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RonInMaine
Sophomore

Dish alignment issue?

Is it possible to test and/or tweak a dish alignment on my own?

 

Here's the issue I am having.  When the dish was installed, we had great signal strength -- usually over 100.  We rarely lost service, even during snowstorms and rain storms.

 

That was about 18 months ago.

 

However, our signal strength has gradually decreased over time to where it is in the 50's and 60's.  Now, we lose service during even the lightest rain. 

 

My first thought is that the dish has slipped over time.  Does this happen? How do I test for that and fix it?

 

Thanks,

Ron.

12 REPLIES 12
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@RonInMaine 

 

The reps can run remote diagnostics on your HughesNet equipment to determine if there is an alignment issue.  Just be sure to leave your HughesNet modem plugged in so that they have the ability to do so.  

 

The reps are on M-F from approximately 9AM to 5PM EST.  It's likely that you'll hear from one either today or tomorrow, and they'll let you know whether they see anything awry when they reply.    

 

To answer your original question, though, no.  Though you can see the signal strength, it doesn't really show the whole picture, which the reps can see while performing said remote diagnostics.  As well, any adjustments that may need to be performed need to be done by a qualified technician, both because it's not as easy as it may seem, and because of the Terms of Service.  

 

Again, you'll hear from a rep soon.  Hope this helps.  🙂      

Thank you.  That makes sense.  I'll wait to hear from them, and call them if I don't hear.

 

Thanks,

Ron.

HI Ron,

 

I see it's your first post here, so welcome to the community! Gabe is correct, HughesNet equipment repairs (especially concerning the dish) can only be handled by an authorized HughesNet technician.

 

I pulled up your account and ran diagnostics on your site, and first thing I see is you're currently out of your monthly Service Plan Data. Fortunately, it will reset in 1 days and 10 hrs according to your System Control Center (SCC, www.systemcontrolcenter.com). When your data replenishes then, your speeds will go back to normal.

 

The other thing I noticed is you have 11 devices connected to your 2.4 GHz network, and of those 11 devices, 3 have poor device signal strength at this moment. Two of those poorly performing devices are Microsoft devices, and their MAC addresses end in a1 and ae. The third poorly performing device is from Samsung. If you're using any of those three to gauge your overall internet experience, I suggest checking your device settings to ensure they're fully updated and optimized, or using a different device.

 

Now even if those three devices' signals were good like the rest of the 8 devices on your 2.4 GHz network, you'll have to take into account the wifi congestion on your network.

 

 

This illustrates how the 25 Mbps download speeds we deliver can get divided among all devices connected to your network. This will also include the two other devices on your 5 GHz network. For troubleshooting purposes, try leaving one computer/laptop directly connected to the HughesNet modem and see how the service fares. If you find yourself losing connectivity even then, please go to your SCC and click "System Status" at the top of the screen once you're in a period of no connectivity. Let me know the state code; it will read 0.0.0 if all is functioning normally. 

 

  Your cooperation, patience, and understanding are much appreciated.

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.

Slow performance? Click me!

Hello Liz,

 

Thank you for your quick response.

 

It's not the performance of devices or even the speed of the connection that I am inquiring about.  It's the sign al strength as reported on the "System Status" page.  For instance, right now it is 56.  This is typical for what I am seeing now, although sometimes it does go into the low 60's.

 

When the system was first installed, the signal strength was always in the high 90's or low 100's, except during a storm.

 

The problem that I am experiencing, which I assume is related to the signal strength, is that I am now losing service ("System Status" reports no service and error receiving and/or sending data) even in light rain.  During the months after the initial installation, when signal strength was high, I rarely lost service, even during snowstorms and heavy rain.  During torrential downpours or blizzard conditions I would lose service, but that was rare.

 

Thank you,

Ron.

Hi Ron,

 

Thank you for that additional info. Signal strength can vary, this is normal--as long as it's 30+ the system is working.

 

Next time you lose connection, please go to the SCC and note the 3 numbers that make up the state code and post them here in your thread. The state code will indicate what the system status is during this loss in connectivity, and can help us find the root cause.

 

Your cooperation, patience, and understanding are much appreciated.

 

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.

Slow performance? Click me!

Thank you.  I will copy and paste the numbers next time it goes out in the rain.  Again, I assume it is going out because of the rain -- my issue is that it is now happening even during light rain, where it used to hardly ever go out unless there was a particularly heavy storm.  So, the issue is not that it is going out -- I understand why it goes out in a storm -- but that it is going out much more often and more easily during the storms.  The number and duration of outages has risen proportionally as the signal strength has decreased.

 

Thank you,

Ron.

The signal strength is really a 'quality factor', or inverse digital bit error rate, so any kind of standing wave created by a reflected (e.g., from foliage) or refracted (e.g., from raindrops, humidity) signal can significantly lower the number. You may want to make sure no trees or foliage have slowly grown into the field of view of the dish. As a guide: The center field of view is not directly down the beam that the tranceiver is mounted on, but about 20-30 degrees above it and within a cone of around 45-50 degrees around that.


* 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.

Thank you.  This is helpful. I'm going to see if I can climb up there and get an idea of where the line of sight is, an whether something may be interfering.  Thanks.

Oooh... please be careful.


* 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.

When I say, "I'm going to see if I can climb up there," I really mean that my son-in-law is going to climb up there 🙂  He does ladders every day.

I still have a large TV antenna on my roof that sometimes gets rotated by a heavy wind. Needs a 30' extension ladder to get to (2 floors + attic). I really hate going up there.

 

Edit: The real kicker is that since OTA TV went digital, my best shot is only 2 local channels because of terrain and only when the atmospherics are right. Other than that I have to wait for an inversion and use it for TV DXing.


* 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.

Good morning Ron, 

 

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.

 

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.

Slow performance? Click me!