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Cancelled service today after 16 months of service -steady decline of speed during FAP status <1Mbps

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hughesnetuser
New Member

Cancelled service today after 16 months of service -steady decline of speed during FAP status <1Mbps

I just wanted to post about my experience over the last 16 months with hughesnet for other potential customers contemplating if hughesnet is right for you.  We had the 30 GB plan.  Our family of 6 routinely would use up all 30 GB in about the 6-7 days, leaving us in FAP status for the rest of the period.  Back in May 17 when we had the system installed, while in FAP status, we would still get the advertised download speed of "typically 1-3 Mbps", usually near the upper end of that range, which was very satisfactory.  Over time, I suspect as more subscribers were added to the new Gen5 satellite, I have seen a steady decline in download speed while in FAP status.  For the last few months, I've been testing our download speed several times a day while FAP'd, and have now come to expect something in the range of 400-600 kbps, nearly always <500 kbps during peak times of 4pm - late.   Browsing still works (slower), and some limited streaming is possible (reduced quality and many buffers), but in general the slow speed causes me too many complaints from family members who are frustrated with pages loading slow to be worth paying $125/mo for a 3 week long headache while in FAP status.  If we could stay within 30 GBs, I'd have no complaints.  Unfortunately, we cannot.  That is not Hughesnets fault though.  

 

Customer service did offer an upgrade to 50 GB discounted to $99, which I appreciated, but would still lead me to pay $125/mo for a service that would be unnacceptably slow for the majority of the month.  Today I made the decision that paying the $190 early cancellation fee versus continuing to pay the $1000 in future bills for my remaining 8 months of the 24 month contract, was the best decision for our home.  Fortunately, I've got other options as several new wireless providers have been making improvements and have good reviews.  Time will tell if this decision pays off or not.

 

In conclusion, my experience with Hughesnet has been mostly satisfactory with the exception of the steady decline in download speed while in FAP status over the last 16 months.  Speeds were as advertised while not FAP'd and from 2am - 8am.  As for download speeds while in FAP status, if my speed is indicative of other subscribers speeds while FAP'd, I feel that Hughesnet may be slightly optimistic when advertising that the download speed in FAP status is typically 1-3 Mbps.  I was satisfied with the 3Mbps I was getting back in May 2017, but had I been getting <0.5Mbps in FAP status in the first month of service, I would have cancelled before the end of the 30 day trial period.  

 

Best of luck.  

 

 

7 REPLIES 7
maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

"Our family of 6 routinely would use up all 30 GB in about the 6-7 days, leaving us in FAP status for the rest of the period."

 

You would, as for 6 users, a monthly allowance of 30GB translates to 5 GB per month per user, which would disappear very quickly, especially if the users expected the limited resources of satellite internet to function like terrestrial cable and wanted to stream.  50GB would have worked better (around 8GB per user per month) -- but you would have needed good data management and budgeting skills, plus reasonable expectations (streaming, for example, would be out).  Maybe large families need to have two accounts -- not sure if that's allowed, though. 

 

 

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV


@hughesnetuser wrote:

I was satisfied with the 3Mbps I was getting back in May 2017, but had I been getting <0.5Mbps in FAP status in the first month of service, I would have cancelled before the end of the 30 day trial period.


Not that it matters now, but you'd have been fairly disappointed had you wanted to cancel at the beginning, as there is, and was, no 30 day trial period.  The contract is in force from the moment the service is activated.  

 

Good luck with your new ISP.  🙂  

Hardy
Moderator

Hello hughesnetuser,

Thank you for reaching out to us. I am sorry about the decline in speeds and we are sad to see you go. We do greatly appreciate your kind words even though the service was not for you, but we do understand. I wish you the best of luck with your new ISP!

*Felicia*

ADR58
Freshman

We were at 30GB also and used it up real quick across the family.  We turned off DirectTV that used all our allowance almost overnight at the beginning!   So, we dropped to 20GB to save some money as the FAP speed was acceptable at the time and no data caps to worry about.  Now, the whole system is really slow after a year and well less than 1MBps.   No way can we stream anything and what takes a few minutes to download when within the 20GB realm and the early morning speed takes literally hours when in FAP mode.

Unfortunately, we have no choice as we can only get a poor Verizon signal and the cabel company refuses to extend their network 1 mile up our road to provide cable.  Considering we are in the 21st century and in the wealthiest country in the world and we all rely on internet these days and moreso in the future, the services in rural areas are appalling!   Hoping for better low earth orbit satellite service in the future to stop being raped by Hughesnet.

maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

"No way can we stream anything and what takes a few minutes to download when within the 20GB realm and the early morning speed takes literally hours when in FAP mode"

 

What were you expecting?  FAP mode reduces your speed considerably, so yes, you won't be able to download as fast. Learn to manage your data, teach your family to manage data, and accept that satellite internet is not for streaming.

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV


@ADR58 wrote:

Considering we are in the 21st century and in the wealthiest country in the world and we all rely on internet these days and moreso in the future, the services in rural areas are appalling!   


 

I'm just grateful that I can get decent internet service where I live. 

 

Nearly fourteen years on and ground based services haven't come any closer to installing the lines and equipment necessary to offer service here, so I'm grateful that HughesNet does.  And, while all of those ground based companies have improved their service to customers that are very easy to get to, HughesNet has done the same for those that aren't, and it costs HughesNet much more, per capita, to do so.  

Hardy
Moderator

hughesnetuser,

  It's been a while since we last heard from you, so we will close this thread. If you still have concerns, please start a new thread and include a detailed explanation so we can better assist you. Thank you!

*Felicia*