The all to familiar problem, slow - slow - slow

[hamradio]

I have complained about the throughput speed before and there was no real solution  Sometimes downloads are near what one would / should expect, but most often very unsatisfactory.    No way for me to prove it, but all evidence available points to Hughsnet gateway bottlenecks.    Sometimes the download speed may be (sort of) OK, but the actual throughput is usually very slow due to "waiting"  - periods of inactivity in responding to a request.

I have a 101 signal strength, plenty of data, recently power-off reset the modem, Ethernet connection to moder, ect.  Near dialup true throughput persists in spite of the indicated fast speeds by testmy.net.  

Also, Testmy.net (recommended by HN) does not seem to be reporting acturately.   The most recent run indicated the speed topped out at 98Mbs. It has reported speeds in excess of  200 Mbps Yeah, right! 

https://testmy.net/db/62oQU7mpa      Here are others:  https://testmy.net/db/UDZZeu0Q3   https://testmy.net/db/-aL2Zg~-R

A test by speedof.me (HTML5 Test) produced results that reflect what throughput speed I actually receive:

https://i.speedof.me/190925232454-2087

Sometimes the crazy high latency reported in this test are more a more realistic value, around 660.  However, the speed is still slow.

My question is will HN ever fix the problem that I (and many, many others) are plagued with?

Thanks,

Woody  -  KZ4AK

https://i.speedof.me/190925232454-2087

[MarkJFine]

I guess my point is, if CL won't even admit there's a problem (again, I've told them repeatedly), how agressive can HN get? How do they even go about bringing it up and proving it? HN's basically caught in the middle of a spam (euphemism) sandwich.

Also consider that some of these ground stations may have had long term contracts with Level3 that CL have since absorbed (and degraded). HN may very well be a captive victim until their contracts with CL are up.

And even then the choices may be limited of who they can switch to. CL have practically created a monopoly eating up Level3, Qwest, et. al.

[hamradio]

"I guess my point is, if CL won't even admit there's a problem (again, I've told them repeatedly), how agressive can HN get?"

If they have an agreement like HN does with us, not very.   I would hope there are performances clauses in the contracts that would give HN some leverage - if they care to persue.   

I guess we are at a dead end relative to what we can do.   I hope service does not further deteroiate!

Thanks for all the input, wish there was a solution.

Woody - KZ4AK

[hamradio]

I understand that testmy.net is a favorite here but the site has lately proven unreliable.  I am certain my download speed is not 2300 Mbps!  It also apparently does not count "waiting" times of inactivity in it's calculation.   I have had more realistic results using speedof.me  .   I usually receive download reports of <5 Mbps, Upload is typically between 1.5 abd 2 Mbps and often faster than the download.   That being said, below are links to two tests.  These show a much better than usual download but, the point is,,,  When HN is actually passing data, it is often pretty fast, BUT there are long periods when nothing much at all is happening.  During the first part of the test, data rate is similar to dial-up (worse?), the later when HN decides to actually move some data, the speed is decent.

This is a data bottle neck at HN and/or their connection to the rest of the world.   We as users cannot control or fix this.  It is the responsibility of HN to address this problem.   How, as users, can we make that happen???

https://i.speedof.me/191008012131-1370

https://i.speedof.me/191008011732-5639

HELP, Please !!!!!!!!!!!!

Woody

[GabeU]

@hamradio 

Testmy is still working fine for me.  I do occasionally get the obviously incorrect result, but when that happens I just delete the result.  If that's happening often for you it may be an indication of some type of issue with your connection, wherever in the network it may lie.  

When it comes to troubleshooting, Testmy is the required test for a few different reasons, with three of them being that it allows a consistent test size to be chosen for all tests, the result given is an average rather than the speed showing at the very end of the test, and it shows a test in progress summary for each test (the TID).

[hamradio]

Hi Gabe,

I posted the speedof.me reslts because it so dramatically shows the nature of the problem of waiting delays vs speed when data actually is actually being transfered.

Do have two questions... 

1) Why is the speedof.me  (HTML5 test) result consistantly slower than testmy.net?

