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Review by gress126 
UPDATED: 6 days ago
Fair warning: reviewer joined this week
 Mansfield,Piatt,IL
 Contract price not specified.
 "Very reliable (except during storms)"
 "FAP, stupidly low download limits, subpar customer service."
 "Barely better than dialup."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
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Mail,DNS,News:
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(ratings match consensus)
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Hello, angry 16 year old gamer here. Ok, so parents decide to move out to the sticks. I'm used to dsl internet and I was a bit unsure about this new internet. We move into this house and shortly after, the guys from HughesNet come and set us up. I get on my computer and connect to the internet and start browsing some sites. The browsing was decent and I decided to test out some online games. I start "playing" and notice huge amounts of lag (2000+ ms.) This leaves most of my games unplayable. Ok... something must be wrong with the router? I go and reset the router but of course, I see no results. I decide to get on youtube and watch a few videos. A few hours later, I get back on the computer and I can't even connect to a single website. My dad gave Hughesnet a call and they tell him about the FAP. That's nice, we're without internet for 24 hours. At this time I was a bit unsure about the physics of satellite internet and purchased a Hawking Broadband Booster. Sure enough, this hardly helped. There goes $60 down the drain.
My siblings of course don't care about our internet except for the half an hour they use it per day. I tell them: No youtube videos, no music downloads, no game downloads, etc. They don't care, they just continue to do these things and some weeks I'd only have internet for 2 days. I end up having to block certain sites like Youtube and stuff.
Oh look.. new patch available for my game. What's this? The file is 218 MB? Yep, I can't even download this. I ended up driving 40 miles to get to a place with free wifi.
My dad has a verizon wireless broadband card from work which, when he's not using, I can use to play games and such. This works pretty well but my dad brings it to work every day say I can't use it much. If it wasn't for the $59.99 fee per month for one of those, I'd have one. I figured out from a friend that you can use these cards to set up a network in you house. My dad won't do this though - he said there's like a 300 dollar cancellation fee for HughesNet.
Casual internet/email users - go for it, HughesNet will be fine for you.
Gamers - This IS your worst nightmare. I literally get laughed at when I attempt to play an online game. Go with dial-up.
Audio/Video Streamers - No. Simply No.
Followup comments:  iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Fredericksburg, TX
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| Millenicom Let's see here...I think "run, don't walk" applies here. How long have the parentals had HughesNet? They MIGHT be able to cancel with little ill effect. Then, quickly, grab a Sprint wireless modem (if they have high speed coverage in your area) and sign up for Millenicom (www.millenicom.com, see reviews here). The connection will be faster (150-200 ms latency vs. 2000) and there's o FAP!
Then again, it may take everyone a few months to figure out that HughesNet sucks. When everyone comes crying to you, you know there's another option and the day is saved 
Check out the Millenicom and Sprint Mobile Broadband forums here for help on getting that kind of connection set up. Trust me, it's worth the cancellation fee. | |
| 
Saneen
@direcpc.com
|  Hughes net is terrible !!!
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Review by Mayam
UPDATED: 8 days ago
Fair warning: reviewer joined this month
Aydlett,Currituck,NC
Contract price not specified.
"Potentially faster than dial up"
"Read on..."
"SUCKS!"
| Pre Sales information:
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After moving to the wilderness were the cable doesn't flow I realized this was my only option for the time being. I need high speed internet, scratch that, RELIABLE high speed internet for my job. I also enjoy(ed) it for leisure in the form of on-line gaming. Realizing the latter wouldn't be possible with this service I had to go with it for the former. Turns out neither is really possible.
I was hoping I may be able to log into games like EVE with maybe a decent enough latency to farm materials, not even close. Oh well at least I can still use it for speedy research and communications for my job right? Nope, not if you ever find yourself in need of an update for any of your software that isn't small in size(own Vista, anti-virus, any software really?!?!). Better plan on getting up at 3 am EST to try and download it - you aren't busy then or in need of sleep are you? Sure hope not because that is the only time this "service" you are paying for allows you to download anything of standard size without reducing your speeds to a crawl that would make a standard 56k modem run laps around while laughing hysterically.
For example, you have a program that needs to update to run with Vista maybe? No problem right? No, not with cable. You have Hughesnet though, you download it and for the next 24 hours - don't even bother trying to use the internet because you won't be able to, and likely you hit your cap somewhere during the download and it timed out and you didn't even receive the full download. Straight-up, you can't update your software if you use Hughesnet.
All this service is, is a highspeed net surfing tool for the price of REAL highspeed internet. If you attempt to download most updates for any OS's, anti-virus, multi-media, CAD, etc., etc., you will only serve to destroy your net access for the next 24 hours and you likely won't even get the update. But hey, you can always wake up at 3 in the morning and do it! I pay $70/month, they tell me to get up at 3 am to use their "service". Yup, definitely money well spent I feel.
