Speed Test Results don't match user experience - can't watch AT&T TV

[trijack3]

I subscribed to Hughesnet at the recommendation of the AT&T TV representative who advised me that their service could easily support 2 TVs which require 4-6 mbps per device.  After getting my internet installed & first TV box connected via ethernet, I discovered that the service can't even support one TV without frequent buffering pauses.  Watching any TV show was untenable.  And my experience on my computer and tablet involves significant latency (webpages load slowly).  I contacted Hughesnet tech support by chat and was abandoned by the representative.  I called the next morning and spent an hour on the phone with a representative.  He had me restart the modem and my devices but was unable to resolve the buffering issues with the TV.  The internet speed test says I'm getting consistently over 20 mbps which should easily handle my needs.  I tried restarting my old internet service and connecting my TV and had no buffering issues or latency for 3-4 hours of TV viewing.  My old service is only rated at 6 mbps.  Since Hughesnet is satellite based and my old service is a line-of-site dish service, I'm concluding that there are major differences between the two services.  Hughesnet's speed must fluctuate widely causing my buffering / latency issues while fooling the speed test services.

[MarkJFine · Accepted solution]

Speed test services operate more like a file download. Streaming is not like downloading a file - more like downloading many smaller files, each having it's own delay. Depending upon where you live and where the ground station connected to the internet is, you could easily have a minimum lag time of 500mS per ping. Depending upon the streaming service and resolution you use, that delay may be way too much and may confuse their server, which is why you see buffering.

[GabeU]

@trijack3 

Just in case it wasn't brought up by the rep, if you're trying to stream in HD you may need to turn off, or pause, the Video Data Saver.  

With this said, right now the system is under considerable strain with so many people being home and online.  

Also, keep a close eye on your data usage, and streaming is a very data intensive activity.