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Extremely Slow Sppeds for 3 Months With No Resolution From Tech Support

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sandybair
Freshman

Extremely Slow Sppeds for 3 Months With No Resolution From Tech Support

I signed up for HughesNet Gen5 internet in March 2017.  At installation, and for the entire first month of having the service, I was consistently seeing download speeds of 40+ Mbps.  In May, we went over our data limit (50G), so the speed was throttled down to about 9-12Mbps.  We expected this, so we were not surprised.  In June, the same thing happened, we went over our data limit before the end of the month.  However, this time when the speed was throttled, it went down to 1-3Mbps - way too slow to be useful, so we immediately noticed.  I made my first call to technical support on 6/21 reporting the slow speeds, but they blew it off as me being over my data limit, weather, or some other nonsense.  I decided to wait for the data to renew in July and try again.  The data renewed, but the speeds NEVER did.  In July, I called technical support again regarding the slow download speeds. After several hours of arguing with them on the phone, they agreed to send out a new router.  That didn't fix the problem.  I called back.  After several more hours of arguing with them, they finally agreed to send out a technician.  He showed up at 5:30PM on a Tuesday when he was scheduled to arrive between 11AM and 2PM.  He was at my home until 8:30PM.  He replaced the router for a second time, replaced the dish, replaced the wiring - he replaced EVERY piece of equipment that could possibly be replaced and could not get the download speed to come in any better than the 1-3Mbps consistently.  Basically, we'd get one decent test (usually in the 10-15Mbps range) for every 5 dismal tests (in my normal 1-3Mbps range).  He left that night stating that he would go home and research to see if there were any firmware updates or other options we could try and that he would return the following day at 3PM.  He never showed up!  I called HughesNet technical support, the dispatcher, and the technician's cell phone.  The dispatcher finally called me to say that he didn't have a clue what else to try and that there was nothing he or his technician could do to help me any further.  I called HughesNet SEVEN MORE TIMES in July and August and STILL have no resolution!!  In August, I used up 75% of my 50GB on the phone with technical support running speed tests to prove that I have an issue!  I finally got my account escalated to the Tier 3 support, and was told that the issue was likely due to the fact that HughesNet oversold the satellite for Gen5 users that I am currently on and that I needed to be moved to a different satellite and all would be well again.  The Tier 3 support technician that called back said that wasn't the case at all - that it was likely due to "network" issues.  I'm not sure what "network" issues could possibly be, if they aren't related to an overcrowded satellite, but he said the Engineering department would be looking into it and call me back.  Today is the day for my callback, and the first thing I'm told is that I'm having speed issues because I'm over my data limit!!!  This is RIDICULOUS!!  I purchased the highest package available - over $100 a month, and that is what I've been paying every month for service that I haven't been able to actually use (other than to run speed tests to prove that I can't use it) for 3 months now!  What kind of service is this??  I was guaranteed a minimum download speed of 25Mbps, and I'm getting 1 to 3 Mbps!  I'm being completed ripped off, and I see no end to this in sight.  I am completely at my wit's end here.  I am an IT professional who needs to be able to work from home from time to time, but that is impossible with speeds this slow! 

27 REPLIES 27
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@sandybair

 

Perhaps I'm not understanding, but when one runs out of data and goes into FAP the speed is throttled to around 1 - 3Mbps.  This is the normal FAP speed.  There is no 9-12Mbps FAP speed.  If you were getting 9Mbps to 12Mbps while in FAP, the test was either skewed or it was a fluke.  Again, the normal FAP speed is around 1 - 3Mbps.  In addition, speeds are not guaranteed.

 

With regard to your data being used up quickly, there are things you can do to help with this.  Install an adblocker, like Adblock Plus, for your browsers.  In Windows 10 turn off syncing, turn off "Updates from more than one place", and turn off or uninstall OneDrive.  

 

You can install Glasswire on Windows based computers to see just what, on that computer, is using data, and how much data each program/app/service is using.  It only monitors the data of the computer it's installed on, so it has to be installed on each one.  Glasswire is only for Windows based PCs.   https://www.glasswire.com/

 

If you stream, make sure to do so conservatively, and to save data, make sure to do it in SD or LD, not HD.  HD can use around 3GB per hour.  

 

Lastly, the 25Mbps speed is the speed of the service plan when one has data.  The speeds are not guaranteed, but if you have low speeds while still having data available there may be a problem, and there are steps to take to get the ball rolling to verify it, determine the cause and fix it.  But, FAP speeds are generally between 1Mbps and 3Mbps.   

