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Low and unreliable speeds at any time of day/night on newly installed Gen5

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deserthaven
Junior

Low and unreliable speeds at any time of day/night on newly installed Gen5

Starting my own post now after reading for days of others' simlar problems which to date appear mostly unresolved.

 

Gen5 installed Friday March 16, 2018, previously using Gen4 I believe it was, through DishNet.  Hands down the Gen4 a much faster, more reliable system and the ability to get help far surpassed that of Hughes directly. Hopefully these speed issues will all be corrected before my 30 days is up to cancel. Note, I am not comparing speeds or ping rates, etc to anything other than Hughes Gen4 which is what I had for a few years.

 

Using a brand new HP Windows 10 computer, set up the day after the Gen5 installation. 64bit, 8gb Ram, 1 TB hard drive. Have disabled all updates and only ones that can't be turned off are downloading during wee hours of the morning. As well have uninstalled all extra programs on the computer, installed Chrome and Firefox, but only using Firefox as the Chrome was even worse in performance. Have an adblocker on browser. Installed Glasswire to monito data usage as it appears data may be going far more quickly than with Gen4 but since Hughes is resetting each morning back to zero usage it's hard to tell yet. Computer is hardwired direct to HT2000W modem with a 4 or 5 ft ethernet cord with modem placed, of course, less than that from laptop. All wifi is disconnected on the modem (via the settings in Hughesnet account pages) and has been the entire time. Wifi light on front of modem stays on however, which maybe it's supposed to, but that doesn't make a lot of sense. It occasionally flashes, however. (?) I have no wireless devices that connect or try to connect to a wifi connection, and no close neighbors.

 

I ran a speed test on March 19 via testmy.net but wasn't logged in. Starting March 24 I logged in and started running tests using 25mb down and 4 mb up but don't do many upload tests as that's not my main concern although those speeds are less than half what they should be.

 

I'm posting a URL which I believe will take you to the test results, but in case it's not correct I am also posting a screenshot of the tests. Note the incredible variance in speeds, but in general, even at what the tests show might be passabile speeds, actual usage to watch a 2 min low quality video on youtube, (or anywhere else), is nearly impossible due to  buffering. Yes, video saver is on now but it makes no difference usually.  Also note that the "higher" speeds in the test were not totally, but mostly, late night. Still, these are generally nowhere near the advertised speeds, but close sometimes to 60%.

 

URL:  

https://testmy.net/copytext?qX=http://testmy.net/stats/?-_-amp;t=u-_-amp;d=03252018-_-amp;x=8-_-amp;...

 

Screenshots (included the beam, etc.):

 

Screenshot-2018-3-25 JEANNE H Speed Test Results(1).png

 

Screenshot-2018-3-25 JEANNE H Speed Test Results(2).png

 

Screenshot-2018-3-25 HT2000W HughesNet System Control Center.png

I also rebooted the modem this morning, just prior the the latest speed test noted above that tested 3.52Mbps download speed. I have, as well, had pretty much clear skies and good weather, no rain, for the entire 9 days that I have had this new system.

 

I understand that satellite signals are complex and at best not real consistent, yet the Gen5 system, thus far, has been far worse is really every respect than the previous Gen4. Add to this the fact that the Gen5 was promoted, at least to me, by several different people, (DishNet, three reps/techs connected to the installer I had), all promotional materials from all forms of media from HughesNet themselves, etc, as being much faster than Gen4, including the fact that the throttled over data limit speeds would still be 2 to 3 times as fast as the usual non-throttled speeds of Gen4, the fact that it has streaming capabilities, and the fact that you could actually use a phone with the system (thank goodness I didn't go ahead and get that). None of these are true. And by judging from just the complaints I see on here and as well other review sites this is very common and to date pretty much unresolved.

 

I appreciate that there are people on this community trying to help, I sincerely do. It appears that, for whatever reason(s), this Gen5 system is either not capable of what was promised, been over subscribed to the point of not being viable, launched prematurely, or has serious issues that are either being not recognized, not admitted to, or simply not able to be corrected.

 

If someone here can "fix" these issues, in a reliable, long standing way, then all is well and good. It appears that may not be possible. At any rate, if I cannot get this system to perform at least on par with the older system before my 30 days is up, I will have to cancel and look elsewhere or see if it's possible to go back to Gen4.

 

If I have overlooked any test needed or other info, please alert me and I will oblige to the best of my ability.

 

Thanks anyone and everyone that can help or responds.

