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Phone Calls Dropping and Inability to Stream

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jerroldtaylor2
Sophomore

Phone Calls Dropping and Inability to Stream

I am writing on here because I have been reading the support topics to find help.  My service keeps dropping phone calls and I am unable to stream anything.  When I signed up for the service I explained to the sales agent what troubles I was having with Frontier and she assured me that this would be better.  I tried streaming live television on multiple occasions and I am unable, I even turned off the data saver on both the HughesNet and the device I was using and still nothing.  The sales agent told me I would be able to stream at up to 4k speeds.  I told her that was great because I am getting less than a mgbs with Frontier.  She said in that case you should have no trouble, but I am and now movie night is out for the next two years.  I also keep dropping phone calls at random times.  There is no rhyme or reason for it and no it isnt always raining here.  I feel like this is a lot worse then Frontier(Wow).  Does anyone have a solution, because the support sucks (This is an update to the original message, I apologize for my negative comments of the support.  They have been working very hard to help me and maybe this was a person having a bad day).  The always go back to its raining here or in Idaho, I don't believe that is a resolution to the problem.  There has to be another solution and if there isn't then this is robbery because I was told I could stream movies and TV.  I even cancelled my satelite TV, which was great.  

31 REPLIES 31
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@jerroldtaylor2 

 

For the phone issues, if you haven't already, try power cycling your HughesNet equipment.  

 

1.  Unplug the phone ATA, then the HughesNet modem.

2.  After waiting for at least a minute, plug the HughesNet modem back in.

3.  After waiting for at least five minutes, which will give the modem time to be fully back up and ready, plug the phone ATA back in. 

4.  After waiting for at least five minutes in order to give the ATA time to be fully back up and ready, try a call (I realize you may not be able to do this in the middle of the night). 

 

Hopefully this will help with the call issues. 

 

As for the streaming, you can also try lowering the resolution at the source.  This may help.   

 

With this said, streaming may not work very well right now due to both the considerable increase in pandemic related system load and the prioritization policy that is currently in place to help schooling and work related activities.  The ability to stream cannot be guaranteed.  Also, streaming in 4K with HughesNet may not be very good even in the best of times, and it chews through data at such an incredible rate that it makes satellite internet a VERY bad choice for this activity.  Satellite internet isn't designed for cord cutting.  

 

You do have the option of requesting a sales call review.  If it's determined that the sales rep did not set appropriate expectations, you may have recourse concerning the Early Termination Fee if you choose to cancel the service.  

 

The reps are on M-F from approximately 9AM to 6PM EST.  You'll likely get a reply from one tomorrow (Thursday) concerning the phone and streaming issues.  

 

@Liz @Damian 

 

Edit:  Concerning the dropped phone calls I assumed you have HughesNet's Voice service.  If not and you're using the net for WiFi calling, this activity is not supported with HughesNet.  The high latency inherent to satellite internet and the processes HughesNet uses to help mitigate the effects of such causes problems with WiFi calling.  If you have have HughesNet's Voice service please disregard this addendum.

Thank you for your response, I tried the reset as stated on multiple occasions and also tried decreasing the resolution as stated above.  I researched and used all of the trouble shooting techniques.  I tried streaming just a few minutes ago and again the picture is very blurry and the playtime is only 30 seconds before the video shutsdown (at most).  I looked at the weather for both my location and Idaho and both show sunny, I think there is a greater problem here.  I appreciate your advice on 4k Ultra and I don't stream at that resolution because I know how much data it will eat up, but right I can't even get 240.  Are there any suggestions?

 

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV


@jerroldtaylor2 wrote:

Thank you for your response, I tried the reset as stated on multiple occasions and also tried decreasing the resolution as stated above.  


You made no mention of any reset.  With this said, and just to allay any possible confusion, please do not reset the modem using the reset button on the back.  Performing a reset incorrectly or in the wrong instance can cause more harm than good.  A reset should only be performed under the direction of a HughesNet rep, and then only in the manner they instruct.  

 

If you're referring to the power cycle instructions, that was to help with the dropped call issues for your HughesNet Voice service, not your streaming issues.  Your streaming issues likely have nothing to do with weather and likely have to do with what I stated.