Yes, I'm sure the 9-12 could have been a fluke, as that was probably only once that I tested it during the "throttled" phase.  At that point, we were getting normal "unthrottled" speed of 40-45Mbps, so I really didn't care what my throttled speed was - and still don't.  I know how to manage my data.  The two months we went over were accidents where I forgot to remove my 11-year-old's Netflix from the wifi and he sucked up all of our data before the month was over.  That's not my complaint.  My complaint is that on that 3rd month the speed throttled down to 1-3Mbps and NEVER went back up - not even when the data renewed.  The speed of 25Mbps download IS guaranteed - that's what they advertise on the Gen5 service.  I also understand that this actually translates to a minimum speed of more in the 16-20Mbps, which I would also be fine with at this point.  I literally just ran 3 speed tests with "throttled" download speeds.  Here's what I got:  0.32Mbps down, 1.05Mbps up - 0.30Mbps down, 1.77Mbps up - 0.70Mbps down, 2.26Mbps up.  These were all run on the my.hughesnet.com speed test site, so they were recorded into the system and the tech support people are able to see this.  These aren't unusual numbers for me.  In fact, I got very similar speeds during the "unthrottled" periods the past 3 months.  

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@sandybair

 

In order to address the speed concerns, the reps will need some speed tests to be performed.  With this said, though your speeds indicate that there is an issue and it needs to be addressed and will be, just for future reference, the speeds of Hughesnet's service are not guaranteed.  The 25Mbps speed of Gen5 is not guaranteed.  This is explained on Hughesnet's website, in their terms of service, and on their advertisements.  Again, though, a speed like you are experiencing indicates and issue and needs to be addressed.  

 

Also, though you have already run some speed tests, this Community is a different avenue of receiving help, and some speed tests with the protocols listed below will need to be run to address the issue.

 

With this said, if you are presently in FAP (out of data), it would be a waste of time to perform the tests.  If you are presently in FAP, you should wait until your data resets and then perform the tests.  You can see if you are out of data by looking at the Hughesnet Usage Meter, by signing into the Hughesnet myAccount site, and by clicking on "My Usage" on the upper right while in this Community.  If it says your "Service Plan Data" is 0%, you're out of data.  If your "Service Plan Data" and your "Bonus Zone" data are at 0%, you are out of data for both time periods (8AM - 2AM and 2AM - 8AM).     

 

The speed test protocols are in the following macro.  

 

 

To help the Hughesnet Customer Service Reps get a head start on your speed concerns, you should create a testmy.net account and perform 3-5 tests during different parts of the day while signed into your testmy.net account. Then share the account results link with us here.

Please keep in mind that Hughesnet will only accept testmy.net and the official Hughesnet speed test results. Tests from other sites like speedtest.net are not accepted due to the compression technologies and latency that satellite deploys.

Most important points to remember during this test:
-do the tests while directly connected to the HughesNet modem with a LAN cable (NO third party Router or Wireless devices can be used)
-use the 25MB size download test file 

-If testing upload instead of download, you must use a 4MB size upload test file
-space each test at least 5 minutes apart
-post your results URL here, it may look something like http://testmy.net/quickstats/C0RR0SIVE


For a more in depth guide on running the tests, please visit: http://customer.kb.hughesnet.com/Pages/7001.aspx

The Reps are on M-F from approximately 8AM to 5PM Eastern. They will be the ones to address your speed issues, but they will need these tests to do so.

   

C0RR0SIVE
Associate Professor


@sandybair wrote:

The speed of 25Mbps download IS guaranteed - that's what they advertise on the Gen5 service.  


Fine Print on Advertisements:
speeddisclaimer.JPG

Section 1.1 of Subscriber Agreement:
speeddisclaimer2.JPG

Section 13.1 of Subscriber Agreement:
speeddisclaimer3.JPG


Amanda
Moderator

Hello sandyblair,

 

Welcome to our community and thank you for your post. I apologize for the difficulties in getting your performance concerns resolved so far, but I am sure I we can resolve this together. In order to further understand the kinds of speeds you are getting, our recommended next step is to follow the instructions for speed testing provided by GabeU. 

 

~Amanda

As I said, I understand that speeds will vary from the "guaranteed minimum" of 25Mbps download - but if they are going to vary all the way down to less than 1Mbps WITH all of my data available for the month, then there IS a problem!  There is no way that I can believe that the first two months I was getting 40+ Mbps download speeds on average and am now supposed to believe that if it falls to 1-3Mbps on average WITH data available that this is the best I can expect.  If that is the case, then it should have been explained as such when I signed the contract.  Some variance in speeds is expected with satellite internet - I work in IT, so I'm not ignorant to how this works - but there is no excuse for the poor service I've been experiencing.  Had I known this, I would have stuck with the ridiculous excuse for DSL that services our area and provides 1-1.5 Mbps download speeds consistently for free!  I have done all of my speed tests on the HughesNet site, so they're all available for the customer service reps to view.  I will, however, do another set today now that my data has renewed and post a link to the results here for you guys to see.  I am still waiting on a call back from the engineering reps, who had promised to call again yesterday with an update.  So, you guys are basically my last hope for getting this to work before I completely give up and ask to be released from my contract.

