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grigorianv
join:2014-06-19
Alpharetta, GA

2 edits

grigorianv

Member

Help Me Understand HughesNet HT1100 System Control Center

Click for full size
Hi.
I signed up for Hughes Gen4 3 days ago. I still have almost a month to evaluate. I am on the second bottom plan $59 + 9 for equipment lease. So, it has 10MB download speed and 20GB data allowance. But I am completely confused by the modem (HT1100 ) System Control Center, particularly data allowance. This is because I am coming off of COmcast, which has one 300GB monthly cap.
Now, how does it work with Hughes? Let me state my questions one by one.
1) Is there a monthly data download limit? The 20GB limit - is it per month? Or is it daily and resets to another 20Gb every morning?
2) I went to System COntrol CEnter for the modem and it shows I have 10GB of Anytime Data Allowance, and all 10GB are Available. Now I've been trying hard to exceed this limit by downloading bunch of stuff over the past 2 days. The idea is to test how slow Hughes gets after I had exceeded the 20GB limit. But the Control Center still shows I have not used any. I've downloaded at least 25GB within 2 days. Now, those were uTorrent downloads. What that means is that i wouldnt know if a connection was dropped. uTorrent would simply resume a few hours later while I am asleep.
Two possibilities. a) I am not understanding the 20GB cap correctly. Hughes probably just capped my connection at night and when I woke up I was on... What? Another 10GB daily bonus period, not montly? b) Another possibility is that Hughes deliberately DOES NOT enforce the cap for trial subscribers, so they dont see their 10MB download speed (occasionaly I get 10MB , yes) down to a crawl and cancel the subscription. Once 30 days trial is over they will turn on the capping!
3) The System COntrol Center has these :
"
- Data Allowance remaining - 10GB
- Any time data allowance - 10GB
- Any time data allowance remaining - 10GB
- Bonus Bytes - 10GB
- Bonus Bytes remaining -10GB
- Tokens remaining - 0MB
Allowance Resets in 26 days, 10 hr and 32 min
Bonus Period Starts in 12 hr, 31 min
"
Question - what do all these mean? There are popups explaining if I position my mouse cursor over them, but they dont explain, they just rephrase the same text.
4) When I spoke with sales people they said if it is raining you will get a slow connection, same if you exceed your limit. It may be 1mbps, but it will always will be there. You will NEVER be completely out. Now, the installation guy from Hughes begs to differ with his employer (thanks for your honesty, Randy, you are a paragon of integrity, sir!). He said - no that is sales talk. The internet will be out completely. So, which is it? I cant be without internet even for an hour. I am working from home and sometimes I am on call.
5)
What I want to know is this.
If I connected to my PC and started downloading a 29GB software package starting at 9AM - what would happen? Will I be able to download it? Or will it freeze after 10GB? I am afraid to do it now because if we freeze I cannot work from home, I will be in trouble! I can try it on a weekend, unless you can help with a guess.
Overall, the download speed is low, but barely acceptable. I can live with it. But it is the data caps and weather related outages I am worried about.
Sorry for the long post, but I am lost and need some help. Thanks for giving it to me.
PS. Attaching control panel screenshot

OSUGoose
join:2007-12-27
Columbus, OH

OSUGoose

Member

Your answer is right there:

Allowance Resets in 26 days, 10 hr and 32 min
grigorianv
join:2014-06-19
Alpharetta, GA

2 edits

grigorianv

Member

Thanks, OSUGoose. SO, what happens in 26 days? It will be crawling, completely down if I keep downloading 20GB of data a day?
I downloaded 5Gb in the past 2 hours. By midnight I will have exceeded the allowance. Then what? And what about that "Bonus period starts in 8 hours'" Another 10GB available every day, replenishing the next day if used up? Only once a month? This is confusing (intentionally I think)!
Thanks for the reply!

gwalk
Premium Member
join:2005-07-27
West Mich.

gwalk to grigorianv

Premium Member

to grigorianv
For new Gen4 customers your allowance will be reset daily for ABOUT 10 days.
After that you will not be refilled until your scheduled refill date.

