Last month my remaining data increased on certain days?

[Koser18]

I became a HughesNet customer / satellite internet user for the first time on April 2nd. For the first 2weeks I had certain  days where my remaining data (both Plan Data and Bonus Data) would increase; sometimes back up to the full 20GB on my plan. I've included snap screen pics of my usage history and at the top it says Used but at the bottom it says Remaining (highlighted) for the same #. I didn't understand the calculation process, but the results were sure in my favor. I thought "Wow internet data must stretch longer than mobile data." Come April 17th the usage chart showed we had 20GB of remaining Plan Data. That made me think we could switch down to the 10GB plan. When I did (April 18th) the data ran out in no time - even though we didn't add any devices/services or change our browsing/streaming habits. I called Hughes to find out what had changed to increase the amount of data we were losing daily. Unfortunately the foreign girl I talked to did not understand what I was asking and 45 minutes later I had 3 free data tokens and her brilliant advice to switch my TV from the 2.4G Network to the 5G, but no real answers. By the 23rd we were out of Plan Data. So the beginning of this month I changed back to the 20GB plan. And despite the fact that I REMOVED some devices and RESTRICTED data to certain apps, we ran out on the 11th! I've made some more changes but with such a leak I refuse to buy tokens that might last an hour or 2, so I'm waiting for the 1st when we re-up to see how fast the GB's will go now. This means we've paid for "high speed" internet but since the 12th we've had to use the degraded Data for Dummies speed internet 😒  Can anybody explain this phenomenon? 

  

[maratsade · Accepted solution]

For the first few days of your account, HughesNet restores your data constantly, as a courtesy to allow people to update their devices if needed. After that time, data you use gets deducted from your monthly allowance. You have to learn how to budget the data so it will last all month. If you have 20 GB a month, you can use a little over half a GB per day in order for the data to last.  If you're doing data intensive things like streaming, your data will be depleted very fast.  You can buy tokens to restore your data if you want; they cost $3 a token and the minimun package is 3 tokens for $9. If you use a lot of data, this system can get expensive. (For comparison, Verizon's tokens are $15 for 1 GB). 

[maratsade · Accepted solution]

For the first few days of your account, HughesNet restores your data constantly, as a courtesy to allow people to update their devices if needed. After that time, data you use gets deducted from your monthly allowance. You have to learn how to budget the data so it will last all month. If you have 20 GB a month, you can use a little over half a GB per day in order for the data to last.  If you're doing data intensive things like streaming, your data will be depleted very fast.  You can buy tokens to restore your data if you want; they cost $3 a token and the minimun package is 3 tokens for $9. If you use a lot of data, this system can get expensive. (For comparison, Verizon's tokens are $15 for 1 GB). 

[Koser18]

Thank you very much for the explanation. I should have come to the Community before calling the Hughes reps. 

[maratsade]

Well, look at it from the point of view that you got some free token data.  🙂

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@Koser18 wrote:

Thank you very much for the explanation. I should have come to the Community before calling the Hughes reps. 

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[Koser18]

You're right. That's gonna be my take-away from all this. Thanks again for responding. 

[GabeU · Accepted solution]

@Koser18 

During your first twenty days of service, HughesNet continually refills your monthly data allotment.  This is done as a courtesy, so that new customers can update/upgrade their devices to current without it affecting their normal monthly allotment, as doing this can use quite a bit of data, especially if it's been a while since the customer was last online.  After these initial twenty days the refills stop and data usage is deducted from the monthly allotment in the normal manner.

The initial 20 days of refills are mentioned in the Welcome email sent by HughesNet.

[Koser18]

Well don't I feel like a goof. I failed to see that in the welcome email. But it would have been nice if the 2 Hughes reps I talked to would've mentioned that handy little piece of information. Thank you very much for clearing that up. I can now peacefully tackle the problem of trying to stay under 20GB. **bleep**, we were spoiled those 2 weeks!

[maratsade]

I totally agree about feeling spoiled. It's very nice when the data constantly refills!  And yes, if they don't mention this in the sales call, they should, so you can make use of it (updating everything, etc.) and also prepare for when it's gone. 

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@Koser18 wrote:

Well don't I feel like a goof. I failed to see that in the welcome email. But it would have been nice if the 2 Hughes reps I talked to would've mentioned that handy little piece of information. Thank you very much for clearing that up. I can now peacefully tackle the problem of trying to stay under 20GB. **bleep**, we were spoiled those 2 weeks!

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