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Slow to No speeds for this brand new customer

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lorrie
Sophomore

Slow to No speeds for this brand new customer

We just signed up yesterday...biggest mistake of my life.  We have slow to no speeds. No continuity.  Customer service is HORRENDOUS!!!!  And don't know what else to do.  Any suggestions?

38 REPLIES 38
BirdDog
Assistant Professor

For speed issues you will have to run tests as described below. Also since you are so new the modem could still be going through some updates and initialization procedures. What does it show when you go here? http://192.168.0.1/#!/home/status

All green check marks?

 

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 12MB size download test file ONLY if on Gen4 Service Plan
-use the 25MB size download test file ONLY if on Gen5 Service Plan

-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.

Hi BirdDog

 

Thank you.  We've been doing speed tests on that site but had not created an account yet...so just did that.  We have Gen5.  We tested download at 25 but the only option for upload is 3 - we don't see an option for 4.

 

Question -- how long should it take for the modem to get all it's updates?  It's been 24 hours.  

 

Thanks in advance for your guidance.

Also....we went here:http://192.168.0.1/#!/home/status.  All green checkmarks.  we have 19.777 GB left.  It's funny that the only GB that we've used is on speed tests.....

Here are some results for you folks to review.  Please take a look and provide feedback.  Thanks in advance

 

our results

BirdDog
Assistant Professor

For upload there is a drop down for other sizes in the manual test. Also you didn't answer about the green check marks in the link I gave.

 

The modem should be done updating but never know. One of the mods may have to take a look when they are back here.

Thank you.  So replied in a second reply to your other question.  Hopefully you've seen that.  also, scrolled down further in the drop down and found the 4MB for upload.  We will be doing tests throughout the day and will post results.  Supposedly an engineer will be calling us tomorrow at 4pm, but I'm hesitant about whether or not that will really happen.  

 

Any other advice you have will be greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

BirdDog
Assistant Professor

Sounds good.

 

No need to run tests constantly. Just batches of 3-5 about 5 minutes apart and best if they are done at three different periods of the day...... morning, afternoon and evening.

Make sure you are signed in at Testmy.net when running them.

 

Can you post the link to your results? Mine looks like this: https://testmy.net/quickstats/BirdDog2017

 

Kind of all to do right now until you get that call or one of the mods here replies. And you are most welcome.

BirdDog
Assistant Professor

PS: SInce you are new and say you've used a lot of data already, you may have devices updating in the background really slowing things down. How many devices are connected?

 

For the first 20 days new customers get relaxed plan limits and the usage will refill daily.

At this time, there is only one device connected...which is my husband's laptop doing the speed tests.  It concerns me that tech support and you both question that --- we typically have about 5-7 devices connected at peak times - 3 iphones, a couple of laptops and the firestick.  We were told by sales that shouldn't be an issue...but my fear is that it is.

BirdDog
Assistant Professor

Just being connected and actually doing things is different. If 3-4 devices are all connected and browsing/streaming/downloading at the same time that will be a problem even at 25-30 Mbps speed. That is true even for cable Internet.

 

You do need to understand that latency/ping/delay on satellite will be anywhere from about 650ms to hopefully no more than around 1100ms. There is nothing HughesNet can do to lower that. It is due to the satellite being so far out and then the interfacing with the Internet and the delay inherent there. Browsing page loads will be noticeably slower if coming from cable Internet. Ad block browser plug-ins help with that somewhat.


@lorrie wrote:

........................................... 3 iphones, a couple of laptops and the firestick.  We were told by sales that shouldn't be an issue...but my fear is that it is.


  It's been my experience that  an I-phone can be a a terrible data leech that can gobble up gigs of data in a short time.   I know they are not connected now, but keep this in mind if you eventually do so.  I was told by an experienced I-phone user that this is because an I-phone updates all installed apps periodically.  Also that this can be turned off at the I-phone.

 

  You might want to look at this link also:

 

https://community.hughesnet.com/t5/Tech-Support/HughesNet-Data-Management-Tips-n-Tricks-How-To-Elimi...

  

"SALESMAN n. A certain kind of liar, whose lies are often by exaggeration or omission."
The New Devils Dictionary ( With apologies to Ambrose Bierce )

Thank you.  I'm finding all of the posts very helpful...but the simple fact is that a customer shouldn't have to be a techy to be able to peacefully enjoy an internet service.  Admittedly we didn't do much research.  We called HughesNet out of desperation because our home DSL is pretty rotten too.  Unfortunately a reliable internet like cable or fiber optic isn't available on my street.  Nonetheless...we are doing the stupid speed tests the way everyone is saying, and will post the results later, and will have them available if and when an engineer calls.  After that, the service will be cancelled and we will go back to crappy DSL.  


