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Gen5 signal strength vs. Dish size vs Download speed.

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Douglas
Freshman

Gen5 signal strength vs. Dish size vs Download speed.

I just upgraded to Gen5 and a .90m round dish.  My signal strength is mid-50s.  Download speeds about the same or marginally better than the reliable 1 Mbyte/sec I had with Gen4 and a .90m oval dish with signal strength in the 100's. (So much for the claim by Hughes of 25X faster speeds).   If the speed can't be improved, I'm thinking of going back to Gen4.

 

I was told by a tech that a signal strenght above 50 is considered satisfactory for Gen5 by HughesNet, and that that value range is average for sites in the Pacific NW coast.  True or False?

 

I was also told that there is no correlation between download/upload speeds and signal strength.  True or False?  Quite frankly I find this last claim to be dubious.

 

Tech support is sending someone out to check my installation and alignment. I'm not very hopeful.

 

I posted this same question under a separate discussion topic but was advised to open a new topic.

7 REPLIES 7
C0RR0SIVE
Associate Professor


@Douglas wrote:

I just upgraded to Gen5 and a .90m round dish.  My signal strength is mid-50s.  Download speeds about the same or marginally better than the reliable 1 Mbyte/sec I had with Gen4 and a .90m oval dish with signal strength in the 100's. (So much for the claim by Hughes of 25X faster speeds).   If the speed can't be improved, I'm thinking of going back to Gen4.


Can't go back to Gen4 service, the plans have been retired for activation

 


@Douglas wrote:

I was told by a tech that a signal strenght above 50 is considered satisfactory for Gen5 by HughesNet, and that that value range is average for sites in the Pacific NW coast.  True or False?


I seem to remember there being a few locations where a signal of 50 or 60 is acceptable...  When installing these systems, the installer MUST meet minimum signal requirements for a given region, otherwise the terminal will not activate and pass OVT, and the installer will not get paid.  The system will not be usable in the slightest.

 


@Douglas wrote:

 

I was also told that there is no correlation between download/upload speeds and signal strength.  True or False?  Quite frankly I find this last claim to be dubious.


It's actually true for the most part.  Provided you have adequate signal to maintain signal lock, you wont have the signal level dictate speed.  This changes once you near ~30SQF


@Douglas wrote:

I just upgraded to Gen5 and a .90m round dish. 


Are you an SME customer?  If so, there's not much that anyone here will be able to do for you, nor would we be able to suggest...

The only thing I can say is, if you live in a blacked out region on the map below, chances are you are pointed at Echostar-17, which is Gen5 compatible.  Wont see a speed improvement over Gen4 plans any time soon in those areas, however, data allowances on Gen5 are typically higher.

Jupiter II Service MapJupiter II Service Map

I'm in the far upper left circle, so not blacked out.   I'm an SME customer and sold this upgrade to my company based on the claimed 25X speed improvement. I'd settle for 10.  I'm getting basically none. 

 

On balance Gen5 for me is a very slight improvement, notwithstanding the speed is the same.  If I can't get the download speed up however, then it will cause me some serious grief with my employer.

 

I'll post again after the site visit.

 

Curiously the signal strength shot up from mid-50s to mid-80s about an hour before the tech arrived.  He checked everything out well and was about to pack up and leave when the signal plummted back to mid-50s for no apparent reason, but only on the system status page. His tech support software connection still showed mid-80s. Very weird.   So we started swapping out equipment, starting with the modem itself.   The signal strenght is holding steady now at mid-80s.  If it stays that way for a week, then I'll concede that it is fixed.

 

C0RR0SIVE
Associate Professor

Liz might be able to look into it since she would have your address, but, are you located west of the wildfires, or east of them on the map?

In either case, it may be possible that smoke particles in the air are impacting your service.

West of the mountains and wildfires. The sky is clear.  So far so good.

Glad to hear your service is back to normal, Douglas. I just ran diagnostics on your site and all looks good. At the moment it's clear at the gateway and partly cloudy in your beam.

 

Feel free to reach back out to business support if you have additional concerns.

 

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!

Liz
Moderator
Moderator

Hi Douglas,

 

Welcome to the community and thank you for posting. I'm glad you already have a tech on the way to address your concerns; we will work with you to ensure you're getting proper Gen 5 service, as there isn't an option to return to Gen 4.

 

Regarding signal strengths, the scale isn't standard-- a signal strength of 120 or 80 could be the norm in different areas. We do not have information such a list of average signal strengths by location. When we run diagnostics on sites, we can see whether the site's signal is on par with other sites in that area. Usually if the signal strength of a site is out of line with the rest of the beam, that usually results in poor performance and can be addressed with a radio replacement or dish realignment.

 

I hope your site visit goes well, please don't hesitate to reach back out to business support at 800.347.3272 if you have concerns with your visit.

 

 

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!