Update: Ditching the dish

[dcarolan]

I would have preferred to just put this into my previous post , “High Data Usage”, but it was closed.

So, six months I payed tons for HughesNet service. The last four, only one device was ever attached to it. My 80 year old mother had exclusive access with her IPad, to read emails, look up recipes, and occasionally buy something from Amazon. A little old lady who doesn’t watch videos or stream music easily burned through the data cap every month before month’s end. Meanwhile, I used my phone plan’s data for my own use.

But my prayers to the internet Gods have been answered. AT&T was finally able to install basic internet service to my house. At less than a gigabyte per second top speed, I’m getting better transfer rates than I ever got from HughesNet. It’s slow, but I get a terabyte of data. I finally updated my laptop OS after months of using it exclusively offline.

Now I can finally take a hacksaw to the ugly bleeping pole the obnoxious installer told me could only be placed IN THE MIDDLE OF MY DRIVEWAY. Yeah, that has looked REAL good from the street for the last six months.

So, it’s a good ending to this particular story. HughesNet gets their equipment back and gets a bunch more money from me for breaking their contract; I get to not have a big advertisement for a service I’ve been disgusted with (since installation) in my front yard.

And I get an opportunity to tell people to run (don’t walk) if HughesNet ever comes calling to offer “service.”

Buh-bye.

[maratsade]

Middle of your driveway, huh? Got a picture?

HughesNet may not have worked for you, but it works for others.

I'd tell people that before they choose to go without Internet in a rural area, that they read legal.hughes.com/ and learn about how satellite internet service works and what things they will be responsible for.

A lot of disgruntled subscribers never bothered to read the contract and so never understood the limitations of the service, and then they grumble and rail and blame everyone and everything but themselves.

Have a nice honeymoon period with your new "service."

[dcarolan]

Sure, I’ve got a couple of pics. How do I post them?

Yeah, I guess it works great if you only read email. I read everything I could and tried every solution offered and finally just let my mother be the only user. Hughesnet sells their service saying only that video streaming will eat your data. That’s about it. The don’t say that regular surfing by one 80 year old grandmother will kill 20 gigs in less than a month.

Finally, the company called me, offered me the service, talked it up like it was the best thing ever, took my money and locked me into a two year contact before I could read about what a crummy service it actually is. I’ve seen enough posts from other people to see that this is the norm. So the whole “shoulda read the contract “ line is a bunch of bovine scatology.

[maratsade]

When you write a reply, there's a ribbon at the top of the box you write in.  One of the icons there is labeled "Photos."  Click on that and you can upload pics.   I hope you can upload your pics without issue. 

I suggest new subscribers read the general website (hughesnet.com) and the legal site before deciding to subscribe.  In many rural areas the choices are limited, or satellite is the only choice, so a person may decide to go ahead and make the best of it, or they may decide to wait for someone to come to the area with a different kind of service. The big cable companies like Comcast usually don't care about rural areas, so the wait may be long. 

The agents who sell subscriptions are of the same ilk as the people who sell used cars. They talk up a product and don't mention any kind of shortcomings, though it seems that at HughesNet they're supposed to give you the downside too (but I don't know how they do it....maybe they do it very fast).   I wouldn't go with what a sales person says. I'd read the main website, then the legal site, and anything else I can read before subscribing, so I can go in with my eyes wide open.  

Two year contracts are a thing for many providers.  If someone has done the research, they will have seen there's a two  year contract and an ETF to break it, and if they have a real issue with these things, they can decide not to subscribe.   

[maratsade]

"Yeah, I guess it works great if you only read email. "

This is how it worked for you, right?  And for your mom.  For other people, it works quite well for regular web surfing, email, and streaming.  Seems you were in the minority who has problems, if you tried solutions and they didn't work for you.   Hopefully your new ISP will deliver what you need. 

And the whole "shoulda read the contract" thing is no bovine scatology, but doing what's the responsibility of anyone considering entering into a contract:  read the contract first and know what you're getting into before entering into a legally binding obligation. 

[dcarolan]

Awesomness!

So, there ya go.  Believe me now?

We are in general agreement about one thing, anyway.  I was sold a bill of goods by the telemarketer.  The thing we probably don't agree on is that I don't think it's okay that HughesNet at the very least tolerates, and for all we know, encourages those sales techniques.

Anyway, this one is on me, but if I can help others avoid the expense and frustration I went through, I'm willing to do so.

[dcarolan]

And to answer your question, only reading email didn't work for me, because I had other things I needed internet service for.  Which is why, despite spotty cell service in my area, I used my phone for pretty much everything.  I only kept the HughesNet service because my mother needed some kind of internet service to keep her mind active and the phone solution didn't work for her.

In short, HughesNet failed miserably no matter how much I lowered my expectations of it.

