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Overwhelmingly frustrated by Gen 5 erratic speeds

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AS_0
Freshman

Overwhelmingly frustrated by Gen 5 erratic speeds

I switched from Exede in April, having been promised fast speeds and better data plans. I immediately noticed that NOTHING worked, started calling tech support, got a week-long run around, got mad enough to finally get bumped up to Level 4 support...after enduring hours on the phone with Hughes I finally got told honestly that the problem is a) a new satellite for Hughes that doesn't work well, b) Gen 5 software that doesn't work well, and  c) heavy traffic on the aforementioned satellites. I wish I'd known to check these blog posts before I signed a 2 year contract! At least Exede worked! Is there any fix? Honestly? I run the speed tests, etc etc. sometime OK, then try to watch a video and suddenly it's molasses. I guess if I wanted to use my computer or stream at 3 AM I might have better luck.  I have a brand new MacBook, my computer is 5 ft in front of the modem, and no, it's not a thunderstorm...admit it, it's Hughes. On the bright side you can't go over your data limit when it won't work.

10 REPLIES 10
C0RR0SIVE
Associate Professor

To help the Hughesnet Customer Service Reps get a head start on your speed concerns, you should create a testmy.net account and perform 3-5 tests during different parts of the day. Then share the account results link with us here.

Please keep in mind that Hughesnet will only accept testmy.net and the official Hughesnet speed test results. Tests from other sites like speedtest.net are not accepted due to the compression technologies and latency that satellite deploys.

Most important points to remember during this test:
-do the tests while directly connected to the HughesNet modem with a LAN cable (NO third party Router or Wireless devices can be used)
-use the 25MB size download test file ONLY

-If testing upload instead of download, you must use a 4MB size upload test file
-space each test at least 5 minutes apart
-post your results URL here, it may look something like http://testmy.net/quickstats/C0RR0SIVE


For a more in depth guide on running the tests, please visit: http://customer.kb.hughesnet.com/Pages/7001.aspx

The Reps are on M-F from approximately 8AM to 5PM Eastern. They will be the ones to address your speed issues, but they will need these tests to do so.

Yes I do all of that...talked to tech support ad infinitum...their answer is that they are very sorry but it HUGHESNET. That is not a solution. I am not alone on this. Your answer is not a solution. 

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

 

Edit:  Corrosive already addressed the speed issue.  

 

 

With regard to the streaming, have you tried turning off, or pausing, the Video Data Saver?  If you are deliberately trying to stream in anything higher than SD, especially with devices such as satellite TV receivers (on Demand), the VDS may be causing your buffering issues.  What is Video Data Saver?  

Yes I did that first. 

mamstutz
New Poster

We have had the exact same experience. Very erratic speeds. I have had help with customer service, meaning they have tried to help, but the service is very underwhelming. They swapped out my router but it still hasn't helped. Many times speeds are sub 1MB. A recent testmy.net listed as 200kbps. We switched from ATT DSL because we're on the fringe and it was getting very spotting. I reviewed a few tests of all the different types of plans (Exede too) and it seemed that Gen5 showed good promise. I thought it couldn't be worse that what we had. I was wrong. I would not recommend this to anyone because of the frustration factor. I don't care if from 12:30pm-1:00pm I get 20mbps download speeds, it's the consistency that I was hoping for. Even knowing that once the data plan limit is reached it's unlimited wifi at 1-3mbps would still be in the same ballpark as ATT DSL that we had, but I'm not even confident that I'll get that speed consistently. I'm hoping that these are growing pains. My assumption is that there is too much evening traffic and it's clogging up the Maryland server.

 

I just received another mailing today with promises of FAST internet for my region. It's almost verging on false advertising (although the fine print does acknowledge that speeds are not guaranteed). My last conversation with tech support said they'll call back in 10 days to evaluate. So far, nothing has changed. Same erratic speeds and mostly slow.

Sounds like a breach of contract to me on the side of hughesnet. To many people not getting what we were promised.

That is exactly my experience. I switched to Hughes because my neighbor has it and has young kids that use tons of devices, utube etc. He says it works great for them...but I would bet they are on Gen 4. I've had this problem from day one. It took a week and countless hours on the phone to get bumped to the top level of tech support, who basically told me it is a Hughes problem caused by a new satellite, new Gen 5 software, and  increased traffic, (probably caused by the aggressive sales). When I complained about what I was promised by the sales person vs reality of the service, I was told by the Hughes tech support person that the "sales people are not Hughes employees, they are outsourced to sales services that actually represent multiple companies". Wow. Mind you, I was calling the number on the Hughesnet solicitation letter I received in the mail. And now we are all locked into 2 year contracts.

Wade
Alum

Hi As_0, We definitely want to look into any speed issues you may be experiencing. Like C0RR0SIVE mentioned, having a series of speed tests run from your location will help narrow down any possible issues. In the meantime, we have located your account and will begin running diagnostics on your equipment. 

 

-Wade 

frankthetank
Freshman

Sounds like my experience as well.

 

https://community.hughesnet.com/t5/Tech-Support/Gen-5-extremely-slow-speeds/m-p/99770#M68834

 

The most upsetting thing is the company capitalizing on the situation, charging everyone $50-120(?) for the modern day version of dial-up service.

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV


@frankthetank wrote: 

The most upsetting thing is the company capitalizing on the situation, charging everyone $50-120(?) for the modern day version of dial-up service.


Nonsense.  The majority of customers have no issues, and if the average HughesNet Gen5 speeds are the "modern day version of dial-up service", I certainly wish I would have had that dial up service.