This is a scam. I suppose in a very loose sense they are what they advertise but these problems are only magnifying. As all PC's are going to Vista all the software must adjust, this means many update downloads. If you live in the area of respectable cable internet, this will not be a problem most likely. If you live in Hughesnet country you are wasting your time and money. Especially if your job requires you doing some of your work from home on your computer.
Since moving out here to get away from the congested city I have been forced to spend so much time at my office getting work done and getting necessary updates for the software my job requires that my wife has questioned my fidelity. We're moving back to the city, clearly I was wrong and these days the internet is more important than hearing gunshots in the night. Oh what the hell, I'll even save a fortune on gas.
This service is not what it leads you to believe. Unless you only want to check your e-mail and the weather and news a bit quicker with out any need for advancing software, save your money. I mean hey, a 56k may take a while to download your huge update, but eventually, it will get it done, and then it will access your e-mail just as fast. Hughesnet will not only fail to d/l your update in a timely manner, it will fail to d/l at all, and THEN you won't be able to access any e-mail or news for 24 hours without you slamming your head on the desk in frustration.
They can't represent a respectable latency for physical reasons, ok. They can't represent a respectable bandwidth for... I have no idea? Financial reasons? They sold a product they couldn't supply? I do know I have payed for a product that is not what I was lead to believe it was. Hopefully others will learn of this before they've spent the money.
I have enough frustration, I certainly don't need to buy it.
Followup comments: mruksurf
Premium
join:2004-08-21
Atlanta, GA
| HughesNet's "Unlimited" Access Hughes advertises "unlimited" access to the Internet. What this means is that you will always be able to "get to" the Internet; it does not mean that you will always be able to make practicable use of the Internet. This is because of Hughes' so-called "Fair Access Policy." (What an oxymoron! It should be "No Access Policy"). If you download more than a certain number of *megabytes*, then you are basically put in "time-out" for the next 24 hours, meaning that pages load very, very slowly and forget trying to download or upload anything. Of course the number of megabytes you may download or upload depends on how much money you pay to Hughes. And, it's my take that the whole Fair Access Policy gimmick is designed to drive you up the price scale as you become more and more desperate to use the Internet you become willing *to pay and pay* for continued availability of high speed access. But, even at $89.00 per month, which is what I pay, I can only download about 400 megabytes in a 24 hour period and I still haven't figured out my upload limit, though we were gigged on it a couple weeks ago. Bottom line, I find that between my wife's business use and my use we are in time-out every other day that we at our wilderness location. The real kicker is that we seldom use this location on Mon through Thursday most weeks, but of course Hughes' "Fair" Access Policy doesn't take this into account.
Our next step up the Hughes price scale jumps to $119.00. This is just too much. So, I just went out and purchased a USBConnect 881 card (sometimes called an Aircard). I also purchased a Wilson Electronics cellular signal amplifier and a couple of antennas which I intend to install this weekend. It's my hope that I can pull in a 3G network, use ICS and tell Hughes to take its Fair Access Policy and shove it. So far, I've used the USBConnect 881 *while riding* in a car on a road trip and in the hotel. It works *very* well, seems almost as fast as DSL. So, I have hope!
I really think Hughes may be ripe for a class action, as well as a successful complaint before the Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs for its trade and advertising practices, which in my view are of very questionable legality. In my case the Fair Access Policy seemed to appear out of nowhere years after I had signed up with Hughes. Certainly had I known about the FAP I would not have signed up with Hughes. | |
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Review by pwd
UPDATED: 8 days ago
member for 43 days, 5 visits, last login: 8 days ago
Lovelady,Houston,TX
Contract price not specified.
"It works about as described."
"None yet ... Now a 20% reduction in FAP w/o reduction in cost."
"You get what you pay for, but not always."
| Pre Sales information:
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(ratings well above consensus)
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In the zipcode 75851, there are few options to dialup (WildBlue is one.).
The Hughes ProPlus plan promised up to 1.5Kb/s download and I have been receiving consistently over 1.2 since since installation (It was just 1468Kb/s). Upload has been about 200Kbs (It was just 223Kb/s). Latency has been from 800ms to 1500ms (It was just 757ms). There has been no problem in maintaining a connection.
The installation company had to drive from Lufkin, TX to my location ... more than an hour one way. They arrived at the agreed upon time. I received what the installer called a newer modem, an HN9000, which uses a Hughes satellite, not one from which Hughes purchases bandwidth. The installer took a while (an hour more or less) to align the dish, but it has worked for 3 weeks with no problem.
