Plagued With Problems -- Just Ordered Viasat To Complement Hughesnet (Am I Nuts?)

[southernsierra]

Hi all,

I have had a host of problems since becoming a hughesnet customer 1 year ago. I live in an extremely remote area of the county in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California at a high altitude (7000 FT). Weather is suprisingly calm for that high of elevation -- very little precipitation. There is no gas station within 1 hour of the area. Infact, there is only about 200 private parcels within a 1 hour drive -- the rest of the area is national/federal land and raw wilderness. There is no cell phone service within 1 hour of the area.

Considering my remote place, I didn't exactly expect smooth sailing with internet. However, my dish alignment has been an issue 4 times now over the last year. This is a vacation home, so I can only visit on weekends and OVER half of the time that a tech is dispatched, the tech does not actually show up at all which has wasted 4 of my weekends in total over the last year. The tech that DOES come has been great -- driving 4 hours one way each time to fix my dish. Techs have even called me day of and stated "Oh you live up there? Oh, no. I can't come that's too far" after having a confirmed appointment. The last time the reliable tech visited, a couple months ago,  he moved the dish to a new location and replaced the entire dish to see if that would fix the issue. It worked for 3 months until now and tech support is saying it appears to be another alignment issue so he needs to come back out.

I reached out to the CEO of hughesnet via linkedin a couple months back after a tech failed to show up for 2 consecutive weekends despite me having an appointment and was connected to a nice woman, Nancy who tried to help out and get a tech back out to me. I notified her of this new issue (4th issue) and she has basically told me that living in such an area may be prone to such issues and she wishes me luck. Great. This is not acceptable to me. There has to be SOME way to secure the satellite so that it works longer than 3 months.

So while I have an appointment set up the following weekend for the tech to come out (in which the tech MAY or MAY NOT actually show up), I have gone ahead and ordered Viasat Internet to complement the Hughesnet. I figure even if Viasat is spotty and alignment is an issue at least ONE of the dishes will be working at all times.. hopefully.

I figure Hughesnet will keep breaking every 2-3 months and then I can toggle between it and Viasat as needed. Sucks to have to order TWO satellite internet plans just to have reliable internet but I have no other options. DSL, even with multiple loop extenders, does not even make it out to my place which the phone company has been working to fix for over a year.

Just some thoughts on life.

Andy

[GabeU]

@southernsierra

When they moved the satellite to its new location, did they use concrete to set the pole?  Do you know if they used a "key" in the pole to keep it from turning in the concrete?  

It shouldn't be moving like that.  A properly installed satellite dish shouldn't move for years, lest there is a very strong wind storm or flood, and I highly doubt you're having floods at 7000ft.  If you are, OTOH, you've got other problems.  😛   

We get some pretty nasty wind storms here once in a while, with winds of 60+MPH.  My original installation, with a huge fiberglass dish, lasted from Dec 2004 to Feb 2016, and the new Gen4/5 dish was installed on the same pole, still in the same place.  It just doesn't move.  

[southernsierra]

Thanks for writing in Gabe. They did not use a pole mount. I requested a pole mount last time from Nancy (apparently she ranks above the moderators here) and she told me that I will need to work it out with the technician but she can mention it to them. Needless to say, a pole mount did not go down and the technician did not seem prepared to do it. He moved the dish from the roof (where he initially installed it) to the side of the house. The winds can indeed get pretty gnarly this high up. Good to hear you are having success with your setup from 2004 all the way to 2016 and then success with the new dish.

I'm 100% willing to install anything to get it wroking, there is tons of space in and around the cabin for any type of mount hughesnet needs to install.

[GabeU]

@southernsierra

That's unfortunate.  I can't say whether it being mounted on the side of the cabin contributed to the issue or not, of course, but if it did I hope the tech reconsiders and installs it on a pole.  

You shouldn't have to have two sat systems to ensure that you have an internet connection .  Other than outages caused by weather, your connection should be reliable, and that it's not is something that should be fixed.  I mean, don't get me wrong, nothing is 100% perfect, but you shouldn't be experiencing the issues you are.  😞  

[Brooke]

Hi southernsierra, thank you for reaching out to us. I was able to locate your account, and I see your next appointment is for the 25th. I was looking at attached photos of where your current dish is placed, and it's a bit difficult to tell, but a pole mount may not work for you to get a line of sight. However, like Nancy said, you can bring up a pole mount option to the tech and see what they say, as they will be more knowledgeable. 

Let us know how the tech visit goes, hopefully it gets resolved for you 🙂

-Brooke

[southernsierra]

Yes, the HughesNet tech is scheduled to come out on Saturday. Hopefully he actually shows. The Viasat installer is also coming on Saturday for a battle of the dishes. The Viasat tech actually reached out on email last week and stated he would be the one coming up and acknowledged my specific directions. I was quite blown way by that after the HughesNet ordeals.

[southernsierra]

Update: HughesNet has not reached out to me regarding my appointment on Saturday other than automated text message confirmations (which occurred before as well when they never showed). I plan to call PT satellites tomorrow to specifically get their acknowledgment that someone is actually going to make the 4 hour one day drive from their area to my place on Saturday. Will reply back with the results.

[southernsierra]

Update: PT Satellites has confirmed that the usual Hughesnet technician will be the one driving the 4 hours 1 way tomorrow to repoint the dish. This is great news considering this is the guy that usually follows through.

[southernsierra]

Update:

Writing this at 4:23pm PST. Hughesnet and Viatsat appointments were both from 8am - 11am. Viasat has showed, Hughesnet has not.

