Wireless Internet forum: HUGHESNET

Hi,
I am one of the victims of the roll over from Direcway to Hughesnet.
The service now is garbage.
They shut down completely sometime after 5pm. It is impossible to work in the evening or at night.
Bandwidth is restricted and satellite outages are the norm.
They only cater to people who use their computers from 9 to 5.
Downloading speeds run at about 0.03 kb/sec.
Hughesnet is a rip off.

Please do not subscribe to Hughesnet. We have made an awful and expensive mistake. Service is horrible and reps are difficult to understand. Our dial up was faster and now kids use the dial up instead of the hughesnet. We are locked into an expensive contract with no way out and no one in family wants to use it. We have had no luck with customer service. Stay away!!

It is terrible. You get the same or less speeds that you get on dial up. You will not get more except your first month of service. After your first month of service, I never got above dial up speeds. I have called tech support at least 3 times and never got anywhere with them just wasted 3.5 hours of my time each call. You won't be able to cancel because they will charge you 300 bucks for cancelation. Every time there is a cloud in the sky you won't have internet service. Do yourself a favor - get a second dial up connection. You will get faster speeds, more dependable service, and it's much much cheaper.

I imagine you're paying at least $60/month - and you say you max out at 150-400k, and that doesn't bother you? Well, if your only other option is a sub-24k dialup, you're saving yourself some heartache by not getting upset, but that doesn't mean you're getting your money's-worth from Hughesnet. If they were up-front, open, and specific about "typical expected speeds," it might be different, but they're not.

Also, if they were up-front and open with you about the daily download limits, I think that puts you in the minority. They certainly never mentioned it to us, and in our case, it made a real difference in how we use our service.

As for their customer service, yes, it's rare to get truly good service anywhere, but there are degrees of bad, and Hughesnet is way at the bottom.

As for cloud cover, you are right: with the smaller, 1-watt dishes, weather can affect reception, and customers should expect that. That issue can be remedied by getting the larger 2-watt dish and a "pro" plan. That's what we did, but it didn't fix our speed issues - and since we need reliable speed, and we need the connection for work, we do feel ripped-off, and that does make us say nasty things about Hughesnet. But in my case, at least, my goal in that is to make people realize that, as you say, if they have other options, Hughesnet is not for them.

Is it really that bad? Absolutely not. It's even worse than you're worst nightmare.
I think Hughesnet is a company who hired a bunch of lawyers to find a way to legal theft, a bunch of subcontractors to act as installation dealers who hire the unemployable as "professional installers" & before you know it you are out over $500 for 8 days/15 minutes a day of service.

It's not just an opinion, it's a fact. I have pictures of the crappy job they call an install. What is worse is everytime it rains, the service quits. Mind you, this isn't because of the rain, the rain can be gone for hours. The equipment (that is designed to be outside) has to dry out after it gets wet before it will work again. This time it has been 3 days of no internet, but they will be willing to send a repair person out for $125. to fix it. Gee, seems to me we just had to pay out $199 in February when it was first installed. For what ever reason the installer was unable install it on the roof of our ranch style home, this $199 was the cost of pipe he put in the middle of the yard!!!!! Don't give me the crap about needing a clear southern sky, we have had DishNetwork since 1999, and never have had a problem. It is just an example of the quality of service, the quality of work and the type of support you will get from Hughesnet.

I've waited a long time to say this, but I'M FINALLY LEAVING HUGHESNET! You can get Verizon wireless internet for the same price, but you get 100x the reliability. The wireless signal does not change due to weather, like a satellite signal does. Also, equipment is $0 (there is a $35 one time activation fee, but the usb modem is free), compared to the 4 or $500 Hughesnet setup. There is no big dumb looking dish in your yard..no satellite to aim at. No cables to bury, no ground wires to fiddle with, no modem taking up room on your desk, no retarded registry tweaks that don't do any good, no Web accelerator errors...and secure pages load as fast as any other page! Also, the speeds are consistently around 700k (and higher) and the uploads are 500-800k! Now, there is a 5GB monthly limit, and that's roughly what Hughesnet offers...but there's a difference there, too! You can download 4GB in a day and not get punished for it. If you exceed 5GB/month they charge you $.25/MB overage..that's the bad part! Still, you get the same bandwidth as Hughes but there's no stupid ass 180MB/day limit on it (meaning you can now upgrade Windows without exceeding any retarded Nazi FAP). And, I can take my laptop anywhere in the nation and GET A SIGNAL, without having a $10,000 setup on top of an RV to do it!!!! This is not WiFi, it's cellular internet and it's far, far more reliable than Hughes will ever be. My HughesNet gear is going on ebay asap, and I'm taking my sawsall and chopping the dish pole down. Boo-Yah biatches!