  

If you haven't run any speed tests as of yet, running a few may help the reps to determine what may be going on, but again, the ability to stream cannot be guaranteed.  The speed testing instructions are here.  Please be sure to read the instructions thoroughly before performing any of the tests, and then post the "My Results" page URL after running a few so the results can be viewed.

I am sorry I messed up the lingo, I meant to state I did multiple power cycles and no results.  I do appreciate your advice on the speed test and have used the website that was recommended.  The speed is great(even without the 25 mgbs) but inconsistent (meaning the system completely fails no signal).  As for the streaming, when I spoke to the sales agent she told me at even their lowest speeds I would be able to stream (again I am absolutely not using anything in the 4k range)  that is why I decided to switch.  Right now I have two options and that is Frontier and Hughesnet.  Frontier is horrible, so I need Hughesnet to deliver on the sales pitch I was sold on.  As of right now they are working to resolve the issue with me.  I am in a standby mode and I have to call them back if my services start to drop again so an engineer may look into it.  I only used the phone service twice today so I havent had a chance to trouble shoot the phone service.  As for the streaming and internet, I will call them back if there is continued problems.  I appreciate your advice and knowledge and I will pry for more information again if I continue to notice problems.  That is if you don't mind.  Thank you again.   

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV


@jerroldtaylor2 wrote:

 I appreciate your advice and knowledge and I will pry for more information again if I continue to notice problems.  That is if you don't mind.  Thank you again.   


I don't mind at all.  That's what I'm here for.  🙂

GabeU, I don't who you are or if you work for Hughesnet.  I do want to fill you in since you seem to always want to help others.  That way you have added knowledge in order to continue your mission.  I called Hughesnet today because of more trouble.  While I was on the phone with them we did speed test, but I went through like 7-10 agents because my phone kept dropping the calls.  I appreciate their dilegence and commitment to helping me solve this problem.  So the did multiple speed test.  The best I got was up to 5 mgbs.  They explained to me that, that wasn't within their threshold and that they were going to talked to advanced tech.  They did after advanced tech was done I couldn't get above 2.7 mgbs.  They escalated it up to the engineers who are going to call me back within two days.  It has been a poor month for my internet service, but everyone is helpful and I appreciate that.  It took me 7 hours to get through all of the phone calls because of the dropped phone service, but I understand that it isn't anyone's fault.  So I am going to wait and speak with the engineer.  They told me that if they can't resolve the problem then they will cancel the service.  I appreciate everyones efforts to help me and want to thank you for being one of the first to reach out to me.

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@jerroldtaylor2 

 

I'm glad that advanced tech support is looking into the issue.  2.7Mbps is most definitely low.  Though speed right now is taking a hit pretty much system wide, and it can vary from location to location, it shoudn't be that low.  Hopefully they can get the speed up for you, and fix the phone problems as well, as that's an even bigger issue.  😞  Everyone needs a reliable phone.  

 

It's good that they've offered to allow you to cancel if they can't fix the issue(s).  I hope they can, but at least you have that out if they aren't successful.

 

As for me, I don't work for HughesNet.  I'm just a longtime subscriber (since Dec 2004).  Though not quite yet 50 I'm retired due to a disability, so I have a lot of time on my hands, and I like being able to help others where I can when it comes to internet or computer related issues.  🙂

Just want to point out that problems with phone calls dropping or streaming is usually a latency issue, not a speed issue. Your speed seems sufficient for both of these.

 

VOIP is basically two-way audio streaming. If there's a large 1-minute gap in service it will cause anything requiring a steady stream to timeout or buffer for long periods of time (depending upon the protocol).

 

And... I've been noticing an unusually high incidence of 1-minute service gaps again, here on HughesNet as well as outside of HughesNet... pointing to my favorite backbone target: CenturyLink.


* Disclaimer: I am a HughesNet customer and not a HughesNet employee. All of my comments are my own and do not necessarily represent HughesNet in any way.
oldwing54-
New Poster

Hughesnet never has able to deliver. I can't stream either without buffering. I was told by a tech that you need 5mbps to not have any buffering problems. Well Hughes can't even get 3.5mbps! I am currently looking for a better provider! 