2) HN connection to the the world is pretty decent today.  Wish it would stay that way!  I just ran a testmy and when I go to results and ask for the urls, it returns, FWIW - "https://testmy.net/db/_Oa33z0Ch%20%20https://testmy.net/_Oa33z0Ch.png" which is not valid (two strung together). If I remove the first url, and past the second part here, get this:

Removing the second url in the string, pasting the first, gives this:

https://testmy.net/db/_Oa33z0Ch%20

----- Apparently returning two urls ----  Anyway, the question...   ----

After the test but before going to "Results", the  "Tip Summary" indicates Min: 34.82, Mid 1347.08, and Max 2559 Mbps.  These data and the graph are quite different from what I get when I click -  "Results": 

TiP Summary - Minimum :: 11.46 Mbps | Middle :: 14.82 Mbps | Maximum :: 20.65 Mbps

The initial results reported are not credible. 

Hope this post makes sense!  What is happening?

Woody - KZ4AK

[hamradio]

As mentioned in the just previous post HN IS WORKING TODAY!   ...So far.

I just watched a video (facebook > youtube) with no buffering, albiet it was low res.  Lately, similar videos have been ~40% content and 60% buffering.   I am estatic, but not so sure I will "hold my breath".

_W_

[hamradio]

---

@hamradio wrote:

As mentioned in the just previous post HN IS WORKING TODAY!   ...So far.

I just watched a video (facebook > youtube) with no buffering, albiet it was low res.  Lately, similar videos have been ~40% content and 60% buffering.   I am estatic, but not so sure I will "hold my breath".

_W_

---

Gabe,  Thanks for the indepth reply...

My bubble has been burst.  It is now after dinner time and if I try a youtube, I get to watch more buffering than video.  😞

It seems that is the price of using HN...

_W_

[GabeU]

@hamradio 

You're welcome.  🙂    

It may be that you're on a heavily loaded beam, which is okay during the day, but gets bogged down in the evening due to so many people being online.  And, unfortunately, as time goes on and online activity gets more bandwidth hungry, it could get worse.  😞  It wouldn't at all surprise me if the main contributor is so much more being streamed these days and so many more people trying to take advantage of all that available content.  Even I'm streaming now, where I hadn't done so up until about five months ago, though I'm doing it indirectly with PlayOn Cloud and downloading the files late at night. 

Under normal circumstances this probably shouldn't make any difference, but turning off or pausing the Video Data Saver may help with the Youtube videos to an extent, even if they're in a low definition.  It may be worth a try.

[hamradio]

Thanks for the suggestion.  Tried turning off the Video Data Saver.   Unfortunately, could not notice a difference.

I don't even try to stream movies, but it sure would be nice to view a low res youtube without so much buffering...

No doubt that video streaming is becoming more and more popular and loads the net.   It does seem that  HN needs to work with their connection provider to fix the bottle-neck delays - and/or - increase the bandwidth to meet the needs of what they are advertising and what we are paying for.

_W_

[hamradio]

Took a look and I am on Echostar-19-NAD,  Gateway 14, Beam ID 68, Outroute ID 1.

Is there any easy way I can determine the beam loading (traffic) at some point in time?

Does more than one beam cover my location,  central Virginia?

And then the obvious question...  If there is a less congested beam available that covers my location, can my connection be moved?

Thanks,

Woody - KZ4AK

[GabeU]

@hamradio 

With regard to the beam loading, I don't believe so.  Other than seeing the general effects of a heavier load, which it sounds like you may very well be seeing, I don't believe there is any way for a customer to see any type of actual loading on the beam, and it's unlikely that a rep or engineer would say.  

Regarding your current beam, while there probably are overlaps where you are, only a rep can say for sure if trying another one might be beneficial, or whether it's even possible at your particular location, as in whether another beam would get a decent enough signal in comparison to what you currently have.  

Hopefully a rep will reply to say whether that's a viable option.  

@Liz 

[hamradio]

Thanks Gabe...

Due to the symptoms, I suspect my beam loading isn't the problem, but at this point, would try anything.

_W_

[hamradio]

Near record poor performance Sunday evening at 20:30 Eastern time!   It took nearly 15 minutes to logon to my server, dot5hosting.com, and just view (not download) my webmail.  

This is with a testmy.net of:

https://testmy.net/db/4wAFN3Ovq

This in no way is representative of the ultra slow throughput.

Woody - KZ4AK

[Damian]

@hamradio,

Thank you for posting. After running diagnostics, it appears you are not on a managed beam any longer. We receive beam reports frequently and your beam is not listed currently. Due to the fact that the speeds being reported are within the normal range for your data plan, and your equipment shows a fully operational status, there is nothing to begin troubleshooting specifically. In these situations, our best bet is to escalate a case to our advanced technical support department since hidden issues such as this require very deep troubleshooting and investigation. If you would like to escalate a case, please let me know and I will post instructions on how to perform the speeds test methods we require. 