As an aid to help you understand the various plan limits, details on SCC and a few other items I suggest you peek at some of the FAQ's that me and a few others have created here:

»www.ricksyakshack.com/vi ··· hp?id=73

With emphasis on:

Platforms & Plans
Gen4 System Control Center
Tokens
Hughesnet Usage Tools

There are a lot of screenshots and it will just save a bunch of typing.
Feel free to Join if you wish, start a new topic ..... or just visit.

james1979
Premium Member
join:2012-10-09
Quinault, WA

james1979 to grigorianv

Premium Member

to grigorianv
said by grigorianv:

4) When I spoke with sales people they said if it is raining you will get a slow connection, same if you exceed your limit. It may be 1mbps, but it will always will be there. You will NEVER be completely out. Now, the installation guy from Hughes begs to differ with his employer ... He said - no that is sales talk. The internet will be out completely. So, which is it? I cant be without internet even for an hour.

Of course you should believe the installer instead of the sales people. Gen4 does have much improved weather tolerance over previous "generations", but heavy rain will disable the system. The system probably won't be out for very long (say for minutes), but it might go out again several minutes later. I can only guess about storms in Georgia, but I would think that it would take a hurricane type storm to disable Gen4 for an hour. (Now snow on the dish can take out your system until the snow is removed.)
grigorianv
join:2014-06-19
Alpharetta, GA

grigorianv to gwalk

Member

to gwalk
Thanks, gwalk. I've gone through pretty much everything in that forum. What a horrifying and sobering read, especially "Satellite Internet and assessing your family’s needs".
Certainly comes as a shock. I switched to Hughes because of a $1,000 Comcast bill thinking I will be able to save money (no caps or extra download charges here). What I am finding out is that there is really no usable Internet here, just a day or two worth of slow and light web surfing.
I am still looking for answers to my questions numbered above. Can you quickly answer them? The forum you sent me to is too technical for me.
Thanks.

gwalk
Premium Member
join:2005-07-27
West Mich.

gwalk to grigorianv

Premium Member

to grigorianv
Ok I will try:
At the beginning of your refill period you have (with the basic 10GB/10GB plan) THREE "Data Buckets"

1st: "Anytime Bytes" (10,000 MB max) any usage, both download AND upload will be deducted from this "data allowance bucket" during the hours of 8 am to 2 am.

2nd: "BonusBytes" (10,000 MB max) any usage during 2 am to 8 am, both up & down will be deducted from this "allowance bucket"

3rd: There exists a "Token Bucket". You can buy "Tokens" ahead of time and load them into your "token bucket"

prices are:
1- 500 MB token = $5.00
1- 1GB (1000 MB) token = $9.00
1- 2GB (2000 MB) token = $16.00

You can buy as many as you like or can afford and put them in your "Token Bucket"

If you exhaust all your "Anytime Bytes" (usage between 8 am & 2am) you will get "FAPPED".
That is to say your system will be throttled to the point it just as well may be turned off as far as doing anything.

Now if at that time you have data in your "Token Bucket" instead of being FAPPED, you will continue at your normal speed but will be drawing down from your Token Bucket (read as extra cost, see above prices). You will continue to draw from there until:

A: it is empty
B: It becomes 2 am, where you will then draw from your "BonusByte" bucket (assuming IT is not empty)
C: You receive your monthly refill.

Now, things change a LOT if you empty your "BonusByte" bucket first.
If you deplete the 2 am to 8 am allowance first, then it will STEAL data from your "AnytimeByte" (read this as daytime allowance) regardless of what time it is and no matter how many tokens you have in your token bucket.

It will not draw from your purchased Token bucket until all those Anytime bytes are gone.

So on a 10/10 plan, you have 10,000 MB to last you the entire month between 8 am and 2 am. and you have another 10,000 MB to last then entire month between 2 am and 8 am ... plus however much you purchase in the form of tokens.