I have not yet had reason to use Hughes customer service, so I have no comment on that.
Nothing works perfectly, but so far I am getting what I expected. It compares favorably with AT&T dsl service in Houston. We'll see what goes wrong.
****************************
July 6, 2008. Latency 818ms, Download 1450Kb/s, Upload 141Kb/s. There have not yet been any technical problems. I have installed a wireless router with no problem.
Customer service is intransigent on how they bill the service, but they have responded in a timely manner and have been polite. They must not be in the US. They are not familiar with "paying online", and they use terms like "E-check".
I have no reason to change my first evaluation of the service.
****************************
July 15, 2008. I received this e-mail from HughesNet today:
Dear HughesNet Subscriber,
Our records indicate you are presently subscribing to a Pro Service plan. Beginning July 1, 2008, the daily download threshold of this plan will be reduced from 375 MB to 300 MB. Hughes has taken this step to optimize the network and ensure the best performance possible for all subscribers. This change should not impact your online experience, as our records suggest only a small portion of Subscribers exceed the new 300 MB threshold.
Please note, this adjustment to the Pro service plan does not impact surfing speed, and should not be confused with slowing of download speeds. For clarification, the download threshold is the maximum amount of high speed bandwidth a user can consumer in a given day, before being reduced to lower download speeds.
Sometimes you don't get what you pay for. Without a corresponding reduction in cost, this seems an unethical business practice.
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Review by Houstonmr
UPDATED: 11 days ago
member for 16 days, 2 visits, last login: 11 days ago
Ronald,Kittitas,WA
Contract price not specified.
"Reliable Satellite"
"The worst customer service I have seen in years"
"Avoid them. Tech untrained, don't show up, just replace parts"
| Pre Sales information:
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I have had a horrible experience with Hughes Net Satellite broadband. The service has been out for 7 months and the certified service company, VSS charged me $920 for repairs that did not work. Hughes tells me today that they can only credit me for 2 months of the service fee. They cancellation department dropped my call twice and I had to argue with the customer service folks in india for 2 1/2 hours! I have been very patient due to my remote location, but after 4 "no-shows" and the last tech took 5 hours to find the satellite then had no clue how to fix the cross-pol problem. He did not know how to run the diagnostics even. He was in a rush to get away since he said numerous times that he made no money on my service call. I reviewed this site before going with Hughes, so I thought folks should know their customer service has deteriorated over the last 2 years.
7/12 - I found out that the Accounting person never canceled my service! I had to call back and go through it all over again. If this had not cost me so much, it would be funny! They also could only credit me 2 months after being out of service for 7 months! Their customer service is seriously broken. I just signed up for Wild Blue since they have a local tech service. I have read horror stories about them too, but seriously they could not be as messed up as Hughes right now.
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Review by .
Posted: 12 days ago
(review was emailed in)
undisclosed location
Contract price not specified.
"faster downloads than dialup when it is working"
"much of the time it is down for weeks at a time"
"HN9000 upgrade is a complete waste of money"
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I am ready to switch to Wild Blue and ship back to Hughes my HN9000 dish and modem. Tired of paying for service levels I only get between 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. EST. Customer service is the worst I have experienced with any company anywhere in the world.
My average time waiting to talk to a person is over 40 minutes and often exceeds 90 minutes. I have frequently been on hold so long that the call is disconnected and I have to get back at the end of the queue. Worst part is having to listen to a bad 30 segment of Spanish Lullaby repeated literally hundreds of times before you can speak to a person who has about a 10% chance of actually resolving the problem. Talk about adding insult to injury.
I had a early series 7000 modem (that had replaced a couple of DW4000 modems I used for 4 years) and was limited as to the available transponders and had to deal with frequent contention and poor service levels during daylight hours. I paid to have the HN9000 installed as a beta tester figuring that being on a new satellite with a limited number of subscribers I would have more reliable service. For the first two months I kept the 7000 dish and modem active and compared the performance of the two systems. Overall I found the older system was providing much faster downloads and the new system was providing better upload speeds.
Reliability in terms of throughput is worse with the HN9000 system. Redirects fail so downloading PDF's etc from websites is a challenge. Email often fails with the inability to send emails with attachments. Twice when I have reported problems and they have been escalated for Tier 4 testing, about 12-14 hours later my system shows the FAP has been exceeded. Impossible with the downloads I cannot do during these periods and probably the result of whatever modem testing is being done by Tier 4 personnel. But try explaining that to the person in India trying to provide level 1 support.