Let me put it to you this way...

My 12 year old daughter likes to watch YouTube videos. We've made the "rule" that she can only watch two each night, because if she watches more, it triggers the FAP ("fair access policy") and we basically have no internet access for the next 24 hours once it is triggered.

Hows that for $60 per month?!?

We're going with Verizon as soon as our 2 year contract is up in June 09... That is... unless of course they go out of business first...

I have been a hughesnet subscriber for about 7 months. I picked the business plan with "up to 2Mbps" because I thought I would have fast enough access when the "2 Mbps" was adjusted to real world speeds. Note that this is the $200 a month service.

As a new customer the speed was acceptable, but for the past several months it has really suffered. But only for relatively short periods of time. Since early December 2008, I have been getting download speeds of around 50 Kbps during the important parts of the day. The speed goes up to around 1500 Kbps during the early morning.

Unfortunately, I don't want to run my business from midnight to 8 AM.

I finally called a week ago. It took them two days to figure ouT that I wasn't lying about the slow download speeds and send me to what they call Tier 4 support. These big guns have had the problem for at least four days and have NO idea what the speed problem is.

So I don't think they have improved much. They have oversubscribed their service, but are not interested in shrinking that pool.

As for beating dial-up, I haven't used dial-up services for some time, at least several years. But back then I was getting speeds at least as good as what I experience most of the day. I don't use dial-up now because the phone lines don't come out this far.

But the question isn't whether the service beats dial up. The question is does HughesNet mislead potential customers. Yes, they lead them to believe that they will receive some meaningful portion of the advertised speeds. The fact that they can deliver those speeds during the middle of the night is not enough to overcome this.

I post this mainly to respond to the previous post that things had changed and that the complaints were old. The problems are on-going.

I will post the resolution to this problem, if there ever is one.

My installer told me not to contact tech support also. He could fix the problems he created a lot cheaper than Hughesnet would charge me. Sounds like he has a little business going on the side so if anyone,including Hughesnet, wants his cell phone number it's available.

Actually had their customer service person tell me on the phone that they are told to ignore customer complaints. They know that if a customer had another option, they'd take it.. so there is no motivation to put any effort into support/service. She was embarrassed to be working there.. they're told to get the customer so upset that they hang up.

We dropped them and finally went with Verizon broadband.

What Hughes net does borders on criminal

Please. We've had this (HughesNet) service since October and I will admit, at first I was fine with it. But for the last 3 months I've been fighting with modem resets, web pages not loading on the first (or second or third) try, and don't even get me started on the "tech support". No, if you have ANY other option, take it. If not, think long and hard about keeping dial-up until you get something better. Hughes it NOT the answer.

Hi,
To all the Hughes net sufferers, who have been somehow cheated wrongly informed or have been promised something which was never delivered.
I am about to let you know how to give them back, what you deserve.
I will let you know, everything there is to know about Hughes net (ISP). This article is referring to the following modem types: DW 4000, DW 6000, DW 7000, HN 7000, HN 7000S and HN 9000.
I will discuss about the following:
1. FAP (Fair Access Policy)
2. Slow Speed (slow download/ slow upload/Speed disclaimer)
3. OOW (Out of Warranty work order / Out of warranty Modem)
4. Installers complain (Wrong installation done)
5. Email Issues (Webmail, Configuring Email client)
6. How to speak to advance tech support (Tier III)

 FAP (FAIR ACCESS POLICY):
This is what Hughes net has to say about it:

Some activities are more likely to exceed the download threshold and trigger the application of the Fair Access Policy (FAP). Several examples are listed below:
Full-length movie downloads
Peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing programs such as Napster, Kazaa or LimeWire
Continuous downloading or viewing streaming media content such as audio or video programming
Hosting of server devices such as email, FTP or Web servers
Hosting computer applications such as Web camera feeds
Automated computer to computer connections used for archiving of local computer content
Extensive downloading of Usenet Newsgroups (NNTP)
Use of BitTorrent applications
Simultaneous file downloads
Downloading large files (i.e., file sizes that are close in size to the download threshold of your service plan)
Excessive downloading or use of the services described above may cause subscribers to be affected by the Fair Access Policy, or in severe cases, to be terminated from the service.

