how-to block ads
|
Review by Luminaris 
UPDATED: 51 days ago
member for 3.9 years, 315 visits, last login: 1 days ago
 Winchester,Frederick,VA
 Contract price not specified.
 "It does stay connected for me"
 "Way too overpriced for what you get"
 "I wouldn't bother with them. Too slow and overpriced"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
Look, the bottom line here is simple, it's a satellite connection. I knew going into this that it was a risk but what ISP isn't a risk anymore? Either you're happy or you're not. I have the HN9000 modem, a Linksys wireless router and 5 computers that connect to it. The initial install was very good although, the installer never came back to finish installing cable clips to hold it to the outside of the house.
I pay 79 bucks a month for the pro plus plan with a 300M a day limit. I knew going into the service what the limitations are and read the fine print. Nothing else was avaliable at the time so, I ordered it. Having two teenage daughters on this connection has been painful but, we've managed to make ends meet with it. We've only been FAP'd once (luckily) The speeds that I have been receiving with this service is so-so and it varies so much. Of course it works better late in the night, early morning and it seems to work better during the day. After work in the evenings, forget it.
I've seen many times where pages time out, I get TCP connection errors, buffering videos (just like being on dial up) and for a while there, my modem would just keep resetting itself. Litterally, shutting down and then coming back and would do this repeatedly 4-5 times in a row. It's been about 2 months or so since that has happened.
Gaming on hughesnet is possible as, I'm an avid world of warcraft gamer. Latency varies usually from 700ms to 1500ms and it is playable. The only real character I have trouble with is my rogue when he's in stealth mode and he sneaks up to attack. The latency makes it impossible sometimes but, other than that, it is playable. At least for me anyway.
Now that AT&T has very recently installed 3G service to my area, I upgraded my phone to one that tethers to my computer. It works so much better than hughesnet so, looks like I'll be getting rid of hughesnet.
In conclusion, If you just like to surf the net, IM and simple things like that and don't mind paying a small fortune for such a small amount of bandwidth, by all means hughesnet is for you. Otherwise, save yourself the headache and stay away.
Just an update. I have now switched over to Verizon wireless broadband and, it blows hughesnet out of the water. I still have the hughesnet service but am in the process of cancelling the contract which I have a year left on it. I refuse to pay 79 bucks a month for such garbage service any longer. I know they are going to charge me for cancelling the contract and want me to return the modem and unit off the dish itself. Should be an interesting process and I will update this as I get it completed.
Followup comments:  
Yaqui
@solcasinos.com
| Hughesnet I have Hughes net because I don't have a land line and it was the only service offered in my area. They are the worst ISP I have ever had.If I had a land line I would go back with Net Zero at 9.95 a month the service and product were much better. Hughes net at 59.95 a month is like a thief in the night. I wrote to the State Attorney General and they got Hughes net to give me one month of service free. My problem was that I didn't read the fine print before I signed up. | |
| 
compuguybna
join:2009-06-17
Nashville, TN
| From Hughes To Verizon A difference between night and day.
Have had TWO Hughesnet systems since Jan 09.
Both have failed miserably. Complained enough...got both cancelled.
Discovered that VERIZON had three cell phone towers in a 10 mile radius.
Found a service called Millenicom that resells Verizon services.
$59 a month.... no contracts....no taxes.....No equipment to break (simple USB modem).
And a consistent 800Kbps to 1.2mbps connection.
HUGHES, you suck! I'll never go back to satellite! | |
| 
george357
join:2009-09-18
Hot Springs, NC
 ·HughesNet Satellit..
| My 2 cents I got Hughes on Aug. 21st of this year. I absolutely love the service compared to the dial-up I had before. I got a great install and I think that makes a huge difference in the service experience. I do have slowdowns in the evenings usually between 6-10pm est. Slowest I get is about 360kps down and 20kps up. These slow downs do not start at the same time on cue or end abruptly just a gradual thing during the normal "heavy use period". I have had a few weather outages but the were only minutes long and my TV usually goes as well. Is Hughes an alternative to cable,dsl, fios, or a good cellular plan? Absolutely not! But it sure beats the crap out of any dial-up I have ever used. So if you have no choice other than dial-up give it a shot.
George
--
Spaceway III HN 9000 Pro+ Plan 1.6 Mbps Down. Acer 5000 series laptop w/AMD 64 bit Turion 1.6ghz, 1gb Ram, 90gb HD. Windows XP SP3, Ubuntu 7.10 Dual OS. FireFox 3.5 | |
|
Be Cautious
@direcway.com
| Been a Satellite User for 8 Years I've been a satellite user for the past 8 years, way back since Direcway. Due to my location, other options are not possible. I am a web software developer by profession and need every ounce of bandwidth I can get, and this service is a horrible love hate relationship.