The FAP policy is a story in itself. Instead of providing a FAP period of 30 days or even 3 days it is 24 hours. With a FAP of 375 I found I had to do any software updates between 3:00 and 6:00 a.m. EST. Last week the FAP level was dropped to 300MB with no change in the cost for the service. I changed my account to the basic home plan as at 300MB I was going to be spending more nights waiting to do system updates so no reason to pay the extra money to Hughes and gang.
Perhaps not coincidentally when I changed my service (and I never saw the advertised Pro Plan service levels in reality) the satellite performance plummeted to the point where I was having to resort to dial-up to get email out this past week.
Hughesnet's business practices are despicable. They advertise a level of performance they have no intention of providing and then try to get you to pay more for the next tier and when you do that they drop the service level again. Their behavior is truly criminal. It is unfortunate the FCC is in the pocket of the corporations. The public is really left out in the cold.
I have the option of switching to Wild Blue as soon as I can get an installer out to the house, or putting up a tower for a EV-DO receiver. Either way I am not going to continue to have my business or my sanity jeopardized by Hughesnet.
I will definitely celebrate when I get an alternate service provider and can decommission the Hughesnet HN9000 system.....
Followup comments: bastnpny
join:2008-05-26
Morgan, TX | I agree You are not alone. I am waiting, very impatiently for anything to come to my area. I'm like you, I may be switching to Wild Blue if something does not get here pretty soon. | |
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 Review by mooglebunny
UPDATED: 15 days ago
member for 163 days, 69 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Weed,Siskiyou,CA
Contract price not specified.
"Uhm? Slightly faster small downloads? >.>"
"Slow (Like everyone says). Low FAP for low tiers, not enough bandwidth."
"They better/need to get a few new satellites/transponders soon..."
| Pre Sales information:
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Mail,DNS,News:
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(ratings match consensus)
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I live a fair distance from any of the towns, so really, all there is really is perhaps Cingular EDGE if I pointed the cell phone just right (and it wouldn't be much faster or even as fast), the Dial-up we do have as well, and WildBlue. (We have also been considering Cal-Ore, but we are mostly sure we cannot receive a signal from their towers. 7-8-08: Still sure I can't get Cal-Ore. UGH.)
We cannot afford much more than the Home plan, so we have that, and it is supposedly 768k/128k (I think it has been increased since then, as when there isn't "flow control" in effect, I can get speeds higher than 700kbps. I have NEVER gotten anything above 160k in transmission though (actual download speed after "midnight" EST). So therefore, I've never gotten anything near what they are supposed to offer. It was slow even when the satellite dish had a signal of about 70, I could never get a fast connection (I think it's due to the fact that we are on IA6).
It was very easy to order and have installed, of course. The man really knew what he was doing, as I think he was a specialist in dish installation as well as installing the software. It was installed either at the end of March or early April of 2007.
I don't remember the satellite type, but it's a newer one, and it came with a HN7000S router.
The bad experience? Having the service perhaps. I can't get anything better, and I'm the kind of person who does need a page to load even just slightly faster than our 24k dial-up. I really wish AT&T would come out and TURN ON the DSL lines (and the DSLAMs for the lines), there's enough people out here now to generate business.
My relatives are very annoyed that this service is so incredibly slow, even just for checking webmail, since they have very little patience. (They've threatened to cancel the service about 8 times in the past three weeks.)
(I may have just joined just a bit ago, but I've been looking at this site for about a week now.)
*Edit* If I think of anything more or anything, I shall edit this and say of when I edited it.
I do have to say this, I have actually gotten a decent-ish signal during weather, such as high wind, rain, and snow (to a certain point). So I can usually always connect, but it does lower the signal strength.
Update 7-8-08: I have been pointed to 93W (G26/IA6) since installation... and it's had that wonder "Power Anomaly" where one of the major solar panels has had a failure, causing some bad stuff with that satellite. I don't know what Intelsat plans to do with this satellite, but for now, I can achieve a signal of about... 40 max. The signal also drops out too, because the power still has strange anomalies randomly, causing intermittent down times. So I'm changing my connection reliability to 1, as it no longer has a strong connection due to the problem.
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Review by wldfowlr
UPDATED: 15 days ago
member for 15 days, 22 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Ocean Springs,Jackson,MS
Contract price not specified.
"NONE"
"EVERYTHING"
| Pre Sales information:
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(ratings below consensus)
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I have been forced to use this service for years because of where I live....Tech support is barely "english", and have no clue what they are doing....example: Modem seems to "hibernate" (7000s) has happened twice in two years....call tech support first time...." unplug all cables and plug back in"....does'nt work...."place you hold?"....yes....."unplug power cord again, plug back in"....does'nt work......"place you hold?".....you get the picture.....after 30 minutes of this unplug/replug, they come back and say my modem is bad, and I need to buy a new one....I tell them the modem is not bad, it is still getting power as I see a flashing green light....This last time happened right after the sattelite problem the other night...we argue, I hang up....I removed the cover, reseated the battery on the motherboard, and it works.....called them back and they told me that was impossible....