But for more info about it please visit this link.
http://www.hughes.com/HUGHES/Rooms/DisplayPages/LayoutInitial?pageid=fairaccess&Container=com.webridge.entity.Entity[OID[BD8BE0839F414B4FB7CDDCA10EFA5369]]

The above information is all ********.
What is FAP actually is, any hughesnet subscriber can only download a certain amount of megabyte in any 24 hrs according to their respective plan.
That means that you can only use your internet connect for a certain time only. Now when I say 24 hrs it does not mean one day (Which everyone is confused about). It means your total download or internet usual should not exceed your total download threshold eg: 200 MB in the last 24 hrs. The 24 hrs is a cyclic clock and not a fixed 24 hr clock. When I say download it does not mean you have actually download data. Any internet usage done online eg: surfing website like google, chatting, playing game etc.
You have an OPEN Window which is 3 am to 6 am EST. But most of the time the usage data recorded in incorrect. Even when you have turn off the P.C or the Hughes net modem still it will record some usage on it, which stats that the usage is very incorrect.

Now there is a good new for DW 4000, DW 6000, DW 7000, HN 7000 and HN 7000S users. Hughesnets technical support can deactivate the FAP for a customer twice in a month. So you can call the Technical support and tell them that, when the usage page shows data online the P.C and the modem is turned off. You dont use a router and the windows update or any other software update is turned off, because they will try to blame the router or the windows update. The technical support will reset the FAP for you on the call then a there. Do not get off the call until the FAP is deactivated, because if you are informed they will forward the info to someone or some other Dept then nothing is going to be done at all.

MORAL OF THE THIS STORY: Call up hughes net tech support has ask them to reset you FAP as they can do that. Twice in a month.

 Slow Speed (slow download/ slow upload/Speed disclaimer):
What Hughes net has to say about it?
With the Home service plan, you can connect to the Internet with maximum download speeds up to 1.0 Mbps, with typical speeds about 550 Kbps to 650 Kbps during peak times. Upload speeds, which are capable of reaching 128 Kbps, are typically 70 Kbps to 80 Kbps during peak hours.

With the Pro plan, connect to the Internet with maximum download speeds of up to 1.2 Mbps, with typical speeds about 700 Kbps to 800 Kbps during peak times. Upload speeds, which are capable of reaching 200 Kbps, are typically 100 Kbps to 120 Kbps during peak hours.

With the Proplus plan, connect to the Internet with maximum download speeds of up to 1.6 Mbps, with typical speeds about 800 Kbps to 1.0 Mbps during peak times. Upload speeds, which are capable of reaching 250 Kbps, are typically 130 Kbps to 150 Kbps during peak hours.

With the Elite plan, connect to the Internet with maximum download speeds of up to 2.0 Mbps, with typical speeds about 1.0 Mbps to 1.2 Mbps during peak times. Upload speeds, which are capable of reaching 300 Kbps, are typically 165 Kbps to 180 Kbps during peak hours.

With the ElitePlus plan, connect to the Internet with maximum download speeds of up to 3.0 Mbps, with typical speeds about 1.6 Mbps to 1.8 Mbps during peak times. Upload speeds, which are capable of reaching 300 Kbps, are typically 165 Kbps to 180 Kbps during peak hours.

With the ElitePremium plan, connect to the Internet with maximum download speeds of up to 5.0 Mbps, with typical speeds about 2.7 Mbps to 3.0 Mbps during peak times. Upload speeds, which are capable of reaching 300 Kbps, are typically 165 Kbps to 180 Kbps during peak hours.