And the month is not a calendar , it is a "service date month". Mine runs from he 24th thru the 23rd.

As to speeds, speeds are all over the place.
I usually see my plan max about 20 hrs a day.
It is a matter of Beam and Gateway loading, just a crapshoot really.

Customer service is "outsourced" to where English is not a native language.

The support is by very low level people and "script driven".

I have to say if you are not willing to "tweak" things and get somewhat involved your Hughes experience will be "difficult"

grigorianv
join:2014-06-19
Alpharetta, GA

grigorianv

Member

what happens if i didnt buy any tokens/ will they deduct the money from my credit card? or simply stop the internet connection/ or slow it down to 0.1mbps?

james1979
Premium Member
join:2012-10-09
Quinault, WA

james1979

Premium Member

It will "slow down to 0.1mbps"

gwalk
Premium Member
join:2005-07-27
West Mich.

gwalk to grigorianv

Premium Member

to grigorianv
Click for full size
It can be set to automatically buy Tokens but:

It leads to billing "surprises"

It will buy and then consume, one at a time, the more costly 500 MB @ $5 rather than the "better" buy of 2 GB for $16.

If you do not set for Auto Purchase or have loaded your "Token Bucket (or both) you will be slowed to such a crawl that you might as well not be connected.

Frankly .1 Mbps is a LOT faster than what you would get in real life.

Remember, if you deplete the "late night" BonusByte bucket first .... it will then attack your "daytime" Anytime allotment despite any tokens you may have ... in that manner it will bleed you dry and then you will need "tokens" 24/7 until your refill.

Have you thought of going up a plan ?
I have the middle "Power Pro" at $79.99/month (plus lease if you did that) and have 50% more data:

15 GB/ 15 GB @ 10/1 Mbps

Note the 15 GB I have "preloaded" into my "Token Bucket"
grigorianv
join:2014-06-19
Alpharetta, GA

grigorianv

Member

first off, thanks everyone for such detailed answers. i would have wasted a lot of time figuring this all out - and AFTER my trial would have been over. that is the worst part.
unfortunately, i dont think hughesnet for me at all. Even the possibility of 0.1mbps is a show stopper for me. 2-3Mbps once or twice a month is fine. But as someone wrote in the thread posted above, Hughes is really is the last resort, when nothing else is an option. i would rather pay off the $1,000 Comcast bill than complete this Hughes 30 days trial and constantly be afraid of being unable to do my work. Both me and my wife work from home. So, no internet for is is a disaster, not just an inconvenience.
Let me ask you about cancellation. i was told (and I asked several times) that there will be no charges if I cancel. I am on day 3. Should i expect any surprises when i cancel?
I want to continue the trial longer to actually experience what its like to run out of my monthly data allowance. Hughesnet makes it hard by replenishing my allowance again again so I would not know what its like. On the other hand, even now when I start a lot of uTorrent downloads the connection goes down to 02mbps so I might have an idea!

gwalk
Premium Member
join:2005-07-27
West Mich.

gwalk to grigorianv

Premium Member

to grigorianv
It is possible to have issues canceling.

1st: You have to call to cancel. Many report calls being "dropped" repeatedly causing extensive delays.

Hughes uses a "non-standard" definition to the word cancel.
To them it means unless you state "immediately" several times over (and over) to cancel NOW, the will extend out until the end of your currant billing period.

Then .. they wil try to get you to commit to a "suspension" as they will be in total disbelief that you REALLY want to cancel such a service.

You will (or should) receive a "Return Kit" that is pre-paid to send the equipment back.

For Gen4 this includes:
The Modem
The LAN cable they supplied you
The power "brick" and cord for the modem
The "radio" that is mounted on the end of the dish "arm"

When you do the call, understand it is recorded and you will be given a "case number". Guard that case number with your life so that if an issue turns up you can get the Hughes ECC office involved and that recording is the only thing to save your bacon.

Save everything, document everything, trust nothing ....

