Forum Discussion
New Subscriber with a few dumb questions.
Ok so I am aware of how the rules go with the data allowances. Regular speed until I blow through the 20GB cap and then the speeds get throttled. What I need to know though... are the cap speeds d...
Regarding the speed throttling when you're out of data, it can be up to 3Mbps, but it will vary, depending on system load/congestion. It's not scaled. For speed testing you should use testmy.net. If you're speed testing for troubleshooting purposes when you're having speed issues, you should use the protocol in this post. And, if you're getting speeds of less than 1Mbps while you have plenty of data, it sounds like you are having a speed issue, as that's VERY low. If that's the norm for you, even just in the evenings, I would start a new topic in Tech Support and post the speed test results as outlined in that testing protocol, as again, your speeds souldn't be that low.
Regarding free tokens, there aren't ways to earn any. Sometimes they give free tokens if there is a system issue that negatively impacts customers, as well as when a lot of speed testing is requested by the reps for troubleshooting a speed issue, but in general there are no free data tokens given. Those with an older legacy plan (daily refill plan) get one free data token per month, so that's part of the reason you see that entry.
As for the equipment during a thunderstorm, you can never go wrong with just unplugging it. It's what I do. Surge protectors can help, but they aren't foolproof, so unplugging it is a good idea. Actually, mine's always unplugged when I'm not using it, but if I'm using it and a storm rolls in, I unplug it.
The speed thing so far hasnt been a consistant problem. Ill just randomly run into times of slow speeds, but usually its very snappy, 20+ mbps. So ive just chalked it up to congestion or maybe the weather. Even when its slow its still comperable to what I was getting from Windstream... well before they refused to repair the line and the connection speed went to crap.
The only time its a issue is when I am trying to play a game of Hitman 2 on steam and the connection makes their online DRM thing go crazy and it throws me out of a mission. I'm still not sure whats up with it, even steam looses connection, then as soon as I leave the game it reconnects.
My main worry was that after I ran out of data it would scale down and suddenly have periods it was REALLY bad. lol
Another odd thing I have encountered is that something about the HN connection prevents speedtest.net from working. The website will load, but ill almost always get a latency error, page error, or something before the test starts. Google and HN's speed tests work fine though.
Speedtest gives some HughesNet customers issues. It does me, too. I gives me the same latency test error on the occasion that I've tried it. I solely use testmy.net.
Regarding the game, I'm not familiar with it, though I am the films. If it's an online game, it may be that it doesn't get along with the latency inherent to satellite internet, which is very high in comparison to all other internet services. Turn based games are normally fine, but any games that require real time movement or reactions don't tend to work well with HughesNet, if at all.
Hopefully the speed issue doesn't get more consistent.
Regarding the coax question, I'm assuming you edited it out for a reason, so I won't answer it, but if it's something you're thinking of doing I would ask Liz about it in the other thread. She'd know better whether it's necessary, or if it could even cause issues with doing so.
The DRM issue is a latency issue, not a speed issue. Each 'ping' takes a minimum of about half a second to up to the satellite, over to the ground station, out the terrestrial internet to the destination server, then all the way back. They take even longer for secure connections (which I'm sure this is) due to the extra packet and processing overhead, it's very likely that DRM checks are timing out.