If you choose to run a VPN over your satellite service, your data speeds may be reduced by as much as 50-75%. In addition, we do not recommend using HughesNet to run time-sensitive applications that require fractions-of-a-second user inputs (such as twitch gameplay or real-time equities trading).

For more info try this link:
http://www.gethughesnet.com/faqs.cfm

What I have to say about it:
Hughes net connection speed sucks. All the Ads on the Television are lies.

You will always face slow connection speed with Hughes net and there is nothing you can do or they can do about it. Because it is that way the system is designed. Hughes net connection is based on SHARED BANDWITH. That means the entire HughesNet customers share the same band with available through HughesNet. So the more customer hughesnet has the lesser speed you individually you will get.
Now when you will call Hughes net for any slow connection issue, let it be slow upload or slow download. All they (Tier 1) will do is they will ask you to delete your P.Cs Cache, cookies and browser history. Restart the P.C in SAFE MODE WITH NETWORKING. And at the end they will asked you to run the 5 Web response test back to back (not the SPEED TEST) but the response test. If the Web response test is any where below 12 then they will ask you to run the test for 2 days and call back. What it does is nothing. Just buy time. And when you call back after 2 days and after running the test all you will get is a SPEED DISCLAIMER. That is you will get no more. Because the web response test will most of the time will be below 12. So if you want to get the issue resolved then you have to speak to the ADVANCE TECH support. And the only way you can speak to Advance tech support is when you dont run the speed test. Inform the person that you cant run the speed test. Tell them as soon as you click on Initiate Web Response test you get the error Page cannot be displayed. And so they will transfer you to Advance tech support and then you can run the test and do the troubleshooting that is required. And after that you dont have to speak to tier I as you can refer you case number that you got from Tier III.

MORAL OF THIS STORY: DO WANT IS STATED IT ABOVE AND YOU WILL GET ISSUE RESOLVE OR CANCEL THE CONTRACT.

 OOW (Out of Warranty work order / Out of warranty Modem):
What Hughes net has to say about it?
Hughes warrants to the original buyer that under normal use and wear the equipment used to access the Service (the Equipment), which includes the Indoor Unit (satellite modem), Power Supply, and Outdoor Unit (Antenna & Radio Assembly), will be free from defects in material and workmanship for a standard limited warranty term of 24 months* from the date of activation. Any Equipment replaced or repaired under this warranty will be warranted for the remainder of the original warranty period or thirty (30) days, whichever is longer. This warranty is not transferable.
If under normal use and wear, the Equipment becomes defective in materials or workmanship during the warranty period set forth above, Hughes shall at its option and expense, perform one of the following:
We will repair or replace the defective Equipment within thirty (30) days of the date the defective Equipment was returned to Hughes designated address at your expense, to cause it to comply with the terms of this Limited Warranty. Reconditioned replacement components, parts, units or materials may be used if the Equipment is repaired or replaced.
If service to the Outdoor Unit (satellite antenna and transmitter) is required, Hughes will, at its expense, repair or replace it pursuant to the limited warranty for the first six months after installation. From six months to the end of your limited warranty period, Hughes will cover the cost of the replacement equipment, but the cost of the onsite service technician visit, if necessary, will be paid by you. You may request a price estimate prior to the work, based on the type of the replacement. If your satellite antenna needs to be re-pointed after the first 6 months of service, a standard onsite visit fee will be charged to you. Reconditioned replacement components, parts, units or materials may be used if the Equipment is repaired or replaced.
We may upgrade the Equipment to a later-generation product that performs the same function and complies with the terms of this Limited Warranty.
THESE ARE YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDIES FOR DEFECTS DURING THE WARRANTY PERIOD IN ANY EQUIPMENT COVERED BY THE LIMITED WARRANTY. To request Limited Warranty service you must contact Hughes Customer Service, toll-free, at 1-866-347-3292 within the Limited Warranty period.
For more info check the link:
http://www.hughes.com/HUGHES/Rooms/DisplayPages/LayoutInitial?pageid=subscriber&Container=com.webridge.entity.Entity[OID[A8F7F0D9E61CCF428678A77A7EA0297F]]

What I have to say about it:
Keep a check on your warranty status check when it is going to expire. People whose warranty status is still active nothing to worry. But for those whose warranty status has expired there are options:
1. Sign up for an Express repair home so instead of paying $125 for the Out of warranty work order you will only pay $99.
2. Ask for credits ask the tech person for credit speak to the sup and his sup till you get the credit that does not mean you get for 1-2 week. Credit means you should get the whole credit for the work order.
3. If there was a tech sent out to your location in the last 6 mths then you have put an installer complain that the installation was not done correctly and they will have to send a tech out free.
4. Speak with the Retentions dpt and ask them to waive off the charge, they can do that.