@lorrie wrote:

Thank you.  I'm finding all of the posts very helpful...but the simple fact is that a customer shouldn't have to be a techy to be able to peacefully enjoy an internet service. 

 

  I'd be the first to admit that satellite internet is not for the faint of heart.

 

...........................................  After that, the service will be cancelled and we will go back to crappy DSL.  


    I wouldn't be too hasty, the mods will be back next week.  Maybe they can help.

 

"Don't give up the ship. Fight her til she sinks."
Captain James Lawrence 1813

I think I may be of the faint of heart variety.... for people who think hughesnet is good...what are they comparing it to?  and where do they live?  

I think you said you had DSL. Most of us that have this service have no other recourse and barely enough mobile signal (if at all) to be of practical every day use.

 

To us, it's better than having nothing at all. We've learned to live within the boundaries enough to help others understand what those are... as well as how to get the best use out of the system, which is most definitely not a drop-in replacement for television.


* 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.
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@lorrie 

 

Just to be sure, your tests are being run with a LAN connected device and not via WiFi, correct?  Occasionally people miss this in the instructions.  

 

And, though sometimes the speed testing instructions don't include the following caveat, it's best to run the speed tests while the WiFi is disabled to ensure that nothing else is connecting and using bandwidth while the tests are being run.  The reason for this is that, even though devices may be "off" or not currently in use, some can still use bandwidth, and anything using bandwidth via WiFi while the speed tests are being run will skew the test results. 

 

To disable the WiFi in your HughesNet modem, please see "How do I manage my built in WiFi modem?" in this PDF.

 

It may seem like a lot of work for the customer to have to do, but there is no way that the HughesNet reps can do this kind of troubleshooting remotely, and sending a tech out isn't economically feasible.

 

   

Edit:  And to answer your question, I think HughesNet is good, as my only other option is dialup.  I use it within its means and it works very well for me.  Are there drawbacks in comparison to ground based services?  Sure, but they're drawbacks I can easily live with, and I don't have much of a choice.

Hi @GabeU .  Thank you for your reply.  Yes, we are doing the speed test from a laptop connected to the modem by an ethernet cable, and with the wifi disabled.  We've continued to run tests throughout the day and evening as can be seen in our speed tests results:   https://testmy.net/quickstats/AndrewandLorrie

 

I am a city girl, so when we moved to a more rural area, going from Xfinity to DSL threw me back into the stone age.  DSL worked fine until my work changed our servers and moved them to a different cloud based provider.  Apparently the new provider requires a much more reliable service.  We thought we'd give HughesNet a try.  Within an hour we knew we'd made a bad decision....and customer service has been extremely unsympathetic and downright rude.  I really don't get how they can treat a brand new customer so poorly.  

 

One thing about you wifi comment is bugging me though..... will having the wifi on with other devices connected really "skew the results"?  Or simply provide accurate results for a real life situation?  Personally, I think that's just a gimmick, but I'm no expert.  If I can't get consistent speeds with multiple devices connected, then the service is worthless to me.  We are an active household and are healthy consumers of the internet... no gamers in the house but I work from home, my daughter has school projects to work on, and we all love our Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

 

If you have any other suggestions, I'm open to hearing them.  But being told that we'd have consistently reliable speeds of 20 mbps or higher by the sales rep is what sold me....and what has me feeling like we've been sold a bunch of hogwash just to get our money.  

 

Thanks again for your time.

 

 

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@lorrie 

 

Something else to keep in mind.  

 

As mentioned by BirdDog, your data refills on a regular basis during your first twenty days of service.  They do this so that new customers don't end up burning through their entire monthly allotment of high speed data with updating and/or upgrading their devices to current.  But, one of the problems this can cause is a false sense of how long one's monthly allotment of data will last.  

 

You mentioned Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.  At least for Netflix, the amount of data needed is around 3GB per hour for HD, 700MB for SD and 350MB for LD.  Amazon may be similar, and maybe even more.  So, once your data starts being counted like it normally would, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video viewing could burn through it very quickly.  Just keep this in mind, especially with needing the internet for your work and your daughter's school projects, which I'm sure would take precedence over the Netflix and Amazon streaming. 

thanks @GabeU .  the sales rep assured me that we'd have "plenty of data" to stream our favorite shows.  i guess that was another lie... 😞

From their own website...

 

How fast is HughesNet Gen5?
HughesNet Gen5 is faster than ever – 25 Mbps download and 3Mbps Upload – and is available to anyone, anywhere, coast-to-coast.
 
False advertising at it's finest.....who are these "anyones" who are actually getting what was promised?