Did I mention that my basic internet package is rated at less that 1 megabyte per second and outperforms the best speed I ever got from HughesNet, which was sold as "Up To 12".  Yeah, anything above 0 is "up to" 12, I guess.

[maratsade]

I didn't disbelieve you about the dish; I was curious to see what it looked like.  Does it impede you using the driveway? Can't tell from the pic.

Did you complain about the agent and the installer?  HN may not know they did a job you didn't care for.  Installers are supposed to have you sign off on the installation, and this constitutes your agreement that the installation is OK.  If they didn't have you sign something, this would have been something you could have complained about to HN.  HN may not know whether an installer or agent are doing things wrong unless they're told.  In the past, I've seen people complain about installation and/or sales agents here, and there have been some consequences for the installer/agent. 

I think this is something potential subscribers need to realise: before signing off on the installation, make sure it's to your satisfaction, including dish placement. If the installation isn't satisfactory,don't sign off on it, and call Customer Service immediately, or better yet, post here. 

dcarolan wrote:

So, there ya go.  Believe me now?

We are in general agreement about one thing, anyway.  I was sold a bill of goods by the telemarketer.  The thing we probably don't agree on is that I don't think it's okay that HughesNet at the very least tolerates, and for all we know, encourages those sales techniques.

Anyway, this one is on me, but if I can help others avoid the expense and frustration I went through, I'm willing to do so.

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[GabeU]

@dcarolan 

Though the placement of the dish is a bit ridiculous, no doubt, HughesNet didn't break their contract.  Not yet having found what was chewing through all of your data doesn't mean it was HughesNet's fault.  There are pretty much two possibilities.  A weak WiFi signal to the device(s) connected via that method, causing dropped data packets, or something on the network, including your mother's iPad, chewing through the data.

It's unfortunate that we could not continue working with you to find the source of the data drain. 

Good luck with your new ISP.

[dcarolan]

I feel like I should get a degree or at least some sort of certification, I’ve spent so much time studying ways to minimize data usage in the past six months.

Turned off any and all auto updates, prevented launch of videos and sound files. Pop up blockers, add blockers.

Sheesh. My time has value. I’m tired of wasting it to try to come in under a data limit, with every attempt making little to no difference.

If you guys like all of the work it apparently takes to have (actually pretty slow) internet service, more power to you. At one point, I started researching dial up.

[maratsade]

Yes, the learning curve is a bit steep, and the subscriber has to do things on their side of the connection, since HN doesn't live there and can only diagnose things on their side of the connection, and if they diagnose them and they are fine, then the problem is on the subscriber side and the subscriber has to do the sleuthing.  This is the same with  other ISPs such as Comcast or Verizon (I've had to do troubleshooting with both; they only check their side). This is not to say that your time doesn't have value, because it does, of course it does. But it's the reality of ISPs. 

For anyone who seriously wants to try dialup, it's totally free through Juno. 

Potential subscribers need to also keep in mind that the service works for most of the customer base -- what you see here and on other sites is a small percentage of the 1.4m customers the company has.  Because most people who are satisfied with the service don't post on this and other sites, people may get a view that's askew.  And as those of us who are on this site know, many people get their issues solved with a bit of tweaking and detective work on both sides. 

dcarolan wrote:
I feel like I should get a degree or at least some sort of certification, I’ve spent so much time studying ways to minimize data usage in the past six months.

Turned off any and all auto updates, prevented launch of videos and sound files. Pop up blockers, add blockers.

Sheesh. My time has value. I’m tired of wasting it to try to come in under a data limit, with every attempt making little to no difference.

If you guys like all of the work it apparently takes to have (actually pretty slow) internet service, more power to you. At one point, I started researching dial up.

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[GabeU]

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@dcarolan wrote: 
If you guys like all of the work it apparently takes to have (actually pretty slow) internet service, more power to you. At one point, I started researching dial up.

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It actually didn't take very long for me to lock down the items on my network.  I know where every byte is going.  As for my speeds, they're fine, and very often above the 25Mbps advertised.

Again, it's a process of elimination, and data monitoring software needs to be installed and/or used on each device it can be.

[dcarolan]

Process of elimination was my strategy. I eliminated every device except for one.

Then, I followed the directions in the articles on this site and advice from this forum. Again, I turned off all auto updates. I turned off any automatic streaming of video and audio. I blocked adds. I blocked pop ups. I advised my mother not to watch videos or stream music.

At best, I got 4 to 5 gbps. Data usage was typically a little less than a gig a day with all those measures in place.

I have been too busy with “life” to do anything more. Now the final step in my process of elimination is started. I’m eliminating service, at what for me is no small expense. I got the instructions and I’m removing the radio today.

Maddening as the placement of the dish is, I suppose I can be thankful it isn’t on the roof.

Edit: I meant 400 to 500 mbps. Less than 1 gbps. Anyway, thanks all for suggestions. I wish things had worked out for me as well as they have for you.