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Review by jakerweb 
UPDATED: 47 days ago
member for 2.6 years, 19 visits, last login: 2 days ago
 Sebastopol,Sonoma,CA
 Contract price not specified.
 "Get "abit" faster than dialup when no other solution nearby."
 "Really false advertising claims for speed; EXPENSIVE too."
 "HughesNet: Not good choice if you have other broadband around."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
15 October 2009. NEW INFO, NOW IT GETS REALLY INTERESTING: The ongoing multi-year saga!
Oh yeah: Today speeds are 40~85 - Kbps Downloads; 25~50 - Kbps Uploads... On my "Business Plan" w/2-watt/2-meter dish w/HN7000S modem, speeds sold to me as: 2-Mbps Down & 500-Kbps Up. What a ripoff, this was ALL DAY! And MOST DAYS!
Greetings again, fellow HughesNet Subscribers: A "NEW" policy for their Techs to determine if you have a "PROBLEM" with their service or not... They now determine if your Satellite connection is "OK" or not, if your "RESPONSE TIMES" are within a certain spec of time THEY determine is good enough or not. IT IS NO LONGER ABOUT SPEED OF YOUR DOWNLOADS OR UPLOADS, and this is true if you have ANY level of bandwidth account with them.
Let me see... You can spend less for a "lower speed" plan, and they will make a decision if your setup is working within spec or not, the same as another person who is paying tons more money for more bandwidth, but their "RESPONSE TIMES" are "OK"??? (or NOT as is the case with me ~ 40% of the time, yet they still say I am "within specs", we will not esculate you to a trouble ticket")
It is amazing to me, that now, a decade plus since I first signed up for their first effort at satellite broadband called "DirecPC" using a MODEM for uploads... Then, to the years later upgrade to the dual-USB "Transmit" and "Receive" boxes with 1-watt small dish... Then, to go what THEY claimed will "IMPROVE" my speeds and internet experience by using their new DW-6000 Ethernet Modem (which only throttled me DOWN; from that upgrade onwards, I never was able again to use "available bandwidth during off peak periods as I could with the USB modems, going up to 2-Mbps with the old USB equipment on a "Home Plan" of 500-Mbps maximum download, supposedly. Now, the DW-6000 gave them the technology to keep strict limits on download speeds even if the satellite had available bandwidth!)... ULTIMATELY, to bite the bullet and go UP to their recommended "1-meter dish with 2-watt transmitter" plus ANOTHER new Ethernet modem named the HN-7000S, this despite the fact that I had just purchased the DW-6000 Ethernet modem less than 9 months prior. The kicker here is, I had their own techs instruct me to SWITCH the newer HN-7000S modem for the older DW-6000 modem, during a troubleshooting call when I called to complain I was getting WORSE speeds than before I went UP to the new 1-meter dish with 2-watt transmitter AND the new HN-7000S modem: The tech (top level, senior at HughesNet!) told me, that the DW-6000 was almost identical to the HN-7000S, and would give the same speeds! Indeed, during our trouble shooting calls, the DW-6000 was identical in speeds, latency, etc, to the HN-7000S newer modem I spent almost $400.- on! To this day, to see if the HN-7000S modem is ok or not, I can just plug in my DW-6000 modem, and voila, all tests are identical.
But I digress: I have been getting such horrible speeds that during 2pm ~ 7pm PST, often I cannot even use the internet. Even on HughesNet own speed test site, I OFTEN see the UPLOADS "Time-out" and return a speed of "0"; with downloads 25-Kbps ~ 80Kbps at the same time. I have complained so many times to them, that it is ridiculous. I now have a stack of speed tests which is over 3 inches thick. In the last year since somewhere in 2008, they stopped using a continuous spreadsheet format to display your speed test, and now you have to click "Next" to get the test results for the previous page, each of which only contains exactly 20 results. This is the same for either the "SPEED" test results, or the new "RESPONSE" test pages.
As I already mentioned, they will not FIX you with any tech service, if you RESPONSE times are adequate, as THIS is the new yardstick for gauging if your connection is ok or not.
Whew, what is a business level account to do?
I have had to give up on my Oracle owned service called "Netledger" for full business WEB-HOSTING of: SFA (sales force automation), CRM (customer relationship management), web-hosting of the website, with Multiple Currency support, multiple warehouse, all inventory management, all online sales directly posting to the customers account with all aspects of running an international business, etc etc... All DATA hosted and updated to the website in realtime, by Netsuite. and so our international business is run through a Web Browser! The response times for an administrator or other user, was just horrible at this location, me being the CEO, President and founder of the company... I could not even run my own company from here with my ONLY internet option via Satellite as I am on 25 acres on a Mountaintop on the Coast range just north of San Francisco. My manager had good response, but then, he had cable internet access in the office...
Enough said.
I am now both:
1) Video recording my keystokes, my full monitor and mouse activity
2) Printing my speed tests from HughesNet immediately, as they keep issuing me a new account, which "wipes-out" my past speed test history.
3) Notifying HughesNet when I call, that the conversation is being recorded.
4) Going to put up a domain to ask people who are feeling dissatified with the service, to join a class action lawsuit.
5) In the meantime, HughesNet is throttling me back horribly, to unusable speeds.
6) Also, I cannot use their own speed test site anymore, as they "reset" the connection to my browser every time I try, and I cannot even get onto the page...
7) They have been totally unresponsive to my getting "0's" for uploads, and 25-Kbps ~ 80-Kbps DOWNLOADS, despite them auto-debiting my checking account every month, for a 2-Mbps down and 500-Kbps Upload plan speed... A bloody "BUSINESS" plan after all.
8) This has been the pattern from HughesNet ever since I upgraded years ago, to the 1-meter/2-watt dish, with the HN-7000S modem, plus the $495.00 "install" fee.
I feel that due to the time I have had to deal with so many calls to them, stay home while they sent someone out to do, what, NOTHING whatsoever, my hours and hours to do requested speed and now RESPONSE (latency + speed!) tests, that I have had enough from one company. It is going to be up to the legal system to decide if "what an average person would consider within reason" given their marketing, actual user experiences, etc.
Thank you all,
jakerweb
PS: A BIG "KUDOS" goes out to the admins or webmasters here at "DSL reports", for your comments, and saving my earlier posts!
PSS: Are you able to pull out my old speed tests also, from years past? I will need those in my pursuit for justice.
Mahalo and Aloha!
PSS: The "NEW SOLUTION" as put forth by HughesNet: I "ditch" my two year old $1,500.00 investment in upgraded equipment, and MOVE onto their new satellite which offers faster speeds. Unfortunately, this new satellite is on a different "band", and my current equipment will not work. Plus, they want over $350.00/month for a 5-Mbps download plan, which by the way only offers a 500-MB download daily limit! Hum, my current plan has a 1.25-GB daily download limit... WHAT business would only use 500-MB per day? It is a much pricier group of plans for what you REALISTICALLY get (based on what I see from tests on the web, at least...), but the clincher is the download limit "total" being so low. Heck, I can do an "Open Office" download, and updates from Microsoft, and that's it for one day. What if you wanted to go to the home page for Yahoo, and views news clips in video format, at a lousy 1-Mbps download rate? I leave my "REALTIME" Lan or Ethernet Monitoring tools running all the time, as well as Microsofts own "Taskmanager" with the "Networking" tab selected, and under "Options", then make sure that "Show Cumulative Data" is checked... And EVERY day, just with my Norton 360 ver.3 updates, my various programs updates such as Acrobat, Firefox, Java, etc etc, I EASILY use up 500-MB in just less than 1 or 2 hours. What if one were to actually download some photos, watch news video clips in those small windows, or ACTUALLY use HughesNet for BUSINESS??? (I am on a Business Plan, after all!)
It is a complete lack of reality on their part to offer a business account yet not offer any real speed as solicited in their marketing, their website, nor on the web.
I resent that I am told to throw away such a large investment after only such a short time, as a solution to what is THEIR problem.
I continue, as always, to be very unhappy with the corporate attitude and business tactics employed by HughesNet.
- jakerweb
THIS I POSTED BACK IN 2007 !
jakerweb correction: When I signed up, it was $199.-/month + tax for Business Plan, now they have reduced it to $179.99/month + tax. Text below states the earlier higher price, sorry.
From: jakerweb
Long but informative post from one who knows a bit about Hughes Net and other internet providers plus good electronics and Network knowledge. Read the first part to see my past experience, then I go into the Hughes Net experience, next their "cut and pasted" text from their own website; with an ending of my opinion re the whole Hughes Net situation.
Just a preface about myself to lend some credibility to what I write:
I started in electronics at age 11, when I built my first "Heath Kit" ham radio. I majored in Electronics in college, even "jumping" a full year of 3rd year courses, as the teacher saw I already knew more than his class would teach.
ALL my "cable TV" references below are with the 4th largest cable TV one city system in North America, the company was "Cablevision".
