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lighthope1
Senior

Signal strength is 38

Is my signal strength really supposed to be that low?

 

I remember when the installer came out to upgrade to Gen 5, he said he wasn't sure what a good signal was.  It was in the 60's when he finished. (I think it was in the 60's.)

 

But a 38 signal strength seems awfully low.

 

Did my gateway move?  Speedtest.net is defaulting to LA now. Used to be somewhere back East.  (Stop supporting California and their high taxes and regulations.  Move out of that State.)

 

Speedtest results seem good.  Ping 608, DL 41.26, UL 3.16

 

Am seeing some higher pings at night again.  900. Sometimes 1000.

15 REPLIES 15
Liz
Moderator
Moderator

Hi lighthope,

 

Thanks for posting, I just ran diagnostics on your site-- can you see if there's anything obstructing the line of sight to your dish? I'm noticing a gradual decline in signal starting in mid-April and I wonder if the springtime growth is causing this.

 

Your cooperation, patience, and understanding are much appreciated.

 

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@Liz wrote:

Hi lighthope,

 

Thanks for posting, I just ran diagnostics on your site-- can you see if there's anything obstructing the line of sight to your dish? I'm noticing a gradual decline in signal starting in mid-April and I wonder if the springtime growth is causing this.

 

 


No new growth yet.  It's coming though.  I questioned the installer about the dish, thinking that growth would eventually interfere.  He said it would be okay.

 

There are trees in the distance which are just about in the right spot to block some of the signal.  Again, this was pointed out and he said it would do.  He said he wasn't authorized to move the dish.  Only realign it.  And as I mentioned, he said he didn't know what a "good signal" was, so 60 to him was good enough.

Depends where exactly you are, and where in the beam you are.   Others with Gen5 though have noted signal strength around high 60's to low 100.  38 is extremely low, and even 60 I imagine.  Maybe the installer forgot to tighten something on the dish and the dish moved is why you are seeing lower signals now.  Have you checked to be sure everything was tight?   Other than that sounds like you had a BAD install and you probably need someone else to realign the dish again.    There are two other posts for Gen5 signal you can search and read through. 


 


@wildcats198308 wrote:

Maybe the installer forgot to tighten something on the dish and the dish moved is why you are seeing lower signals now.  Have you checked to be sure everything was tight?


They are very tight.

 


@wildcats198308 wrote:

Other than that sounds like you had a BAD install and you probably need someone else to realign the dish again.


My guess is the dish needs to be moved.  No matter how much realignment you do, it will always be hitting that tree.

Installer didn't know what a "good" signal strength was???  That installer needs to go back to installer school or be fired!

Of course he could have been lying because he knew he wasn't going to be able to get a good signal where the pole was.

My signal drops completely at 34 or 35.   My installer said the average in MY area was 86ish.  But he said he got it to

109-110.  He lied (twice).  I called him on it both times (he was here twice) and he had an excuse why I wasn't getting

the signal strength he said HE got on my dish.  He guaranteed I'd see those numbers once the cloud passed 😮  I didn't.

Please don't let this slide.  I'm guessing there are some good installers out there but all the bad ones give HN a bad

reputation 😞  If calling the installer's boss/company doesn't work, call corporate.  You can Google the phone number.

If you still can't find it, I have it.  Good luck!

 

When my Gen5 was installed, my signal strength was under 97,  since then I have seen it up to as high as 105.  So it does vary a good bit.  Right now its at 95. 

 

If you need to move the dish, maybe a new Pole Mount costs extra (im not sure)  Maybe you could put in the pole mount somewhere else and then have Liz send someone out to move the dish.  Just have to be sure you have the correct size pole (measure the one you currently have).  Maybe someone else here can give more details on what the pole install needs to be. 

Lighthope1, this is an explanation I got from the guys on dslreports/broadband/Hughesnet concerning signal strength.  Not sure I totally agree with it as I can see a drop in d/l speed when my signal goes down.  He said...well, I'll just copy/paste the info.  Makes sense tho and seems even a bigger reason to want as high a signal strength as possible.

from gwalk...Unlike a cellphone, signal strength is not a factor in speed. As a digital connection, your service is either on or off ... with a very narrow sig area as the strength nears "cut-off".

As a rule, the further north you are, the lower the max possible sig strength, but that is not the whole story.
I'm in Michigan .. and in Michigan you can expect some rally rough winter weather.
On a sunny day (both here AND at my Gateway location) I will see a sig of 99-101. My system will run full-tilt from that 101 down to about .... 36 or so where I will start to get on/off "impaired" errors and then lose connectivity entirely at around 32. The difference between my 101 and my 32 "cut-off" is my "headroom". I need, living in Michigan a lot of headroom because of the expected bad weather. You on the other hand would need as much unless you are in an area that gets buried in snow and that sort of thing.
A sat connection is either on or off with "off" being the point of cut-off .. usually around 32 or so..
A sig of 125 won't make your system faster than one of say ... 80. It will allow more headroom for bad weather. If you don't have really really bad weather then it doesn't matter.

So according to this, you basically have NO headroom for connectivity problems.

Gd morning,

I live in the eastern interior of Alaska and I've noticed that my signal strength has weakened from a 95 to a 51. As long as it doesn't drop below 40, I'm not going to worry about. I think the problem has to do with the spring thaw and is moving my 3" pole. This pole is in a concrete base but after a dozen years, it no longer is level. Before break-up, installer had no trouble aligning the new Gen 5 dish to the satellite. I have good line of site to the Satellite. Once the ground is more stable, I'll try "tweaking" the dish for max signal.

Hi lighthope1,

 

Aside from the signal strength you've noticed, are you experiencing any degradation in your online experience?

 

 

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@Liz wrote:

 

Aside from the signal strength you've noticed, are you experiencing any degradation in your online experience?

 

 



Aside from some latency spikes, I have not noticed any degradation.

 

I wanted to get a jump on this before that starts.

Very understandable, thank you. I'm inquiring with our installations department about your case. Once I have any news to share, I'll let you know.

 

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Liz
Moderator
Moderator

Hello lighthope1,

 

Thank you for your patience. The installation department agrees that your dish should be relocated for an optimal signal. 


Your dispatch is currently scheduled for our earliest available slot: Wednesday, May 3, 2017 between 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM. Call us at 866.347.3292 and reference case #103819039 if you need to reschedule. Please let us know how the site visit goes.

 

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Yeah!  Liz "strikes" again 🙂  Thanks so much for all you do for the community Liz!


@Liz wrote:

Hello lighthope1,

 

Thank you for your patience. The installation department agrees that your dish should be relocated for an optimal signal. 


Your dispatch is currently scheduled for our earliest available slot: Wednesday, May 3, 2017 between 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM. Call us at 866.347.3292 and reference case #103819039 if you need to reschedule. Please let us know how the site visit goes.

 


Cheers for the very quick response.

 

Alas, I will not be home tomorrow.  Tried calling the number above and the system won't let me reschedule.  It just throws me into a loop saying because the tech has not yet been assigned, I can't change the appointment.

Good morning lighthope1,

 

Thanks for letting me know. Please check your PMs, your installer was assigned late last night and I sent you contact details.

 

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