Net speed got extremely slow

[stevef]

Hello,

We signed up to Hughes about 18 months ago, so far. Until now we always had the first 10 GB gone in 3 days, and the other 50 in 3 weeks. It's ok since after that data cap it's about 180k / s speed, which is really slow, but still ok to check things. Well, in the past several days the speed nosedived. 180k? No. It's more like 30k and less. I can't open Gmail, even if it opens when I'm trying to delete spam, it says "Something went wrong". Facebook is also useless. Won't open pages, takes 10 mins to open 1 page, but I usually have to try over and over, because it crashes and stops loading. Same about videos. 360p is not an option, 144p either. I'm an online salesman, opening Amazon, eBay, Etsy is horrible, often crashes the whole thing, meaning by that it just stops loading the pages. Same about PayPal, my Bank's website, etc. I keep having to try loading the pages many times when it's finally open. Working like this is absolutely painful and stressful.

I had to download a video file, 350 MB. The average download speed was about 30kbyte/s. 

No virus or anything like that. The FAP condition is on, but that just means the data cap is reached and the net should run in a degraded speed of 1-3 megabit speed (100-300 kbyte/s). But we are really far from that.

What is the problem? Is it happening because more people are staying at home and using the Internet at the same time? I think that shouldn't be an issue, as the situation was the same weeks and like 2 months ago too. But the speed fell only in the past several days.

Don't get me wrong, I like Hughes, also the new month is starting 5 hours from now, I'm just wondering what's happened and if it's going to happen again when we run out of data cap. The after-cap 150k/s (up to 300k, but we usually have 150k) is fast enough for doing basic surfing, but 30k/s, 20k/s, and even slower is pretty much dial-up speed and even emails, FB, and web stores won't work with that.

The 3rd party website speed test says 25k/s, but the Hughes speed test is close to that result:

DOWNLOAD SPEED: 0.33 Mbps

UPLOAD SPEED: 0.11 Mbps

So the speed should be about 8 times faster than it is, even in FAP condition.

Maybe it's a Hughes issue? There is a problem with the system? Everything was ok for 18 months, yet now we have extremely slow speeds for several days now.

[GabeU]

@stevef 

It might be a good idea to install a web page timer to demonstrate how long it's taking web pages to open.  If you use Chrome, "Page load time" is a decent one.  

With that said, even 330Kbps is pretty low while in FAP.

[Michael57]

Just to be clear on the terms, your post isn't consistent with using bits or bytes.  Your math to convert from megabits to kbytes was correct so it was likely intentional, but I want to make sure we are all understanding the same thing, especially when you just use the acronym "k".  When you just use "k" is that bits or bytes?

Also, HN has said in their COVID announcement that their network is operating at full capacity.  To help manage the congestion, HN has put traffic prioritization rules in place, and those do seem to be getting tweaked from time to time.  Their announcement said that they are prioritizing business and educational apps, which as a result means other traffic will be a bit slower.  I believe streaming and VPN traffic are prioritized pretty low based on my performance, so it's not a surprise that you aren't able to watch video.  I could have sworn they were also relaxing data caps, but I don't see that in their announcement so I must have that wrong.

Anyhow, most of this has been in place for around 2 months, so it is a little strange that you are seeing it now.  It is possible, but unlikely, that a recent change to the prioritization rules are affecting your traffic, but it could also be an issue on your end with equipment or signal.  Also, outside of FAP, speed test traffic seems to be prioritized very high, given that your speed tests are very slow, it could be FAP or another indication of a problem on your end. 

You may want to call tech support as they can do some checking into your equipment to validate that part at least.

[grizzle]

Unfortunately, this is the norm for HughesNet.  I get those same speeds, have gotten them for the past year and a half. I've put in more than a dozen phone calls, and probably close to a hundred hours with their customer support, escalations, etc. They've sent people out to my house to check the equipment, charging me $300+ for the visits even though they said they weren't going to.  I pay $500/month for my business account. And after all that, there is nothing wrong on my end, no problems, and I still get the slow speeds you're seeing, slower than FAP speeds all the time. They've never done anything to fix the problem. If I had any other option I would jump to it immediately. HughesNet is the worst company I've ever had the displeasure of having to work with, they have many of us over a barrel and they know it. Terrible, terrible company.

[GabeU]

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@grizzle wrote:

Unfortunately, this is the norm for HughesNet.   

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For you.  The service works just fine for plenty of HughesNet customers, though it's slowing down as of recent for many due to the pandemic related increase in traffic and prioritization policy put in place to help those working and schooling from home.

