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Slow Download and Upload speeds.

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t.steven
Sophomore

Slow Download and Upload speeds.

I have been having this recurring issue for the last 6-7 months now. I let it go as it wasn't as bad when it started figured it would fix itself. Now over the last few months, things have begun to get worse and I have noticed a steady decline in my systems performance.

Before I really go into detail. I would like to make note. I have the Hughesnet Pro Plus plan. After about a year of having upgraded from the original Hughesnet service to the Hughesnet Gen 4 Pro Plan. My internet services were running fine for the better part of 3 years if my memory serves me right. About 7 to 8 months ago I was running into some speed issues. I called in to tech support which was very unhelpful. Running diagnostics and troubleshooting that I have been doing on a daily basis at home. Minus the systems checks they do on their end. I have had my modem replaced twice after having my HT1000 upgraded to the HT1100 and nothing has changed. If anything, they are slowly getting worse.

I have contacted Tech Support by phone probably a dozen times in the last 2 months concerning my extremely low download and upload speeds. My internet is directly connected to my desktop computer. I do not have a router or any other things that could slow my service down. The same stuff I have to tell tech support every time I call. after my 5th call or so. I was told they would escalate to Advanced Tech Support regarding my slow Upload and download speeds, as I use my internet for work and school purposes.

While waiting for my Advanced Tech Support call back which took 10 days do receive, I was told there was nothing they could do. I even explained that I am paying $79 a month for Download Speeds of up to 10Mbps and Upload Speeds of up to 2Mbps. That is based off of what my plan is supposed to provide. I even stated I understand due to Satellite Internet's inconsistent flow of signal that it isn't guaranteed to be 10Mbps Up or 2Mbps Down. That is one thing I have fully come to understand after having this service for almost about 10 years now.

However, the issue is. Those numbers as far as speeds go should not be this low. According to my Testmy.net speed tests I am getting slower download and upload speeds slower than the basic Choice plan. The Advanced Tech support rep told me they understand my frustration, but I don't see how they can understand when I have to actually do stuff with my internet that requires me to download and upload at a faster speed. As things are, I am unable to do so. It has gotten me extremely behind in the things I use my internet service for. Most the time it takes over 1 minute for a web page to load or even search on google or any other search engine. Just typing a topic into the search bar and hitting enter it takes an absurd amount of time to load the search results. This issue is the same no matter the time of night or day. Peak hours or non peak hours it doesn't change.

I was then told by the Tech rep that a new satellite would launch in December and to just wait it out, however I cannot wait 3-4 months and that by a professional standard of a business that sells a service for which a consumer pays for. Especially at the prices they pay for, is unacceptable business practice and how ever long it takes. It just is not an option for me. On top of it all. I have no other internet service to which I can turn to, so canceling my Hughesnet Service and opting for a new Internet Service Provider is out of the question. I am stuck with Hughesnet. I was offered a 3 month discount for my monthly service. However that really doesn't justify that the last year I have been paying $79 a month for a less than Choice Plan speeds.

I was then notified that the satellite is oversubscribed. At that point I begin to wonder what is the point of having a service that is being payed for and you cannot get? I feel at this moment like I am being cheated and scammed. My research has also shown that I am not the only one with this problem but hundreds of other customers complaining about the same thin, however in a far less civil manner. This is an issue that needs to be rectified and soon. Because the way I see it. I am having my money stolen from me because a company cannot give you what you pay for. There is no excuse that Hughesnet can make because there isn't one.

Lastly, before I post a link to my Testmy.net speed tests. I called back to ask if there is any way to speed up my service. The tech told me I needed to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10, I did some research and that won't help matters by any means. On top of it all I cannot do that even if I wanted to. What kind of tech support advice is that, I have no idea. Anyway, without further adieu.

http://testmy.net/quickstats/Darkling1984

That covers mostly my Upload speed since November on many days I did not do them however they are always very consistently low. I added a Download and Upload speed test which are the newest ones. All of which are pretty much the same as they have been all year.

To be quite frank. I am just tired of all the excuses and all of the run around from tech support. It is beyond frustrating, however I can be understanding and don't take my frustration out on people just trying to do their job. But I do not like excuses and feeling like I am the punch line to some bad joke. I honestly just don't know what to do anymore. So I have come here. I apologize for the long post. If you read this thank you for taking the time to do so. I just wanted to be as thorough as I could be.

