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Access during quarantine

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Chelliance
Freshman

Access during quarantine

Good afternoon.

 

  I am dealing with forced isolation after positive covid19 test. As a news producer, I work in a critical infrastructure industry as defined by DHS. My station has provided me with the necessary equipment and software at home to do my job, but the connection is an issue.  Any suggestions would be appreciated. Speed test is 2.32 mbps upload and < 1 download

 

 

20 REPLIES 20
MarkJFine
Professor

Your problem will be most likely the latency, not the speed, and there's nothing that can be done about the latency because... satellite.


* Disclaimer: I am a HughesNet customer and not a HughesNet employee. All of my comments are my own and do not necessarily represent HughesNet in any way.
C0RR0SIVE
Associate Professor

Due to latency, there will be delays between what you say, and others hear/see if you are trying to stream to your broadcast station.

If you are getting ~1.5Mbps to ~2.5Mbps the best you would be able to live-stream would be approximately 480, possible 720p.  I would consult with your studio on how to pre-set a resolution, as you won't get any faster upload.

Another possible option, depending on your role, pre-record and upload the footage for broadcast.

Download speed for broadcasting has minimal impact, if you're waiting on a queue from the broadcast station, you could possibly use landline phone service to get the information needed while broadcasting from home.

I do not need to stream anything. I need to be able to download clips for editing, and upload videos for transfer back. This is my speed test result from hughesnet

 

20200320_173230.jpg

maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

Try doing your work after midnight.  

 

During the day, the system is bogged down by all the people who are home in quarantine, or sheltered in place, or teleworking, plus all the kids going to school from home. Satellite internet is limited; you need to work around that as best you can. 

 

Chelliance wrote:

I do not need to stream anything. I need to be able to download clips for editing, and upload videos for transfer back. This is my speed test result from hughesnet

 

 


 

I understand, but I don't get to choose when news happens. My job requires I keep the people in my viewing area informed.  

 

Out of curiosity, I just applied an 8 GB token and rena the speed test with this result.  This is why I am asking for tech support help.   From 2  to 40.

 

20200320_185750.jpg

maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

Were you out of data before?  Speeds are much slower then. 

C0RR0SIVE
Associate Professor

maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

N/A

 

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@Chelliance 

 

There's not a whole lot that can be done for your speed when you've exhausted your allowance.  They've increased the speed for those who've done so and are throttled as much as they can during this COVID-19 problem, but there's only so much they can do.  

 

If you need much higher speed, you're going to have to keep buying tokens.  

You can also change your data plan. That refills your bucket, even if you downgrade.

 

Don't think this is a clever way to get free data, though. The system will only let you do this once or twice every few months before it figures out you're trying to "game the system".

 

But it does work.

C0RR0SIVE
Associate Professor


@C0RR0SIVE wrote:

I wouldn't suggest doing that... Borderline fraud, and can result in someone being locked into a higher service plan for a good while.


There's nothing fraudulant about it.  Changing plans.  Each plan starts anew.  If that is the way HughesNet designed it, that's on them.

 

You even get a new data bucket when you change satellites, though that requires a tech visit and a dish reposition.

 

I don't know about being locked into a higher plan.  The system will not let you change plans online more than a couple times.  After that, you have to talk to someone.  They can change it.

 

There is absolutely nothing in the plans that says you have to remain in a plan a certain amout of time.

 

But yeah, you are kind of gaming the system if you try to do this repeatedly.

 

But if you're desperate for data, as the OP seems to be, HughesNet seems to be okay with a one off every once in a while.

No, I shouldn't  have to keep buying tokens.  Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, max speed on Hughesnet was 25 mbps.  If data allowance was reached, that dropped severely- I was seeing between .5 and 2.5 mbps.   However, bonus speeds would remain around 25 until I reached 50gb, then it didn't matter what time I used the system, it severely throttled.

 

I've had Hughesnet for a couple of years, I know the speed patterns for my area. I'm not asking for blazing 100+ mbps like I'm connected to broadband, I am asking why their posted COVID19 policy doesn't appear to be in effect once data limit is reached.

 

20200321_050927.jpg

 

maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

We're in a severe crisis, and a lot of people around the country are in their homes, using the internet, and perhaps more and more will be added to this intense usage at home. Congestion has increased, and you're seeing the effects.Congestion is much more noticeable to those of us on satellite internet, but everyone is seeing it and many, even those on cable, are commenting on it.  The patterns you're familiar with have changed -- there are new patterns now.  


@Chelliance wrote:

No, I shouldn't  have to keep buying tokens.  Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, max speed on Hughesnet was 25 mbps.  If data allowance was reached, that dropped severely- I was seeing between .5 and 2.5 mbps.   However, bonus speeds would remain around 25 until I reached 50gb, then it didn't matter what time I used the system, it severely throttled.

 

I've had Hughesnet for a couple of years, I know the speed patterns for my area. I'm not asking for blazing 100+ mbps like I'm connected to broadband, I am asking why their posted COVID19 policy doesn't appear to be in effect once data limit is reached.

 


If you have bonus data available, you should still be getting normal speeds during the bonus period, even if you're throttled during the day.  If you're not, you should talk to technical support.

