| HughesNet = capitalism at it's worst I was bored when I happened to come across this topic so I thought I'd kill some time by posting a soul clearing rant. My first and thankfully last encounter with HughesNet was while I was volunteering with a non-profit in a rural part of Northern California. Our particular organization had three dishes through HughesNet. We were spending close to $500 per month on service for all three dishes and still would hit FAP almost everyday, sometimes multiple times in a day. Unfortunately for us, we didn't have ANY really viable alternatives. In rural areas like the one where I was working, dial-up isn't even a practical alternative to HughesNet. This is mainly because in that particular area there was only one available option for local phone service. As a result we had to pay per minute to make local phone calls. As expencive as HughesNet was, dial-up ended up being even more expencive. On top of that, the area had horrible cell phone reception. If by cell phone reception you mean that by standing in the right 2 foot by 2 foot spot with just the right amount of precipitation and cloud coverage you can sometimes make or recive calls on a cell phone. So you can understand why cell phone company provided internet was not an option either.
However, HughesNet in all it's benevolence saw fit to provide us with 3 hours of unlimitted usage during the hours of Midnight till 3 AM. Of course it seemed as though some mysterious cosmic force would often cause our satelite connection to fail during those hours.
Plus, I found it a little annoying how they calculated the FAP. For those of you unfamiliar with HugheNet's "sliding scale" policy, the way FAP is determined is quite simple. If during any 24 hour period, your usage excedes the limit, you are penalized. So basically each hour they look back at your last 24 hours of use and if that exceeds the limit, you get whacked. Which is annoying because when you go over you don't necessarily get hit for 24 hours and then you're off. I can recall cases where we spent DAYS on constant FAP. Sometimes you get off of FAP only to be back on it an hour later.
The reason why HughesNet is still in business is simple. There was a time when there was more than one provider of satelite internet service. However thanks to HughesNet's brilliant business strategy (buying out all of its competition) it is now the only game in town. As a result they can do whatever the heck they want. Charge however much they want. Dick around its customers whenever they want to. Provide as little value to their customers as is humanly possible. I mean what are people going to do about it... People who have other options generally don't use HughesNet, and the people who use them generally don't have other options. I know what it feels like to be in that position. You can either switch to dial-up and pay through the nose to the only local phone service you can get; drive 30 minutes each way just to use wifi at Starbucks (which I've done courtesy of FAP); or just suck it up stick your tail between your legs and crawl back to HughesNet and let them continue to rape you. HughesNet is the Devil (Sorry if I offended the Devil). OK, I feel better now. |
| I agree with everything on this page. Hughesnet is basically a huge ripoff but in many cases (including mine) it is the ONLY option for internet service above 19k that I get from dial-up. I will say that my internet service is reliable. I would say my satellite signal is UP at least 99.9% of the time so no problems there. However, The FAP drives me crazy since I have 3 PC's using the internet and it's hard to control usage. I finally have to resort to a Proxy program to monitor usage. Also we now schedule downloads from 3-6am to avoid the FAP. Using satellite means you have to actually pay very close attention to your usage and change the way you work. H
The biggest problem I have with Hughesnet is that they throttle most customers during their "peak" times down below 100kbps regardless of FAP. Since I am on the 700k plan, that reduction during the day when I am working is ridiculous. I'm paying $60 a month for service that is NOT being provided. Then their Tech Support line is a joke and blatantly lies to you.
Solution Found to Hughesnet problems: If you have hughesnet and are fed up -- file a BBB complaint with the Washington DC office. Someone from the Hughesnet Main office will call you to "resolve" your complaint within 2 weeks. At this point you can ask for the moon and they will listen. This is the only way they will listen. |