I would respect the courtesy of this being read in full, and understanding of everything I have said without something being taken out of context before I receive any sort of reply. Thank you for your time!
36 REPLIES 36
williamtobler
New Member

Your plan specifies your Download speeds of up to 10Mbps.  Your Testmy results show that you are getting 23.5Mbps and as much as 31.2Mbps.  These numbers are both in bits per second, not bytes.  So your download speeds are MUCH better than what you purchased.

Your upload speeds could be better, but not untypical.  516Kbps (up to 1.2Mbps) versus as high as 2Mbps.

I suspect that something else is going on (and it did for me in the beginning).  What are your Latency numbers like?  About the best it will get with any satellite is 650ms, whereas cable is around 50ms, and sometimes as good as 10ms.  This is why cable performance is usually much more snappy than Satellite.  My DSL is 10 down, 1 up, and it generally feels much better than my satellite 20 down, 2 up.  I keep both ISPs because two or three day outages with the DSL are not uncommon, and I have a way of quickly switching back and forth.  Depending upon what you are doing, the latency can really kill you, and there is nothing to be done about that darn slow speed of light.

I suggest you try the free program WinMtr.exe.  This showed me that many of the hops from my home to the destination were timing out, although it didn't tell me why.  After quite a bit of testing over several weeks, I found that if I slowed the Ethernet speed from my desktop to the Hughes modem from 1 Gbps to 100 Mbps that my throughput increased by many times.


El Dorado Netwo
Advanced Tutor

I'll second the above. At 20 to 30 Mbps, your numbers look really good. We're running Pro+ here at our office, and we consistently see 16 to 18 Mbps down, Your numbers are almost double that. Something else is wrong, and I suspect it's your computer.
I found that if I slowed the Ethernet speed from my desktop to the Hughes modem from 1 Gbps to 100 Mbps that my throughput increased by many times.
This is really good advice, and I think this has been mentioned elsewhere in these Forums. See if you can't change your LAN card hardware settings to take it off Auto and lock it onto 100 Mbps.

Can you borrow a new, known computer, running a current OS, and see if it doesn't work better?
El Dorado Networks |Diamond Springs, CA | eldoradonetworks.com
t.steven
Sophomore

Yes, you are right about the download speeds. I was going to add that they were not a problem as they have always been unusually high for what I get have even explained that to Tech Support as well. I was in a bit of a rush typing that up I let it slip me by. I have had very little issue with my download speeds.

Just so everyone knows It is like this on 3 different computers. I have a laptop and a desktop not more than 9 months old. My father has a Mac that I have tested my services on.

My latency has been staying around 1500-3645ms and it jumps around erratically all the time. It doesn't matter the time of day either.

As far as trying a different computer with the most current OS is not something I can do. It's not like I have a computer hardware/software store in my basement.

But, how does one slow the Ethernet speed from the desktop to the modem? And what information am I supposed to use for the WinMtr tests? I have never had to use such a program before and some info on what I would need to begin to do would be helpful to start with.
El Dorado Netwo
Advanced Tutor

But, how does one slow the Ethernet speed from the desktop to the modem?
Process is similar in Windows 7. You need to get into your LAN Adapter settings.
In Windows 10, Go to Start > Settings, Click Network & Internet:


Then click Ethernet:


Then click Change Adapter Options:


Or, from the Network and Sharing Center:


Then click on your Local Area Connection device 


Click Properties:


Click the Configure button:


Click the Advanced tab:


Select Speed & Duplex from the Property list:


Click the Value: dropdown box and select a value such as 10 Mbps Full Duplex: 

Click OK, then close out all dialogs.

That latency figure you gave is way too high. Maybe this will fix it.

You could also try changing out your LAN cable.
El Dorado Networks |Diamond Springs, CA | eldoradonetworks.com
C0RR0SIVE
Associate Professor

I suggest against setting a 1Gbps possible link to anything except auto negotiate...  Have had issues with switches in the past killing links due to not being able to negotiate at full possible speeds.
t.steven
Sophomore

Thank you, I will give that a try see how things are. Much obliged. Will let my service run and do some stuff in mean time see how it works before I comment again.
williamtobler
New Member

Of course there are no guarantees.  Your ping times were very slow.  Usually around 750ms.


