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Speed Test Results and Connection Mechanics

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bcam3601
Freshman

Speed Test Results and Connection Mechanics

Wanting to do online work that requires a minimum upload speed of 1.5 mbps. The company requires I take a speedtest at http://speedcheck.dditservices.com/ but every time I take the test I get around 0.5 mbps.

 

Took a test at https://testmy.net/ and did a manual test where I specifically used only the upload and used 25 MB of data. In that case, my speeds were good enough in a few cases, and definately much higher than when taking the other tests. 

 

The problem per se isn't the original website at http://speedcheck.dditservices.com/ No matter what website I try, and I have tried a few others not mentioned here, if I do a regular test, then the upload is usually presented as being 0.3 - 0.7 mbps consistantly and this is over the course of several weeks after having upgraded to Gen5 and receiving a new modem. But when specifically using 25 mb for an upload test instead of allowing the test system to test automatically, I get the desired results.

 

What I have observed is that speed tests start out by testing small bits of data and then if the automated system observes that the connection can handle it, then it switches to an increasingly larger sample of test data until the automated system judges that your connection can't quickly handle the data.

 

So, conclusion I came up with was that when your Hughesnet connection handles small amounts of data, they limit the connection to lower speeds. However, this causes the speed test websites, after giving a smaller amount of data, assume your connection is slow and therefore they don't continue running the test on a larger sample of data, but instead end the test and tell you the slow results.

 

All this seems fine. If this is the case, it sounds like an efficient strategy that Hughesnet is using to handle the workload placed on its satellites. However, the problem is that the company might not take my word for it, and I need a way to demonstrate that my connection can consistantly process data at the rate of at least 1.5 mbps. 

 

Question: Is there any way for Hughesnet to lift this restriction from my connection? Is this process hardwired into the infrastructure? Or could they make a few simple adjustments and have my connection running full speed at all times?

6 REPLIES 6
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

The major problem you're going to run into is that there is no way that HughesNet can guarantee any speed, whether upload or download.  

 

I also highly doubt there is anything that they are going to be able to change with the technology of your service, as in being able to disable or enable any specific way that the service works.  

 

However, to demonstrate whether there is an upload speed issue that needs to be addressed, the reps will need some speed tests to be run, and run using a specific protocol.  And, even though you're specifically inquiring about upload speeds, it would probably be best to get a few download speed tests in, as well, to establish your overall service speed.  The instructions are as follows....  

 

 

To help the HughesNet Customer Service Reps get a head start on your speed concerns, please create a testmy.net account (if you do not already have one) and, while signed into that account, perform 3-5 tests during different parts of the day, then share the account results link with us here.

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)
-disable the WiFi while the speed tests are being performed
-use the 25MB size download test file 

-If testing upload instead of download, please use the 4MB size upload test file
-space each test at least 5 minutes apart
-post your testmy results URL here, it may look something like http://testmy.net/quickstats/yourusername


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.

 

If you are unaware of how to disable the WiFi in the HT2000W, please see "How do I manage my built in WiFi modem?" in this PDF.  Make sure to click "Save Settings" after unchecking SSID Enable for each radio individually, as unchecking all four, then clicking "Save Settings", will not hold the settings.  

Thanks for the quick reply.

 

Would you be able to confirm that what I mentioned above are the actual mechanics of a Hughesnet connection? Does it adjust speed according to download size? Or are download speeds unmonitored?

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@bcam3601

 

No, sorry, I can't confirm that it works like that.  It's more than likely something that an engineer would have to answer.  The only reason I say that it's probably not something that they can change is due to them not tending to be able to cater technical aspects of the service to individual accounts.  

 

I've personally never seen the speed adjust according to the size of a file, but that's just my experience.   Whenever I've uploaded or download a file to or from a commercial server/site it's always done so at the speed I normally see when testing upload or download speed, though the speeds are not always the same due to congestion being a factor during peak hours.   That is, of course, minus the ability to see exactly what's going on at the very start of a download or upload. Within a few seconds it's usually a full speed.      

 

Hopefully an engineer, via a rep, will be able to give you a definitive answer.  

 

The reps are on M-F from approximately 8AM to 5PM EST, though it can take them a day or two to reply.  

 

Edit:  I thought that perhaps a few other people, like MarkJFine, might know, but wasn't sure.  I see he replied.  🙂  

I sincerely doubt the speed is regulated by download size, because individual packets don't know how big the overall file size is.

 

Speed is likely regulated by the number of packet requests going through the gateway as with any router. It's simple bandwidth mathematics: Overall capacity / (# of packets * packet size).

 

The more packets in the queue, the lower the possible speed distributed to everyone using that route.

 

Incidentally, this is also why everyone streaming at the same time bogs down a gateway: streams use multiple high-density connections, requesting a tremendous number of simultaneous packets. Note that stream protocols utilize an open-ended pipe and have no intrinsic filesize especially if it dynamically changes quality according to congestion levels...


* 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.

Hi bcam3601,

 

Thanks for your patience while I worked on getting engineering's input on your questions. You are correct in your assumption of the mechanics of the connection, however, this is true for any network, not just HughesNet, it's more of the nature of how data flows through the internet. You are given what is needed to process your request, hence lower speed for smaller files. There is no adjustment they can make to have your connection running at "full speed" as you said. 

 

I hope this clarifies things.

 

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!

Liz
Moderator
Moderator

Good morning bcam3601,

 

Thanks for posting. I'm inclined to agree with Mark, but I'll still pass your question to engineering to see if they have input to share on this.

 

  Your cooperation, patience, and understanding are much appreciated.

 

 

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!