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV


@oldwing54- wrote:

Hughesnet never has able to deliver. I can't stream either without buffering. I was told by a tech that you need 5mbps to not have any buffering problems. Well Hughes can't even get 3.5mbps! I am currently looking for a better provider! 


It's unfortunate that, though you've been a community member for nearly a year, you've not posted about a speed or streaming issue until now, in the midst of a considerable system load increase.  Your speed issue and streaming issue very likely could have been addressed, and your speed issue may very well still could be.  If you'd like the speed issue addressed, please perform some speed tests as instructed in my reply to jerroldtaylor2, then start a new topic concerning such and post the "My Results" URL.  And though there may not be a solution to your streaming issue right now, there's always the possibility.

 

BTW, speed is only one factor in the ability to stream without buffering.

Thank you for your response, I get greater than 5 mgbs.  The problems is it just doesn't seem consistent.  I spoke with the tech support agents today and they gave me some directions to follow and told me to call them back if the problem presist.  I want this service to work extremely bad because for the equivalent price and the fact that they are the only provider I get Frontier.  They are rude and their service is pitifull.  

bokbok
Freshman

This is my first post.  Signed up with Hughes on May 7th.  Have not been happy with since day one.  Everything is much slower than my previous IP, SoftCom and never had buffering issues with them.  Would still be with them but can not get line of sight single now due to trees.  Back to Hughes, All I do with the Internet is to read newspapers, email, Facebook, YouTube, Netflix and Amazon.  My problems; email slow, newspapers slow, Facebook slower, YouTube slower with buffering problems, Netflix same as FB some times worse.  AMAZON UNWATCHABLE BECAUSE OF BUFFERING!!!  I called Tec support after just two days, they tried resetting the feed, that did not work, call another day, more resetting, that did not work.  Then was told that it was a problem with with desktop computer which might be old. Is 6 years old?  I do not think so. I tried shutting off all my other Internet devices, did not work, tried my  HP laptop, again as the only user, no better.   It seems that Hughes know that this is a problem.  Regardless of their excuses, Covid and such. Why not fix the problem and if not charge a whole lot less. If Hughes does not work with streaming what is the point. I have sent a letter to the head office.  Next step is to find another IP, cancel Hughes, try not to be charge the $400. And tell everyone I know to never ever sign up with Hughes.   What are your thoughts Community?

maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

First thing to keep in mind, this community is a tech support community made up mostly of fellow subscribers who are here to help with tech and similar issues. It is not an emotional or social support community. 

 

SoftCom is 4G LTE internet, which is Earth based, and so does not have the latency that satellite internet has.  You can't or shouldn't compare the two, as you'd be comparing apples and oranges. 

 

The very large numbers of people working and studying from home put a very significant strain on the network, which is not unlimited nor can be. Streaming may not be possible for some (though it may work fine for others), and this may not get better any time soon.  If you're in an area where the HN network is very strained, you may see problems at all times, and especially during prime time (though these days, it happens at pretty much any time. 

 

Yes, a computer is old at 6 years. It's old at 5 years. You can try to optimize it, like you could reinstall the operating system to refresh the computer, but the components will be old, memory may not be as good as with a newer computer, etc.  The age of your system and the way it is configured has an impact on your satellite internet experience. 

 

The COVID impact is not an excuse, it is the reality of the situation. 

 

They have done as much as they can to optimize the network so people can get at least a basic internet, if not all the bells and whistles, such as streaming. 

 

Satellite internet is very expensive to create and maintain; it's not like Earth-based systems, which can add capacity whenever they want to.  The consumer pays a higher price for this type of internet connection, and this is also the reality. 

 

You will likely have to pay the $400 fine for cancelling the contract, especially if you do nothing to try to work with the company to improve your experience. Read the legal site at legal.hughes.com/  and familiarise yourself with the subscriber agreement. 

 

If you're not willing to work with the company to optimise your experience, it makes little sense for you to be here. If you need social and emotional support, social media such as Facebook and Twitter would be a better place for you to try. 

 

I hope you find an ISP more to your liking. 

 

If you would like some help here, start your own ticket under Tech Support.  Just click Start a topic  and provide details of the problem, and be prepared to run some tests and do some troubleshooting from your side. 