 

Even with the internet being overburdened, you shouldn't be getting such slow speeds if you are not throttled.

 

 

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@Chelliance 

 

You intimated that your speed was low, but you bought tokens and it brought the speed back up.  That's what data tokens do when you've exhausted your data.  The bottom line is, HughesNet is doing what it can, but the stress on the system is tremendous.  They aren't going to drop data caps, and they've done what they can with FAP speed, which, like anything else, can and likely has taken a hit due to the higher number of people online.  If your speed is not adequate after you've run out of data, the only thing you can do to bring that speed back up is purchase token data or wait until your data resets for the next month.  

 

If throttled speed when you run out of data is not your issue, please clarify what the issues is.

Okay.  Let me first start off by saying I understand we are a nation under siege by an unprecedented situation.  I think the vast majority of people don't understand how much worse it's going to get before it begins to get better, or just how far out that is.  We're all in this for the long haul. It will be months.  I don't feel I'm entitled to anything above and beyond what I'm paying for. I'm  simply trying to understand what my expectations should be so I can come up with a cost estimate for my company.  With that being said, here is my question:

 

The announcement by Hughesnet on March 18th said speeds would be increased even for those exceed their data cap.  I run out every month, and don't really mind the throttled speeds of 2mbps or less I have seen in the past 2 years.  I don't typically do a lot from home.  However, these are extraordinary circumstances in which I now find myself.

 

I need to work from home because I'm under mandate by my doctor since I'm likely positive and waiting to hear from the state. Those results will be sometime next week.  So for at least the next 5 days, I have to produce 4.5 hours of news from my living room so my anchors have something in the teleprompter to read to our viewers every morning.

 

Luckily, about half my work schedule will fall in the bonus zone time frame, but for the amount of time that doesn't, I need to know what my options going forward are to have something faster than 2mbps connection.

 

For the last 2 years, bonus and unthrottled speeds have been near 25mbps.  When testing my setup yesterday, I saw they were at my historically throttled 2mbps, not surprising as I reached my limit.  This is where my confusion comes in. 

 

How is this an increase to speeds even after reaching data limit as per announcement?  I thought perhaps it was due to congestion, which is why I applied a data token, to test.  Immediately, my speeds jumped to 40mbps.  That leads me to believe the 2mbps I experienced was throttled, which again is understandable. Can't just open the floodgates or the system would be overwhelmed completely.  But surely "increased speeds" must be more than 2mbps.  You can barely open a browser on that.

 

So I just need to know, is this working as intended.

 

I have to craft a capital expenditure request with justification, and right now I am being asked to find out what speeds I can expect so we can determine a work flow for the newsroom for the foreseeable future.

maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

"For the last 2 years, bonus and unthrottled speeds have been near 25mbps.  When testing my setup yesterday, I saw they were at my historically throttled 2mbps, not surprising as I reached my limit.  This is where my confusion comes in. 

 

How is this an increase to speeds even after reaching data limit as per announcement?"

 

HN can increase the throttled speeds -- but they can't change congestion, that is, the number of people on the network at the same time.  Congestion reduces speeds.  If the speeds are, say, 25Mbps, and you add more people to the mix, the speeds will reduce, because more people are using the system and slowing the speeds down, the same way that too many drivers on the freeway slow down everyone's speed, even though the speed limit is 70mph.

 

You are experiencing slower speeds because there is congestion.  There is now more congestion than you have experienced for the past two years, because there are now more people at home, like yourself, using the HN network.

 

You will have to tell your employers that speed, for you, will not be guaranteed at all and in fact may get even worse than you are experiencing now. 

 

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@Chelliance 

 

I understand your situation, but they've so far done what they can. 

 

One thing you have to keep in mind is that FAP speed isn't necessarily in linie with service speed.   What I mean is, some people who have mediocre service speed have great FAP speed, and some people who have great service speed have mediocre FAP speed, and the ever increasing strain on the system is going to make it worse. 

 

The increase in FAP speed will vary from person to person, beam to beam and gateway to gateway.  Some people may see it pretty good, while others may not see much of it at all, and again, as time goes on it's only going to get worse.  

 

Maybe they'll be able to do something for you, but I wouldn't put money on it.  Your speed as it is, including your FAP speed, is likely the best it's going to get for some time, and again, as time goes on it's likely going to get worse.  Upwards of one million or more of HughesNet's 1.4+ million customers are on two satellites with a rough combined throughput of 325Gbps.  That's a bottleneck that absolutely cannot be overcome, and with that ever increasing number being home and trying to stream their favorite movie or TV show, speeds, including FAP speeds, are going to take a major hit, though the extent felt will, again, vary.  Without that hit the increase in FAP speed would likely be seen by you, but that hit is happening.

Liz
Moderator
Moderator

Good morning Chelliance,

 

Thank you for posting, I'm sorry to hear what happened. I'm glad to see our community members coming to provide helpful insight regarding speeds and performance.  Please check your private messages (PM) in the top right corner of the community page as I've sent you a PM to further address your concerns.

 

Your patience and understanding are much appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Liz

 

If you have a tech or billing question and need help, please start a new thread in the appropriate board. Unsolicited Private Messages may not get replies.

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