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gonzalezcook
New Poster

Data usage and speed

I am pretty new to HughesNet. The first month everything went well - we watched Netfilx and did our regular internet activities (including online school) without running out of data til close to the end of our billing period. So, I thought we didn't need to be very careful about our data. But, now we we are on our second month and on day 2 we were out of data after just 2 Netflix shows. Is this representative of how our data will be used up so quickly? Also, when our speed is reduced after using up the anytime data, does the speed stay the same so there is no point in being careful with our data usage? Or will the speed continue to go down as we keep using data? Thanks for any help you can give me. I am new to satelitte internet.
7 REPLIES 7
Liz
Moderator
Moderator

Hi gonzalezcook,

Welcome to the HughesNet community and thanks for posting! As noted in your confirmation e-mail, for your first 20 days, your data will reset every night. This is done as a courtesy to allow all your devices to update that may have not been connected to the Internet for a while. 

Moving forward, you should pay attention to how any device connects to the internet. You have 10 GB available for your Anytime Bytes on your Prime Plus plan. We suggest setting your Netflix playback option to SD, as HD playback can use up to 3 GB an hour.

You do have SmartBrowsing available, which allows you to do basic internet browsing and e-mailing despite exceeding your data. However, heavy usage consisting of streaming media, large downloads, and HTTPS traffic will be throttled.

I've sent you some free tokens so you can try these additional tips for data management:

Keep in mind there are countless factors that can use your data:
- more devices are capable of connecting to the internet: phones, tablets, gaming consoles, SmartTVs, and even refrigerators can connect wirelessly to the internet. Keep track of what devices you leave running on Wi-Fi.

- automatic-updates: your computer and any other programs you use will often keep working in the background, even if you're not actively using that program, in order to keep your system/program up-to-date. Anti-virus programs will periodically use your internet connection to check back with their malware database for any updates. You should have an option to turn off auto-updates and/or schedule them for a later time.

- multimedia content: Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, news sites, and other websites will contain videos, animated gifs, and sound clips that may start playing as soon as you land on the site. So much content, so easily available almost everywhere on the internet. For starters, try disabling auto-play video on Facebook:https://community.hughesnet.com/hughesnet/topics/how_to_disable_autoplay_videos_on_facebook or adjusting your Netflix playback quality to SD: https://help.netflix.com/en/node/87

-DirecTV On Demand or the Dish Hopper can use A LOT of data, you may want to disconnect it when not in use.

- more data sources can be found here, as posted by a fellow community member: https://community.hughesnet.com/hughesnet/topics/data-usage-sources-common-and-not-so-common

The most important tool to download is the Status Meter, available in the Customer Support Center, so download that if you haven’t already: supportcenter.myhughesnet.com

Alternatively, you can check your usage in your System Control Center at 192.168.0.1 in your browser.

Finally, you may want to look into using a third-party data monitoring program to help you pinpoint the programs on your PC that use the most data. Community members have suggested and used GlassWire, so feel free to ask them for tips on using it: https://www.glasswire.com

If you have additional questions, please let us know, we're here to help.

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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Gwalk900
Honorary Alumnus

10 GB Anytime bytes equals 10,000 MB for use between the hours 8am to 2am daily for the entire month. That averages out to a very meager 333 MB per day usage on average for that time period.

While streaming can be done, it must be done very sparingly, at SD or lower resolutions and with a very close eye on the usage meter.

Usage meters: There are three of them.

#1: SCC meter: (System Control Center)

The following meter resides "inside" your modem. It can be accessed by entering 192.168.0.1 into your browsers address bar.

This display shows remaining data in Anytime, Bonus Bytes and purchased Token Data allowances.

The "resolution" of the meter is .1 GB (100 MB) and as such it will round up or down to the nearest 50 MB.

The SCC page also gives other important information including refill date and system condition and any active errors by the color of the two icons at the top center of the page.


#2: Download Status Meter:

The Download Status Meter is a utility that can be downloaded from here:

http://my.hughesnet.com/myaccount

Once downloaded and installed it resides on your computers systray on the lower right of your screen.

It too shows remaining allowances for all three data categories as well as indicators of if use of Token Bytes or SmartBrowse features are active. There is also a "usage curve" indicator to tell you if you are using data a rate that will cause you to FAP before your usage period refills.


#3: myAccount Meter:

The meter above can be viewed after logging in here:

http://my.hughesnet.com/myaccount

IMO this is the most accurate of the usage meters reading down to the single MB.

It also shows remaining amounts of Anytime, Bonus Bytes and Token data. It also provides one method of purchasing additional data in the form of "Tokens" by clicking the Buy Tokens button at the lower right.


In addition to the usage meters there are also two "History" displays. These displays are not real-time meters but have a delay factor built in.