In my case, it appeared that 1Gbps was causing the modem to fault, and cause some kind of "reset".
There is a "test" in the Hughes myAccount called the Web Response Test.  I was getting numbers as great as 70 seconds, whereas less than 1 second is normal.

williamtobler
New Member

I have had Auto Negotiate choose 1Gbps which would then not work reliably.


t.steven
Sophomore

Okay, I changed it to 10Mbps Full Duplex, however the change I am receiving is minuscule at best. I just ran four Web Response Test came back with my download speed good, and my Ping times 1st 5886ms, 2nd 1893ms, 3rd 2381ms, and my 4th 1772ms. As I am typing this I am trying a 5th which came out at 730ms which is where I used to be more often than not before my issue started. My 6th 1775ms and lastly a 7th 2880ms. Something is causing an issue. I don't believe it to be on my end anymore. As I have tried most of the troubleshooting.

I am starting to think it is really due to an oversubscribed satellite on Hughesnet's side of things. Which really stinks because My use of internet for what I use it for has been severely hindered and in most of cases unusable. my Testmy.net upload ratings are still the same, with no change.

However, I would like to thank you for some of those provided steps I was able to try. Albeit they did not really help me. I do appreciate the time you took to post that for me to try. So, thank you for that. Hopefully I will find some resolution to this issue soon.
C0RR0SIVE
Associate Professor

Holy crap...  Some high latency...  Are you on Spaceway3 or Jupiter?  I would expect pings like that on Spaceway3, but certainly not Jupiter...

As for speeds, from what I could tell, most of your download and upload speeds appear to be in a good area...
El Dorado Netwo
Advanced Tutor

Not that it may make any difference, but I meant to type: 100 Mbps Full Duplex.

10 Mbps would be less than your overall modem speed of 20 ~ 30 Mbps.
El Dorado Networks |Diamond Springs, CA | eldoradonetworks.com
t.steven
Sophomore

I will reset that then and let my system run while I use my service for a while. Give that a try see how it works. Thanks! Can't hurt to try lol.
t.steven
Sophomore

Yeah, I still am seeing no change. I guess I will just have to wait for a rep to get back to me on this issue after the Holiday. Want to thank you again for the help. Even though it did not work, you took the time to give me some alternative ways to try and increase my service speeds. So thank you. Hope you have a Merry Christmas!
williamtobler
New Member

Your problem "might" be in the latency.  Some internet applications (e.g, email and banking) involve a lot of back and forth communication with only small packets of information as part of the data stream.  Hence even with high bit rates, the effective transfer becomes very slow because of the latency with each back and forth.  And your latency is abnormally high.

In my case, the problem was lost packets, and WinMtr helped show this including the first jump from the computer to the Hughes modem (about 35 feet away) which I was able to address with better cable and slower speeds.

There may be another program like WinMtr that automates the measurement of ping times which might show something like where it is happening.  Whether you or Hughes can address this is another matter, but trying to find what "it is and is not" is important in future conversations.

Maybe one of the others can answer this:  the basic OS ping includes four tries.  Is the result the "average" of the four, and would lost packets cause large latency measurements?


t.steven
Sophomore

I honestly have no idea, but it is something I will try to figure out. Thanks for that bit of info.
Liz
Moderator
Moderator

Good morning t.steven,

Welcome and thanks for posting. Glad to see our seasoned community members offer some suggestions to you. I'll run remote diagnostics on your site to double-check the HughesNet equipment; if all is well on that front, I'll send up your testmynet speed results to our engineers here at corporate for their evaluation of your upload speeds.

Your cooperation, patience, and understanding are much appreciated.

Thanks,
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!

t.steven
Sophomore

Thank you very much for the update. It is very much appreciated.
t.steven
Sophomore

Just curious for any kind of update on my on going issue.
Liz
Moderator
Moderator

Good morning t.steven,

Most of us are returning back from the holiday break, so I would give our engineers some time to catch up. I escalated your case last week and I'll give the engineers a reminder so that you're not missed.

I'll post back once I have any news to share.

Thanks,
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!

t.steven
Sophomore

Okay, I just wanted to be sure. Thank you for the update.