While in college studying Electronics, I got a job as the sole "Night System Technician" responsible for keeping ~ 60,000 RF amps and tens of thousands of miles of system "big" 3/4" > 1.5" main and feeder lines up and working correctly by maintaining the "head-end" with its Micro Wave and RF "Proc-Amps (processing the signal for chroma, stair-step, audio, all sorts of signal levels and qualities), as well as going out and fixing whatever went amiss during the night in ANY technical way, etc etc. I was only 19 years old. By age 20, I had been promoted to "Senior Technician" in charge of good size group of technicians. By age 21, I was the "Chief Technician" and then quickly offered "my own" system to run: Be the "General Manager", anywhere in the "Cablevision" new outlets in the state/city of my choosing, as they were growing rapidly. I have continued my electronics and computer work my whole life, now being more experienced. I have installed Satellite dishes in Hawaii for both DirecTV and Dish Network AND DirecPC (Hughes 1st foray into "broadband"); was able to achieve getting ALL the satellites on both TV companies even with a "LOOK-ANGLE" over the Horizon of only 12%. I achieved this by sourcing super SUPER "low noise LNB's", ie: The sensors which picks up the satellite signal directly from the dish. The Satellite signal must be a certain level HIGHER than the BACKGROUND "Noise" or there will not be signal reliably. I also found very efficient DISHES which were larger than even their commercial dishes, end result, successful full programming when I was told by "Professional" dish/satellite companies it was "impossible" to get the signals from the satellites I did, in Hawaii. I have extensive Microwave; Proc-Amps, etc, all equipment knowledge of a large cable companies "head-end" or distribution and signal processing center. I am adept using tools such as "Time Delay Reflectometers", "Sweep Spectrum Analyzers", RF /micro-ware signal meters naturally, plus all diagnostic knowledge to troubleshoot ANY circuit, be it a satellite navigation system on-board a multi-million dollar yacht... I am able to design from "scratch" a circuit, then "etch" the circuit board and then source the parts/put it all together and test it completely, and I mean quite complicated circuits, not some little hobby project.
Not trying to impress anybody, just giving doubters of what I wrote below having validity, that maybe I know something I write about.
What I write below is rather detailed and long, but contains fact and info which many customers are not aware of. I wish it is all hopeful and mostly, helpful!
I was one of the FIRST to adopt "Hughes DirecPC" quite a few years ago, back when UPLOAD was only via a dial-up modem thru your "landline" ISP. I have upgraded over time: Years later, I went "UP" to their 2-USB boxes (Receive and Transmit box); then just barely 1.5/2 years ago, to the 6000 Ethernet modem: This was great, as building a private network or Networking via Ethernet is a breeze, compared to USB!
NOW, just over a month ago, Hughes Net said the following to me:
Was told by first customer service then Supervisors then Tech Support, I HAD to start a NEW account if I wanted the "BIGGER" 2-watt w/.98meter dish (yes, the transmitter which sends the signal UP to the satellite, is in the DISH, not the modem) plus the brand new HN-7000-S modem. The "UPGRADE": It cost me $987.00 with a "standard" installation.
Interesting point: The original "DirecPC" which needed a modem for upload, was capable of over 2-Mbps downloads, even using a modem for uploads. I have/had network "tools" to see exactly all my connections, their speed, their IP and port number plus port name plus the WHOIS info in real time, with company info behind it all, plus if was a redirect packet(s) etc etc. I am able to launch 10 simultaneous LARGE/Medium/Small (my choice, to see how large vs small file speeds are being affected by their network) file downloads and see both each Kbs speed plus the total network speed through the DNS (Domain Name Service/Server) router which is built into a HN-700-S Hughes Net Modem.
Many do not realize this is in the modem, as there is only ONE Ethernet port output: All "hubs", "switches" and other devices such as a WiFi access point/router, are given an IP address by the HN-7000 modem, same as was done by the older 6000 model.
My existing "Old ~ .65meter dish" with USB boxes, got me up to 2-Mbps downloads off-peak, and this on the standard home plan! The upgrade to "6000" Ethernet modem, put an end to faster speeds than advertised, and NEVER got the speeds advertised by "DirecWay", not ONCE in ~ 2-years; always 20 ~ 75% ONLY, of advertised maximum plan speed. The average speed from test sites is usually ~ 200 ~ 450-Kbps download, and often FASTER uploads usually between 60 ~ 400Kbps! This upload speed is what most HOME plan users complain about, as they often only see 20 ~ 80Kbps which in reality means they could get a better site response from a good ISP phone line MODEM connection! Sure, if the site has any substantial images or substantial files sizes to download to show the page, the Satellite will pull ahead in a hurry. But often, simple text pages with minimal graphics will load faster on a dialup modem, IF the ISP is not bogged down! Take the basic "home page" of Google for instance: I have seen it pop up faster on a modem with my old laptop, faster than on my dual-core, 10,000-rpm Raptor hard drives in RAID "0", with a 1-gigbit network card connected directly to the Hughes Net 6000 or now the HN-7000-S new modem! Google has just some very small image files with some text in the middle of the page, all else is blank. Smart of them, as we mostly just want it to SNAP up in a hurry so we can type in our search keywords, right?
Now, I'm on their "TOP OF THE LINE" equipment and BEST SPEED plan unless you sign up for an "Enterprise Plan Custom Solution", which is just ridiculous for a simple "home office" or ANY home user. I am getting pretty good UPLOADS sometimes close to advertised 500-Kbps, but DOWNLOADS are pathetic, frequently LESS than the UPLOAD speed! And it costs me ~ $220.-/month with taxes, just unbelievable.
NOW the interesting part: My downloads on Hughes Net PRIVATE "customer only" test site, shows that I often am getting 1.2 ~ 1.5Mbps downloads (2-Mbps is what I pay for yet ANY hour of day or night or wee morning hours NEVER more that 1.5-Mbps), with 400 ~ 500-Kbps uploads... Good that uploads are close to advertised speeds, but I am not doing WEBSITE "FTP", "RAS" (Remote Access to your home computer which DOES need good upload speeds!), file-sharing or any other upload intensive stuff, so I would be happy with ~ 100-Kbps uploads!
Heck, even on their own private customer speed test site, I often see download speeds in the 60-Kbps, 90-Kbps, 150-Kbps... Some are in the 300 ~ 700-Kbps range, but wait! Didn't their own website "FAQ'S" page state that I would see ~ 1.2-Mbps during PEAK periods? I have logged over 100 speed tests at Hughes Net own test site, and have NEVER seen over 1.5-Mbps no matter what hour of the day. I have done MANY test in the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6am time period, and it just does not help, NEVER over 1.5-Mbps: It is ALWAYS the same speed within 100-Kbps of my max which is only 1.5-Mbps NOT the 2-Mbps I pay for. Then, even on their OWN test servers, I have over 30 results of my ~ 100 tests with them in 1.5 months with download speeds between 30 ~ 200-Kbps! HA, caught!
What is this, feels like a problem to me, but tech said all is ok after having me do all sorts of things. Just that's the speed you get on the satellite, they said: We do NOT push your speed issue up the ladder unless you are getting consistent 180Kbps! How is this possible, when I pay for what is a 2-Mbps max and SUPPOSEDLY minimum 1.2Mbps ~ 1.5-Mbps during peak periods, if you are to take their text on their website seriously. What, is this a consumer fraud issue or what is it? I have cruised all over the web forums, and I see everyone is unhappy with what they get in speeds from Hughes Net, not what they were told nor sold on when they signed up.
Well, problem is, the HughesNet "SPEED test server(s) are at the "NOC" (Network Operations Center), NOT outside their infrastructure and on then connected to the actual web BACKBONE outside their own infrastructure! So, their speed tests mean nothing for "real world experience on the web", except that your Dish is in proper communication Up and Down to their Satellite AND passing into their NOC ok. That's all this speed test means, it does not represent what you can get out on the web, even if you do a speed test at a major "Server Farm Hosting Site" with a huge PIPELINE into the web...
There are some SPEED test servers connected with the biggest pipelines to the web; some original science labs which NASA used/uses, so-called private science servers which feed "Super Computer" results to the global scientists on the project, some of the BIG networks on the web are interconnected to accomplish unified computing power from servers all over the globe with FAST pipelines, or even some Universities from the old days... Plus some secret servers one has to have the inside scoop to access and do a speed test (on Maui, the host ISP did some speed test on the at that time "BIGGEST pipeline" to the backbone anywhere in the USA: Why was it so broadband?, turns out that the Star Wars "Super Computer" (fastest SUPER computer on the planet at the time!) was hosted on-site, and needed to give scientist and whomever else was needing access in real time to see what this computer was spitting out worldwide. My DirecPC was able to achieve over 3-Mbps with a bloody modem when given this "special test" phone line plugged directly into a T-3 going right into one of their web servers (the ISP was a friend of mine, and indeed, hosted my company website as well: I even "GAVE" him a computer to "USE" in return for a special price and website hosting connection, ie: Speed!).