When you finally DO get the Kit and send the stuff back, keep the tracking number ..... one year at least. There have been so many cases of returned equipment being "lost" after arriving at the warehouse its beyond believe.

You will not get any installation costs refunded.

The "Subscriber Agreement" can be read here:
»legal.hughesnet.com/Home.cfm

I advise you to read it .... carefully.

Be very careful with these people ........
grigorianv
join:2014-06-19
Alpharetta, GA

grigorianv

Member

Wait a minute. I have to climb on the roof and disassemble the dish? I did ask them before I signed up. If I cancel do I have to pay for removing the dish . they said you pay absolutely nothing in the end, not a penny. They sent someone to install, they will send someone to uninstall. Will they?

gwalk
Premium Member
join:2005-07-27
West Mich.

gwalk

Premium Member

Not for free.
About $100 for a deinstall.

The only possible way out is:
Sales calls are recorded, if you were talking to a Hughes employee, not a third party or dealer .... if your sales recording bears out that promise then they will stand behind it.
But you won't get that by phone. You will have to post on the Hughes support forum. It is associated with the Hughes ECC (Executive Customer Care) in Germantown MD.»c.getsatisfaction.com/hu ··· t/topics

I'm on a mobile at the moment so the link may resolve differantly.
Post your intent, your problem, that the salesman said that was in the terms.
Get cracking.
The Hughes Mods are already gone for the night. They work Mon-Friday.

You don't NEED the whole thing off, just the Radio .... undo one coax connector and two screws.

You will find me over there as Gwalk900
grigorianv
join:2014-06-19
Alpharetta, GA

grigorianv

Member

Thanks a lot, Gwalk. You are terrific!

james1979
Premium Member
join:2012-10-09
Quinault, WA

james1979

Premium Member

said by grigorianv:

Thanks a lot, Gwalk. You are terrific!

Gwalk is certainly very passionate about helping consumers handle HughesNet.

If the sales people said that rain / weather cannot disable a Gen4 system, well, that's just a lie. If HughesNet sales lied to you on the phone, then it has probably been recorded. With effort, such a recording would be a means to get your installation fees refunded and also a way of getting "that thing" off of your roof and having your roof repaired.

Having typed that, versus $1000 / month, you may be able to save money with satellite Internet and still have near business quality reliable Internet. The following will be repetitive to regular readers, but my solution was to have both Exede-12 and Gen4 installed. A properly functioning Exede-12 is faster than any properly functioning Gen4 system, and Exede has an unmetered period between mignight-5AM. Receiving a mean rainfall of 168" per year at my location, rain turned out not to be the primary problem with either system. (I dropped Gen4 since it never worked right for me, and then, for some other customers.)

So with satellite Internet, you can buy all of the data that you can afford. 2014-modern satellite ISPs speeds are acceptable, there are just a data usage, latency, and weather problems.

If you have other questions about Exede-12, just ask "on the other side."
grigorianv
join:2014-06-19
Alpharetta, GA

grigorianv

Member

You are all terrific here, James, everybody. Thank you as well.
grigorianv

grigorianv

Member

I called to cancel today. Thanks to you all I was prepared. I told the person that I was recording the call. She was helpful up to the point when she said I was to send the part of the antenna. After 19 minutes of disagreements and requests to speak with the manager she agreed to send the tech at their expense.
Good. But she said something interesting. "We dont know how much we will refund". I asked her to repeat that twice. IS it a 100% refund or not. I think what she meant is that they will wait to receive all the stuff I have now (the router, power brick, etc.). If I return everything - then it is 100% refund. I intend to, of course.

c0rr0sive88
@97.73.84.x

c0rr0sive88

Anon

You wont get a complete refund... Usually when you cancel service companies keep the install fee (the installers have to be paid somehow, they are on contract), and they will probably charge for the first month of service or so. Aside from that you shouldn't be facing any termination fees if you did cancel in the first 30 days. But, be aware that you should request an immediate cancelation of service. Also, if they don't get the equipment back, it's a $400 fee or so.