MORAL OF THIS STORY: HUGHES NET WILL AND SHOULD SEND A TECH OUT FREE. SPEAK WITH A SUPERVISOR AND IF REQUIRED SPEAK TO HIS.

 Installers complain (Wrong installation done):

What Hughes net has to say: Nothing they dont have anything to say. But we can get them.
What I have to say about it:
Well you can only file an Installer complain if the installation was done in the last 6 months. If you think that the installer has not done his job properly, which is true most of the time or if the installer was rude to you. Call up technical support and file an installer complain speak to supervisor in this scenario. What you can do is call them up and tell them that the installer did not install the antenna in the right position, it is pointing toward the tree or something else. The antenna is not fixed right it keeps on shaking or moving when there is wind. The cables are lying in front of the lawn or it is not put underground. When the complain is filed and you are given a case number, you will get a call back within 48 hrs from the install escalation dpt. In this case always speak with a Supervisor.

MORAL OF THIS STORY: HUGHES NET WILL AND SHOULD SEND A TECH OUT FREE. SPEAK WITH A SUPERVISOR AND IF REQUIRED SPEAK TO HIS.

 Email Issues (Webmail, Configuring Email client):
What Hughes net has to say about it: We dont support this we dont support that.

What I have to say about it:
If you face any issue with your email. First check if you are able to access you emails from the webmail that is: http://home.myhughesnet.com/
Try to sign and check your email, check if you are able to send and receive emails from this website. If you are then Hughes net will say everything is OK. And will refer you to someone else.
So try to configure the Email client (Outlook/ Outlook Express etc) by yourself.
If you need help in it try the link: http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/email/config/
Other than that you will require.
Incoming server: mail.hughes.net
Outgoing server: smtp.hughes.net
Username: (This will be you complete email address)
Leave the rest as it is.
For more info check other links:
http://screenshots.modemhelp.net/navigation/software/emailclients/
http://www.chasms.com/

MORAL OF THIS STORY: TRY TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE BY YOURSELF AND IF HAVE TO CALL TECH SUPPORT SPEAK WITH A SUPERVISOR AS THEY KNOW WHAT THEY DO.

 How to speak to advance tech support (Tier III):
What Hughes net has to say about it: We cant transfer you to Tier III, Sorry you will have to troubleshoot the whole thing again.
What I have to say about it:
Following are the ways to speak to Tier III:
1. If you have spoken to tier III in the last 7 days refer the case number. And if they refuse to transfer tell them you refuse to troubleshoot and want to speak to tier III only. Speak with the supervisor and he will authorize the transfer.
2. If you have spoken to Tier III much prior to 7 last then. When they ask you to open the System Control Center by: 192.168.0.1. They will ask you to ask you to provide the Transmit status. Give the transmit status as TX code 9. What they will try to do is switch off the modem and restart it. What ever they do you have to say that the Transmit status is still TX code 9. And they will transfer you to Advance technical support. You can try this even during the Troubleshooting.


Other tips for all you Hughes users:
IF YOU CHECK YOU SYSTEM CONTROL CENTER (TYPE 192.168.0.1 in your address bar), check your system status.
If your TX code is
6 or 7: you need to re point the antenna and at the end send a tech out or speak to advance tech support.
10 or 13: you will need a tech at your location.
9: you need to speak to Advance tech support.
24: your transmit cable or the transmitter has an issue. You need a tech out.

And one more thing: SPEAK TO THE SUPERVISORS as they know what they are doing. And the reps have no idea what the issue all about.

For any feedback or any info contact me on: hughesnetsucks@gmail.com

the VAST majority of the speed complaints are the result of LAZY dish installers


You MUST require the installer to achieve AT LEAST 98% signal strenth. He is only required to achieve 70%