The fair access policy is an absolute joke.....you can't stream anything worth watching without going over, and being shut down for 24 hours....I joined netflix to stream movies through laptop into tv....not possible with Hughesnet unless you have a business account.
Speeds are horrible, price is horrible ($91 w/tax w/pro), and service fails when cloudy....I have been at war with ATT over DSL, since my neighbors have it, yet ATT says I can't......so if you have a choice on providers, DO NOT CHOOSE HUGHSENET....if you have a tech issue, and are not "tech savvy", there immediate fix is to sale you new equipment.....90 day warranty on modem....
All in all, if you have to have highspeed in some form and can't get it anywhere else, you have no choice.
Edit: I just joined this site, not to bash Hughes, but to learn about ATT DSL....If you are an average internet user, do not need RELIABLE highspeed, and lucky enough to not have to use tech support, this service is ok....if you have another choice, read all these reviews and decide for yourself....I have been with them for 8 years....direcway then hughes...I have no choice right now....So, after re-reading my review, It sounded like I joined just to bash them, that is not the case.
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Review by rcoleman
UPDATED: 17 days ago
member for 18 days, 2 visits, last login: 17 days ago
Preston,Caroline,MD
Contract price not specified.
"Ordering and install process very smooth, only one minor service issue"
"FAP, afternoon slowdown, horrible tech support"
"Beats dial -up"
| Pre Sales information:
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I am in a fairly remote area on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. We will never have DSL and fiber is years away. At the time I ordered my Hughes system we had very poor cell coverage for voice, let alone data. I have a DW7000 modem connected to a Linksys WRT54GL in my shop that is about 200ft from the house. There is a Linksys WAP54G in the house set as a wireless repeater. With the exception of one old laptop in the shop which is rarely used everything else in the house. We have 2-Dell4600 desktops, a file server running W2K Adv Svr and and a Dell630 laptop. The desktops and server are connected via a small hub off of the WAP54G. My wife and I often send and receive e-mails with typical business attachments with no real problems and we never exceeded our data limits while conducting business. It is the audio and video streaming after hours that cause the issues. All of the systems have automatic updates enabled and unless I stream video or audio we never exceed the limits
My issues with Hughes are the same as most of the posts I read, we would all like unlimited access with no FAP, knowledgeable -timely answers from tech support and lower rates. I don't see any changes on the horizon for any of this until Hughes has competition.
Verizon is getting close in my area, some days I can get broadband with excellent speeds and some days it reverts to National Access and my Hughes system typically gives me better speeds than the Verizon National Access.
My outlook is that I could move to the city and get FIOS but then I would have to wait in line with the rest of the commuters and give up the rural lifestyle I love,
I think I'll just wait for the thunderstorm to pass.
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Review by Nanawahma
UPDATED: 24 days ago
member for 1 year, 3 visits, last login: 24 days ago
Monroeville,Allen,IN
Contract price not specified.
"Better then dial up I guess, can't wait for cable or fios!"
"Expensive, slow at times, hard to use with apps like Citrix, Net Meeting etc.."
"I'm begging for cable,DSL, or Fios..Help Me Please!"
| Pre Sales information:
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I can't say much good about Hughes except that I guess it's better then dial-up for a business. Vista and Hughes don't mesh well..either.
I own a small HBB that includes eBay which is a closed community and has it's own servers. I need a static IP to improve my connect ability to several other closed communities and it costs $10.00 bucks extra a month for a static IP. I'm already paying $79.99 for lousy speed and unreliable service. My eBay business has suffered as it is to frustrating to do listings that would take a few minutes with cable or fios but take up to 15 to 20 mins with Hughes. I waste time and money. I can't even use a simple program like Go To Meeting without using my FAP up. Basically, it really is a very poor value for the money.
I'm pulling my hair out most of the time and just feel frustrated and used. I would have never purchased this home if I had not been mistakenly told by *omcast that cable was available here. But I'm here now and I just feel so completely disappointed and upset that I can't accomplish more everyday and it's because I'm stuck with Hughes until help arrives. Plus now they want to send me a paper bill and charge me $5.00 for that too! I never asked to be billed via paper, but all of a sudden they want to send me my bill on paper and when asked why they said "We send u bill on paper?" and I said "why?" and they said, u change it and I said no I didn't and then they said u pay extra for bill on paper, so why u change it? and so on and so forth..I guess they need more $$$ from someone..
