He also moved you to the Ultra plan at $89.99/month and gave you his direct line if you had any concerns about the service, back in November. I don't see any notes past 11/22/16 - were you ever in touch again?
thomflan,
After wracking my head trying to figure out what would cause it, this is the only thing I could come up with. The required speed is certainly there at the given time I would try to watch a video, but the "choppiness" of that speed seems to be the only thing different between the two times. I can understand it, with more people being online during those times, and those small downloads and page openings and such that tens of thousands more people being on the system create during those times would surely create the choppiness, but I was surprised to find out it mattered so much. I figured speed was speed, and as long as it was fast enough, it shouldn't be a problem.
This, of course, is only a theory, but it's the only thing I can think of that's any different between the two times. That is, unless, YouTube is affected by the sun. LOL.
Then again, Windows updates doesn't seem to like satellite internet, either. I think their problem, though, may be related to the latency. I can download an entire Linux Mint installation file of 1.5GB in around ten minutes or so during off peak times of the day, but a 300MB Windows update takes hours and hours.
To add, I can't really blame Hughesnet for either of these, but more satellite internet in general and the lack of available ground based alternatives in my, and I'm sure your, area. But, such is life. In the scheme of things, it's not all that important.
Yes, I have been in touch. I called and left a message for him and he is out of the office until tomorrow, 01/03/2016, I believe. I do not have the test results because i have not done them. I appreciate his help so much - he has been a lifesaver, but discounts don't help when the service is so slow that it is difficult to do your work. Yes, he also moved me to another plan, which has not helped. As i mentioned in my original post, I had a plan that I was happy with for most of the time I have had Hughes. When the girl switched my plan without my consent and knowledge a few months back, that is when the trouble really began. Since that time, the service is so slow that I have a hard time doing my job. I will be getting in touch with him tomorrow. I posted this message because he was out of the office for quite a while and I was beyond frustrated !!
ncseamonky,
I too apologize if any of my posts seem rude or "condescending" and as a 12+ year Hughes subscriber I truly understand ... in spades ... the frustration of trying to do "long distance" support in any manner be it phone, chat, email or web based.
One point I think not well understood by many users is that there is not "one Hughesnet".
There are in fact three different generations of "platforms" (soon to be 4), the HN7000s, the HN9000 and the HT1100.
There is a massive performance spread between the above mentioned systems and there are subdivisions of performance levels within those systems.
All of them however share certain key points but in the end the question resolves down to is: "is the customer receiving service within the expected parameters of the platform type and plan level?".
We all can understand that a subscriber just wants their system to "work". They don't want to become "computer techs" or "network engineers" ... they just want it to work.
The fly in that ointment is the fact that most satellite internet subscribers are in relatively remote locations. This means that some degree the user needs to participate in the troubleshooting process. Support is not at all like calling Verizon and demanding a "truck-roll" because ... "my phone don't work".
So lets take a look at the various support options:
Phone support:
For me, this is frustration at its best with all due regard to those that man the phones, wherever they may be located.
For the most part the tier 1 phone support is "script driven". In many cases it is outsourced which means that language or accent problems are going to rear its ugly head and that is going to add to a users frustration. If you couple that with long wait times on hold, dropped calls and the likelihood that a user seemingly starts from scratch with each call, this soon bumps the user experience from Frustrating to Anger.
Chat Support:
First the users system has to be working well enough to connect......
Second, the user is still at the tier 1 support level that is the "filter" that it is intended to be.
Third, I can't count the number of times users have posted of Chat Support just being "dropped".
Email support:
You still begin at Tier 1
Community support:
I'll admit to bias here.
In the Community there is no "tier 1". The Mods here are at the corporate level. They have greater knowledge and greater latitude but .. they are few in number and that brings us to we "Champions".
Here in the Community the Mods can (if warranted) fast track your issue to the very top of the required area of the support chain be it Sales, Installation, Repair .. and Engineering among others.
They, as top level corporate employees, are going to work "bankers hours". 8-5/ 9-6 eastern. In order to fast track your issue ... it helps to have certain items performed. We, as fellow users, have likely have been down the same road you are going down. We may be able to offer some "work-arounds" to get you up and running until official support can address your problem. Some of the things we Champions may ask for are to help built a "picture" for the Mods when they do get a chance to get to your post in the respect that they can see responses, A, B & C have been done ... we have test results we can work with ... we can forward this issue now (or with just a little more info) to the top support level.
In your original post you never specified what platform your were on, what plan level you were on ... these are the main things that give us (we off-hour Champions) a sense of direction in offering ways to get your system up and running until a Mod can step in.
unless we can ask questions ... how can we help?
We can not pull your level of computer experience or understanding out of thin air.
Your issue may be temporality fixed or at least the boundaries defined by something as simple as a MBX Reset or a combination enable/disable WA combined with a MBX Reset in a specific order that increments your system to a different Web Acceleration server.
How can we help you do something on a Saturday night when you find our questions "condescending"?
Troubleshooting is a matter of experienced based Divide & Conquer and who better to work with in the off-hours and short term than your fellow users that use the same system day in day out for years.
I agree with BirdDog, I do hope they find an solution to your problem soon.
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