 

 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Hi deserthaven,

 

Thank you for your patience and cooperation. I ran diagnostics on your site and nothing out of the ordinary is showing up. Your download speed right now from your modem to the gateway is 20904.626 kb/sec. How are you finding your internet experience lately? Is there something in particular you're trying to do online that's proving difficult?

 

 

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!

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59 REPLIES 59
maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

I don't trust speed tests too much -- I view them more as indicators of trend. User experience is way too subjective, so I still prefer to have some kind of data. 


@maratsadewrote:

I don't trust speed tests too much -- I view them more as indicators of trend. User experience is way too subjective, so I still prefer to have some kind of data. 


I'm beginning to see that.

Data as in pulled from the modem/router?

 

 

maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

What I mean is, I prefer to have a number (12 Mbps) as opposed to "Hmmm, this feels slow to me."  

 


 

 



@deserthavenwrote:

 

I'm beginning to see that.

Data as in pulled from the modem/router?

 

 


 

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@deserthaven

 

Well, really, at this point, you can probably just leave it where it is.  Perhaps I overemphasized the importance of the QOS being at 20% for those things that use it, as in reality, your speed will probably be enough that you won't notice a whole lot of difference if one of those things needed bandwidth or something.  So, again, maybe it's just best to leave it at what you set it at.  After all, the registry is a fickle beast, and the less you have to mess around with it the better.

 

As for Windows 7 vs Windows 10, the one thing to keep in mind is that extended support is going to end in less than two years.  Plus, if you're referring to your new computer, it may be that Windows 7 wouldn't run well on it with it being made to run Windows 10.  If you have a retail copy of Windows 7 that isn't tied to any other machine or one that you can transfer from an old machine to your new one (again, it has to be a retail copy, not OEM) you can always try it, but if you have to buy a copy of Windows 7 I wouldn't bother.  Windows 10 is more secure and better able to run today's applications than Windows 7.  If you want my honest opinion, I would stick with what the computer came with.  

 

Really, again, I probably jumped the gun and went a little overboard with my assessment of the 20% thing, and you having it to what you adjusted it to is fine.  Like I said, you'll most likely rarely ever notice a difference, either way, and the less you have to fiddle in the registry the better. 

jcarra
Freshman

For months I have been experiencing the same issues you have mentioned.  When I first switched from Gen4 to Gen5 the speed was greatly improved but now it has slowed to a crawl.  I was also told to use myinternet.net for the speed test and of course it stated 33.6 Mbps but when I used the Hughesnet speed test I was getting .76 Mbps DOWNLOAD which was less than the 2.36 Mbps UPLOAD speed.  I requested a tech to check my home installation and was told it would cost me.  To say I'm completely frustrated is putting it mildly.  What am I paying for?  I have tweaked both of my pc's the best way I could and still no results (driver updates, etc).  I even went to PCmatic to see if I could improve the performance to no avail.  Both pc's are not ancient to say the least.  I even bought my wife a new Dell and still the performance curse still follow us.  Today my case was finally sent to the next level of support (up to 5 days to respond).  I can hardly wait! 


@jcarrawrote:

For months I have been experiencing the same issues you have mentioned.  When I first switched from Gen4 to Gen5 the speed was greatly improved but now it has slowed to a crawl.  I was also told to use myinternet.net for the speed test and of course it stated 33.6 Mbps but when I used the Hughesnet speed test I was getting .76 Mbps DOWNLOAD which was less than the 2.36 Mbps UPLOAD speed.  I requested a tech to check my home installation and was told it would cost me.  To say I'm completely frustrated is putting it mildly.  What am I paying for?  I have tweaked both of my pc's the best way I could and still no results (driver updates, etc).  I even went to PCmatic to see if I could improve the performance to no avail.  Both pc's are not ancient to say the least.  I even bought my wife a new Dell and still the performance curse still follow us.  Today my case was finally sent to the next level of support (up to 5 days to respond).  I can hardly wait! 


Don't know where you are located and if we run off the same beam, etc, and I don't really care to try and understand all of that, but apparently there are some that are more problematic than others, or so it appears.

 

Overall I had faster speeds on Gen4 toward the end, or so it appeared. I'm learning that the speed tests aren't really a lot of help as I can test high but not be able to watch a short low quality video, and then the reverse will be true. Too many variables I suppose, nature of the beast. Frustrating, though, to be sure.

 

I will say that so far Liz has been helpful and is monitoring my situation. I'm sure they are quite busy and probably can only do so much. I guess maybe patience is the key.