I have ProPlanPlus, HN7000S, and I'm gonna go mentally and financially bankrupt working from home with Hughes as my IP.
You can't even work for many of the online customer service home work opportunities because most of them are Citrix based and need you to have constant uninterrupted service..the employment pages always say NO Satellite users..Thank You for your interest, please re apply when you have DSL or Cable.
So..that's my two cents,
Michelle
Followup comments:
thepurpleorchid
@cableone.net
| I've been screaming at HughesNet Tech Support since Jan 21st I've noticed extremely slow speeds since Jan 21, 2008. I have Pro Plan Plus. Siam started me doing speed tests... a group of 3, 3 X's a day. He suggested starting at 3 am !!! I am on PST in a small community in AZ. By the time I get going for the day it's after Noon my time and after 3 pm EST. Certainly the kids are getting home from school about then and speeds take a crash !!! Now by June 20th the kids are off school... so the speeds are very... no, extremely slow all day long !!! I am told that speeds during peak hours are not guarantied... But I do not need a computer during a humans normal sleeping hours. I pay for service during waking hours !!! When doing a speed test with "Lisa" it improved only 17 kbs and she said that I was good to go !!! All OK !!! It went from 305 kbs to 322 kbs download... it should have been over 600 kbs !!! AND it was not during "Peak hours" !!! YES, WE ARE BEING RIPPED OFF !!! the US HAS THE SLOWEST INTERNET SPEEDS IN THE WORLD. JAPAN, THE UK, EUROPE AND MANY OTHER PLACES IN THE WORLD HAVE MUCH FASTER SPEEDS TO BEGIN WITH !!! SO MUCH FOR BEING THE MOST TECHNOLOGY ADVANCED COUNTRY IN THE WORLD !!! We can not compete in "A Global Economy" under these conditions. I have purchased on EBAY with much frustration !!! I dread the day that I attempt to sell... so your customers are confronting the same road blocks, if they are customers of HughesNet. I heard that HughesNet "lost a satellite" and perhaps re-arranged customers causing overloads... Then why are they running misleading TV Commercials that continue to bring in yet more frustrated customers? OK, I am not computer savy... please explain what I read about "big down loads". I've also read something about customers who "over use" are "Blocked out for over extended periods". What is this all about in my terms? By being on line all day serfing EBAY, being frustrated because of slow speeds am I being "Punished" by having my down load speeds reduced from the 600 kbs range to below the 300 kbs range? It doesn't have to be "peak hours" It's from 11 am to 12 Mid night. Then upload speeds are around 20 kbs... Before I buy a larger dish and pay even more $$$ for a home business product... that I don't need... Please tell me more... so that I don't get ripped off even worse !!! Hopefully I can cut my losses and try to bounce off someone else for local internet in this small mountain town. | |
| | tank3409
join:2008-07-03
Dover, PA
| Re: I've been screaming at HughesNet Tech Support since Jan 21st You should be happy with your download speeds of 300. I live in the eastern time zone (PA) and during time when I get home from work my speeds average 80. I don't care what they say they are doing something between the hours of 4PM and midnight (my time) to slow down the speeds. I wish I would have found this site before since I just canceled my service today. And they think that I am going to pay a cancelation fee they are out of their minds. I like you was told one thing and got something totally different. I was told it was on my end blah, blah, blah and changed all my settings while talking to Habib and they actually got slower.
I will never recommend this service to anyone. I wish I was a computer genious so I could hack into their site and crash it. This is by far the worst company I ever had to deal with. I thought Directv was bad till I got this service.
If you want my advice cancel your service and get wireless. | |
| theDUDE
vote with your wallet
join:2008-05-10
Wytheville, VA
 ·HughesNet Satellit..
| i know exactly what you mean The last time i tried tech support i was on hold for hours. I kid you not!! I watched a movie while i waited. I wonder if they were just sitting around the office seeing how long people would wait on hold? Place your bets!
