Forum Discussion

hkgondeck's avatar
hkgondeck
New Poster
5 years ago

Speed Test Results-Gen5

https://testmy.net/quickstats/CountryLiving?type=user_name&q=CountryLiving&framed=&limit=25&dateXi=&dateFull=&sort=date&orderType=ASC&checkedMobile=&TestType= 

 

I am working from home, using Microsoft Teams to do live meetings. My students tell me my face is freezing. The lag when I show videos is at least 10 seconds. When I get done talking, I can hear my voice echoing in the student's computer. I am paying for 3 Mbps upload speed, but I am not getting it. I desperately need faster speed. Can someone come check my dish tilt? Is there a way to get faster speed besides besides being online between 2:00 AM and 8:00 AM?  Thank you.

Performance
  • Michael57's avatar
    Michael57
    5 years ago

    hkgondeck your speed tests show you are getting good speed, when running the test.  That means there isn't any evidence that your dish isn't getting a good signal or that things would improve with any tweaks of your hardware.

     

    The symptoms you describe, a delay in your audio/video, is more of a problem with latency (ie. the amount of time it takes to send and recieve data), than bandwidth, which is what you are asking to be improved.  Sattelite will always have the extra latency compared to terrestrial connections because the data has to be beamed into space and back, and that takes an extra second or so.

     

    Since the delay you are describing is quite long may also be encountering congestion on the beam that you are using.  Because of the pandemic and folks working from home, there is a lot of extra traffic and that causes congestion which slows down everyone using that beam.  Speed test traffic is given a very high priority (like being routed around the traffic) so it's not representative of the speeds you may see when doing things other than speed tests, but it can rule out issues with equipment and things like that. Given that your speed tests are very fast, you are probably running into congestion with your normal traffic.  Unfortunately, I don't think that anything can be done about that, but maybe one of the support folks here will have some ideas.

     

    Unfortunately, I don't think Teams allows you to reduce video quality so that you can send and recieve less data, but one thing you could try is dialing in over the phone for your audio, it might be that if you are dialed in instead of using your internet for audio, things could perform a little bit better.

  • maratsade's avatar
    maratsade
    Distinguished Professor IV
    5 years ago

    Please read the subscriber agreement and the website and note the disclaimers. 

     

    " Stated speeds and uninterrupted use of service are not guaranteed. Actual speeds will likely be lower than the maximum speeds during peak hours. In addition, when connected to the Service using Wi-Fi, the user’s experience will vary based on the proximity to the Wi-Fi source and the strength of the signal, and its usage is subject to the Fair Access Policy." https://legal.hughesnet.com/Home.cfm

    From the website (https://www.hughesnet.com/about/hughesnet-gen5):

    **The HughesNet Gen5 service plans are designed to deliver download speeds of 25 Mbps and upload speeds of 3 Mbps, but individual customers may experience different speeds at different times of the day. Speeds and uninterrupted use are not guaranteed and may vary based on a variety of factors including: the configuration of your computer, the number of concurrent users, network or Internet congestion, the capabilities and content of the websites you are accessing, network management practices as deemed necessary, and other factors. When you connect to the HughesNet service using Wi-Fi, your experience will vary based on your proximity to the Wi-Fi source and the strength of the signal.

    • hkgondeck's avatar
      hkgondeck
      New Poster
      5 years ago

      My new desktop computer is hard wired to the Gen 5 box. Is there anyway that Hughes Net can make my speed faster? Is there anything in the planning stages to bring faster speed to rural areas outside of Peoria? Your website states my satellite must have a clear view of the southern sky. Do you ever send techs to homes to attempt to adjust the satellite dish to get a better view of said sky?

      • maratsade's avatar
        maratsade
        Distinguished Professor IV
        5 years ago

        (Edited for clarity)

         

        "Is there anyway that Hughes Net can make my speed faster?"

         

        Given your Testmy.net results, you are receiving speeds that are faster than the 25Mbps that's advertised. Your upload speeds are not the advertised 3Mbps, but they're within the expected range.  Faster speeds than that cannot be expected from geostationary satellite internet. 

         

        "Is there anything in the planning stages to bring faster speed to rural areas outside of Peoria? "

         

        Do you mean by HughesNet or another company? If the former, there will be a new satellite launch in 2021 (or '22), but I don't have information as to whether speeds will be faster. Your issue seems to be latency, though, and that won't change as it's dependent on the laws of physics.

         

        " Do you ever send techs to homes to attempt to adjust the satellite dish to get a better view of said sky?"

         

        HughesNet sometimes does dispatch a tech, but there has to be a demonstrated reason, and the evidence you have provided does not demonstrate a reason, as your speeds are very good.  They can't change the latency. 

         

        hkgondeck wrote:

        My new desktop computer is hard wired to the Gen 5 box. Is there anyway that Hughes Net can make my speed faster? Is there anything in the planning stages to bring faster speed to rural areas outside of Peoria? Your website states my satellite must have a clear view of the southern sky. Do you ever send techs to homes to attempt to adjust the satellite dish to get a better view of said sky?