 

 

 

bokbok wrote:

This is my first post.  Signed up with Hughes on May 7th.  Have not been happy with since day one.  Everything is much slower than my previous IP, SoftCom and never had buffering issues with them.  Would still be with them but can not get line of sight single now due to trees.  Back to Hughes, All I do with the Internet is to read newspapers, email, Facebook, YouTube, Netflix and Amazon.  My problems; email slow, newspapers slow, Facebook slower, YouTube slower with buffering problems, Netflix same as FB some times worse.  AMAZON UNWATCHABLE BECAUSE OF BUFFERING!!!  I called Tec support after just two days, they tried resetting the feed, that did not work, call another day, more resetting, that did not work.  Then was told that it was a problem with with desktop computer which might be old. Is 6 years old?  I do not think so. I tried shutting off all my other Internet devices, did not work, tried my  HP laptop, again as the only user, no better.   It seems that Hughes know that this is a problem.  Regardless of their excuses, Covid and such. Why not fix the problem and if not charge a whole lot less. If Hughes does not work with streaming what is the point. I have sent a letter to the head office.  Next step is to find another IP, cancel Hughes, try not to be charge the $400. And tell everyone I know to never ever sign up with Hughes.   What are your thoughts Community?


 

Thank you for your reply.  As this being my first time posting I was unsure where to which community post to post in.  I was not looking for emotional support.  My concerns were that of a consumer not being satisfied with a product.  Since there seems to be no way around the problem, "latency that satellite internet has",  I was hoping to hear from other Hughes users how they were dealing with this problem.  Which of the Community message boards should I be posting in?

As to your "If you're not willing to work with the company to optimize your experience, it makes little sense for you to be here"  Thus far I have done everything working with Hughes and their tec support.  I have yet to read anything in this posting site that offers any solutions to the streaming problems.  If you can direct me to such a suggestion I would appreciate it. 
The strongest thing that an consumer can do is to not buy a product and tell everyone they know what a bad product it is. 
I look forward to your suggestions.

bokbok, 

This isnt a throw off on the other guy, but you have my emotional support.  It is heartbreaking when the modern world requires you to have fast speeds, but you can't beat old DSL.  Then on top off that the cost!!!  As the other guy stated and I am trying to do, I only have two options for internet and television.  I can't get cable, so I am left with Frontier 😞 or Hughes.  I am hoping Hughes can help me, but probably like you and in a pinch.  I am preparing for the medical school admissions test and require the capabilities of consistent internet to run the software to study.  I am having very little success, but tech support has been willing to help.  As for the streaming on Amazon the recommended steps I was given include:

 

*Go to HughesNet account management page and turn off data saver.

*Go to the device and decrease your resolution.

*At this point I power cycled my modem (GabeU taught me this).

*Then I went and tried my television again.  

One of the most experienced people on here is GabeU from all of the post I have read.  Usually he is the first to help.  I would recommend reaching out to him.  He has the knowledge to help you try to troubleshoot this, but he is limited because he is just trying to help us out.  He doesn't work for the company as he stated to a post I posted earlier.  I hope this helps and stay safe. 

maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

"*Go to HughesNet account management page and turn off data saver."

 

And know that turning off the video data saver will eat your data very fast. Just be aware of this. 

 

Thank you to all who have responded and offer their support and advice.  As I have said, I have worked closely with tec-support and have done everything possible to get the most out of HughesNet.  But just was what has been written in responses is that Hughsnet is not for "cutting the cord" which I understand to mean using your computer and internet instead of a cable company. The problem I have is like many who live outside of urban areas is there is no cable offered. Then there seems to be a difference in what one uses the computer/internet for.  Work or streaming.  It seems that HughesNet can not do both.  For me this seems like a very bad business decision from Hughes.  All most everyone I know uses the computer/internet as a entertainment device when they are at home, at the coffee shop, on the transit ride home and almost all of that is streaming entertainment.  Sure because of the Covid more people are doing work and school at home but that will change in the future.  The idea that I should simply accept that this is just how it is with Hughes and make the best of it would have Steve Jobs rolling over in his grave.  

maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

>> But just was what has been written in responses is that Hughsnet is not for "cutting the cord" which I understand to mean using your computer and internet instead of a cable company.