Bottom line: NOW, it does NOT matter what size pipeline you test through when actually on the web: Your speed test with Hughes Net will ALWAYS come in much lower than the Hughes Net website speed test, as they are giving their speed servers "full speed bandwidth" to the NOC, thus the satellites, so customers will not freak out! What they SHOULD do, is put the speed test servers on a big pipe, somewhere out on the web, this would give a more accurate result. Now, after you send a request packet for a website, all traffic has to go through their own "NOC" NETWORK bandwidth distribution servers... So we are all being flushed through the same "NETWORK distribution routers/software/servers routines and rules". But really, even OFF PEAK like at 2am ~ 5am, the results are identical... This means the satellites are saturated ALL THE TIME! Their only recourse is to distribute bandwidth according to which Plan you have, and even at that, they are incapable of delivering the higher "Business Plan" speeds without severely hurting all those HOME PLAN or PRO or PRO-PLUS accounts, with those customers expectations. And for the HOME PLAN customers or PRO or PRO-PLUS plan customers, you are all being held back in speed to a sorta "good enough" average so everyone has enough to do web surfing, better than a modem, but still not as advertised, they cannot give us full speed or they will have to stop signing up new customers, plus they are already over the limit if you throw in the Enterprise "QOS" contracts with all of us! A new satellite plus a change in the NOC processing, bigger pipe to the web, is all needed. Maybe they even really need 2 new satellites?
They are PURPOSELY throttling BACK our speed, thus we do not see what is the plan speed advertised. They do just what they think they can get away with, with just a certain amount of customer bitching to them, so they can continue to spread out the customer base and grow... This will allow them (or FORCE them) to launch more satellites for bandwidth. But as a company policy, NOW it is not possible to get your advertised speed as they are allocating bandwidth to fulfill their "Enterprise Customers" QOS contracted speed agreements (QOS = "quality of service" contracted speed minimums) plus keep their satellites from hitting full and total saturation: What if a QOS Enterprise who paid for 6-Mbps tried to update servers across the nation for their different stores or distribution centers, and they spied they were only getting 2 ~ 3-Mbps? Hughes Net would certainly be sued and this is not good business.
Consumers will take ALLOT more abuse than corporate heavy hitters, before they get into the organized "Class Action Lawsuit" position, and believe me, big corporations decision makers who are in charge of keeping the company out of trouble with consumers, know EXACTLY how far they can push the envelope, vs the "Cost/benefit" ratio if they DO get a class action lawsuit levied against them, and then they lose the case... In the meantime, they have made so much money by signing up customers, and charging $200.- month for a lousy so-called "2-Mbps" connection, when in fact, the customer usually only uses up 200 ~ 700-Kbps of bandwidth VERY INTERMITTENTLY as one loads website elements... Also, the idle time while you read the web page, is bandwidth they can SELL AGAIN, even though you PAID for it! I never run up against my FAP (Fair Access Policy, distribution of bandwidth which ALL customers are subject to on a time-line basis) with this "Business Plan", I got it not for lots of bandwidth usage, but to have an acceptable web browsing experience. The result is, I can detect virtually NO DIFFERENCE in most normal web site downloads or page-load completions, due to the nature of "IP" packet transfer: Each packet must report BACK to the server that it was received in full without any errors, or else the server will have to RESEND the packet. Anyway, the latency due to the limit of the speed of light of a satellite which is 25,000 miles in space, up and down from their NOC, to satellite then to your dish on your house, makes it easier for Satellite providers to "Cheat" on the "persistence" of the home computer to any particular website server... They can just cover up lack of PERSISTENCE causing more lag with some additional latency, further keeping bandwidth for their use, and SELLING to more and more people.
Now, one has to factor in the saturation of both the web itself which your request for IP packets would LIKE to follow as most "DIRECT-PATH" to the server (which may have limited bandwidth available plus more; saturation with the "get in the line and wait your turn to be served!) which hosts the web page you wish to view. The web does a very good job of routing traffic and keeping bottlenecks to a minimum given the bandwidth demands put upon it, by using the available "backbone" or main bandwidth circuits in the most efficient manner, but it is flawed, since your packet request could go some additional thousands of miles due to this "Bypass" bottleneck process web routers use. More latency or wait for response to you!
SO, every speed site I have found on the Internet, even paid subscription servers with OC-3 to 12 connections right on Internet backbone, show that I am NEVER at ANY time of day or night, ABOVE 900Kbs download, with max 400Kbs uploads. The other factor which is really a pain: Doing a "ping" test to see how LONG it takes to do a round-trip to a server IP address, is just horrible with Hughes Net: Most internet connections be they via modem, DSL, or Cable have ping times in 30 ~ 200 milliseconds. On HughesNet, I see at least 700 milliseconds up to multiple whole SECONDS for a response! It is NOT unusual to see 1,200 ~ 1,800 millisecond response times for your "ping" signal to be returned from the IP address you test to. True, many servers are much slower than others, but if you take a major server "farm" such as "google" or "MSN" or "yahoo" or your OWN website, you will see what I am talking about. The NOC, network, servers, routers which Hughes Net runs are NOT optimized for speed, rather, to give some sort of lower "average" consistency as they are doing a balancing act constantly with available satellite bandwidth, again, not serving the customer in their best interest for a speedy internet experience, but to just keep us off their back and let them continue to grow...
This is just frustrating, to the point that I feel that Hughes Net should have a "Class Action Lawsuit" against them (I see on web that there is already one started?).
To NOT be able to "upgrade" my equipment and account to new better equipment, which forced me to pay almost $1,000.-, is just another "bad" policy of Hughes Net. I am especially ticked off, that after spending hours on phone with tech support, they could not do ANYTHING, just admitting that the satellites are getting saturated, yet they keep running the ADs on DirecTV as well as on NETWORK TV channels! This forces the situation to worsen, 99%+ of the time resulting in them making false promises.
The stated speed as worded on Hughes Net own website is the following:
DIRECT "COPY AND PASTE" FROM THEIR WEBSITE 12 April 2007:
03) Q: What connection speeds will I typically get with HughesNet?
"With the HughesNet Business Internet plan, connect your office to the Internet with maximum download speeds of 2.0Mbps, with typical speeds about 1.2Mbps during peak times. Upload speeds, which are capable of reaching 500Kbps, are typically 300Kbps during peak hours.
A: With the HughesNet™ Small Office service plan, you may enjoy maximum download speeds of 1.5Mbps, with typical speeds of about 800Kbps during peak times. Upload speeds, which are capable of reaching 300Kbps, are typically about 185Kbps during peak hours".
(don't you love the words "enjoy maximum download speeds of 1.5-Mbps? Anyway, they continue...)
"Because No One Wins By Waiting
You’re in business to succeed—and HughesNet™ can get you the results you want faster. How fast? With accelerated download speeds of up to 2 Mbps, HughesNet’s satellite broadband gives you back more hours per workday, to manage what you do best… your business!
See the HughesNet difference for yourself!"
I'd say, to not get the PEAK speeds even during the middle of the wee morning hours, is crazy as they claim the above "TYPICAL" speeds. One is SUPPOSED to get the "Maximum" plan speeds, during "off peak" or at least somewhat close to it!
To read this, and see the test results I get, means they are violating their contract, and yet, they will not offer ANY sort of adjustment in spite of acknowledging the fact I am not getting what I BOUGHT based on their own published text on the website.
I am not only frustrated, but upset and at times angry when I could have got a download or website to load FASTER on the old USB Modems with small dish, on the $59.-/month HOME PLAN. Worse yet, I could get LESS latency via the original "phone line modem ISP" method, as there is not as much latency for IP/Packet requests when they enter the web via a Local ISP who is connected well to the web with a good pipeline. Even the Analog modem translation in a digital format does not come close to taking as much time as the UP and DOWN satellite plus the NOC plus their network utilization rules which further slow down our pings, latency and computer to computer "persistence" (this is like keeping the door open to let the person just behind you enter your house, without having to re-open the door. HughesNet does a poor job at keeping the computer to computer persistence "open"... Thus forcing new packets to be resent to open the door again. More time lost, more latency or delay in your viewing web page experience.
I cannot comprehend how it is possible for an FCC licensed company WITH Federal rules as to their performance vs published advertising, can continue to do that they do... What about all of us who are paying over $200.-/month, and getting lower than base "cheapest plan" "DSL" speeds?
Just amazing. If I had ANY other choice, I would jump ship even though I now have over $2,000.- invested for service equipment with HughesNet over the years.
IF YOU HAVE ANY OTHER CHOICE, BE IT DSL OR CABLE, DO NOT SIGN UP FOR HUGHESNET, YOU WILL NOT BE SATISFIED NOR GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR IN SPEED or BROWSING EXPERIENCE, EVER!!!
Signed: jakerweb, member of "Broadband".