 

When I did the Hughes speed test it almost consistently showed much higher speeds than the testmy.net and it was pretty clear I wasn't running at that, at least by performance standards in actual use.

 

tI may be that my inital modem/router that was installed wasn't working properly, as when the tech got here it would not broadcast any wifi signals. He replaced it and it still took a couple of days maybe for my speeds to come up. I lucked out in that I called the company that did my installation which was just a week or so after and he assured me that it should not be having these issues, so he got the okay to send someone back out the next day. That's when everything was checked out and then the modem replaced.

 

I agree that it's terribly frustrating and I don't think we as customers should have to do so much work and spend so much time to get half or more of what we were promised. Doesn't look like much can be done as far as that goes, but my advice at this point would be to stick with this help forum, in contact with Liz or Amanda and see what they can do. Hopefully it won't take too much more time to figure something out and arrive at an agreeable solution. Satellite broadband is just glitchy and annoying, in my experience, but for those of us with no other choices it is what it is. I do think companies need to be a bit more judicial in what they promise and advertise and what they deliver, even if it means to undersubscribe rather than over. Just my two cents+ worth.

Hi deserthaven,

 

Thank you for your patience and cooperation. I ran diagnostics on your site and nothing out of the ordinary is showing up. Your download speed right now from your modem to the gateway is 20904.626 kb/sec. How are you finding your internet experience lately? Is there something in particular you're trying to do online that's proving difficult?

 

 

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!


@Lizwrote:

Hi deserthaven,

 

Thank you for your patience and cooperation. I ran diagnostics on your site and nothing out of the ordinary is showing up. Your download speed right now from your modem to the gateway is 20904.626 kb/sec. How are you finding your internet experience lately? Is there something in particular you're trying to do online that's proving difficult?

 

 Liz,

 

Thanks for checking again.  Actual use has been about the same, sometimes okay, once in a while good, and sometimes pretty slow. I haven't run speed tests in a while. I tried to watch a streamed webinar video last night, probably around 8:30 pm CT, and it buffered many times, sometimes as long as 60-90 seconds or more, which I suppose isn't that long but seems like it when you're trying to watch it. It was an hour long video and buffered like that probably 6-8 times, this was I believe on a 360 quality setting. Now, this morning, (Sunday morning) at 7:50 a.m. Central, which would have been on my "bonus" data time, for the first time ever I downloaded a 220mb video in less than 60 seconds! That's what I was expecting and what I knew should be possible as it was for a while on the Gen 4 system. It has been taking 45-60 minutes to do that every other time no matter whether on daytime data or bonus data. Just a slow morning for congestion/usage? Probably so, but just a guess. Not long after that I was loading web pages more slowly again. I'd say to just consider this solved at the moment since I have a feeling I had a bad modem initially, and the rest is just congestion slowing things down although I would really like to see the speeds more consistent with normal usage as it's very frustrating to see 60 minutes for 220mb as opposed to 60 seconds. Or maybe I should say it's awesome to see a 60 second 220 mb as opposed to a 60 minute one......Smiley Happy

 

I do think this system is going to blow through data much faster for the same activity compared to the Gen4 but time will tell and I am monitoring that now. If that's a compression issue then nothing to do about that it sounds like.

 

Thanks to all who have taken the time to respond and work on this issue. Smiley Very Happy

 


 

Hi deserthaven,

 

Thank you for the added details. I'll continue to monitor your site at the end of the week for a couple of weeks just to be sure something doesn't pop up. Just let me know in the thread is you experience something out of the ordinary.

 

  Your cooperation, patience, and understanding are much appreciated.

 

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!


@Lizwrote:

Hi deserthaven,

 

Thank you for the added details. I'll continue to monitor your site at the end of the week for a couple of weeks just to be sure something doesn't pop up. Just let me know in the thread is you experience something out of the ordinary.

 

  Your cooperation, patience, and understanding are much appreciated.

 

 

Liz,

 

Thanks for your continued monitoring and help. I think the 60sec 200+mb download was just a happy fluke! Back to taking 45-55 minutes for the same thing again, peak or off peak hours and videos buffering badly, sometimes so much that I just can't bother to try and watch a 3 minute or less video. Weather, here anyway, must not play that big of a part as the day it was fast, briefly, was completely overcast and then totally clear and sunny on the slow downloads. Not sure about weather at the gateway or wherever else might affect the transmissions.

 

I am going to be moving the modem one more time as I purchased longer ethernet cords so now I can put things where they are more convenient. I will probably do that this weekend. If I really need to wait till next weekend to move it I can, just let me know.

