Hughesnet Community

Hughesnet WIFI and HP chromebook

cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
sepmeier
Sophomore

Hughesnet WIFI and HP chromebook

Ok, tech folks at Hughesnet - here’s an odd one. It’s two problems that may be related. I’ve got 40 years of satellite background and 30 years internet experience, but no spectrum analyzer or test equipment anymore - retired - but maybe you can sort it out.

I’ve had Hughesnet for a year or so. It works well most of the time. But - here’s where it gets odd.

My kid is enrolled in online school due to the covid this year. Things were fine until last October. Out of the blue, her HP chromebook was dumped off the wifi and has never been able to log back in on the 2ghz feed. It tries and delivers an error message that the wifi signal is too weak. Switched to the 5ghz wifi channel and - no problem. Well, I needed to replace it anyway so, I did. It worked fine - for about 24 hours. Then - exactly the same problem happened again and remains a problem. She’s ok on the 5ghz wifi - I just switched the wireless printer to the 5gig signal so she can print as required. Our other devices (the printer, an old HP desktop, two smartphones of different brands) work fine on the 2ghz wifi.

My guess is that google updated the chrome operating system / drivers in October, since both the old machine and brand new one failed identically. (The new one probably updated after taking it out of the box and turning it on. Google does that without saying anything about it.). That update probably has a bug. Second guess is that Hughesnet updated something in the satellite IDU modem. I’ve looked in the admin config and it won’t let me change the wifi channel anymore - if it ever did. Google specifically lists a couple of channels to avoid / channel 6 specifically. I can’t tell what channel the Hughesnet wifi is on - it just says “automatic” under channel selection. That would explain the “low signal” (it isn’t low) - if there’s some issue with chrome on some channels. (It actually presents like interference - I’ve seen people place a 2.4ghz cordless phone on top of or next to a wifi modem and suddenly get similar errors on Mac product.)

Anyway - that’s one issue.

The other is totally random day and night Hughesnet wifi resets that shut down the wifi entirely - both 2 and 5 ghz channels / for a minute. It then comes back up. It seems to be something Hughesnet can “see” remotely / I have posted about this once before and “Liz” at Hughesnet sent a new IDU / modem without my even asking. But - if didn’t solve the issue.

We have noticed that the Hughesnet IDU modem wifi resets SEEM to correlate with the proximity of the HP chromebook(s) to the Hughesnet IDU. If they’re operating on the same floor of the house, the wifi resets happen - and more often. Remember, they’re on the 5G channels - but if within 15’ or so the wifi resets far more often than when the chromes ard on the lower floor and laterally 25’ away from the IDU.

SOOOO - I suspect these two problems - the chromebooks not being able to use the 2g wifi at all and the Hughesnet resets - are related. I’m guessing it has to do with the chrome / google issues with channel 6 on the 2g service. But without test gear I’m stuck.

Can Hughesnet change the 2G wifi frequency to some other channel - if it’s on 6 or 11, maybe to the furthest channel away?

I’ve got Hughesnet telephone service so you have my number. You can also email.

Thanks!

Bill
27 REPLIES 27
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@sepmeier 

 

You can change the 2.4GHz WiFi channel here...

 

Capture.PNG

@GabeU

OK - I got down into that setup section - which somehow I’d missed before - and tried every channel and bandwidth setting to no avail. Thanks for that suggestion - I don’t know how I missed that - probably because I’m using a tiny old iPhone 6SE with postage stamp screen. But ... the chromebooks will not find the 2g network - same weird error. (Yet I am on it now with this device 10’ further away than the chromes.) so much for the known channel 6 chrome problem. Ugh! So odd.

Also - problem persists with security disabled / enabled - chromes fail with “out of range” error message.

They work on every terrestrial wifi 2g network we’ve tried ...
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@sepmeier 

 

My first guess would be some kind of signal interference, and that maybe the Chromebooks' WiFi reception isn't as strong as the other devices, so they're being more negatively affected.  Again, that's just a guess.  It could be due to drivers, like you mentioned.  I'm not versed enough in WiFi to really know or give some other ideas or testing protocols.  

 

Hopefully you'll hear from Liz or one of the other reps before the day's out, though it might not being until Monday before that happens.  Still, there are other knowledgeable people on here that may have some ideas.  Hopefully @MarkJFine sees this and can provide some (not to put you on the spot, Mark).

maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

FWIW, my Chromebook stopped recognising the 2.4 GHz radio and only recognises the 5 GHz radio. It happened suddenly with no apparent cause and I couldn't find a fix. 

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV


@maratsade wrote:

FWIW, my Chromebook stopped recognising the 2.4 GHz radio and only recognises the 5 GHz radio. It happened suddenly with no apparent cause and I couldn't find a fix. 


So it may very well be that it is, in fact, a problem of the Chromebook itself.  

 

How weird.  

 

@sepmeier 

 

I just read about a possible problem with Bluetooth interferene with the 2.4GHz WiFi with Chromebooks.  Just as a test, I'd try turning it off to see if it makes any difference.

I shut down and turned off all Bluetooth devices here and the chromes still return the out of range error on the 2g. Good idea, though.