 

It means cutting the TV cord and using the internet to stream. Satellite is a poor choice for this.

 

>>Then there seems to be a difference in what one uses the computer/internet for. Work or streaming. It seems that HughesNet can not do both. For me this seems like a very bad business decision from Hughes.

 

How so? Work should come first, before entertainment, so it seems a wise decision from HN.


>>All most everyone I know uses the computer/internet as a entertainment device when they are at home, at the coffee shop, on the transit ride home and almost all of that is streaming entertainment.

 

A great example of how experiences vary. Almost everyone I know uses the Web for work and learning, not entertainment.

 

>>The idea that I should simply accept that this is just how it is with Hughes and make the best of it would have Steve Jobs rolling over in his grave.

 

He's dead; he doesn't count. For the living accepting reality is actually a sign of maturity.

 

bokbok wrote:

Thank you to all who have responded and offer their support and advice.  As I have said, I have worked closely with tec-support and have done everything possible to get the most out of HughesNet.  But just was what has been written in responses is that Hughsnet is not for "cutting the cord" which I understand to mean using your computer and internet instead of a cable company. The problem I have is like many who live outside of urban areas is there is no cable offered. Then there seems to be a difference in what one uses the computer/internet for.  Work or streaming.  It seems that HughesNet can not do both.  For me this seems like a very bad business decision from Hughes.  All most everyone I know uses the computer/internet as a entertainment device when they are at home, at the coffee shop, on the transit ride home and almost all of that is streaming entertainment.  Sure because of the Covid more people are doing work and school at home but that will change in the future.  The idea that I should simply accept that this is just how it is with Hughes and make the best of it would have Steve Jobs rolling over in his grave.  


 

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV


@bokbok wrote:

Work or streaming.  It seems that HughesNet can not do both.  For me this seems like a very bad business decision from Hughes.   


HughesNet doesn't have anywhere near the capacity of ground based services, and they also have no way of easily expanding their capacity like the same.  Under the current situation, no, they can't do both.  And yes, it is a business decision, but not one made for profit, and not one in which the importance wasn't clear.  It was made for the greater good, which is that working and schooling are more important than entertainment.  There's only so much bandwidth to go around, and during high system load they have to allocate it to what's most important.  

 

Times are not normal right now, including with HughesNet, and everyone is being negatively impacted in some way.

maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

I totally hear you, and I know how frustrating it is to not be able to do things others take for granted.  However, it is what it is, and we can't change the laws of physics, so we have to adapt.  I personally get around the buffering problem by using PlayOn Cloud to record stuff I want to watch. It uses no data to record, though it does use data to download the shows, so you have to be careful there.  But once you download shows, you can keep them and you can watch them whenever you want without any kind of buffering and in HD. 

 

If you want to get some tech support, I suggest you first start your own ticket/topic under Tech Support. Go to the tech support area, click Start a Topic and post your issues.  Be aware that while we may sympathise with your frustrations, the focus of this peer-to-peer community is to educate about how satellite internet works and to offer whatever tweaks may make your experience more acceptable. That said, no one can make satellite internet work like  cable internet, so the trick is to learn to work around the shortcomings. 

 

The best thing you can do is learn how satellite internet works, and learn how to adjust your expectations and make the best of the system as it is.  Many of us do quite well with it, but your mileage may vary due to many different variables. While there are commonalities among everyone's experiences (such as latency), each person will have varied experiences dependent on where they live, congestion, their own setup, etc. 

 

bokbok wrote:

Thank you for your reply.  As this being my first time posting I was unsure where to which community post to post in.  I was not looking for emotional support.  My concerns were that of a consumer not being satisfied with a product.  Since there seems to be no way around the problem, "latency that satellite internet has",  I was hoping to hear from other Hughes users how they were dealing with this problem.  Which of the Community message boards should I be posting in?

As to your "If you're not willing to work with the company to optimize your experience, it makes little sense for you to be here"  Thus far I have done everything working with Hughes and their tec support.  I have yet to read anything in this posting site that offers any solutions to the streaming problems.  If you can direct me to such a suggestion I would appreciate it. 
The strongest thing that an consumer can do is to not buy a product and tell everyone they know what a bad product it is. 
I look forward to your suggestions.