Unfortunately i think this has become the standard american business model. Simply offer any product substandard or not and rely on deceptive advertising to sell as much as possible. This isn't what i learned in school. What happened to taking pride in what you do. Selling a service or product and feeling good about yourself as opposed to "another fool another payday". | |
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thepurpleorchid
@cableone.net
| Re: I know exactly what you mean "by the purple orchid" I learned about "The Fair Access Policy" this evening. We went over our "alloted 375 mg in a 24 hour period". HughesNet did "190 kbs... bufferubg". Now my down load speeds are 10 and up load speeds are around 550... fr 24 hours. This is because my husband hooked up a "radio" and used streeming. He listened to a station for several hours. This station had a very good signal strength and it used up our alloted 375 mg in a 24 hour period. (OOPS! Wasted $$$ on equipment). Now my down load speeds will be about 10 and my up load speeds will be around 550 for the next 24 hours. Now I understand what people were talking about when they were being "punished" for making big down loads in the middle of the night... for business purposes. AND not being able to down load photos to Ebay. Also, this game "Rune" that our youth are addicted to... it DOES cause slow speeds in a local co-op satelite company here. Rune has over 130 Million members. (It's probably invented by US hostile forces to ruin US Economy). If it causes speed problems in the local co-op company, would it not be doing the same to HughesNet? Does anyone know the technical answer to that question? Also, I have been doing "busy work" running speed tests for months. I've been told slow speeds were due to my "fire wall" and many other lies. The US is supposed to be the most technology advanced country in the world... I doubt this very much. Friends in Norway can down load to Ebay in a matter of seconds. WE here in the US will never be able to compete in a "Global Economy". Certainly it's not internet technology that the US is investing in... We may have superior technology... but it's not "internet technology", sadly enough. thepurpleorchid | |
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thepurpleorchid
@cableone.net
| Re: I know exactly what you mean "by the purple orchid" Prior to about June 6th most all of the kids were in school until 3 pm. Then the first wave of school kids were let out for Summer Vacation about June 6th. Then after about June 20th another wave of kids got out of school for Summer vacation. During these times, I experienced slower speeds... not just after 3 pm EST, BUT ALL DAY LONG !!! DUH !!! Then just recently I find out about "Rune and other gaming" using large bandwidth. I was evacuated from my town due to a forest fire and forced to stay at a motel in another city. They had one computer in their lobby for guests. The night clerk's son was pacing around and hovering around while I checked my email... or tried to... all was LOST !!! I came back to buy a soft drink in there vending machine 10 minutes later... He was on the computer. The next am I was there very early just before shift change. He was still on the computer. When they left... I looked at what url he had been on... I pulled up this "Rune". It was the only url address since my HughesNet attempt... No surprise!!! Gaming takes up allot of bandwidth... I ask Yes/No... The night clerk when I came in complained to the gentleman releiving her about "slow speeds" DUH !!! AND HER SON WAS DOING "RUNE" ALL NIGHT !!! DUH !!! Yes, it's a Free Country. Free to fail. Free to set us up to fail. Free to out source. Free to sit on the computer for hours trying to get something done and just mainly waisting time due to slow speeds at all hours. (Long before we tried this "streeming". By The Purple Orchid | |
| | theDUDE
vote with your wallet
join:2008-05-10
Wytheville, VA | Re: i know exactly what you mean I think greed is at an all-time high and this is the root of the problem. Imagine if everything was being run by used car salesmen, the bad ones that is. Believe it or not i actually met a few honest ones but it's rare. | |
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thepurpleorchid
@cableone.net
| Re: We may bail out if wireless pans out by the purple orchid I have 13 months to go on my "contract" with HugesNet. At about $70.00 per month, that's about $1,040.00 and VERY much frustration. To bail it's a $300.00 fee for breaking the contract. DUH !!! What would you do??? (I asked Brian in billing that question!!!) I am considering "wireless". It will cost $465.00... For the router that I need, it's an investment of $299.99. An "activation fee"; the "data card phone" and the 1st month charge... as well as the overnight shipping charge. I have a 15 day trial period that started when I purchased this. They will include a return UPS sticker if it doesn't pan out. I need to get it back within the 15 day period... if I am running close to deadline, perhaps I can walk the equipment into one of their stores...
If you do not need a router... your cost wouldn't be as high as mine. I want to use a wireless lap top and my computer. My husband wants to streem with his "radio".
Either way, it will "cost" me to stay or "cost" me to leave. I am going to keep HughesNet until I know if "wireless" will work out. "Overlap" my service/coverage.
I am going to use the cell phone company that I have had cell phone service with for over a year now. We did talk directly with their technical support team. He was VERY helpful. He didn't seem to know about the "Fair Access Policy". He did say that they cannot guarentee the 1.5 MG that their sales dept boasts. It will vary from 300 kbs to 700 kbs and reaching up to the 1.5 MG.
YES, we will fight the $300.00 fee/fine imposed by HugheNet. And when any of you kind people talk to Siam or Lisa in India in tech support... (They lie) or to Brian in the Phillipines in billing... (arrogant) remind them that they have access to much faster internet speeds than anyone in the US... as we here in the US are being "ripped off". We have the slowest speeds in the world. And, I am so very sick of hearing about how some gal "fell in love with San Pedro" !!!! Aren't you as well? Let's bolt.. they don't care about us. They've made their money on us and are waiting for their next poor victim. "A dumb American". the purple orchid | |
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thepurpleorchid
@cableone.net
| Re: Wireless speeds by the purple orchid Wireless Technical Support stated that down load speeds were 300 - 700 kps and that up load speeds were 80 - 120.
