Our Hughesnet connection is currently worse than dial-up. Right now I'm downloading MacAfee at 4.2kB/sec. If I click on Yahoo it takes the page a good 20 seconds to load. When I run the Hughesnet performance test I'm getting 11MB/sec but the stark reality is that I haven't achieved much over 1MB/sec over the last 3 days. Its almost like we're on the FAP program though we have 66% of our allowance remaining. Everything is green on the dashboard but we get periodic yellows on "Satellite receive status" and have to reset the modem to cure this.
Calls to customer service involve the same elementary troubleshooting that resolves nothing. The usual implication is that the server we're reaching must be busy so to test this I downloaded the same 56MB file on my phone and at 2bars of 4G it absolutely smoked Hughesnet. My phone had downloaded the file before Hughesnet had even loaded the webpage to the point where I could click "download".
What do I need to do to get some type of assistance as resetting the modem a thousand times per tech support isn't going to fix the problem. Not every server on the planet is coincidentally busy when I try to download "stuff" from it. I understand at peak times things slow down but 4 KB/sec? A 7MEG file has taken an hour and it's still not done!
Why does the speed test show such a high rate when real world downloads are so slow?Nearly all speed test sites are designed for best case scenarios (pumping data as fast as they can). As such, they can be misleading when compared to real world scenarios - this could be as simple as the McAffee site limiting its own speed based on its current capacity and basically it takes two to tango. For example, I just did a 452KB Windows update download that took about 30 seconds despite the fact my speeds are fine (at around 16 Mbps). What speed tests are typically measuring is capacity not speed.
Chris,
Sorry for the delay in replying. Yes, we do have a Belkin router. It's about 2-3 years old and we only use it for wireless. I'd gladly try a new router but is the model you have wireless.?
The real problem with the customer support experience is that they never see any problems. Not sure why the notes include bypassing the router. We've tried it but I don't remember it ever making a difference. Usually the support experience dies on the vine because there is no "proving" that the service is slow. Over the course of our Hughesnet experience, we've had the following symptoms (obviously slow service being the prime symptom).
Frequent loss of service which only a reset of the modem will fix.
Frequent "Page cannot be displayed" which a refresh or two will usually cure.
Sporadic yellows on the system status page as described in my original post. Modem reset fixes this. Usually one reset, sometimes two.
Mysteriously disappearing anytime and bonus data which I suspect to be a different problem. Yes, I have robust internet monitoring and A+B doesn't always equal C when I look at our useage.
Right now my daughter is trying to download a game update from Google Playstore. It's about 70 meg and has been downloading for about 40 minutes now. I have strong doubts that Google is that severely bandwidth limited and that the problem is with the Google internet empire and not my Hughesnet system.
I appreciate your time Chris and am willing to try anything you can recommend. We've been dancing this dance for years now and all I want is reliable service. I'm not expecting Fios speeds but I do kind of expect to at least have a useable service, which is borderline most days. In fact, just tried YouTube. I can watch low resolution but any HD is buffering every few seconds.
Pete,
The model they have is wireless. It's most likely a D-Link DIR619L. I have it and it's good router.
With regard to your data loss, you can run a modem isolation test, of which the instructions are located here... https://community.myhughesnet.com/hughesnet/topics/data-drain-cannot-find-the-cause?topic-reply-list.... I can tell you from experience, though, that in every instance of data loss that I have seen discussed on here, it always turns out to be something that is actually using the data. The trick is finding out what it is and why.
Gabe,
I agree absolutely. Initially we were losing literally gigs of data but isolated it to my sons Xbox requiring almost constant updates. That said, it didn't explain all of the data. It became a crusade to monitor the data (I use Networx) but every month there are I'd say an average of 100-150 megs I can't account for. Yes, maybe Networx isn't completely accurate. Maybe the fidelity of the Hughesnet monitoring isn't 100% and to be honest, I've given up worrying about it.
I'm not being dismissive, I just wish I could get speeds reliable enough where I'd have to worry about data loss!! On a bad day it'd take 100 years to burn through 50 gig.....
Pete,
Small differences is what one thing says compared to another seems to be par for the course, so to speak. For my system, I use Glasswire, but I can't totally rely on it as there are times when it is WAY off, though more often than not in my favor. I believe the differences are caused by compression, local traffic, and whatever else the system does.
I don't have anything other than computers, and only use one on a regular basis, and that's a desktop, so normally I don't use a router. I use a router and my laptop maybe 10% of the time. I'm lucky enough (when it comes to monitoring data, that is) that I don't have to worry about all of those extra things that can use data. I've seen people on here having a terrible time finding whatever it is using data, and it seems so often that it comes down to either an X-box or some type of Apple product, and once in a while a satellite TV receiver. Those Apple devices surely do seem to use a lot of data if one isn't watching carefully or doesn't have it set up just perfectly. A gazillion things to set. LOL.
I'm glad you figured out what was chewing through yours with regard to the X-box.
In addition, I hope that the new router helps to alleviate some of your problems, but I'm not so sure that it will. I guess we'll have to see. Yellows on the SCC are a bit concerning. Again, though, we'll have to wait and see. Either way, it's still a good router.
Pete,
Just out of curiosity, did the router come with a little setup booklet? Mine did, but a person that received one a few months after me said there was no setup booklet in the package.
Also, if you did get the booklet, I wouldn't bother with that mydlink software it tells you to download. It's cloud based nonsense having to do with cameras and a waste of time and especially data, in my opinion.