I think the handshake protocol changed in October - but so odd they work Comcast and Centurylink 2g wifi. Hughesnet 2g driver update looks likely to me since we have swapped the Satellite modem IDU already. What code is specific to logging in on Hughesnet 2g that is different from the Hughesnet 5g - or other vender’s 2g - or was some new standard implemented by google that Hughes didn’t update? That’s probably the avenue to walk ...

Thanks again!
maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

Probably a problem with my Chromebook or with Chromebooks in general. I tried a lot of different fixes but nothing worked.  😠

 

 


@GabeU wrote:


So it may very well be that it is, in fact, a problem of the Chromebook itself.  

 

How weird.  

 

 


 

Ah ha! It’s freakin google chrome and it’s a problem that showed up in March on chrome version 80. And their solution was turn it off and turn it back on. So far as I can tell that’s it.

Here’s the original report I found.

https://support.google.com/chromebook/thread/34131499?hl=en&pli=1#action=me-too

It also screwed up their NEST products.

What’s odd is that our two didn’t puke until October. But - school was truncated in March, and until September the first chromebook was still under a school / google administration arrangement that MAY have stopped updates until we changed schools in the fall. I’m guessing on that - could be the OS is updated differently for different manufacturers. The new one that developed the same 2g problem was fine for 24 hours - until it obviously updated from factory to current os.

I’m going to dig deeper into the chromebooks tomorrow and see what version is loaded. If I can walk them back a version, I will. I’ll let you know what I find but Liz / Hughesnet - you should lean on them HARD as you’ve got entire rural schools switched over to the 5g already because the chrome puked and if they update THAT - you’re toast.

maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

Good that it worked for you! That was one of the fixes I had tried with no success. 

Turn off and on? No. It doesn’t work. 😆 It’s still an issue for everybody but - that’s all they said to do. But it’s definitely a widespread chrome issue though.

I’ll post if anything else does -
maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

Before I basically put the Chromebook in a cupboard and forgot about it, I tried every fix I could find and nothing worked. I hope Chrome fixes the issue, though who knows when that's going to happen.  My problem with the Chromebook not working on the 2.4Ghz radio started almost a year ago. 

It’s probably time for me to dust off my 15 year old Vaio, reformat it with Linux mint and really complicate my daughters life. LoL

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV


@sepmeier wrote:
It’s probably time for me to dust off my 15 year old Vaio, reformat it with Linux mint and really complicate my daughters life. LoL


Mint is definitely one of the more user friendly Linux distros.  I have it on a spare HDD in this desktop, though I haven't connected it in a while.  I should though, and update it to the latest version.  

 

It's a nice Windows alternative, though still with that Linux learning curve, which can be a bit daunting at first.

Boom! That’s what happened here.

Google updates everything in the background - they did something that blows up the handshake. I can “see” the SSID for the 2.4ghz but when you try to join you get that out of range fail error.

Either Hughesnet or google’s “Yoo-hoo” protocol is “non-standard.

My firmware seems to be 2018 vintage on this Hughes modem... google updated the chromes in October and - here we are.

It’s only a minor headache - but since so many kids are using chrome books now it really needs attention.

I install Hughesnet.. I see it a lot on the chromebooks.. Only the 5g works on most.. I have no idea what causes it.. But I think it is on the schools end..

maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

I had no issues with it at all for over 3 years -- then one day it just stopped recognising the 2.4 GHz radio. I tried all kinds of things but nothing worked, so I gave up. 

 


@gokartergo24 wrote:

I install Hughesnet.. I see it a lot on the chromebooks.. Only the 5g works on most.. I have no idea what causes it.. But I think it is on the schools end..


 

I suspect it’s a chrome issue too - but they both worked fine when I’ve taken them to friend’s homes who use 2.4g Centurylink or Comcast 2.4g wifi. Like I said, the brand new one out of box had no issues - but a day later the 2.4g wifi crashed while it was in use and has never been able to handshake since - my guess is the factory software updated after it had been in service a few hours.

Since it only impacts Hughesnet 2g though - I’m back to what’s different between Hughes and the other wifi handshakes? Did Hughes update a driver that’s buggy only with chrome now - or does it need to update one? It’s odd to see the SSID for 2g but then get the out of range error.

You guys are great - I appreciate the attention given today. Hopefully somebody’s going to be able to nail this one down. Anything I can do to help, post here and I’ll get an email and do what I can.

@GabeU

It acts like interference but the closest wifi is 0.5 miles away and not line of sight. My cordless telephone is 5ghz and I’ve shut it off, moved it 20’ away, etc. The issue almost has to be in chrome - the first one worked a year here and then just stopped, when replaced with a new one, it worked 24 hours or so and then developed the same issue (probably when google updated the store / factory software after it ran a day.)

Thanks for your help! At least I finally dove deep enough in administrative setup to find the channel select menu/buttons!



I'm late to this party, but it sounds to me like something specific to Chromebooks too.

As far as the wifis resetting, 5GHz in particular, that used to be a problem with the early modem firmware. I haven't seen that in ages.


* 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.