Hi Chez,
Another satisfied customer here. I've had Hughesnet since June, and i think I can speak to your situation.
Last March, I bought an old fixer upper out in the boonies, lol! It never occurred to me that we wouldn't have Comcast cable internet and TV and Verizon cellphone service. I've been a city gal all my life. But guess what?? No cable, no cellphone. YIKES! LOL!
So for nearly four months my 31 year old daughter, who lives with me, and I drove 10 miles each way to our little library every day to get on the internet. And NO phone! And NO tv!
So I cannot tell you how THRILLED we were to get Hughesnet satellite internet!!! We also got Century Link TV (Dish) and landline phone.
Right now there are three adults in my home who use the service. There are now three laptops and three cellphones, all connected wirelessly. Here's a screenshot I just took a few minutes ago of my usage so far this cycle:
As you can see, we have data to spare. I have the 20/50 plan, i.e. 20 GB "anytime" bytes, and 50 GB "bonus bytes" that can be used between 2:00-8:00 AM.
We have some houseguests staying with us for a few months. The dad is taking an online course, and he checks his email, and he browses on the internet. My daughter is active on Facebook, email, and watches YouTube videos--short ones. She knows to set the videos on the very lowest definition.
I'm a researcher, editor, and writer and I do 90% of my work from home. I'm also going to school to get my PhD and am writing my dissertation. I'm online a good part of every day. As part of my research I watch 1-2 or so documentaries (usually about 45 minutes long) per week, mostly on YouTube, but sometimes on PBS. They are always set to the lowest possible definition.
We download a few TV shows and movies per month, maybe two or three. I download them during bonus bytes time, and that's when I do any updates or big downloads too. I haven't done that yet this cycle , but this next week I will, since we have lots of bonus bytes left.
The key, for me, is to monitor the usage like a hawk, turn off all automatic updates, and stream video in the lowest definition available.
I'm glad you're following the advice of BirdDog, Gwalk, and the other champions, as well as the official reps and the other customers like GabeU. I wish more people would! Their advice on configuring my network and setting video to low definition is the secret of my success with Hughesnet.
Welcome aboard and feel free to ask questions anytime! :-)
