Long time customer
Living in a rural area leaves little choice for internet providers. Hopefully, politicians will fight to make internet access a fundamental right and regulate it like radio and power. Until then, predatory providers like Hughes.net will continue to provide substandard service at inflated prices.
I'm sure Hughes can rationalize their expense and limitations. I'm sure they would gladly let their prices and control be regulated in trade for federal subsidies (lol... no). The good news is that the government (that would be us, the hughes.net customers) is subsidizing the expansion of the fiber optic network to rural customers. They are running it down the side of my road right now. Somehow, that slipped by the 100% "business friendly" government of my home state.
Hughes divides my purchased band width so that about 60% is available only in the middle of the night, starting at 2:00 AM. Then they sell you tokens to buy back some of the bandwidth you've already paid for during peak hours. That must have them laughing all the way to the bank.
They also farm out their tier 1 support to sweat shops somewhere in India. When I ask "Bob" where his office is located, Bob gets a little evasive. I'm sure they are fearful because they've been told not to disclose that information and will be severely punished if caught doing so. The local techs who install the equipment for customers are independent contractors, not employees. That means no benefits like insurance, 401Ks, etc. and I doubt they will ever get rich subbing for Hughes. Hughes.net is fast becoming a business like the car title loan offices that pop up in poor neighborhoods.
I've been a Hughes customer for a long time. Long enough to have switched satellites once, replace my dish and LNB a few times and go through a few modem replacements due to obsolescence. Their service has always been subpar (giving credit for satellite driven latencies), their policies have always been predatory - Fair Access Policy that is not clearly communicated during the sale or even hinted at in their marketing. Throttling the bandwidth (FAP) as if Grandma uploading pictures of her grandkids to social media is somehow a threat to the unimaginable, vast amount of bandwidth they have. Moving 60% of purchased bandwidth to the middle of the night, undiscounted even though it is inconvenient to use. Again, no transparency about this.
Access to the internet is now as important as access to electricity or clean, lead free water. The lobbyists from the internet industry fight, bribe and cheat to keep regulatory legislation from happening.
Once the fiber installation is done, I'll switch to that company. A company that will be no better than Hughes in their predatory policies, inflated prices and usage of cheap, non-American labor for tier 1 support. But, for the first time in 25 years, I'll be able to stream a movie, subscribe to a streaming service, listen to podcasts and download large files without worrying about being throttled after using 30% of the bandwidth I purchase every month.
Since this is a Hughes forum, this will probably get deleted by a moderator without getting posted. I would call that unethical, but corporations aren't bound by ethical constraints. If it does get posted, then good for Hughes for allowing open public discourse, even though this privately owned forum for isn't bound by the 1st Amendment. And to the employee who responds to this, I understand it is your job to do so and I look forward to our conversation.
