Gen 5 FAP Speed not 3 Mbps

[ilmontgo]

Hello, I was a Gen 4 customer for a year and then was convinced to upgrade to Gen 5 when I called to cancel my service. One of the reasons I upgraded was that the sales person told me that after I used up my data, FAP bandwidth would be 3 Mbps. I ran out of anytime and bonus data early this month and have been in FAP mode 24/7 since. During this time, about 4 days now, speeds have been very slow (faster than Gen 4 FAP but not 3Mbps).

I've been testing with testmy.net randomly over this time period and the fastest I have observed is 1.5 Mbps, no matter whether during peak times or the middle of the night. I've read many topics here on speed testing and am aware of the standards requested:

• multiple tests with more than 5 minutes between them, throughout the day and especially during reduced performance.
• 25 MB download test and 3 MB upload test.
• Connected by ethernet.

These were not connected by ethernet and I reduced download sizes to 8 and 12 MB because the 25 MB test would take several minutes. I understand the reason we are told to test through ethernet - to eliminate a variable. But I would argue that this variable is already eliminated since I do get (faster) speeds comparable to other subscribers when on wifi but not in FAP. Although the "congestion" factor does seem to affect me more than others describe... but that's a different topic. I'll schedule auto tests over ethernet through the night for the exact data that will inevitably be requested.

I'd like to believe there is something that can improve this speed but I doubt it and am once again feeling misled. Wondering what speeds others are observing in FAP with Gen 5? If you're compelled to respond with "it says 'up to' 3 Mbps",  please offer a possible explanation as to why it is so consistently less than half of the "up to" speed.

Thanks in advance

[ilmontgo]

http://testmy.net/quickstats/ilmontgo

This will be updated with ethernet results.

[C0RR0SIVE]

Hughesnet Gen5 FAP speeds are stated as "speed of the Services may be reduced to as low as or lower than 1 Mbps"

http://legal.hughesnet.com/FairAccessPolicyGen5.cfm

I am sure monday that one of the reps will request a sales call review and see what was said during it.

[ilmontgo]

Thanks for your reply @C0RR0SIVE. That would be good.

[ilmontgo]

FYI, the speed tests are finished: http://testmy.net/quickstats/ilmontgo

Max speed over 15 hours of testing was 1.41 Mb. Looks like the throttle is 1.5 Mb instead of 3 Mb.

I suppose this doesn't really matter though as I read the Legal Fair Access Policy that's linked above and nowhere does it say 3 Mbps. I look forward to hearing the response to the review of the sales call because I'm sure they told me Gen 5 FAP was 3 Mbps.

[C0RR0SIVE]

Like I said, it will be monday before a rep here can request a sales call review, so it could be upto friday before you find anything out.

[Amanda]

Hi ilmontgo,

We're very sorry about this. I was able to locate the call where you were offered the upgrade to Gen5 and did indeed hear the agent state the "No Hard Data Limits" speed was up to 3Mbps. I scoured our knowledge articles and could not find this information being provided to the agent, so we will definitely be going back to them and ensuring they understand the features and specifications of the service.

Regarding the varying speeds after exceeding your allowance - traffic is categorized into different types, which is used to determine what our customers need most. When your allowance is exceeded, not only are your speeds slowed down, but certain activites may see further restriction (HD video, frequent file downloads, video chat). This prevents other customers who do have data from being affected by the few heaviest users. I recommend reading our network management statements here: http://legal.hughesnet.com/NetworkManagement.cfm

If you'd like to keep the Gen5 service, I can see what I can do as far as getting the price lowered because of the incorrect information you were provided by the representative. Should you wish to cancel, we understand and would definitely waive your early termination fee.

Thank you

Amanda

[ilmontgo]

Amanda, thank you for your prompt and thorough response and for the options you presented. Liz scheduled a service provider site visit for tomorrow (10/3) to evaluate my situation/other issues so I will proceed with that and see what they say. I will reconnect on this topic after the visit unless for some reason the site visit voids your offers; if this is the case, please let me know asap and I will cancel the site visit. - Ian

[C0RR0SIVE]

I am sure the offer will still be valid as it is a result of misinformation during a sales call, and not because of performance.

[Amanda]

Hi Ian

No, the site visit will not change my offers. Please let me know what happens

~Amanda

[ilmontgo]

@Amanda, Thank you.

The service provider came on time and replaced the radio (with a different model maybe?), verified line of sight and re-aligned. Then he found a slight crease in the rim of the dish and thought that could cause a fluctuating signal so he replaced the dish. Signal was improved and has been steady in the high 90's. The problems I've been experiencing are most pronounced during peak hours but I'm hopeful this evening will be better. If it was a signal issue, perhaps the FAP mode was also affected (or even exacerbated it) and will now be a more usable 1.4 Mbps. 

I'm going to see how it goes this evening. This is probably an uncommon request but is there any way to temporarily remove or suspend my anytime data tomorrow before the evening until the next day so I can see if FAP mode is more usable than it was last month?

[Amanda]

Hi ilmontgo

Unfortunately we only have the ability to add data, not pause or remove it. I am happy to keep your case open until you can give it a test run and monitor the health of the system along the way.

Just a side note, I checked your current diagnostics and see that the iPhone connected to the 2.4Ghz wireless band has a "fair" connection status, which is not optimal. If you don't have it already, I also recommend downloading the free HughesNet app and test the strength in the app throughout the house.

~Amanda

[ilmontgo]

Hi @Amanda,

The iphone signal was "fair" because I was outside with it all day yesterday. I did 2 speed tests with the iPhone on the porch and they were in line with the rest of the tests run from my laptop with full wifi signal during daytime hours yesterday. I just did another test on the laptop and got 70 Mbps. It seems non-peak speeds and web response are improved.

I thought the temporary FAP mode wouldn't be possible; no worries. Signal strength is still steady in the upper 90's so it seems the dish and radio replacement helped with that. However, my experince during peak hours last night were just as bad as before; as low as 2.14 Mbps - so 10% of 25 Mbps.

I'd like to talk about those offers you extended to me.

[Amanda · Accepted solution]

No problem, I will PM you 🙂

[cmgm1955]

I am a brand new customer as of today and I was told the same thing that my speed would never drop below 3mbps while streaming and 25mgbs while surfing the Internet after I have used my 50 GB data for the month. Sounds like the sales people are lying to the new customers to get them to sign up. And by the way she said the tech that came out would have me sign the contract which he did not have me do.

[GabeU]

@cmgm1955

To address your issue and keep it separate, you should start a new topic in the Tech Support section, which you can do by clicking on the blue "Start a topic" button on the upper right while within said section. 

You can request that your sales call be reviewed in that post to verify what was said to you by the salesperson.  

[ilmontgo]

Hi, I just wanted to do a 3 week update and it's good news. I was upset because FAP mode was virtually unusable.

It does seem like I'm getting the throttled speed pretty reliably. It has been good enough that I haven't bothered with the speed tests. I am now able to stream Netflix at decent quality with no issues in FAP mode at peak usage hours. It does have to buffer for around 30 seconds for each video and starts with low quality but it streams straight through and the resolution improves in the first few minutes. Browsing is slightly improved too. This is after the technician visited and replaced my radio and dish and ensured correct orientation. My signal strength went up from the 60's to the 90's and sometimes over 100. That technician visit was prompted by another thread about reduced performance during peak hours.

So thank you to the moderators and Amanda for addressing my frustrations with seriousness and expediance; I am much more satisfied with Hughesnet's service now.