Streaming / data caps

Question

I called HughesNet a week or so ago (Case ID: 105921812) and after complaining about data caps and how unfair they were to rural broadband customers who already have to pay a premium for internet, I was told that streaming would not count against my data cap. Frustratingly I did not get the techs name. Regardless, I started streaming Amazon prime videos and now ten days into my usage period I've used up my data and access is pretty much worthless. HNet will say that I can still use the service but at a reduced speed but it is worthless. I can't VPN into work. Now 20 days without internet. My kids, 11 and 6, won't be able to use it for school projects.

What is the purpose of data caps? They should be against the law for users who live in a rural area and have no access to unlimited high broadband. You can't tell me it's to help with conjestion because a hundred new customers a day could sign up and they'd wlecome them all.

I wish I had an alternative because I'm furious and fed up with data caps on an already over-priced product. I can't use the internet like people who have unlimited. Every website, especially news websites, plays videos without clicking on them. Products I buy don't include manuals, you have to download them or go online and watch a how-to video. Th einternet should be FREE of data caps.

GabeU · Answer

RDBrown wrote:Didn't see all of your reply. &nbsp;There is no bottle-neck on those satellites; they are a relay point. The servers are on the ground.&nbsp;Nonsense.&nbsp; Satellites aren't simply a relay point, like nothing more than a mirror.&nbsp; You can have all the ground infrastructure you want, but each satellite has a finite throughput.&nbsp; The data caps are there to keep the service usable for everyone.&nbsp; Ditch the data caps and just about everyone will do what is in their nature to do with an unlimited service, which is stream.&nbsp; If enough people on the service tried to stream, that means the service slows to an absolute crawl for everyone, making it practically&nbsp;unusable for anything more than the most basic of browsing.&nbsp; That's why the data caps are there.&nbsp; The are a necessity.&nbsp;&nbsp;And that's as a whole.&nbsp; Keep in mind that the satellite is also divided into beams, and each beam can only carry so much data at any given time.&nbsp; The data caps MUST be in place.&nbsp; They are a fact of the technology.&nbsp;&nbsp;No data caps would be like trying to throw tens of thousands of cars per hour down a two lane highway.&nbsp; Sure, they'll move, but at a snail's pace.&nbsp; You limit the number and they can drive at a decent speed.&nbsp;&nbsp;It also costs what it does because it's the most expensive type of internet, per capita, to provide.&nbsp;

MarkJFine · Answer

Whoever told you that most likely said "For the first 20 days..." because your data caps are refreshed hourly, if not daily during that period to ensure the system is working properly.

As for getting rid of data caps, imagine if you will there's infinite bandwidth in a space-based system. It's not like you can just fly someone up on the shuttle and do system expansion on a regular basis. Then imagine if they don't, and people complain that their system is oversold because everyone on that gateway is streaming Netflix at the same time, bringing the acceleration system to it's knees.

...This is why there are data caps.

RDBrown · Answer

No mention of the first 20 days. I assumed this was a new thing as I've had the service for a while now. Just frustrated with unnecessary caps and high prices.

MarkJFine · Answer

unnecessary? I edited my response to address that. Please read it if you hadn't already.

RDBrown · Answer

Didn't see all of your reply. &nbsp;There is no bottle-neck on those satellites; they are a relay point. The servers are on the ground.&nbsp;

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