Followup comments:  jwko
join:2007-04-02
Cecil, AR | AMEN! I Agree 110% | |
| | 
Hughesnet Fraud
@comcast.net
| Re: AMEN! I was getting around 150Kbps downloads and 70Kbps uploads with the 6000 series. This is far lower than promised by Hughesnet. I called and was advised to 'upgrade' to the 7000 series. Now I am getting 7Kbps downloads ... yup ... 7Kbps ... almost useless. When I called customer support I was told the 7000 does nothing and would NOT provide me with anymore bandwidth. I asked why it was promoted as an 'upgrade' and why I was promised 'twice the bandwidth'. The customer service replay was that the 7000 was was just newer technology that worked better for the company but offers the customer no additional bandwidth. So, it was a lie. Now Hughesnet is charging me another $40 per month for it ($99 per month now). I can't change back to the older, cheapr and marginally better service because I signed a 3 year agreement. Basically, I'm paying $100 per month for nothing. I am a very experience technology consumer and have never dealt with such a corrupt company as Hughsnet. Buyer beware folks. Where do I sign up for the Class Action? | |
| tasmithe
join:2002-09-16
Graham, NC | too long Too long! But agree 100% | |
| 
jspaleta
join:2001-01-25
Petaluma, CA | Right on Great review! | |
| 
PolarBear
The bear formerly known as aaron8301
Premium
join:2005-01-03
 ·CableOne
| Educated? You would think that someone as educated as yourself would have much better writing and grammar skills.
Also, the ping times you are experiencing are completely normal for ANY satellite internet service. One must consider that when you send a ping from your computer, that ping has to travel 24,000 miles to the satellite, 24,000 miles to the NOC, out to the internet, back to the NOC, 24,000 miles to the satellite, and 24,000 miles to your dish. The fact that any data can travel over approximately 100,000 miles in less than a second is absolutely amazing. Seven hundred milliseconds is nothing.
--
A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any other invention, with the possible exceptions of handguns and Tequilla. -- Mitch Ratcliffe | |
| | zwaaa
join:2004-02-26
Amissville, VA
| Re: Educated? plus, the text clearly says "up to" not "you will definitely indisputably get" 2 megs.
This is a best effort service - just like cable and DSL. which suffer the same problems when they oversell their bandwidth. High Knob in Va had speed issues with Sprint when the node was oversold.
I appreciate the frustration of being in a rural area with limited broadband options. If you read carefully you will see that you are getting what they promise you. | |
| jakerweb
join:2007-04-06
Sebastopol, CA
 ·HughesNet Satellit..
|  I did include info to "replies" stated I didn't or accurate
"aaron83_01"
&
"zwaaa"
Perhaps the "zwaaa" reply POST did not see what I pasted directly from HughesNet own "FAQ's" page regarding speed and what we "SHOULD EXPECT?". It is all EXACTLY pasted from the HughesNet website, in my original POST below. They say only that the plan, in my case the Business Plan, is 2-Mbps download, "maximum" (naturally, you only will get what you pay for on a plan "maximum" speed). What they DO say, it what we should expect DURING "PEAK" times. This PEAK speed which IS spelled out, by definition, would mean that to use a legal phrase "the average normal person would expect this to be what would be the lessor speed, with the PLAN speed being what we should expect during "OFF PEAK or at least CLOSE to the stated plan speed the majority of the time. They do not qualify "SPEED" in any LOWER than PEAK SPEED with any statement. Other than this text below, which I "copied & pasted" from HughesNet FAQ page on their own website in my original post, this represents what HughesNet claims for the service speeds they sell to us:
DIRECT "COPY AND PASTE" FROM THEIR WEBSITE 12 April 2007:
"...
03) Q: What connection speeds will I typically get with HughesNet?
"With the HughesNet Business Internet plan, connect your office to the Internet with maximum download speeds of 2.0Mbps, with typical speeds about 1.2Mbps during peak times. Upload speeds, which are capable of reaching 500Kbps, are typically 300Kbps during peak hours.
A: With the HughesNet™ Small Office service plan, you may enjoy maximum download speeds of 1.5Mbps, with typical speeds of about 800Kbps during peak times. Upload speeds, which are capable of reaching 300Kbps, are typically about 185Kbps during peak hours".
(don't you love the words "ENJOY maximum download speeds of 1.5-Mbps" for their Office plan? Anyway, they continue...)
"Because No One Wins By Waiting
You're in business to succeed and HughesNet can get you the results you want faster. How fast? With accelerated download speeds of up to 2 Mbps, HughesNet satellite broadband gives you back more hours per workday, to manage what you do best; your business!
..."
END QUOTE/PASTE"
A more "GENERAL" response to you all from jakerweb, who wrote the long "HughesNet" POST:
I would like to defend myself regarding my writing and grammar: I did NOT write my post in WORD or other, and edit it first. I started writing this post at 10:17pm, but with other matters taking me away from the long post, I did not finish it until wee hours in the AM *I believe it was ~3:30am and was quite tired. I had gone back and forth between two other detailed emails I was sending overseas, coming back and EDITING my post with more and more adding to it. I did not feel that a POST had to be of literary quality, based on what I see at this and other post sites. My abbreviated test AFTER I spell out what it stands for, is a way not to write out a longer word each time: Example: "Proc-Amp"; I wrote what it stood for, ie, "processing amp" for video and sound of a cable signal. Other words are showing up in red just because they are not in the on-line dictionary. Plus, my sentence style was of the "Hummm, that does not seem right"... Style, as I felt we are of a sorta family and this group is not needing formality. I am actually a writer of some skill, if I am to believe some people who actually write and publish books, coffee-table big books, magazine articles as well as friends who run weekly columns in newspapers. I am usually told that I am very descriptive, verbalize thoughts into writing in a very good manner and do indeed have a good grasp of the English language, being brought up by parents who were both school teaches that were strict about every nuance of writing skill be it grammar, sentence structure or literary style. I FDID NOT try to organize all my thoughts and words in such a manner for that post, my first on any web forum. I always have just READ what others had to say. In this HughesNet matter however, I was compelled to write as not only was I very distraught about my service but saw on forums around the web that others were feeling the same. The posts frequently did not appear to be from someone of extensive technical knowledge about how it all worked, so I felt that if I was going to voice my opinion for the FIRST TIME on any website forum, it should include what I DID know in an effort to let others know more about what they were experiencing and especially WHY...
I NOT understand your criticism of my "writing and grammar skills" as it appears that many POSTS are not "fine tuned" in that area.
I also do not understand why you write about apparent lack of knowledge of the latency built into ANY satellite service, since if you read my "cut and paste" portions below, which I took directly from my POST, you will see that I did indeed address this subject. Perhaps due to the length of my POST, you just did not get that far into it to see what I had written?
I will NOT post another long POST again. I THOUGHT there was allot of good information in my POST, however long, which others might be interested in. After all, it is our hard earned money which is being spent for a service which does NOT deliver what their own "FAQ's" page states we will get even during PEAK periods... Which do indeed state in numbers in text on their website where one goes to sign-up for their service.
I see there is ANOTHER reply to my POST, which states that:
Re: Educated?
plus, the text clearly says "up to" not "you will definitely indisputably get" 2 megs.
This is a best effort service - just like cable and DSL. which suffer the same problems when they oversell their bandwidth. High Knob in Va had speed issues with Sprint when the node was oversold.
I appreciate the frustration of being in a rural area with limited broadband options. If you read carefully you will see that you are getting what they promise you.
ANSWER:
"Best effort" has nothing to do with what is written on a website to SELL a service, which is DEFINED as to what we WILL TYPICALLY see for speeds. I know in my case, and judging by what so many of the other HughesNet customers have and are still experiencing, we are not getting anything CLOSE to what is TYPICAL. If I sign a contract, and it states these terms, then if the vendor does not live up to the term "TYPICAL", they are in violation of not only their contract, but fair trade laws as well as false advertising plus... This amounts to criminal activity, and as such, can be addressed in a court of law. I do NOT consider that I am getting what as you state, "If you read carefully you will see that you are getting what they promise you": Quite to the contrary, if you define the word TYPICAL in LEGAL terms, it means that AT MINIMUM, you will see more than 50% of stated speed at LEAST 50% of the time or MORE! Usually, TYPICAL in contract law, means what as I stated above, the "average user or person" would expect in each particular situation being considered.
If you people take exception to what I did do extensive research on, BEFORE I wrote about anything whatsoever about HughesNet, well to BOTH of those reply POSTS seemingly critical of my facts, I did indeed cut and paste DIRECTLY what HughesNet has written on their own website: Perhaps the "zwaaa" reply POST did not see what I pasted directly from their own "FAQ's" page regarding speed and what we "SHOULD EXPECT?".
Anyway, it's a free society, so all opinions are valid: Take exception to my LONG one-time POST, that is your prerogative and so be it.
Signed, the long "HughesNet" POST fella,
jakerweb
I cut and paste from my POST some of what I wrote about PING and more...
