Plan & platforms

[Reggie]

Can someone please explain the pro's & con's on the following plan & platforms.

1. Gen4 on J1

2. Gen5 on J1

3. Gen5 on J2

I have been trying to do research to find the best plan for my wife & myself. A little help from the champions would go a long way. I want to make an informed decision. At this time I'm on Gen4 with the Prime plan.

Thank you in advanced for your advice.

Reggie 

[C0RR0SIVE]

1: Gen4 on J1... Sucks compared to #3, but, if you had Ultra, you can't get any better...
2: Gen5 on J1... Still going to have slow speed issues till the load on J1 is reduced and more people switch to the HT2000w on J1.
3: Gen5 on J2... AMAZING~!!! Granted, that's because this is a brand new bird and it's going to take awhile to be fully loaded... 

The *only* cons with going to Gen5 on Jupiter Two is the lease fee is $5 more per month, and the router is an all new design which means it probably has a few growing pains.  This is the first time Hughes has really pushed for a router/modem combo unit.  Plus, the OLD Gen4 Ultra beats anything Gen5 can offer, data allowance wise.

The pros with going to Gen5 on Jupiter Two, better speeds - for now.  I suspect the mid-west where Jupiter One isn't available will be fully loaded much sooner than the areas where J1 and J2 can tag-team.  You do get much higher speeds, and MUCH higher uploads for once!  Hughes has been working hard on the router firmware in the HT2000W as well.  We can change DNS settings, DHCP settings, modify the wifi settings or even disable wifi completely.  They have even made it possible to change the LAN side IP addressing.  It is an almost, full fledged router.  They also include basic parental controls and website filtering options with in the modem, as well as time tables to block websites at certain times.  So don't want kids or anyone hitting youtube at 6PM till 8PM for homework time?  You can bet ya!  Kids also wont be able to easily change that as you can password protect the router side of the unit.

As far as plans go though... I can't really help you there... All the new Gen5 plans have the same Upto speeds, the ONLY differences are data allowances.  If budget is a concern I would probably stick with the plan that is closest in price.  If budget wasn't too much of a concern, and you really could use a lot more data, maybe consider a higher tier plan?  Just because you order Gen5 on J2 and get into a new 2-year contract, doesn't mean you are locked to the plan you sign up with.  You can always change that should the need arise.

EDIT////
Looking at things, if you are on the Prime plan with 10/50GB the plan appears to be $59.99, but there are no $59.99 plans on Gen5...  You might be able to go for the 20GB plan but that's $69.99/month it appears, plus the more expensive lease fee, the bright side is, it appears to be $49.99/month for the first 12 months, but I don't think anyone can get that promo price on an upgrade.  You may have to call to see about what is available as far as your options go... But to me it looks like, "Spend a little more to double your daytime allowance or save $5 and keep the same data allowance".
EDIT///


ALL of that aside, I plan on doing a review of the unit sometime in next week and compare it to a Gen4 system in the review... For now you can see some on-going automated speedtests between my Gen4 and Gen5 systems, I used Identifiers on the tests to help show which is which, both units are being tested side by side, started the tests at the same time, but as is you can see how far out of sync they are because of how slow the Gen4 unit is.  Even this early in the day it's slow as can be for some reason.
http://testmy.net/quickstats/C0RR0SIVE

[Reggie]

Thank you Corrosive for the info.

This question is for the Mods.

If I upgrade to Gen5 will this be true Gen5 or will it be Gen5 on J1.

I have tried to call CS, can't get passed my zip code. It seems to just loop back to the start of the message.

Reggie

[Liz]

Hi Reggie, 

All Gen 5 plans are eventually going to be serviced by both EchoStar 17 and 19, powered by Jupiter 2 technology; no "wannabe" plans.

[Gwalk900]

@Liz, is that to say then that once a Gen5 plan is selected, there will be no difference in performance if a user is aimed at either ES17 or ES19 and the only reason to go with a HT2000w modem is if a user wants the integrated WiFi?

[C0RR0SIVE]

Once load on ES17 is reduced and some thrown onto ES19, Gen5 users should expect the same performance on either bird, AFAIK, all Gen5 plans REQUIRE the HT2000w regardless of bird.  Upto mods to state if that is a fact though, I suspect that "Jupiter II Technology" directly references the HT2000w, seeing as it is usable on both birds.

[C0RR0SIVE]

Not sure how an HT1100 will be capable of Gen5 service since it doesn't meet the requirements of having Wifi, and has never had decent upload...  Takes a small miracle for an HT1100 to hit 25Mbps as well, usually only see that during the off hours.

