SCAM!!

[Froemke]

This Internet is a scam. When I signed up for it the rep told me it would work good for streaming Netflix and I can watch about a movie and a half before my gigs are gone and they want me to buy tokens for more gigs! I have never had internet that restricts you like this! It is a total scam! I hope no one else gets fooled by their commercials that tel you it’s unlimeyed high speed internet. That is false advertisement! I will be getting rid of this awful excuse for an internet company as soon as I can get different company to bring me theirs!

[maratsade]

It's neither a scam nor false advertising.  It's satellite internet, which is limited bandwidth that has to be shared amongst subscribers.  Subscribers need to learn to budget their alloted bandwidth so they can have enough to do what they want.  Satellite also has latency that can't be avoided; this, along with other things like congestion, can affect your viewing experience. 

All of this information is available on the Hughesnet website and as part of the Hughesnet subscriber agreement, which is also available on the website. As a consumer, it is your responsibility to conduct research before investing in a product or service. 

---

This is a tech support site; if you would like help with maximising your internet experience, please start a new topic under Tech Support and explain the issues you are experiencing, and give people a chance to help you. 

Froemke wrote:

---

[Froemke]

Their commercial says unlimited high speed internet. That is false advertising. It works great when you have gigs to use but when them gigs run out after maybe 2 movies if gets fuzzy or constantly buffs.

[maratsade]

Yep, that's what their commercial says, and it's not really false advertising, because it refers to your not getting cut off when you run out of your allotted data.  What happens is, your speed is throttled, so it's much slower, but your data is still available.  You can still do normal stuff with slow speeds, like check email and get on websites, and some lucky people can also stream a bit, though most can't. 

This information is on the HN website, and this is how they explain it there:  If you exceed your monthly plan data, you will experience reduced data speeds until the start of your next billing period. Reduced speeds will typically be in the range of 1 - 3 Mbps and may cause Web sites to load more slowly or affect the performance of certain activities, such as video streaming or large downloads/uploads.

If you have a small data package, like 10 GB a month, that may not be enough for streaming, as it'd be consumed fairly quickly. 

Satellite internet is not ideal for streaming because of the latency and the limited bandwidth.  Still, it gives internet access to people who may not have any other choices.  Do you have anything else you can use? 

[Froemke]

I have the 20g plan and was told by the representative when I signed up that I would be fine to stream Netflix. One of my questions for him was if it will become fuzzy when I use the 20 and he said it wouldn’t.

[maratsade]

Well, we may be getting somewhere here... When did you have the service installed?  If it's been 6 months or less, the reps here can pull your sales call and see whether the sales agent set the appropriate expectations.  I hope you're within the 6 month range.  If you are, you should request a sales call review.

Also, is your Video Data Saver turned on or off?  This is something that regulates the quality of streaming, and the purpose is to downgrade the quality so not too much data is consumed. The default is ON, but if you turn it off, your system may play better but it will eat a ton of data.  It can be accessed either through the HughesNet Usage Meter (a good app to have!) or through your account (which you can access from this site). 

So, basically, with the Video Data Saver turned off, your stuff may not buffer, but the data will be gone very quickly.

Also, there's buffering when there's congestion.  After 5 pm, and on weekends and holidays, when people are home and everyone wants to stream stuff, pretty soon we're all dealing with congestion and can't watch anything.  That's just the reality of limited bandwith, I'm afraid.   (I work around this by using a service called PlayOn Cloud. I download stuff from Netflix and Hulu during the bonus hours, then watch it later -- no buffering). 

[GabeU]

---

@Froemke wrote:
I hope no one else gets fooled by their commercials that tel you it’s unlimeyed high speed internet. That is false advertisement!  

---

---

@Froemke wrote:
Their commercial says unlimited high speed internet. That is false advertising.

Nowhere in the ad(s) is it claimed that HughesNet offers unlimited high speed internet.  They offer high speed interent with no hard data limits.  In one screen it says "Unlimited" and "No Hard Data Limits", and at the bottom of the same screen it indicates that when the data limit is reached, the speeds will be reduced.  As well, at no time does the actress make a claim of "unlimited high speed internet".  In other words, no false advertisement.    

Regarding what you were allegedly told by the sales representative about Netflix streaming, and as intimated by maratsade, if it hasn't been more than a few months you can request a sales call review.  If the review results in a determination that appropriate expectations were not set by the sales representative, you may have recourse regarding the Early Termination Fee if you wish to cancel the service.  But, please be aware that only sales calls themselves are available for review, meaning the call in which the service was agreed to and the customer was signed up.  As well, the sales calls are normally available for review for about three or four months after said sales call is made, though sometimes they're available for a little longer than this.  You can request a sales call review by starting a new topic in the "myAccount and Billing" section, which you can do here.