A bit more I wrote about "PING": I know that Satellite is always going to be 600 ~ 700 milli-seconds
at best from any SAT provider... What I am saying is that HughesNet is NOT system or NOC with is routers, network management tools with their settings, the software with its Packet and bandwidth rules all vying for available bandwidth from the satellite, yielding results almost always in slower ping times than they should be: In MY experience! Hughes own senior Tech support commented, "Wow, that IS a slow PING, do it again... Then again, then he had me go to several other IP addresses, all resulting in much worse than the possible SAT PING times of around 600 ~ 700 milliseconds. My point is this: HughesNet makes has not setup to deliver the best possible latency performance for their customers. Those "slow" ping times were to tier-one class servers, and should not show anything but the best SAT PING time possible. I see PINGS even "time out" on occasion, not frequently, but way more than I should especially since I am connect to their SAT which is for BUSINESS PLAN users. I was told, that they DO put different class customer plans on different Satellites, by Senior Top level HughesNet tech support. To pay 4, 5 times as much as a comparable Cable or DSL, and see this amount of frustrating browsing, is just not fair, in my opinion.
More cut and paste from my POST, to respond to your comment about SATELLITE LATENCY, which shows below that I indeed did write about the long round trip the signal takes up and back into space...
"...Each packet must report BACK to the server that it was received in full without any errors, or else the server will have to RESEND the packet. Anyway, the latency due to the limit of the speed of light of a satellite which is 25,000 miles in space, up and down from their NOC, to satellite then to your dish on your house, makes it easier for Satellite providers to "Cheat" on the "persistence" of the home computer to any particular website server... They can just cover up lack of PERSISTENCE causing more lag with some additional latency, further keeping bandwidth for their use, and SELLING to more and more people..."
"... Doing a "ping" test to see how LONG it takes to do a round-trip to a server IP address, is just horrible with Hughes Net: Most Internet connections be they via modem, DSL, or Cable have ping times in 30 ~ 200 milliseconds. On HughesNet, I see at least 700 milliseconds up to multiple whole SECONDS for a response! It is NOT unusual to see 1,200 ~ 1,800 millisecond response times for your "ping" signal to be returned from the IP address you test to. True, many servers are much slower than others, but if you take a major server "farm" such as "Google" or "MSN" or "yahoo" or your OWN website, you will see what I am talking about. The NOC, network, servers, routers which Hughes Net runs are NOT optimized for speed, rather, to give some sort of lower "average" consistency as they are doing a balancing act constantly with available satellite bandwidth, again, not serving the customer in their best interest for a speedy Internet experience, but to just keep us off their back and let them continue to grow..."
That about sums up my response to alleged inaccuracies in my original post. I still do not see anything in it which as EXCLUDED as alleged, nor did I inaccurately states facts as quoted from HughesNet own website web page(s). I hope this clears up any misunderstandings.
Signed, the long "HughesNet" POST fella, with HIS replies to YOUR replies,
jakerweb | |
| | zwaaa
join:2004-02-26
Amissville, VA
| Re: I did include info to "replies" stated I didn't or accurate Yeah, I saw it, but I did not see anything that Guarantees you any speed. We read what we want to read in some cases.
Incidentally - from the subscriber TOS ALSO on the hughesnet website that you may have signed without reading when you got the service:
To ensure equal Internet access for all HughesNet™ subscribers, Hughes Network Systems maintains a running average Fair Access Policy (FAP). Fair Access establishes an equitable balance in Internet access across satellite broadband services by service plan for all HughesNet customers regardless of their frequency of use or volume of traffic. To ensure this equity, customers may experience some temporary throughput limitations. HughesNet Internet access is not guaranteed. This policy applies to all service plans including “Unlimited” plans where customers’ use of the Service is not limited to a specific number of hours per month.
Say it AGAIN!!
To ensure this equity, customers may experience some temporary throughput limitations. HughesNet Internet access is not guaranteed. This policy applies to all service plans including “Unlimited” plans where customers’ use of the Service is not limited to a specific number of hours per month.
Enjoy this wnderful Monday - Weather in Va is wonderful! | |
| | | jakerweb
join:2007-04-06
Sebastopol, CA
·HughesNet Satellit..
| Re: I did include info to "replies" stated I didn't or accurate zwaa
Greetings!
Yes, I saw the subscriber "TOS" which you refer to, BUT:
HughesNet seez:
"...
To ensure this equity, customers may experience some temporary throughput limitations
..."
My statements have been based on the fact that I do not get what is advertised on their own website/literature as "TYPICAL" speed. The "TOS" statement above, does state only that we MAY experience "SOME TEMPORARY" throughput limitations.
I do not nor have EVER seen over 75% of the claimed Business Plan speed of 2-Mbps, EVER, be it afternoon, evening, night or early AM hours from 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7am. If they say we may experience "TYPICAL" speeds on this Business Plan, which is VERY EXPENSIVE compared to other internet mediums, then in my opinion in indeed by facts of what is both stated and advertised, I and all other subscribers are being CHEATED on our PAID-FOR in-advance, NO REFUND without stiff ~ 1/2 price paid (close to $500.- for my just under $1,000.- investment in Equipment plus install labor plus cancellation penalties which for a loyal customer who has seen a steady decrease over the years in THROUGHPUT vs what is ADVERTISED and indeed contractually promised in a written "TYPICAL" speed statement: All this for a ~ 10-year customer UPGRADE. Seems to me, that they would not want to piss of so many people, and have a good reputation. I know that HughesNet is not in financial difficulties, and as such, could broaden their market base better if they used their cash reserves OR good credit-line to put up enough transponders/satellites to honor their stated claims. To NOT honor CONSISTENTLY, what is supposed to be a certain TYPICAL speed experience, is indeed, according to a lawyer who specializes in "Class Action Lawsuits" who IS gathering information for the suit to proceed as we speak, well, it is just plain bad business but worse, a breach of contract which can and will result in compensation or bankruptcy for HughesNet. WHY would they NOT stem the flow of bad reputation they are spreading, and take preventative action, is beside me...
I guess the lawyers will figure out WHY HughesNet did not act in a timely manner to correct known false claims before it was too late.
By the way, the "FAP" only "kicks in" when you go OVER your plan bandwidth. The TOS or quality of service statement you refer to, is unrelated to "Fair Access Policy" or their FAP.
Sure, one could say the two are related as the bandwidth allocation decrease which induced in this manner, (in their words!) and I quote again: "customers may be temporary throughput limitations".
This is NOT "FAP"... And the words they use, "TEMPORARY THROUGHPUT LIMITATIONS" has NOTHING to do with "normal" day in day out usage, which is defined in their "TYPICAL" throughput bandwidth they advertise.
This is called "FALSE ADVERTISING", and is REAL.
I don't think anybody reading this, can be confused as to what they READ they would "GET" in speed in "TYPICAL" uses, vs what they are experiencing in reality.
ALL these posts on just this one of thousands of forums which reference to HughesNet speed "not being as advertised or sold" to all of us.
to spend what is actually quite allot of money, upfront for equipment and labor to install, in my case over $3,000.- if you go back to the beginning when I first signed up and upgraded over the years to NOT gain what is stated by them, is really something to cause me and others to be disappointed as well as seek legal remedies.
I am a businessman: You cannot publish one thing to get some customers to BUY a "NON-REFUNDABLE" product (unless you call taking over 1/2 your investment refundable!) and not deliver on your claims. It is both unethical as well as in the extreme, criminal. Either way, it is just simply a horror to spend so much to find one is ripped-off (in my case, to have the original "smaller" dish w/1-watt transmitter and DW-6000 router/modem/AP just still sitting there which got close to what I have paid tons of extra money for to get LOTS more bandwidth and not get it. This does NOT take into the consideration, the now huge dish sticking out from my home, with the old smaller white 2-way dish still mounted on my roof causing an eye-sore and reminding me of the ripoff every time I see those dishes and modems.
I know that some people just want "adequate" internet speed which to them is anything better than dialup... For me, that is NOT the case. I am trying to network a small group of computers and to NOT see what I paid for delivered to me ie bandwidth and browsing speed, is really a pain. To have to WAIT like I was on a modem at times (way to frequently) is so emotionally frustrating, that it creates anger. This is NOT what a company should strive to serve their customers with.
THAT is my frustration coming out...
Not to be rude, but I do not understand your repeated misconstruing of the facts as written in my posts. This can mislead customers or potential customers, ESPECIALLY if they are CONTEMPLATING upgrading to the BIG DISH plus the HN-7000S modem! They MUST, if they do it, start a whole new account, AND, they will have lost their investment in their white 2-way 1-watt dish plus their old modem.