Take note of the advertisements and everything Gen5 related, they FREQUENTLY mention the HT2000w Wifi as being a core component of Gen5 service.

I also don't think the HT1100 has the processing power needed for the QoS the HT2000w uses to throttle video traffic when the video data saver is enabled.

[Liz]

That's right, Gwalk. There's no difference in service since both satellites can support Gen 5. The HT1100 can run Gen 5 too, but those plans won't be available on EchoStar 17 anytime soon. As the others have been saying, we need to get customers off EchoStar 17 and onto EchoStar 19 before we can start offering Gen 5 on the older satellite.

[Liz]

Good question Jezra, we actually have a new an improved FAQ section available and here's the article on how the Video Data Saver works and how to use it.

http://support.hughesnet.com/support-articles/what-is-video-data-saver

[C0RR0SIVE]

@Liz

How can the HT1100 offer Gen5 plans when Wifi is touted as being a component to Gen5 according to all marketing material that I have seen?


@jezra
The video data saver works on popular websites like Netflix(not sure on this one in how it works!), Youtube, and Hulu if you have the video player set to "Auto" which it is by default.  What happens is Youtube bases the stream resolution on how fast the last downloaded chunk occured, thus if it takes long enough to download, it will set the resolution lower.  You could in theory set your own data saver up if you know how with traffic shaping.

You can actually see a continuous lower amount of incoming traffic from the HT2000W to your device when streaming a video and data saver on.  When the mode is disabled or "snoozing" you will see the higher burst speeds typical of youtube downloading large chunks of data even at 720p.  It's highly unlikely they are processing a throttled stream gateway side for each individual user and are doing it at the modem level.  Less work gateway side, more work modem side, certainly more efficient than you would think, and keeps extra load out of an area we don't want it, the gateway facility.  The less load the gateway has, the better for everyone.


720p60 Stream:

480p Stream:

[Liz]

Hi C0RR0SIVE,

Yes, we do pitch the WiFi modem as a component of Gen 5, we just don't pitch that the HT1100 also works with Gen 5. Considering Gen 5 won't be available on EchoStar 17 for a while, there's no emphasis on the HT1100's compatibilty with Gen 5.

[C0RR0SIVE]

Curiously...

Jezra wasn't you on an HN9000?

Liz, will the HT1100 be Jupiter II compatible?  I would imagine it would need new software to be made aware of JII if so...

If Jezra was on an HN9000(I honestly can't remember whether he could see J1 or not!), and the HT1100 isn't Jupiter II compatible (even though it will be Gen5 compatible) then he would be stuck with the more costly HT2000w still.

So why keep an HT1100 unit around on Gen5 aside from those that don't want to be on the new bird?  Hughes logic is beyond me lately.

[C0RR0SIVE]

For some reason I always thought you was on Spaceway3...

I am more curious about something else, but that may have to wait till "ask an engineer" day if we ever have one again... (HT2000 vs HT2000w, and yes, there is another modem, and strangely I can't find the w variants white papers on the Hughes site but can find the HT2000!)

[Reggie]

Thank you everyone for the great information. I think for now I will stay where I am. My service is the best it can be on Gen4. No need to spend extra money. With back surgery next month money is a little tight.

[Liz]

This is a good discussion, let's get some terminology cleared up:

Gen 5 is our latest generation of internet service which includes our latest plans (10, 20, 30, 50 GB) and features (25 Mbps down/3 up, Bonus Zone, Video Data Saver, etc.).

EchoStar XIX/19 is the new satellite we launched last December, which is one of the satellites that supports Gen 5, the other being EchoStar XVII/17. This is what most Gen 4 users are currently pointed at.

Jupiter 2 refers to the technology that powers the Gen 5 service.

With that being said, no, HT1100 users can't be pointed at EchoStar 19, but the HT2000w can work on both EchoStar 17 and 19.

Anyone else, like HN9000 or legacy users, will get the HT2000w if upgrading to Gen 5.

The HT2000 is the HT2000w, but without WiFi built in. That model is not planned for use in North America. 

Hope this clears things up!

[Reggie]

Liz,

That answers my questions.

Thank You

Reggie

[C0RR0SIVE]

One would think it would be an option... /shrugs/ marketing is all I can say about that. -.-

[C0RR0SIVE]

I suspect there are minimal differences between the 2000 and 2000w in that respect.

[maratsade]

never mind...