgrade Ubuntu, I haven't hit the limit.
I would have only been up one night but Hughes failed to actually upgrade me the first time I requested it so I aborted the download to avoid getting fapped again. The Ubuntu update was 600+ meg so I had to download during the window and stay up in case there were prompts to be answered.
I am only averaging 6-9 meg an hour doing research and blogging but that is partially because I have not yet figured out how to get video working under Ubuntu and I've been cautious about downloading anything.
Web designers should include a visible size of any downloads including .pdf files they use online so those under fap can decide whether to access them or not.
While researching I have come across information that makes it appear that limits may be coming soon to DSL and cable too. | |
| | | |
| Forums » comments on review of HughesNet Satellite Broadband |
|
|
(69)
(58)
(26)