FACT: If a customer wants ABOUT the speeds/bandwidth that a high-priced "Business Plan" customer gets, they CAN and WILL get it on the OLD smaller 1-watt Dish with the DW-6000 modem. To upgrade and start a new account plus have the pleasure of spending another just under $1,000.- PLUS a new "LONG-TERM" commitment, is not worth it. You should just sign up for the PRO or PRO-PLUS plans, keep the old equipment, and enjoy your money and NOT be frustrated by the fact that you do not EVER get your stated speed on the Business Plan... Max in the best of times, will be only 75% of advertised plan speeds, and THAT will the vast majority of times, only to the HughesNet own "SPEED TEST" site, not the "other" speed test sites all over the internet. On those, you will typically see less than 50% or less of advertised speed. But wait, that is in the best of times!, what you will USUALLY SEE is 10% ~ 40% of advertised speed, time of day will not help this statistic, PERIOD!
I have done over 300 speed test at sites from A to Z, WITHOUT any network or Switch or Router on my side, plugged directly into the DW-7000S HughesNet router/modem/AP. Yes, I have run speed test in comparison on different computers, and there is just no getting around the fact, HughesNet is not giving us what we pay for. And YES, I know enough about networking to know how to make sure that there is NOTHING slowing down my connection: It does NOT matter if I disable any FIREWALL or Anti-Virus or Anti-Spyware or other intrusion detection program, the speed is just plan not up to spec. NEVER, EVER, not ONCE... Not even CLOSE! The MOST I have ever seen is 75% of plan speed, and that is on HughesNets OWN speed test servers!
End of story, case closed. (wow, I hope this ends what has really been a surprise to me: Who can defend HughesNet: The "TOS", the "FAP", as NOT the culprits. It is just that they do not give us what they sell us. Just remember their FAQ ("facts page"), they use the word "TYPICAL" to sell on their plan speed and thus take our money unfairly. That is just seat of the pants, common sense, WRONG!
Signed,
jakerweb 23April 2007 @ 21:22 PST | |
| | | | zwaaa
join:2004-02-26
Amissville, VA
1 edit | Re: I did include info to "replies" stated I didn't or accurate Class action lawsuit eh? Good luck with that.
The only words that matter IMHO are "HughesNet Internet Access is not Guaranteed"
A good attorney may be able to wrangle it, but it will be an uphill battle.
Caveat emptor! Read your contracts folks! | |
| | | | | jakerweb
join:2007-04-06
Sebastopol, CA
·HughesNet Satellit..
| Re: I did include info to "replies" stated I didn't or accurate "Re: I did include info to "replies" stated I didn't or accurate"
Hi zawaa!
Yeh, class Action lawsuits are a bitch.
It is not MY action which has been initiated or even me signed up for, but there are a group of lawyers who ARE subscibers to HughesNet feeling the pain, and as lawyers, they feel they can win. Their main focus is on "misleading" the public, with the FAQ's page, where they state the "TYPICAL" speeds one can expect. There are court precedents which DO hold that "average person belief as to what is being sold" does hold merit over any other disclaimer, as if an average normal person would be misled, then the advertising or sales pitch is flawed, so the courts will award redress for that.
Only time will tell. But I do think that a court action will make some dent into the way in which HughesNet does its business at least.
My personal take on this, from reading other articles, especially from the website "Enquirer" (not the magazine), is the fact that DirecWay is trying to find a way to position themselves in this new broadband market, with all its alternatives: Cable, the new WiMax, DSL, and possibly either "try" again to do it themselves, or sign up some reciprical deals to give them access to the new "3-way" end-to-end communications solutions: Phone, Internet, TV all on one account, one method or wire, or a MIX. It is a very bad time to invest in any direction right now, until the market fleeces out this whole sheebang.
Anyway, I hope that we will get something better than the overpriced slow internet we have to live with now!
Mahalo and thanks for your comments!
jakerweb 25 April 2007 @ 16:32 PST | |
|
moparman
@direcway.com | me too!!  I agree i got hughes net an it suxs,it's faster than dail-up i had but the cost an 300mb per day download limit sux!!!!!!!!!! | |
| | Hellsent
join:2009-09-22
| Re: me too!! 1000% agree this company is a ripoff.
Everytime I get one the phone I ask why there isn't a Official Forum for hughes.net?
They keep telling me there is a FAQ i can read.
I said I don't want a FAQ to READ I want to see what others that own this service have to say.
Normally gets ignored or they talk about the issue or try to get me to cough up 125 bucks for some guy to come out and say it looks like its a NOC issue.
I hope you do get ur site up man. | |
|
Hughes Hater
@sprintlink.net
| They don't want a forum so you can discuss how they STINK! My speeds between 6 pm and 9 pm are slower then dial up. I work all day and only get home in time to not be able to use the Internet. But in my case, out in the boonies its all I have. We have FAPed two weekends in a row by simply cruising the Internet. no downloads, or uploads. Just checking out facebook and running my ebay store. I emailed them to see if they have any plans to raise the FAP limits. HA - they responded if I wanted them raised I would have to buy the next version up. Already paying 89.00 a month...JEEZ... | |
| | | |
| Forums » comments on review of HughesNet Satellite Broadband |
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Review by Vince_C
UPDATED: 49 days ago
member for 2.6 years, 8 visits, last login: 49 days ago
Grayson,Caldwell,LA
Contract price not specified.
"It actually worked years ago."
"Completely useless service most of the day and night now."
"Not worth the cost!"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
When I first acquired this service years ago it worked great. I could do almost anything with few exceptions.
Hughes' fair access policy will keep you from doing such things as watching videos and downloading service packs for twenty two hours out of a twenty four hour day.
However, over the past year, this service has degraded to the point where I can barely run the test @ »www.speedtest.net in the afternoon. Here is a link to my latest test result from just a few minutes ago: »www.speedtest.net/result/591362293.png
After viewing the results, you tell me if this service is worth $59.99 a month! I can answer that with a resounding NO!
My suggestion: Don't waste your time and money on this service. If you do, it may work fine for a while, but the service will degrade. Hughes will be of no assistance and have you running in circles trying to get it fixed. They have abhorrent business practices that are driving away long time loyal customers! Be weary and be aware before you decide to purchase this service.
Attachments:
Followup comments:
Mon
@direcway.com
| Thats Right Well i know the felling about HUGHES NET i had it about 10 years now and its not worth crap. 69.95 month and most of the time its slower than dial-up,this been going on to long now.search goggle about HUGHES NET lol you'll see. and my 2 cents the fcc seen like they don't care about are issues. maybe there good buddy's up to the Big Offices.. | |
| 
george357
join:2009-09-18
Hot Springs, NC
·HughesNet Satellit..
| I am a lucky 1 I guess. I have had it for about 2mos now and I still love it. It does get a little slow during "primetime" 4pm-10pm eastern but even when slow it is soooo much faster than my previous dial-up.
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 | |
| | Snilubez
join:2007-03-20
Salem, OR
| Re: I am a lucky 1 I guess. give it time, when I first got it it was great too, especially during that first month when I still had the option to cancel without penalty. but it's been slowly degrading over time. but there are no other internet options available where I live. Hughes knows it. and that's why they think they can get away with it. do a little research on the internet, you'll find many many testimonials like this. oh yeah and they screwed a lot of people out of the $150 rebate they were supposed to get | |
|
Patrick T
@direcway.com
| Hughes Net is a Load of BS I have had hughes.net now for 6 years. The worst waste in money i have ever seen. There is no other choice in internet here other than crappy dial-up, and who wants that. You cant play any online gaming, you cant get updates of softwere i need, if its slightly cloudy out forget about going to google. and dont even get me started on that "Fair" access policy bs. My mother, who is a freelance computer tech. gets boned because of it. When she redoes some ones pc, of course she has to re-install drivers and service packs. They are hindering her from getting paid, and thats pretty much a nazi thing to do during this crap heap of an economy that we are in. And every time i see that damned Hughes.net commercial, i want to go down to where they work and bash in all of their faces with my hughes.net box. DO NOT GET IT. THEY WILL EXTORT YOU. im not surprised they havnt been sued yet. well lets wait till Feb. when the National Broadband Policy hits congress. Good Fight Hughes net i hope you die. | |
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| Forums » comments on review of HughesNet Satellite Broadband |
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Review by jimmy990
UPDATED: 50 days ago
member for 51 days, 3 visits, last login: 48 days ago
Urbana,Wabash,IN
Contract price not specified.
"Alot faster than dial up."
"Fap, cost, and did I mention the FAP!!!"
"If dial up is your only option then get it"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)
|
I have been reading alot of bad reviews on here about hughes net. I dont know if I just got lucky or maybe there treating me good until my 30 day trial is up. All I know is that I did my research before I got this Internet, I looked at wild blue and starband, hell I even thought about skyway. I think alot of people sign up for this thinking its going to be as fast as the dsl they had at there old place... and they never take the time to read up on things before they go for it. My average latency is around 560-600 some times its a little higher depends on the weather, I have the hn9000 and the home plan speed test show 900k-1.1mb other than the fap I really dont have any complaints. Heres my advice to others that are turned away from the bad reviews Do some research and know the limitations before you sign up, Watch your installer and make sure there doing what they said they will do. My installer was really good I followed him around asking him a bunch of questions that I already knew the answer to just to see if he would tell me the truth and he did. Told me his name and where he was from and gave me his cell number in case I had any minor issues with me system. Spend the money on a pole mount and make sure they use concrete to set the pole. Just remember that satellite internet is not broadband, dsl or fios. it is what it is and thats a alternative to dial up so dont expect to get it and start playing WoW or streaming movies because its not meant to do that. As of now Im very happy with my service...and I will update after my 30 day trial is up to let every body know if all is still good.