The first of these is a secondary function of the Download Status Meter listed as #2 above:

This is a look back at  one week, two weeks, 30 or 60 day periods.


The second history display is available after login at http://my.hughesnet.com/myaccount click on USAGE and selecting HISTORY:

Display period options range from a rolling 24-hour period and extend to week, month or two month periods

Those are the extent of the Hughes supplied usage/data "tools".


As Liz mentioned in her reply, Glasswire is a third party program used by many of us. It comes in a free and paid version, the free version works well for out purposes. It only tracks and displays the data used on the computer that it is installed on. Multiple Windows computers will require that it be installed on each. It will not track the data used by other devices connected to your network.

Here are some suggested settings:

(click on picture for larger image)


Understanding the results:


Another example of usage:


Thus far we really have looked at a "network" consisting of single computer connected directly to the Hughes modem.

The entire network looks like this:

The above while only having a single "connection path" is more complicated than it appears;

Each computer has 65,536 com ports ... each has the potential to "share" your Hughes data.

Some of those connections are easily "seen", if you open a web browser, you use port 80. Open a email client program and you use 2 more, one each for incoming and outgoing email.

Programs that are open can be seen, you know they are running and likely using data. In addition to programs there are "processes". These are routines that run in the background  ... unseen ... but in many cases using data.

Glasswire will show the data used by both programs and processes ... on the computer upon which it is installed.

Having a router however really complicates things as it multiplies the potential number of "connection paths" in several ways ... 

It changes our simple network above to something that looks like this:


The number of potential wired LAN post has increased to four, Each can have a computer connected, each of those bringing their own 65,536 com ports.

The router also adds at least one wireless frequency that will allow multiple wireless devices to connect to the router and through that shares your Hughesnet data allowance.

There are any number of security issues associated with the proper setup of the routers internal settings and permissions as well as each wireless frequency that is available.

In point of fact there are three areas of use when a router is added:

#1: The router itself;

Many routers have internal functions that is enabled are capable of using considerable data on their own:

These can include "Protective Services":


And 'Cloud and Sync" services:


Setting up proper wireless security is mandatory:


Choosing to have a router at the heart of your network particularly when you have a ISP with data caps demands a very careful review of all router settings so that at least the items on this short list are attended to:


Router GUI username and password changed from default

All Guest Accounts disabled

WPS disabled

Remote Access disabled

WPA2 Personal wireless security be enabled on all wireless channels


I would truly encourage you to obtain a router that allows you to track data by device. If you have a Router, ALL data that passes through your Hughes system passes through your router.

Data tracking at the router level makes tracking "missing data" so much easier:


By device:


By Statistics:


While Hughes does not directly support "networkind" (with the exception of a single DLink router) we here in the Community can help you with any questions and concerns you may have.

Feel free to post any you may have.

gonzalezcook
New Poster

Thanks so much for all the information.  This should help me alot. 🙂
gonzalezcook
New Poster

Thanks so much.  I will study this - I'm very glad to have all that information.

I’m very worried now that I’ve changed over because my grandkids love to dream Ryan’s toy review and mind craft and I have shows on Netflix I watch. I’m thinking 10 GB is nothing and I just had my installation today and I’m thinking about cancelling it and keeping my unlimited 6 MBPS. I love the 10 GB and how fast but just the 30 minutes I was Netflix on the lower HughesNet I used almost 1GB. I feel we should have unlimited on the weekends. Who is going to be up at 2 AM until 8 AM??
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@Jimmydz

 

Streaming Netflix in HD can use around 3GB per hour.  With a 10GB plan, that's a little over three hours of HD streaming and your Service Plan Data will be used up for the month.  Streaming in SD uses about 700MB per hour, and LD about 350MB per hour, which with a 10GB plan is a little over 14 and 28 hours, respectively.  Also, this is ONLY the streaming.  Anything else you do on the the net, including the devices you use keeping up to date, will use data, so those amounts are really only theoretical, not real world.    

 

To save as much data as you can, your best bet is to set your streaming definition to no higher than Standard Definition (SD), which is DVD quality.  With Youtube, you can do this with each video (480p), and it will eventually learn your preference.  For Netflix, the instructions are here... https://help.netflix.com/en/node/87

 

Also, during your first twenty days of service your data allotment is reset on a regular basis.  HughesNet does this as a courtesy.  It's done to allow users to update/upgrade their devices to current without it affecting what would be their normal monthly data allotment.  

 

In addition, HughesNet does not offer a thirty day trial period.  Cancelling is subject to an Early Termination Fee.  

 

One additional thing:  When you use all of your data your speed is throttled due to your service being subject to the Fair Access Policy (FAP).  For some, that throttled speed is still enough to stream in SD, but the speed can vary, so it's not guaranteed that you'll be able to do this.  

Liz
Moderator
Moderator

You're welcome! Don't hesitate to drop by the community again if you need additional help.

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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