Latest Modem Update causing degraded service with Apple products

[mweasner]

Liz, so far no improvement in IMAP email (still can take several minutes for a simple text-only email message to download) and no improvement in ftp (which still fails to connect when I try to reach my ftp server or dies in the middle of an ftp download or upload after getting a successful connection).  Haven't yet seen any automatic restart of the modem due to a firmware update.

[Liz]

Good morning mweasner,

Thank you for your updates, I've sent these over to engineering. I'll post back once I have any other questions or news for you.

  Your cooperation, patience, and understanding are much appreciated.

Thanks,

Liz

[Liz]

Hi mweasner,

Engineering would like to know if that's a public FTP you're using, if so, can they test it? Please private message me with any info engineering they should need to test.

  Your cooperation, patience, and understanding are much appreciated.

Thanks,

Liz

[mweasner]

Thanks Liz.  My ftp server is not a public one.  It is hosted by Network Solutions.  However, while the ftp issues were the first to appear (mid-December 2018), it was only the beginning of issues that possibly resulted from the modem firmware update that was applied about that same time.  In 2019 the issues began hitting various iCloud.com services (which Apple Inc. controls, not me).  If Engineering would like to do a screen sharing session with me (like Apple has done) we can schedule a time to do that.  Of course, since the problems are hit-n-miss a screen sharing session may or may not demonstrate the issues.

[Liz]

Good morning mweasner,

Thank you, I've relayed your post to engineering. I'll post back once I have any news to share.

-Liz

[Liz]

Hi mweasner,

Just got off the phone with the engineer looking at your site. For testing purposes, let's try isolating your main device (like a computer) on which you are trying to FTP. So please disconnect everything from the network except for the device that's using FTP. Please let me now how your FTP experience goes so I can let engineering know.

  Your cooperation, patience, and understanding are much appreciated.

Thanks,

Liz

[mweasner]

Thanks again Liz.  I had already done that test and it didn't make any difference.  So unless there has been a specific change to address the issues with various protocols (ftp, IMAP, etc) there won't be much point to repeating the test unless they want to screen share with me to see the issues in action.  Of course, for a real valid test I invite the engineering team to come to my location with both a Mac and Windows computer to do their own testing.

[Liz]

I've sent along your message to engineering for their input.

-Liz

[mweasner]

I don't know how or even if  this issue is related to all the other issues, but in the last few days logging into my HughesNet hosted email accounts has been problematic from my Mac using the macOS 10.15.3 Mail program.  Even getting logged in via a web browser is sluggish.  All will work well with HughesNet email but then the password stops working.  I re-enter the passwords for these accounts and they may or may not be rejected.  Once they work they will work for hours or minutes before failing again.

If I believed in conspiracy theories I would start to think that some routing server on the Internet doesn't like HughesNet (or geosynchronous satellites in general).  But seriously, I do wonder whether routing servers updates since Dec 2018 have assumed that latency is well under that experienced with geosync satellites.  I know one developer who made that assumption several years ago until I pointed out the error in his thinking.  If this is the case it will lend more support for the LEO megaconstellations like SpaceX Starlink. As an astronomer I am not thrilled with Starlink right now, but it may become the only viable solution for Internet connectivity in many parts of the world, including the USA.

[Liz]

Hi Mike,

That's interesting, just so I'm clear; you're saying that even when trying to log into your HughesNet email via webmail (no 3rd party clients) your login info is rejected? You get the login info is incorrect error message?

-Liz