-Damian  

[hamradio]

Damian,

Yes I am interested in finding a remedy for the (intermittent, but frequent) extremely poor throughput rates.

Please note that my test results are sometimes strange from testmy.net.  I know I don't get 1000 - 2000 Bpps as is sometimes reported, but often testmy.net reports near advertised HN speed.  Download speed, per testmy is (apparently) not the issue.  It is something else causing huge "waiting" delays between data bursts.  ...Much longer delays than could be attributed to latency.

BTW, What is the difference between a unmanaged beam (me) and a managed beam?

Thanks,

Woody - KZ4AK

[Damian]

@hamradio,

The difference between an unmanaged beam and a managed beam is that managed beams are being actively monitored for reports of congestion. Congestion on an unmanaged beam is not likely as it has not been reported by any users or network operators. We are also unable to permanently move you to a different beam due to the fact that these are assigned based on geographical location and beam availability at the time of install. 

I understand your speed tests may not be indicative of the issue you are experiencing, however, it is standard procedure and the escalated case will not be accepted without it. So that we can escalate a case, please create a testmy.net account and run 3-5 tests during different parts of the day. Post your test results link here in your thread.

Most important points to remember during this test:

-Do the tests while directly connected to the HughesNet modem with a LAN cable (wifi must be disabled*, NO third party Router or Wireless devices can be used for testing)

-use the 25MB size download test file ONLY for 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/yourusername

For a more in depth guide on running the tests, please visit: http://hninfo.us/speedtest

*If you don't know how to disable the wifi in the HT2000W, read "How do I manage my built-in WiFi modem?" in this PDF: http://customer.kb.hughesnet.com/Documents/1041318-0001_a.pdf Click "Save Settings" after unchecking "SSID Enable" for each of the four tabs individually (2.4Ghz, 2.4Ghz Guest, 5Ghz, 5Ghz Guest).

-Damian 

[hamradio]

Will run a number of tests and get back with the data. 

FWIW, the first try did not work.  Received the message (not exact quote) "Your speed cannot be in excess of 2100 Mbps,  Try again".  Number an wording are approximate, but this kind of return from testmy is not uncommon.  Trying again produced numbers...

_W_

[hamradio]

Still trying to gather data.  Not always easy... Signal strength in the mid 90s -   For example, an attempt at 11:30 AM, 10-16-19, got hung on the TLS handshake portion and "secure connection failed".   Did a power down reset of HT2000.   After reboot, got "Can't connect to server".  About 5 minutes later finally reached testmy and ran test.

The results on first page:

TiP Summary - Minimum :: 22.93 Mbps | Middle :: 620.25 Mbps | Maximum :: 1715.85 Mbps

Not the same as reported in "My Results" when clicked that link:

Minimum☨2.64 Mbps : 0.73 Mbps

Average☨53.66 Mbps : 1.47 Mbps

Maximum☨94.8 Mbps : 1.78 Mbps

----

This difference is typical....

Another test shortly afterward:  (from first reporting screen)

TiP Summary - Minimum :: 31.25 Mbps | Middle :: 752.72 Mbps | Maximum :: 2359.3 Mbps

---------------

Also...

FWIW, The time stamps do not agree with the actual time of the test.

...Tests incomplete (more to come) but see https://testmy.net/quickstats/kz4ak

Woody - KZ4AK

------------------The time stamp is not the actual time of the test either.  -----------..

[hamradio]

This is from the latest test screen.  My bad - In that I just noticed the My Results graph is a historical plot.

Still, this is not a credible test.

[GabeU]

@hamradio 

Did that test show as being HughesNet on that page?  The reason I ask is that none of these tests are showing on your Results page.  The only one that's showing from this evening is this...

https://testmy.net/db/N8Rix-tbr

Something's definitely not right, especially with you having so many tests that are goofing up like that.  Once in a while is one thing, but that's crazy.

[hamradio]

 When I follow your link I see the single test, but when I go to

https://testmy.net/quickstats/kz4ak

I see dozens of tests and the provider is listed as "hughes".   So... ??????

A scn grab:

--

Here is another example of my problem - when trying to view a little video from the BBC

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-49922290/why-scientists-are-listening-to-the-matterhorn

Keep the comments coming !!!

__W__