 

Thanks again.

 


 

Hi deserthaven,

 

Thanks for the heads up, you can move the modem this weekend, I'll run diagnostics tomorrow.

 

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!

I am new to HughesNet as of last week. The moment the installer left I have had perhaps dial up speed.  I can not watch youtube videos, I can not stream any movie. Streaming music works sometimes. To say I'm frustrated would be an understatement. This certainly isn't what I paid for.

 

one exrtremely disalutioned customer


@michaelsw59wrote:

I am new to HughesNet as of last week. The moment the installer left I have had perhaps dial up speed.  I can not watch youtube videos, I can not stream any movie. Streaming music works sometimes. To say I'm frustrated would be an understatement. This certainly isn't what I paid for.

 

one exrtremely disalutioned customer


Hi,

I can't be of much help except to recommend starting your own thread on the tech forum with as much information on your system and problems you're having as possible. Also, beforehand take some speed tests via ethernet connection, not wifi, with wifi signals turned off on your modem, at testmy.net. The instructions I believe have been posted elsewhere on this forum. Basically, create an account, and test downloads at 25mb and uploads at 4 mb. It will log your results and Liz and Amanda, moderators here, can then look at all of your info. I've found that browsers and addons make a huge difference in test results, and that using a private browsing window seems to give the most consistent and accurate results. I've also found that often what the speed test shows does not really correspond much with what I'm able to do online as far as web pages loading or videos playing without bufferiing. It seems pretty hit and miss but I did seem to have a faulty modem the first time, however speeds are still rather hit and miss and more often than not disappointing. Hopefully Hughes can address these issues in time. I have a feeling it's just congestion, but I'm just guessing. Satellite in and of itself is a contrary beast and certainly not anyone's best option but when it's the only option that's what we have to deal with. I would also not waste any time trying to troubleshoot over the phone with customer service. It's just not what they do. Liz and Amanda are quite diligent, I've found, and will do what they can. Please give them a try.

Thanks, I don't ordinarly let this kind of stuff get under my skin. I just bought a house in somewhat rural Montana, HughesNet is my only option unless I use my cellphone as a hotspot (which seems faster). I had 100mbps before moving so the contrast is startling. I've done my share of trouble shooting in the past and did some before I posted. It seems the page that is recommended here to test always shows good speed but as soon as I want to stream a tv show it buffers every 4 or 5 seconds making it imposseble to watch. I have done both connected via ethernet and using wifi. I personally think the router they supplied is junk but thats me. I asked when the installed if I could bypass it and he said no, of course. I'll give your suggestion a try when I have some time. Thanks


@michaelsw59wrote:

Thanks, I don't ordinarly let this kind of stuff get under my skin. I just bought a house in somewhat rural Montana, HughesNet is my only option unless I use my cellphone as a hotspot (which seems faster). I had 100mbps before moving so the contrast is startling. I've done my share of trouble shooting in the past and did some before I posted. It seems the page that is recommended here to test always shows good speed but as soon as I want to stream a tv show it buffers every 4 or 5 seconds making it imposseble to watch. I have done both connected via ethernet and using wifi. I personally think the router they supplied is junk but thats me. I asked when the installed if I could bypass it and he said no, of course. I'll give your suggestion a try when I have some time. Thanks

 

Oh yes, if you're used to a much faster service it will be very hard indeed to get used to. I've never had anything very fast. That said, I happen to agree that the speed tests are pretty much worthless as far as telling anything about how it's going to work in real time use. I've had high speed tests yet can't watch a 2 minute low quality video and the reverse has been true, although the times I have been able to stream or watch anything are in the vast miniority of times. Same goes for downloading a video. One time only was I able to download a 200+mb file in less than 60 seconds. Imagine my excitement!  Before then and since I average 45-55 minutes for the same size/type/source. You might want to check with your installer and see if they will come out and double check everything, although I suspect they might find everything "okay". Mine did improve some with a new modem/router. Good luck!


 

Hi deserthaven, 

 

I ran diagnostics on the 13th and again today and so far your system is still running well. I'm not seeing anything unusual in the diagnostics so that's good, no need for me to issue a tech to your site.

 

 

 

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!

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@jcarra

 

I hope you find a solution through your phone correspondance.  Again, though, if you need still help with your service, as has been mentioned to you in the past, please create a new post in the Tech Support section.  

swissvalleygal
Freshman

Best solution is to cancel GEN 5.  I have been doing what you are doing since Nov 2017.  Still suffering but I have NO options.  Cancel.