If you're looking for help, you should call 800-347-3272 for Business support, as help via this support community is for residential subscribers.

[stevef]

K as kilobyte. kbps is kilobit. It was horrible for days. 20 kilobytes / s, it was never this bad ever before in the past 18 months. Then the new month came, we did reach the data cap, but the speed didn't fell to 20 kilobytes/s, we have a fair speed now, like before. So everything is ok now.

The download is almost 300 kb/s . It's not bad. With some preloading, I was able to watch 480p a Youtube video.

The question is if the system can handle this speed during Covid, why is it impossible to run the system like this all the time?

They should just make it 500 kb/ s, remove the data cap, and I would happily stay with them until the new satellite. They would double the speed, run it 1 MB/s download speed and that would be ok.

Well, it's up to HughesNet, they can make the decision. I would suggest them to do this basic change and they can stay in business. Make it constant 5 mbps (500 kb/s) and Remove the data cap. It would be enough for 480p Youtube videos, and even with the 750 ping, many people would probably stay even if Starling starts. 750 ping makes this Net useless for most online gaming, but it's the most important for kids, middle aged and old people using the Net for watching Youtube videos, watching online TV, listening podcasts, Watching videos on Facebook, Twitter, etc. 480p is enough for that and high ping is not that annoying when it comes to videos. 

[MarkJFine]

Ever try and download an 8GB software update at 500kbps? Sorry, I ain't got the time.

[GabeU]

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@stevef wrote:

K as kilobyte. kbps is kilobit. It was horrible for days. 20 kilobytes / s, it was never this bad ever before in the past 18 months. Then the new month came, we did reach the data cap, but the speed didn't fell to 20 kilobytes/s, we have a fair speed now, like before. So everything is ok now. 

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For reference, it's the B or b that denotes bytes or bits.  KBps is kilobytes per second, and Kbps is kilobits per second. 

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@stevef wrote:

They should just make it 500 kb/ s, remove the data cap, and I would happily stay with them until the new satellite. They would double the speed, run it 1 MB/s download speed and that would be ok. 

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That might be okay for you, but 500Kbps, or even 1Mbps, isn't going to fly for most HughesNet customers, including myself.  

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@stevef wrote:

Well, it's up to HughesNet, they can make the decision. I would suggest them to do this basic change and they can stay in business. Make it constant 5 mbps (500 kb/s) and Remove the data cap. It would be enough for 480p Youtube videos, and even with the 750 ping, many people would probably stay even if Starling starts. 750 ping makes this Net useless for most online gaming, but it's the most important for kids, middle aged and old people using the Net for watching Youtube videos, watching online TV, listening podcasts, Watching videos on Facebook, Twitter, etc. 480p is enough for that and high ping is not that annoying when it comes to videos. 

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They'll be fine without making any changes, and that change, whether it be a reduction to 500Kbps, 1Mbps or 5Mbps, would very likely lose them customers and destabilize their business.

[maratsade]

"They'll be fine without making any changes, and that change, whether it be a reduction to 500Kbps, 1Mbps or 5Mbps, would very likely lose them customers and destabilize their business."

Absolutely. Going backwards would only catapult business in the direction of the competition and to suggest it demonstrates a rather weak grasp of how business works. 

[stevef]

Is the Covid things still on? When Hughes said they make the speed better, the Internet speed really got better, for a long period. About 10 days ago, the Net speed got a nosedive again. Can't open gmail, having issues opening FB notifications, Youtube notifications, my bank's website. The Youtube did work on 480p, but now even 144p is preloading often, even if it starts. 😕 

[maratsade]

Yep, the optimisation measures are still going on. Many things can impact your speeds, though. May want to start a log with Testmy.net, and also keep an eye on the state codes. 

[GabeU]

@stevef 

While your streaming/video (YouTube) watching may still be impacted, you shouldn't really be having the other problems your describing.  That you can't open Gmail and some notifications and can't even open your bank's website means what you're experiencing is worse than it should be, even under the current system load.  

As maratsade mentioned, I'd definitely keep an eye on it, as it shouldn't be like that.  I'd check your speed, and it may even be a good idea to get some screen shots.  And again, I'd install a web page load timer, as this can help to demonstrate what's going on as well.

[BillyFitzgerald]

HugesNet is not good but I'm locked in untill November.  I want fiber optics here also.  I don't know if it will happen because population is not dence enough.  Oh well, it's not life and death just frustrating.  I'm retired and like to play cards online.  I get timed out and loose often.  Oh well...