Viasat guy showed up on time at 10am. He laughed at the Hughesnet installation and said it appeared unsafe since it wasn't grounded, said the work was shoddy. I have no clue if it is or isn't since I am not a professional. Next, he proceeded to check the various ways he could mount the dish. He settled on the pole mount and thought it would be ideal for my case. He proceeded to dig a hole, fill it with concrete, and set the pole/dish. He then grounded the dish to my electrical panel and then ran the wire through the floor to the modem. I am writing this email via the Viasat connection. Working great so far.

Hughesnet is still MIA/noshow for today. See attached photo of the pole mount (in foreground) and the hughesnet install off the deck (background). Shoutout to the Viasat guy for making the 3 hour one way drive out to my place. Hopefully Hughesnet guy still shows/calls today... it's getting late but I haven't lost hope. Will make the 3 hour drive back to LA myself tomorrow afternoon.

Pic:

[GabeU]

@southernsierra

I'm no installer, but to install a dish on a porch, which can warp and such from weather.... I just don't get it.  Maybe it's okay.  Again, I'm not an installer, so I can't say for sure.   

Did the HughesNet person eventually show up?  If so, what did they do?  

[Installer]

I can honestly tell you that the Hughesnet antenna is incorrectly installed and not up to current specifications.  That mount bracket (called a "trimast") has to be installed in certain applications in order to obtain proper "triangulation" of the struts to correctly secure the dish from moving or sagging.  Looking at your mount, it is incorrectly installed and that is why it is continually sagging and losing signal.  It is also prohibited to mount on the side of the patio railing like that.  I'm sorry you have had to suffer through this ordeal.  A pole mount would have been the much better installation method here and you would have had no problem getting a signal since ViaSat got a signal to there VS2 satellite which is at a much lower elevation than the Hughesnet satellite.  If you want, you can send me the serial number from the white sticker on your modem and I can forward your account info to the distributor in charge of managing the installing dealer who is "assigned" to your county.  They can get them back out there to sink a pole.  Only if you want to keep both services.  Let me know if want my assistance.

--Someone who can really help you

[Brooke]

Hello southernsierra,

Please let me know if the technician arrived for the appointment.

-Brooke

[Installer]

Not sure what department you are with Brooke, but this installation would not pass photo audit.  There is no proper triangulation on the trimast and that's why it's continually sagging.  It's also mounted in a non-approved location.  You should look into who the original installing dealer was and/or contact the distributor (whom you should know who that is) so they can have HNS create a Priority Express Repair billable to the dealer to go back out and correctly install that antenna.  This customer would have had no signal issues if it had been done right the first time.  And (according to the ViaSat tech that DID show up) the Hughesnet antenna is not even grounded.  I would like to see those original installation photos.  And, especially, if this was a DDO install, then you need to get the distributor involved for corrective action so this dealer doesn't screw over our Hughesnet customers with piss poor installs like this.  If it was a fulfillment install, then a different dealer needs to get out there to correct the install and the original dealer charged back.  This is a joke.  We just spent 4 days in Virginia and this was hot topic.  This is completely unacceptable and I personally know that the distributor will be very proactive in correcting this situation and appropriately dealing with this installation dealer.

[Amanda]

Hi all, just wanted to jump in and clarify some things! Also @Installer, is there a particular reason you are posting on this account and not with 'gokartergo' ?

1. The HughesNet system is grounded:

2. Deck installations are perfectly fine as long as they adhere to our policy. The installation is in violation, but the signal loss was between 8/7-8/8 and occurred suddenly. Per March 16, 2018 Revision E of Consumer Antenna Site Preparation and Mount Installation Guide, page 81:

 

Shoot me a PM if there are any questions. Southernsierra, you are in good hands with Brooke, we'll make sure everything fixed up for you. 

Amanda

[southernsierra]

The installer did not show up (no shocker there). HughesNet Internet worked Infrequently last weekend at the cabin. More often than not, it was not working. Also, I physically looked at the grounding location in the photo above last weekend and did not see a grounding wire that was shown as pictures, additionally I did not see any wires heading that direction from the direction. Maybe I missed it. I will check again next Monday when I make the trek back up.

[southernsierra]

When I return next Monday it wil be 10pm and I am only staying for 2 hours to clean up for some guests I have staying. It will be another 2-3 weeks before I am even available on a Saturday for another tech to come out with 0% assurance they will actually make it out lol.

[Brooke]

Southernsierra, I am incredibly sorry and upset to hear the technician didn't show up. This isn't acceptable, I'm going to escalate this to their management, I appreciate you letting us know about this.   

-Brooke

[southernsierra]

Thanks Brooke. Whatever you did worked. Multiple people in Boise, ID just reached out to me to assign to a different installer to come out. I gave them my very specific directions and asked them to come not this weekend but the next weekend. They said they would call around to figure out who can do it and give me a call back to let me know.

[southernsierra]

Note: If hughesnet starts working next weekend I will officially have 3 internets at one house. I may be the only person in this country with 3 internets.

[gokartergo24]

@southernsierra

 Sorry, I have hooked up Hughesnet to people that have ATT and comcast.. The Hughesnet is the backup to there backup.  More people have backup then you would think..LOL I have two at my house.

[southernsierra]

@gokartergo24 interesting! 

Installer called me. Said he will have to drive 3.5 hours 1 way to get there. He said he would do it though unless "his truck had issues, and it has had issues before but he hopes it won't this time". He said he is leaving at 6am to get there are 930 am. He said he would bring pole equipment. Asked about the ground, I said it was soft and that Viasat guy installed a pole last weekend. DATE SET FOR SEPT 9th 9am - 11am. Will follow up as to what went down. So nuts to drive 3.5 hours.... any other state than california and you are 2-3 states away at that point.