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Throttled speed is extremely slow

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debbieecakes
New Member

Throttled speed is extremely slow

I've had an account with Hughes Net for several months now. I understood the data plan and download speeds and all that when I signed up. Please note that the only reason I even chose Hughes Net is because it is the only ISP that I can get at my house, and if given other options this would not have been my choice. That being said, I was satisfied with everything up until a few days ago when the speed dropped drastically. I have the largest plan available, 50gb anytime and 50gb bonus, and I regularly run through all the anytime data within the first couple weeks every single month. Every. Single. Month. And never have I experienced such slow throttled speeds until recently. I was always able to watch Netflix even after my anytime data was run out. And yes, I already know about changing the playback quality settings. Even when it was snowing in my area for days, I still got great download speeds after I ran out of data. But suddenly with clear blue skies and not a cloud in sight, my download speed has been anywhere between 100-145kbps. I've called the customer service number and spoke to a rep who gave me the usual speech about slower speeds when I run out of data, as if I didn't already understand that. But I don't understand why it's suddenly this slow when in previous months I've had decent speeds. I know it's not any of my equipment because it works fine before 8AM.

EDIT: the results from running a speed test this morning from my phone.
http://testmy.net/db/JP6xptDqS
When I tried to run the test again from my laptop, I couldn't even get the page to load due to how slow it was. I just got off the phone with customer service again and they applied some tokens and it's up to 6mbps download and 1.7mbps upload, which is normally about what I get when I have data allowance remaining. But is the 144kbps considered normal once all the data has been used?
12 REPLIES 12
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

debieecakes,

The fact that you were able to stream Netflix in the past after you had run out of data, and without purchasing tokens or being in the Bonus Bytes period, is frankly amazing.  

The throttled speed when one runs out of data is around 150Kbps, which is pretty much what you are getting.  Why you were able to stream Netflix after running out of data before is a complete mystery, at least to me.  Even on Low Def I don't think 150Kbps would normally be enough.  

Some plans have a thing called Smart Browsing, and that's so people can still browse without seeing any noticeable difference when they are out of data, but it's not geared toward data intensive things like streaming and will generally not work with such.  It sounds like your plan may have this, though when the system senses that there is a sustained high data activity occurring the Smart Browsing basically turns off and you are again throttled to around 150Kbps.

When you run speed tests while in smart browsing, depending on how large the speed test is, it could show you a decent speed or a throttled speed, but again, Smart Browsing isn't geared toward streaming, only general browsing.  

The only solution to your issue is to either be more conservative with your data usage or purchase tokens.  

If you stream on a regular basis, that would explain where all of your data is going.  But, if you don't stream on a regular basis, we need to find out why all of your data is being used up so quickly, as 50GB is a HUGE amount of data to use when not streaming regularly.

Again, why you were able to stream in the past when you were out of data is a complete mystery to me, but it generally doesn't work.  
   
debbieecakes
New Member

I'm not sure how but in previous months, once all my data was gone I still had download speeds roughly anywhere from 1-4mbps. Netflix just needed a few minutes to load but it worked just fine. I'll use this as an example. So last month I was able to watch the entire series of Desperate Housewives. All 8 seasons with 20+ episodes, each episode lasting at least 40 minutes. 50gb of data lasted me not even halfway through the series. Granted that was on Hulu, but I assume Hulu uses about the same amount of data as Netflix. But I was able to finish binge watching the entire series last month even with no data allowance and it worked perfectly fine. This month? I already finished watching Weeds and started Grey's Anatomy. I've been out of data for a while already but as of a few days ago when the internet speed slowed down to pretty much nothing, I could barely even get a Google search to load in less than a few minutes. 
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

Well, you pretty much got lucky in the past.  I still don't know how or why it worked.  Perhaps there was a glitch in the system that you were able to unknowingly take advantage of.  Perhaps someone else will have a better idea of why you were able to stream like that when out of data.    

When it comes to regular browsing, though, you shouldn't notice much of a difference, unless there is something else that is using data at the same time to cause the Smart Browsing to disengage or a given web page has a lot of ads or such that start to use a lot of data.  With that said, though, I'm only assuming that your plan has Smart Browsing.  If you have it you'll see it on the your Status Meter under your Bonus Bytes, though I don't know if the icon changes color when it's activated.  I've never run out of data so I've not experienced Smart Browsing, though I have it on my plan.  If your plan doesn't have Smart Browsing, your speed will be throttled all of the time after running out of data, or at least it's supposed to be.  
   
debbieecakes
New Member

I don't think I have Smart Browsing because I'm not seeing it anywhere. I'm not completely sure though. And maybe I could've just gotten lucky but if that's the case I'd still like to figure out why it just suddenly decided to crap out on me like this after months of streaming without problems. 
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

If you have SmartBrowsing, it'll be where the red box is in the pic of my Hughesnet Meter below (click on the pic and it opens up to full size).  
 
To be honest, I don't know if anyone will ever be able to give you a definitive answer as to why it worked before.  Why it's not working now is much easier to answer.  LOL.  Perhaps a Rep will know.  I'm somewhat interested in hearing why it worked, too.  


   
BirdDog
Assistant Professor

Yea, why Netflix ever worked when throttled is a mystery. It works for me when speed is low like around 1 Mbps but at throttled speed would be extremely unlikely for most. And throttling means even short bursts of higher speed is immediately squashed. Sure can't explain that one.

And yes, 144 kbps is normal when throttled.
debbieecakes
New Member

I'm still not sure about the Smart Browsing. Funny thing, I can't access the part of my Hughes Net meter that tells me if i have it or not. I can get the system control center page to load, but it doesn't mention anything about Smart Browsing on there. That's if it's even supposed to be.

Hopefully somebody will have some insight into this. I'm a bit disappointed to hear that my throttled speed is considered normal though. I'd be willing to upgrade to a larger data plan if given the choice but to have to purchase tokens by the gb is pretty ridiculous.
BirdDog
Assistant Professor

If you have Ultra plan 50/50 then you have Smart Browsing. It should show on Status Meter Main page but will stay grayed out unless over allowance then it activates automatically as Gabe showed above.
debbieecakes
New Member

Ok. I still can't get my status meter page to load because of how slow the internet is going. I get a screen saying "please wait while we retrieve your information" and the loading icon that seems to stops spinning and then does nothing. So maybe it's safe to assume it's not working right now.
BirdDog
Assistant Professor

The Status Meter gets its information directly from the modem so there should be no problem accessing it. It sounds like you have some other problem going on. If using a router try connecting directly to the modem instead, no router.
BirdDog
Assistant Professor

Oh, never mind. 🙂

I rarely go there, I use the tray meter. Agree, HughesNet pages should be allowed to load normally even if throttled.
BirdDog
Assistant Professor

Well, they should if they provide vital system information but I suppose that could get them in trouble. Another no win situation.