Worst Internet option of all time: Part II

[curtis-m]

It's been 8 months since my install and over 3 months since I decided to complain about my snail-pace speeds. HughesNet has said that there's nothing wrong with my connection which is the same as saying, "it's the best you're going to get." My speeds are around 2Mbps download and my plan says I could "get up to 6Mbps," but make no guarantee.

My original thread was hijacked with a lot of useless information. Some said all I had to do was be nice and patient and the problem would be solved. That turned out to be total BS. Nothing has changed.

Then Hughes decided to send out a tech to check my install. But neither the company that sent the tech nor the tech himself could not follow simple instructions and so the tech never got to my house. Now with snow on the ground and the road into my place getting worse with each new snow fall, no tech will be able to get into my place until spring.

Due to intolerably slow speeds and my constant complaints on the original thread, I was given a reduced monthly fee. Unless that is extended until sometime in the spring, then I'll be back to paying full price for 1/2 the service.

I have no other option for internet so I guess I'll just have to learn to live with sub-par speeds.

Best, Curtis

[Chris11]

Hi Curtis,

It's unfortunate that the snow has accumulated to the point you think it will be difficult for a tech to reach you. Do you really feel it would be too hard for a tech to reach your home?

- Chris

[curtis-m]

Chris,

My road is a mile long and most of it is packed snow right now. Anyone not familiar with the road would have to have a high clearance 4wd. My gut tells me that if Thompson Satellite sends a tech, they will blow it and send someone in a van of some type and they won't be able to get in on the road much less to my house. And if they do send a 4wd, then there's the fact that they will have to drive across my field to get to the install but my field is covered with about 6" of snow and my guess is they'd get stuck in the field and have to call a tow truck to get out.

To add to the above, we are now under a storm warning with as much as a foot of snow falling between Thursday evening and into late Friday. 4-5" of snow, on top of what we already have, will effectively close the last 1/4 mile of road and I will be walking in until late Feb or early March.

It's the wrong time of year for a service call at my location.

Best, Curtis

[Chris11]

Hi Curtis,

Wish we could have gotten this taken care of sooner. I will however be extending the discount that I offered to you before.

- Chris

[curtis-m]

After recent snows, the weather warmed up and road is now a sheet of ice. More snow expected this weekend and no idea what that's going to do to the road. Then there's mud season.

[curtis-m]

Downloaded a large file this morning, a youtube video, and finished well before 8:00AM.

The download came out of my "Anytime Data" instead of my "Bonus Bytes.

Has something changed?

[C0RR0SIVE]

Nothing has changed, do you have any screenshots of it?  Would be odd for the system to count data at the wrong time, that's for certain.

[curtis-m]

I do have a screen shot. On the first you will notice that it shows 18 days left in my cycle. The Second shows 14 days left in cycle. I was gone for 3 of those 4 missing days.

This was a 1.1gb file which I knew ahead of time so planned the download accordingly.

[Chris11]

Hi curtis,

Do you happen to have a screenshot of the actual usage history from your status meter?

- Chris

[curtis-m]

This is the original screen capture showing 18 days left in my cycle before I did the download. I did use the internet Sunday night so there should be some usage on the Anytime side but the Bonus Byte side only shows about 100MB of use when it should show an increase of 1.1gb, approximately

[curtis-m]

Now the status meter isn't updating. I downloaded a 135MB file this morning, plus other activities before 8:00am, but none of this is registering on the status meter.

Also tried to find an activity log for my system but unable so far.

[curtis-m]

Status meter finally updated and shows 1mb usage on the 'bonus bytes' side and about 85mb on the 'anytime'. The 85mb seems high for what I've done today, though I did watch part of a youtube video and that could be that.

[curtis-m]

Status meter now shows I used 600mb of data yesterday with only 1mb on the bonus side.

This is incorrect. It appears that all of my usage, including and especially that which is done before 8:00AM, is being counted on my 'anytime' side.

[curtis-m]

I was just out working on my road opening up drainages that direct melt water off the road. The road is a mud bog start to finish. No tech is going to dare driving on that road and I don't blame them. The road should be dry by mid-April.

Due to the absolute ineptness of Hughes' local contractor, the tech visit that should have been done in December is now put off until April. Will the tech be able to boost me from download speeds of a whopping 2Mbps to the "up to" speed of 5Mbps?

I don't know. Stay tuned.

[Gwalk900]

"Due to the absolute ineptness of Hughes' local contractor, the tech visit that should have been done in December is now put off until April."

Having read your posts, that is indeed sad that the subcontracted installer assigned to your area is not more inline with the likes of gokartergo or Eldorado Satellite. 

"Will the tech be able to boost me from download speeds of a whopping 2Mbps to the "up to" speed of 5Mbps? "

The Tech will only be able to address any shortcomings to your installation. Having said that ... there are a number of items within your network, network configuration and operating system settings that will affect your performance.

Beyond that ... and I think you are ... there are aspects related to your installation  ..... proper grounding ... and I do mean proper as it applies to modem, power brick, dish reflector, TRIA body and your electrical system all tied to the same common point ... with no ground loops an other "funnies".

You can get "issues" with something as simple as the wind going across the surface of the reflector or transmitter body building up an ionization layer that a 1 watt transmitter is not able to "cut through". Frankly not ALL installers are going to have the experience or understanding of electronics to grasp this on the first pass.

Something as simple as the wrong type of coax being used will do it.

Something as simple as an installer not applying dielectric grease to all exterior connections before weather proofing was done ... if it was done.

You would have gotten a lot further in the Community had you not try to urinate on everyone that could have assisted not Hughes, but YOU to do a double check on this type of stuff.

While I post here in the Community, I have a special place in my heart for sub-standard installers and will go to no end to help (those that want help) users "validate" their installations.

I do have to say, although I think you slammed the door on some areas, that you are on an older satellite (Spaceway-3) and are perhaps on a very congested (read as "saturated") beam ... that Beam being one of 120 beams covering the lower Continental US ... one ..

Hughes has spent millions upon millions of $$$ to address the issue ..... EchoStar 19/J-2 .. but you have to wait for it to come online.

This info has been brought to your attention on several occasions .. and each time it seems to be a whole new thing for you.....

Wait for the new bird to be introduced and likely get a "sweetheart" upgrade or just cancel and be done with it.

You really are starting to sound a little "whinny".

Its like Yoda said in the movie: "Do or Do Not."

[curtis-m]

Can it get worse? Yes. I don't happen to love dial-up speeds but I don't have any  choice now. Maybe tomorrow it will get better or maybe the tomorrow after that.

[curtis-m]

Oh. I'm so sorry. I'm sounding a little "whinny". I never intended that. All I ever wanted to do was point out all the flaws in HughesNet from where I'm sitting. Your mileage is certainly different. Maybe you should walk a mile in my shoes.

[curtis-m]

My road is starting to dry out but has deep ruts. It might be possible for a tech to get in here in a couple of weeks unless it snows which will push things back.

[curtis-m]

It's now taking approximately 50seconds to refresh a page or open a new one.  Craigslist main page takes 45 seconds to load. Craigslist used to load much faster than that.

[curtis-m]

Can't check usage.Getting this error message:

[curtis-m]

Modem will be on all day today.