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Online gaming through HughesNet

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david mowl
New Member

Online gaming through HughesNet

So having recently moved and finding out that Hughesnet was the only provider for the area I called to make sure everything would be sound for my moms business and for me to game online. We were told that the only issue that we would experience would be a slow down in the evenings do to more people being online at once. Come to find out that I can't even play my games online. Games like Destiny will load pve areas fine but no one will be around but pvp won't even put me into a match. The division will load up but thats it. No enemies will spawn and I can't even play missions. With the MMOBA Overwatch coming out I fear that won't even be able to play it. This is all saddening since we were told that I would be able to play with little to no troubles.   
20 REPLIES 20
BirdDog
Assistant Professor
Gwalk900
Honorary Alumnus

You can't play "twitch" games .. those that require fast reaction times.

The satellite is 22,300 miles up .... 22,300 x 4 is 89,200 miles round trip fro you data to travel.

You are going to have latency times of 580 ms minimum ... the speed of light applies here.


BirdDog
Assistant Professor

david mowl
New Member

I get and understand all of that. The problem is that we where never told any of this before hand. Why would you not disclose this kind of info when on the phone.
Gwalk900
Honorary Alumnus

Why would you take information from a single source as all inclusive ?

If you were to go into a GM car dealership do you expect the sales person to disclose every recall of every vehicle ? Would you expect them to bring up and discuss at length the issues and legalities, pro and con of the "ignition switch" fiasco.

I say to you: "wanna buy a bridge ?"

 

C0RR0SIVE
Associate Professor

"Twitch" based games like Overwatch, COD, and so on will not work on Hughesnet.  The reaction time for those games is too low, and they aren't designed to tolerate any latency.

Games like Starcraft II and Diablo III work perfectly fine though.
Liz
Moderator
Moderator

Good morning David,

Welcome and thanks for posting. As the others have already explained, HughesNet, along with any satellite internet service, can't support the majority of real-time multiplayer games due to the latency.

-Liz
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!

billmiller43
New Member

The "Ignition switch" fiasco was to glue a piece of plastic into the slot on my key to make it into a small hole for the key ring to go thru. I told them to "F off", as I don't put lots  of keys onto my key ring.
 Hughesnet works fine with my Mac and Airport Extreme. Windoz, Facebook, and the Hughesnet home page are data hogs. I had to quit FB as it was sucking up 50gb in about two weeks.  Google monitoring all you do also is a "HOG", so no "Chrome" on my Mac. I now have the 5/50GB monthly plan, and have used 4.1gb in 21 days.
 Buy a Mac for internet use, You can install OS X and Windoz as Macs can run both. But Windoz on the internet is not capable of being made "Secure". It has not been since the first PC XT came out in 1981, and can not be made secure? It still is not after over 30 years.  Insanity is trying to secure Windoz for 30+ years, IMHO.
Bama Bill
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

I can understand where david mowl is coming from.  When you call and ask questions, you expect that the answers are the correct ones, being that the person is a rep for the company.  If a person is completely ignorant of satellite internet, then they are, of course, going to rely on what the rep tells them.  Not doing all of the research is not really all their fault, because calling a rep and asking them IS a form of research.

I know that doing research of a product before you buy it is something all of us should do.  With that said, a rep should be able to give the correct answer to, what I am sure is, a very common question by would be customers. 

Of course, as is sometimes the case, it's a misunderstanding, or what the customer said the rep told them was never actually said.  It's good that they record the sales calls.  I'm not saying this is the case with this call, I'm just saying it's sometimes the case.   

But, unfortunately, as he/she found out, real time online gaming and Hughesnet don't mix. 

I also think that sometimes when a legitimate question is asked, or a complaint is made, those of us who know satellite internet more than those who have never had it may, in fact, reply in ways that make it sound like it's the customer's fault.  It's not always the case. 

BirdDog
Assistant Professor

The high latency is actually the worst part about satellite internet IMO. The speed and data limits I can live with and have adjusted to. Nothing can be done about the latency.

It is also the reason behind slow page loads that new customers complain about when coming from cable, even if their speed is good.
Gwalk900
Honorary Alumnus

Gabe,

I have to agree with most of your statement ....

One thing that we see over and over is confusion or lack of understanding over the "bonus bytes" thing.

Common definition of "bonus" is .... something "extra" and the practical application of bonus bytes are anything but an extra.

How many times have we seen a new user with the idea that he/she has 20 GB and when that is used up they have 50 GB "extra" bonus bytes waiting in the wings.

It should (bonus bytes) be rename to something that better defines it .... Late Night Bytes, Over Night Bytes ... anything but "bonus". If a potential subscriber is not very savvy or the conversation is fast moving its really easy for that all important point to be lost ... that there are TWO distinct time periods.

 

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

For sure.  I don't play online games so it doesn't bother me, but because of the latency there are a few quirks that I have here and there.  I assume it's the latency, anyway.  I have a problem with updating Malwarebytes, in that for some reason that server doesn't like Hughesnet very much and it takes anywhere from five to seven minutes to even begin to update.  It just searches and searches.  I also can't alter my Paltalk profile, though I haven't used it in a VERY long time.  I actually don't know if it's the latency that causes these problems, or if it is something inherent to satellite internet, no matter the company. 

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

Gwalk, for sure with the confusion with the bonus bytes.  That I've seen quite a bit on here.  I like Over Night Bytes, or Overnight Bytes.  Just that name change would cut down on the confusion, no doubt. 
BirdDog
Assistant Professor

Two thumbs up on "Late Night bytes" versus Bonus, or maybe Night Owl bytes, lol. Gabe I've noticed the same with Malwarebytes updates, takes forever.
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

BirdDog, I went on Malwarebytes to ask them about it taking so long to update, and they said it was because of having Hughesnet, but they didn't explain why.  It still eventually updates, and once it starts updating only takes a few seconds, but MAN it takes for ever to find them.  LOL.

It's funny that it finally does update, though.  I figure if it had a problem with Hughesnet (or a sat ISP altogether) it wouldn't update at all, but I find it interesting that it eventually catches, and always at about the same time when checking.  It's a head scratcher, that's for sure.   

Gwalk900
Honorary Alumnus

Before trying the next update try disabling web acceleration first and see if that helps.

Don't forget to re-enable when done.


GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

Although it was a good idea, it didn't make a difference.  Still nearly seven minutes to find the update, but just a few seconds once it did.  It would be interesting to find out what is causing this.  Do you use Malwarebytes and does yours update quickly? 

Gwalk900
Honorary Alumnus

Yup I run it.

Just got a program update here a few days ago.

Trying it now and the updater has been running 3 minutes and still going .. this is new.


GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

Do you have the paid version that automatically updates so you just never noticed it before?  It's been doing this for me for the last four or five versions.  Since some time last year. 
Gwalk900
Honorary Alumnus

Free version ... 7 minutes