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Review by (hidden by request)
Posted: 50 days ago
(review was emailed from domain sfetech.net)
Newfield,Tompkins,NY
Contract price not specified.
"Ridiculous, inflexible spam filtering"
"The minute I have an option, I'll switch"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
Everyday Hughesnet SPAM filtering catches emails from people I get mail from on a daily basis. I have called tech support to ask them to turn spam filtering off, but they can't. I have tried adding good email addresses to the safe sender and safe domains lists. But the system still catches and holds emails from trusted sources every single day. Some days, it will allow several messages from a sender through, and catch two others. There is no logic to the ones it catches. This forces me to log into the account through myhughesnet.com and scroll through every spam message to pick out the ones I should have received. I think they've constructed it like this to force users through their portal.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of HughesNet Satellite Broadband |
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 Review by caribconsult
UPDATED: 52 days ago
member for 6.7 years, 968 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Mayaguez,Mayaguez,PR
Contract price not specified.
"None, really"
"Slows down ridiculously during busy times (PM-early evening stateside), too damn much tinkering required."
"¡Adios y gracias!"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I bought DW 4000 /CE. The best part was the ordering and installation. The local vendor gave me all the details accurately, the installers showed up on time and did a fine job and it worked right off the bat. Two days later it went down and the company sent out the installers a day later and they replaced the feedhorn on the antennae and it worked again and continues to work.
I don't like the fact that when it rains, which it does frequently here in Puerto Rico, the service just drops out alltogether, but I have no other broadband options right now. DSL and cable are both here on the island but not where we live up in the mountains. I do have dialup as a backup but when cable/dsl comes here I'd switch in a NY second. I use internet to connect to all my clients stateside and reliability is key. Prior to this I had cable internet here and DSL in California and both were cheaper and superior to DW.
Clearly, the tech support at DW is useless for the most part, but the DSLR forums (thanks a ton to PetDude, Seagreen & Grohgreg) are invaluable. I think I would not have bought DW if this forum didn't exist.
The fact that they make you pay for the dish is an outrage, but I think the real problem is lack of competition. It's kind of like the old Lily Tomlin routine: "We're the phone company...we don't have to care!" Here in Puerto Rico there are two choices for satelliteTV - DirecTV and DishNetwork - and so they are constantly battling to get customers, and the prices and service continue to improve from the customer's point of view. This is what DW needs--someone to push them.
It's now nearly two years since I have my DW4000 and I would have to say I'm liking it better. It has been REALLY reliable, going down only after a severe lightning storm. The local vendor I purchased it from replaced both modems under warranty and repointed the dish, all for free! I would say performance has improved by I can not quantify this...it's more a feeling arising from a combination of overall performance boost and some speed testing as well. My previous statement that I would switch to DSL or cable in a heartbeat still applies, but I am definitely liking the DW a lot more than before. I've even used it periodically for PCAnywhere and Terminal Service access to stateside clients and while it's not 'smooth as a baby's butt' 'all the time, it has improved. What would be the single biggest improvement to me would be a boost in upload speed, say to around ISDN levels -128k or so. I frequently have to upload large files to clients and this is where I really miss DSL or cable. I've heard that DW7000 offers this but I've also heard about widespread customer dissatisfaction with DW7000 and I'm not ready to jump.
FALL 2006: Service on the 4000 just falls apart, especially late afternoon to late night. After much 'round and round' with TIer4 TechSupt, I bite the bullet Feb 07, and get a 7000 home upgrade. It was expensive as hell - we don't have the same deal here in Puerto Rico that you statesiders get. New dish, new 2w. transmitter, kept the cables but put in new connectors. The installer was totally knowledgeable and did a fine job. It runs very decently. I've done some speed checking using FTP transfers to my website and it consistently runs faster than the advertised speeds, by some 20-25% Uploads at 170kbps, down at just under 1mbps. Not bad. I'm told the 2w transmitter will keep me connected thru heavier weather than the old 1w. unit so that's a real plus here in the tropics where it rains a lot. Let's see how long this love affair lasts!
DECEMBER 2007: I decided to upgrade my plan to PRO, since I had been FAP'd twice recently by two ill-behaved websites that were pushing music at me and burned my FAP. After the upgrade, my POP3 mail from my website no longer worked!! I could access it via a dialup connection, but not with HN. I spent hours on the phone with various techies, some knowledgeable, others not, but no resolution. I downgraded back to HOME plan, same problems, even though it had worked for 5.5 years! I called back to HN and insisted on speaking to advanced support, who elevated me to Tier4 Engineering, and they finally isolated the problem to their router and specific frequencies, and they promised to resolve this within 48 hours. Let's hope. I'll post the results here.
Here's a tip for circumventing India: call BILLING and ask to be transferred to advanced support. It worked several times for me.
DEC 18: Still no resolution to my above stated issues, I have yet to hear from Tier4, and further testing reveals that both my FTP and telnet services no longer work with the new HN setup, whereas they work fine with dialup. HN is sinking fast in my estimation, and they didn't have very far to drop in the first place. One techie at advanced support was able to get me to access some secure sites like my brokerage and banking accounts, using proxy settings for ALL protocols, something I've not had to do with 7K before, but I can't complain - at least I can access these things now. I'm rapidly becoming OPOC (One P*ssed-Off Customer).
DEC 19: Wonder of wonders. I finally called corporate and got to speak to a rep from the President's office!!!! A stunning turn of events! He immediately connected me to his top technician who got my situation straightened out in a matter of 30 minutes or less and explained it all although I must say I didn't really 'grok' every part of it, since a lot of this stuff is way beyond my technical ability. (My specialties are LANS, accounting and business apps, etc, not satellite systems.)
Anyhow, this fellow was able to not only restore all my service but he upgraded me immediately from HOME to PRO plan, then he stood by while I tested every aspect of the connection and made sure all was well before ending the call. No more proxy settings, speeds are within spec. What can I say? This was far and away the most efficient and knowledgeable tech support I have EVER seen from HN. Would that all their techies had his ability.
Beginning 2008. Wonder of wonders again , there is now an alternative to HN where I live. Sprint offers wireless internet, I live in a well-covered area according to them, and user-friends tell me it works really well, downloads never below 450-500, usually up to 800 even during busy hours, and one guy witnessed 1.2Mbs while at the San Juan Airport Uploads in the 450 zone.
NO FAP!!! No download limit, same price as HN Home, and the hardware can be as little as $29. A Sierra Aircard595 is $100
I am seriously thinking of trying this out and bagging HN. Even though I upgraded to Pro, and have a big (..98m) dish, the speeds fall down to the 200 down 40 up range from about 2pm till way past midnight here in PR. We are one hour later than Eastern Time. I had tried SPRINT service almost two years ago and it was too slow, but obviously there have been advances made. More on this later
JAN 2008. The end may be in sight! HN tried unsuccessfully to move me to another bird and gateway, and upon failure, they agreed to let me out of the contract without penalty. Great news. I took advantage of Sprint's 30 day no questions asked trial period and am evaluating the system as I write. I have the Sierra AirCard595 plugged into my laptop
Although advertised speeds (ha ha!) are up to 1.2Mbps, I generally get 450-750kbps, but this is faster than HN most of the time, even my Pro plan, especially during the afternoons and evenings. NO FAP! Uploads are zippy - 300-500kbps not uncommon.
It functions like dialup networking using a cell phone instead of a modem and phone line. I've tested streaming video and if you use the low settings on the medial player it is quite viewable and smooth. It's also portable. On trips to the states I just take the device and plug it right into my laptop.
I believe I will be ordering the Millenicom USB wireless device and router after reading some favorable reviews here about MC (a SPRINT reseller), and I like their hardware setup, plus they are cheaper than SPRINT, still no FAP, easy to reach when their phones are working right ( I've had several conversations with the company prez and tech support) and don't add taxes to your bill!! It works out to about $20 less than either sprint or HN Pro.
THE LAST WORD: I'm pulling the plug on HN and going wireless, probably with Millenicom. I'm waiting to receive their gear, but I've been experimenting with a Sprint setup using a Sierra Aircard PCM unit and it's a big improvement over HN. No FAP, more consistent speeds, and an overall feeling of more zip, and I live right at the edge of the reception area. One poster on BBR reported using a coffee can (!!) as a sort of non-parabolic reflector and that really boosted performance. I'm going to give that a try as well, but at this point, it's ADIOS HN.
