HughesNet Gen5
Hughes Successfully Launches High-throughput Satellite
Setting the stage for the next generation of HughesNet Gen5 satellite Internet service
E...
Forum Discussion
I am finishing my first month of Gen 5 service after almost 2 years on Gen 4. (The closest cable internet comes to our home is about 9 miles away). I called Customer Service on May 4, the same day I received the email from Hughes informing me that Gen 5 was now available in my area, and I requested the update. Successful customer service call! On May 5 the installer, who came from a town 50 miles away, arrived right within the promised time window, swapped out the receiver on the Hughes Dish, hooked up the new Modem/Wifi Router combo, activated the system and in less than one hour I was up and running.
I am overall very pleased with the speed and reliability of the Gen 5 service. It is night and day compared to Gen 4. With Gen 4, besides the slow speed, I would get frequent satellite outage errors and would have to wait a few minutes before accessing a web site or receiving emails. With Gen 5 I have had absolutely no problems.
One very welcome side benefit of Gen 5 is that we live in area with lousy cell phone service and we were never able to use our Verizon cell phones until we drove about 7 miles from our home here on the lake. (btw AT&T does not have cell coverage in our area, nor do the other national cell phone providers). The Samsung Verizon network extender that I bought a few years ago (when we lived elsewhere and had cable internet but weak cell service), is plugged in to the Hughes Gen 5 modem and now allows us to receive and place cell phone calls within and in the vicinity of our home. (btw we did try a Wilson Electronics cell booster outside our home but it could not pick up the closest Verizon tower which is 20 miles away.). While we still mostly rely on our AT&T land line for phone calls (the local AT&T land line is not able to support DSL), as we try and minimize Hughes data use for completing cell calls, it is great to be able to look at the caller ID and answer our cell phones when we want to, and actually be able to speak with the caller. The Gen 4 speeds were not sufficient to allow the Samsung Verizon network extender to work properly. With Gen 5 we are finally no longer living in the extreme boondocks. Is it also my imagination or does Gen 5 seem to work better than Gen 4 during thunder storms when clouds are really thick?
So for my first month experience with Gen 5, I would like to award 5 stars to Hughes Customer Service, 5 stars to the Installer, and especially 5 stars to the reliability and speed of the Gen 5.
PS: I just hope they limit the number of subscribers they sign up for Gen 5, so as not to degrade the overall speed and reliability for all users, as seemed to be the case with the Gen 4, where as I understand it, way too many users were causing the whole Gen 4 experience to degrade.
so far 2 weeks and very reliable, even in a bad t-storm yesterday, I'm getting close to 49.x MPS - not bad, 2 take away's for me so far
1) the ATT app and phone they provide the installers are thje leakest link in what would have been an uneventful install. 45 mins waiting and his and my frustraiton due to his phone, provided by AT&T and the app required to fininsh the install keep rebooting and freezing up, so bad that once he was done, he tore out ASAP without giving me any info in the wirelss administiion interface, I had to call and get the ADMIN password.
2) the 5G channel has some distance issues and very choppy video, I switched all my devies to the 2G channel, and no issues, the WI-FI distance on that channel is outstanding.
Glad to hear you're enjoying your HughesNet service, Carmen!
2Ghz does have a greater wifi range than 5Ghz, but is slower. This Netgear article explains the differences between the two pretty well:
The primary differences between the two frequencies are the range (coverage) and bandwidth (speed) that the bands provide. The 2.4 GHz band provides coverage at a longer range but transmits data at slower speeds. The 5 GHz band provides less coverage but transmits data at faster speeds.
The range is lower in the 5 GHz band because higher frequencies cannot penetrate solid objects, such as walls and floors. However, higher frequencies allow data to be transmitted faster than lower frequencies, so the 5 GHz band allows you to upload and download files faster.
Your WiFi connection on a particular frequency band can also be faster or slower because of interference from other devices. Many WiFi-enabled technologies and other household devices use the 2.4 GHz band, including microwaves and garage door openers. When multiple devices attempt to use the same radio space, overcrowding occurs. The 5 GHz band tends to have less overcrowding than the 2.4GHz band because fewer devices use it and because it has 23 channels for devices to use, while the 2.4GHz band has only 11 channels. The number of channels that are available to you depends on the regulatory domain. If you’re experiencing a lot of interference from other devices, consider using the 5 GHz band.
that's what my experements have shown so far, I have a smart/tv and it's right in the next room, conected to the 2g network and youtube fails to load, so I'll make sure to try the 5g network for video streaming close, inside. I do have a Direct/TV wireless network also and of course the wireless phone systems....wow- can't wait for the wireless AC to all my electrical applicances :)
Pete_Vit wrote:that's what my experements have shown so far, I have a smart/tv and it's right in the next room, conected to the 2g network and youtube fails to load, so I'll make sure to try the 5g network for video streaming close, inside. I do have a Direct/TV wireless network also and of course the wireless phone systems....wow- can't wait for the wireless AC to all my electrical applicances :)
Be careful with that DirecTV connection. Connecting DirecTV to Hughesnet is normally advised against as there is no way to control the data the DirecTV receiver uses, and it can use a lot.