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

There is no "guaranteed minimum" speed, as has been shown.  

 

With that said, I hope you're successful in improving your speed to a more amenable level.  

OK, so here are the results of my speed tests on myhughesnet.com - which is where they have been advising me to run them in order for them to see my results on the numerous tech support calls.  With the exception of the tests run on 9/1 - these were all run while I had data remaining, so there shouldn't have been any issues with my bandwidth being limited for any reason.  As you can see, on 8/2 the speeds were good - that day I was on a call with the level 2 tech support team who stated that my wireless extender was likely my issue - nevermind the fact that it was still plugged in and running while those tests were run and showing good speeds.  On 8/4, the speeds were still good, but on 8/6 we were back down to abismal speeds.  What happens is, I can't get on the internet because the speeds are so slow.  I call tech support again and they "send some signals" to my router and ask me to run speed tests.  I will get one decent speed test sometimes - maybe even 2, which makes me look like an idiot who's complaining about nothing.  Then, I refuse to get off the line until they see that those "normal" speeds are far from normal experience for me, because the next few tests will show how slow it actually is on a normal basis.  My speeds are all over the map, but the vast majority of the time, they are in that lower end - with or without remaining data on my account.  I understand this can be hard to troubleshoot - as it's also EXTREMELY difficult to prove from my end when every now and then the speed will spike just long enough to show on a speed test and then drop back down to nothing again by the time I'm off the phone with tech support.  For instance, this morning, I ran the two speed tests, exported the results and then attempted to download Greenshot just so that I could attach a screenshot of my results.  I couldn't even download the file - I had to disconnect from the Hughesnet modem and connect to my Centurylink DSL modem, which gets 1.5MBps download only.  The download took all of about 10 seconds on the Centurylink modem, so we're not talking about a large file at all.  

 

2017-09-10 10_43_29-myhughesnetspeedtest.csv - Excel.png

Oh, and just for the record, the wireless extender and EVERY OTHER DEVICE has been disconnected from the HughesNet router since 8/2, because I unplugged them all as soon as I got off the phone with tech support that day.  Nothing has been connected to it other than the desktop pc that is directly connected since that time.

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@sandybair

 

I hope that something can be done for you.  

 

 

So, are you saying you have no advice or assistance you can provide?  I thought that was the purpose of this forum.  That was the entire reason I posted them here.

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@sandybair

 

I'm not a rep.  When it's speed related and it's determined that it's something that Hughesnet themselves will have to get involved with there's nothing I can do but lay out instructions for the speed tests that the reps on this forum will need to move forward.  

 

The reps are on M-F from approximately 8AM to 5PM EST.  

OK, gotcha.  Well, thanks for taking a look at least.  I hope they can offer some advice, because I really need a reliable high speed internet option and there's honestly nothing else in my area at the moment.  Extremely frustrating to say the least.

@Amanda

 

I have posted the requested speed test results.  Any idea when someone from tech support will actually look at them?  I've been waiting for a call back from the engineering department - who were supposed to call me with an update on 9/5 - but all I hear are crickets.

Hello sandybair

 

I apologize for the delay in response. We've noted your speed tests posted here and did receive an update from our engineering team recently.  Tomorrow (Thursday 9/14) our engineers will have completed network adjustments to improve performance on your beam. I believe it is best to put a hold on testing until tomorrow and let me know if you see any changes. I appreciate your patience while this was being worked on.

 

Thank you

Amanda

I just ran 2 more speed tests.  I see absolutely no improvement.  I still have 6GB of data remaining for the month, so it's not a data issue.  I still have not received any calls from tech support with updates on my open ticket or when this will be resolved.2017-09-16 17_50_55-myhughesnetSpeedTest.png

@Amanda - So far absolutely no improvement on my end.  I just reset the modem and tried 2 additional tests.  Here are my results:2017-09-16 18_07_43-myhughesnetMicrosoft Edge.png

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@sandybair

 

I don't know if you're on beam 68, but if so, the scheduled improvement on that beam didn't work, so they are still working on it.  

 

Either way, I'm sure the reps will continue to work with you to fix your speed issue.  

Thanks, @GabeU - good to know.  I'm sure that must be the case.

@Amanda - Any updates on the repairs to this beam??  I STILL have not received a callback from the engineering department or technical support, and they told me I would receive a call on September 5th.  I'm getting really tired of complaining, as I'm sure everyone at Hughesnet is getting tired of listening to me complain - but, SERIOUSLY!!!  Where is the customer service at this company??  Four MONTHS with subpar service??