With Windows Vista a "patch" needs to be down loaded. We first need to determine if we are either:
32 b vista or 64 b vista
In the future I can get a smart phone... I have to wait until I am within 3 months of my cell phone contract or the smart phone upgrade will cost me $500.00. So if you need a smart phone, get it at the get-go !!!
Also, for my lap top I can get what is called "thering" to use while I travel, so that I may use my lap top and access my internet.
I hope that by sharing I have been of some help. I haven't tried these things yet, so I can't reccomend them. Let me know if any of you have more information to add, positive or negative about "wireless" or any other option. the purple orchid. | |
| | theDUDE
vote with your wallet
join:2008-05-10
Wytheville, VA
·HughesNet Satellit..
| I actually used evdo for a while through alltel. I was only getting 1x if 3g or even 2.5g were available i would probably still have service. My problem is that i'm surrounded by pine trees which from what i hear wreaks havok on wireless, i was only ever able to get a 53% on my signal and thats with using an out door yagi antenna. Still it was better than dialup, where i live dsl isn't available as well as poor dial p due to bad lines.
I recently thought about cutting down some trees and giving it another try or selling the equipment i still have which includes the dlink evdo router, works like a charm and you can probably find it rather cheap. It also has usb port to use your existing phone so you don't have to by the air card. | |
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thepurpleorchid
@cableone.net
| Re: Alltel for wireless or consider a internet Co-op... The wireless provider that I am considering is Alltel. We are in a pine forest as well... I am not only surrounded by pine trees, but this town is down in a "bowl". One thing that I know is that Alltel will not let me "out of a contract" if I go beyond the 15 day trial period. We have to really give it a good try out upon receiving the equipment !!!
Not a chance for DSL or cable here, ever. There is a Co-op internet here. Again, the pine trees block us and there is no one to "bounce off of". Perhaps if Alltel doesn't pan out, we can work out something with the Co-op internet service.
The local Co-op internet works very well for many residents. It's said to be VERY fast. The school and the local county library are on it as well.
If you have a group of people interested in starting up an internet Co-op and the technical people to run it... (technician of one... maybe with a back up or two) that may be something for you to consider. The equipment is in a spare room of a home and the tower is of course up on a very high mountain/ridge. the purple orchid | |
| | theDUDE
vote with your wallet
join:2008-05-10
Wytheville, VA
·HughesNet Satellit..
| I will have to look into this co-op thing. As for me if i try evdo again may go with verizon since i was getting the signal from one of their towers any way plus i think they give you 30 days. Also i think they made some deal or something, pretty much the same company now! Who knows? You could be near a AT&T tower or T-mobile.
If co-op works the way i think it does it might be the way to go. I remember reading about a guy on the forums that used a telescope to find somebody in line of sight that could get dsl. He then paid for his dsl and and set up a wireless network between the two. Wher theres a will there's a way i suppose! | |
|
Gamer90120
@direcpc.com
| HughesNet for the loss. Me, my Father, and my Mother, all have been complaining about HughesNet. No matter what they may say, DO NOT GET HUGHESNET! Terrible Customer service, my dad cussed out a guy up in what he thinks is Pakistan for Customer service, and got that, do the 3 speed tests 3 times a day, and he works during the day, so he can't exactly do that. It's positively TERRIBLE. I HATE HUGHESNET! I would give the what-for if i ever saw a company pop up around here.
Congratulations HughesNet, you have officially made my Sucktacular list.
Someone should contact the FCC and tell them what's going on with them. | |
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| Forums » comments on review of HughesNet Satellite Broadband |
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Review by rockinfast
UPDATED: 26 days ago
member for 49 days, 1 visits, last login: 48 days ago
Marion,Williamson,IL
Contract price not specified.
"Faster than dial up only at certain times of the day."
"SLOW as dial up at ALL peak hours. Which is most of the time!!!!!!!!!!"
"MONEY WASTING SCHEME!!!! The only time internet is fast is when everyone is at work."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Mail,DNS,News:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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This is my only choice for broadband living out in the far country. But as soon as anything else is offered I'm GONE! Paying $70 per month for an average speed of about 50-85 Kbps when I'm home and need to be online which is what they call peak hours and they say nothing can be done about it. I am planning on making this a legal case soon as everything is documented and together.
Followup comments: Binary
join:2007-12-29
Creston, WV | Good Luck but you wont win the case because they got "Actual Speeds May Very" on the small fine print. | |
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| Forums » comments on review of HughesNet Satellite Broadband |
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Don't waste your time and money.
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