LAST UPDATE: The very helpful HN guy at Executive Customer Care agreed to let me out of the contract with no penalty, and he offered a $400 refund on the dish for which I had paid $700 a year ago. I took about no seconds to decide to accept this. ¡ADIOS y GRACIAS!
Followup comments:
caribconsult
Premium
join:2003-03-19
Mayaguez, PR
·HughesNet Satellit..
 ·Millenicom
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| Recent upgrade Hi, Dunhill, long time no speak!
I finally bagged the 4K system, bit the bullet and upgraded to a HOME edition of HN7000S, 2w xmitter, .98 dish (already had that) and new connectors on exiting cables. It works as advertised. Download speeds have exceeded advertised speeds frequently, the upload is way better and overall it runs smoothly. Yes, the 4K was faster AT TIMES, but it became pretty obvious that HN was phasing it out and service would continue to deteriorate, not improve.
I still contend the price is way too high, especially here in PR where we don't get the generous discount upgrades offered stateside. Do you get these? If we had received the same deal as a stateside 4K user, it would have cost around $50, instead of $700.
Jeff
--
HN7000S-hme G16 1370Hz-Hz RSL86-88, .98m dish w/2w. radio, W2KPro & XPPro clients via LnkSys Rtr & WAP, cabled & WX NICs & USB adapt, Mozilla everywhere. | |
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Review by george357
UPDATED: 54 days ago
member for 74 days, 95 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Hot Springs,Madison,NC
Contract price not specified.
"Much faster than Dial-up, available in where no other potions are."
"Little slow during peak time, minor weather outages, a little expensive."
"IF you have no option other than dial-up give it a shot"
| Pre Sales information:
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Mail,DNS,News:
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(ratings above consensus)
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I have had the HughesNet internet service since Aug. 21st 2009. I got the pro+ plan which gives an advertised 1.6mbs download and .25mbs upload for $79.99 a month. I get these speeds 19 hours a day with know problem, I get slowdowns between 6pm-10pm eastern time which are related to the increased usage of the system during that time. I have had only minor weather related outages since I got the system and when I do my satellite TV is usually out as well, just the nature of satellite communications. There is no way I would ever consider going back to dial-up but I would not hesitate to upgrade to a different type of provider either. DSL, FIOS, Cable, or a good Cellular plan is definitely going to be better than satellite but if you don't have those options then HughesNet is the way to go.
George
Followup comments:
junbon21
@bellsouth.net
|  Hughesnet
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Review by Luminaris
UPDATED: 56 days ago
member for 4 years, 316 visits, last login: 5 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:
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(ratings match consensus)
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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! | |
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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
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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. | |
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Review by BoonieBoy
UPDATED: 69 days ago
member for 69 days, 3 visits, last login: 10 days ago
Ava,Douglas,MO
Contract price not specified.
"Much better than dialup. Space-age."
"Cost. Typical inept corporate spaghetti logic customer service."
"If you need/rely on/love the internet it is a good thing."
| Pre Sales information:
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Mail,DNS,News:
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(ratings above consensus)
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I have internet through Hughes because I have no other choice. A little digging tells me that the other satellite company in the area, WildBlue, is much worse than Hughes. I have the medium-speed version which costs about 70 dollars a month. For me this is worth it because I never watch TV, I am an information junkie, I am a night owl (when the internet is fastest), I am isolated in the middle of nowhere. I have to say that when I stopped comparing satellite internet with DSL, I found that much of my anger with Hughes was unfounded.
I've had many many problems with the company but they have always made sure everything was fixed. The help people in India are friendly and articulate, and they are as helpful as they are allowed to be. Hughes is really no different than any other large modern corporation. All that matters is profit. To have a good relationship with their employees and customers is a silly waste of money. Sometimes you get lucky when a bone is thrown your way.
If cable or DSL were available I wouldn't be using Hughes unless the price was competitive. I tried an EVDO setup through Altell which was a total disaster. I knew that cell signals are very weak here but Altell promised me that by utilizing a booster they would provide, everything would be fine. It wasn't.
The biggest problem for me is the Fair Access Program or FAP. I am suspicious in that Hughes does not provide any way to monitor your status. No warnings when you're about to get punished. I can't see how it would be very hard for them to provide some type of monitor. It seems to me that they are relying on a certain amount of cutoff opportunities to appease everyone. People say they have oversold the bandwidth they have. I am hopeful that soon this FAP will be eliminated when more satellites will be used and as the country gets more thoroughly wired for DSL and cable, etc. The internet is fast becoming the new TV which means serious amounts of data must be moved.
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 Review by nasfan24
UPDATED: 70 days ago
member for 6 years, 631 visits, last login: 36 days ago
Cambridge,Dorchester,MD
Contract price not specified.
"reliable, fast,"
"needs lots of tweaks, slow upload"
"good value"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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i placed my order for direcway on a Thurs. evening online. i was called by the installer that same night to schedule the install. the installer arrived right on time, this was Tue. installation took about 3 hours. i have a roof mount. installer grounded my dish, and took time to show me the basics. i was up and running although slow. after taking the time to review post and tips at broadband reports my speed increased greatly. for me dial up is the only option, so satellite is great. i have only been out of service once during hurricane Isabel. i do not do any gaming, mostly surfing websites. all feedback suggest that it is not good for gaming. i have not had a problem going to secure sites either. my credit card, cell phone, ect.i do a lot of IM with aol and no problems. i find direcway to be a great system.
update------
i continue to be pleased with my direcway dw6000. it is very reliable for me. outages are rare. as discussed in the forum i have experienced a signal drop after a direcway update. although i have not experienced any problems with that loss of signal yet. there is still no other option for me except dial up. i would recommend
this system to anyone without any other choice other than dial up. you should expect to have to tweak your system to get the maximum benefit.all the help you need can be found here at broadband reports
update------
I am currently out of contract with Direcway. I continue to be pleased with my system performance. I have had very few outages that are not weather related. I current have these speeds as my average around 896 down and 52 up. Very pleased. I use only 1 tweak and that is TCP Optimizer. I was originally placed on Satmex5, I have been changed to Horizons1 for about 2 -3 months now. . Yes it was due to slow speed for about 1 month. I was able to get Direcway to correct the issue with a sat change. That was a smooth transition. My original installer was the one who came out to change my bird. I do believe that Direcway is oversold. For me I am still satisfied with my DW6000 performance.
update---
I continue to be a happy Direcway customer. I have not had to call for support many times. When I have it was terrible. I had a hard time understanding the person on the other end. Speed is still fair. I have a DW6000 on the consumer account.
Download 30 Day Stats (Overall Average = 734 Kbps :: 90 KB/sec)
Upload 30 Day Stats (Overall Average = 43 Kbps :: 5 KB/sec)
I know not real great. I am happy with it though. I guess I am one of the lucky ones who have not had to deal with Direcway much. Although Wildblue is available to me I am going to stay with Direcway for now. Don't get me wrong if FIOS was to come my way I will jump on it in a heart beat. I have heard that a cable company called Bay Country Communications will be putting wireless internet to my area by the end of July. I will be checking it out to see if it is worth the jump.
Update 08-13-07
I continue to be happy with my DW6000. I have not taken the plunge to the DW7000 modem yet. I just can't justify the benefits at this time. System runs smooth 98% of the time. The remaining 2% is weather related.
Update 09-05-08
Well I am now using the HN7000S and I changed my plan to the Pro plan. I have better downloads and uploads then before. Heck it should be right. I am still happy with my HughesNet system. I did have speed issues recently. I got switched to a new transponder and it made a world of difference.
Update 9-22-09
I continue to be very pleased with my HughesNet system. I continue to get good download speeds and the upload isn't bad. I continue to only have Satellite, wireless or dial-up Internet available to me at my location. The wireless company is not very good at keeping their word, so I will not be going with them. I told them months ago, »www.delmarvawifi.com/ , that I would go with their service. I have not heard back from them since. I have also been in contact with a customer of theirs and they are very disappointed. They are now awaiting the installation of Wildblue.
Anyway. if you only have HughesNet available, I say go for it. You may have to go through some tough times if you get on a bad bird or transponder. However you can get changed if you need to. You will need to document everything.
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 Review by Kevin_H
Posted: 71 days ago
member for 118 days, 88 visits, last login: 1 days ago
Suffolk,Suffolk City,VA
Contract price not specified.
"Service Reps are Manipulativable"
"Highest Pings Imaginable, Worst Customer service i have ever seen in my entire life, Throttling almost all day long, EXSPENSIVE!"
"I wouldn't reccomend this to anyone unless they have no other option AND if they are not short on money and time."
| Pre Sales information:
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After 3 years you too will wish you had a pendulum like the one on harrypotter the movie that allows you to remove memories and banish them away.This will be one of thee most regrettable things you will ever do, but if it gets the job at hand done, then it gets it done. Thats what it comes down to, how BAD do you want that little bit extra past dial-up speed?
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