What I find extremely disappointing is that the technology has not changed much over the past decade for users. Previously uploads where limited to a land line, but since then HughesNet acquired Direcway and the hardware improved and now you have two communication without a land line. They've made improvements to the hardware users use, but the actual technology to the bandwidth has not. I see the same speeds and experiences now, as I did 8 years ago.
I have the HNS7000, that I've had for the past 2 years. I find it somewhat laughable when I see advertisements promoting it's speed. It's a disillusion and false claim(practically false advertising), because it's highly dependent on numerous factors.
Over the years, they have done little to improve on the demand of the modern web. Rich media on the web has increased rapidly and more and more web services are providing abilities to improve lifestyles, such as Voice Over IP phone services, video on demand, streaming content, social network media sharing(video, photos), gaming networks, operating system updates, software downloads and robust web applications etc. If you'd like to do any of the above, forget about it, you will be ripped off and disappointed.
They provide somewhat adequate services for web browsing, email and quite honestly the old school era of transactional web. It reminds me much of the NetZero days, in where they take over your operating system/browser, try to cache your content through their "Web Acceleration" software, monitor your activity and try to reduce your bandwidth consumption. The technology hasn't changed in years, and I doubt they will in the next several years unless the FCC and consumers push back.
The Fair Access Policy has been in place for nearly 10 years and it's a huge capital gain for the company because they can throttle your limitations so that it doesn't force huge shifts in demands to improve their costly hardware. I guarantee I am hitting the same satellite from 10 years ago!
I've been victim to FAP numerous times to which they essentially turn your connection off. I can tell you, it's even slower then dial up! They will do little to restore your service, even if it's an honest operating system update.
During peak times 5pm-1am, the speed is throttled to an average of double modem speed. It's been this way for years, and it depends on the volume of users they allocate to your node. The more users that consume that channel during those times, the slower your speed.
The system is constantly fluctuating with numerous errors and performance issues. You can view it in your modem settings and reports. You'll see hourly reports of constant Uplink Queing(which they blame on traffic), and Web Acceleration (since I don't allow them to cache and exhaust my computer resources). Which if you are not using their content caching application this will reduce performance.
If you do choose to use the service you'll need to be somewhat savvy to monitor your bandwidth consumption. You'll need to turn off your automatic system updates, or schedule them between their unlimited time of 2am-5am. You'll want to have some sort traffic monitoring application or firewall, turn off your public wifi and keep in mind your bandwidth consumption.
It's a huge love hate relationship when you have no other choice. They capitalize significantly on the supply and demand charging a base of 60 a month for limitations of rich web experiences.
If you are an active web user, be cautious. This service is better then modem speeds, but I'd suggest seeking WiFi alternatives, DSL, Cable or other service that doesn't cap your experiences. I'd also suggest you closely monitor your consumptions.
The company and service as a whole really is piss poor. You will rarely, if ever speak to a support call center in the US. All calls are overseas support to which they follow tight protocols. The company has done little to improve over the years in adjusting to the demand of the modern web.
So tread cautiously if you choose. | |
| 
theGhostPony
join:2009-07-31
Lexington, KY
| Since March 2008 Overall satisfied, given the limitations which I knew about in advance. HN aims for the rural dial-up crowd that has no other broadband options. It captures them and traps them. I was one of those poor b@stards. My dial-up was so bad, 5 miles from the telco central office that I could barely get 26.4 - their physical plant is well over 30 years old and in terrible condition.
My two serious gripes against HughesNet:
Installers mounted my dish on a telephone phone near my house. Then they wanted to charge me extra to come back and do it right. It's still there. HN response was to basically give me the middle finger. There is no incentive for the contracted installers to do even a half way decent job.
Customer (nonexistent) Service - these Indian idgits are a serious waste of time. All they know how to do is read a script. They have zero technical expertise. They are very well schooled at lying. And HughesNet goes well out of it's way to hide real actual Americans behind all sorts of firewalls and passwords. I've NEVER been able to reach an actual English speaking technician who knows what he's talking about. I'm beginning to doubt they exist.
In short, if we lived in "Perfect" a company like HughesNet would have been shut down long ago. What they do is barely legal. | |
| custcomp
join:2009-11-24
Winchester, VA
| re: Hughesnet in Winchester, VA If you are in the Winchester, VA area then you really need to look into Winchester Wireless for internet service. They have a good non-line-of-sight product with very low latency, that rivals DSL and Cable type performance. Their service is only $39.99/mo. and is available without a contract. They also offer a 30 day 100% money back guarantee to take the sting out of any "risk". They have been putting up new towers pretty regularly and have a good reputation so far in the area. Check them out at »www.winchesterwireless.com. Maybe they can help you get over the issues you are having with Hughesnet. | |
| | | |
| Forums » comments on review of HughesNet Satellite Broadband |
|
|
(35)
(59)
(59)
(26)