Hi Jenny,
I'm assuming you live in an area where cable internet is not yet available. That's my situation too. I recently bought a major fixer-upper out in the country because the opportunity came up and it was my chance to be a homeowner. My 31 year old daughter, who lives with me, and I had to give up certain things we'd always had in the city, such as cellphones, cable tv, and cable internet. We now have a landline phone, satellite tv, and HighesNet satellite internet.
There was an adjustment period, but we're now managing very well. I think if you let us--the reps, the champions, and other customers--help you, that you can make it work for you too.
I'm a fellow home schooler, which is the main reason I'm answering this post. It's been a couple of decades, but I home schooled my middle son for several years. He has Asperger's and had challenges with the social aspect of school. I'm pleased to report that he is now 33, doing fantastic, and is a student at MIT studying computer programming and working on a project for NASA. 🙂
So here's the deal with satellite internet: it does not currently have the capability to equal cable internet. One issue is that how many users a provider can serve and how much data each customer can use is dependent upon how many satellites the provider has orbiting the Earth. Believe me, I wish I could use my 50 bonus bytes during daytime hours too! But if we all had unlimited data, no one could ever get on because of the massive "traffic jam," so to speak. If they only served a few customers and gave them unlimited data, it would be prohibitively expensive.
The other thing about satellite anything is that it can indeed be affected by adverse weather, both at your location and their's.
There is nothing that can be done about either of those things. I have heard rumors on this forum about HughesNet getting another satellite, but I have no idea when that would be or how it may affect us.
HOWEVER, there are several things you can do to get the most out of your data plan. For example, you can set your computer to download video content during the middle of the night, using your bonus bytes, and then your kids can watch them the next day.
GabeU mentioned that you can watch everything in the lowest definition possible. I'm a researcher and I watch quite a few documentaries on YouTube. I personally can't tell the difference between the highest and lowest definition.
You can also set frequently used sites like Facebook so they don't start playing videos automatically when you log on.
There are certain settings you can change in your router to prevent data loss. You can prevent your devices from updating in the middle of the day and have them update during bonus bytes time. This is especially easy with Apple devices, but can be done with a PC too.
Remember that text uses very little data, so you can surf the web and do text-based things (like posting on this forum) almost as much as you want. Audio takes a lot more data, and video is the real hog. Perhaps you can adjust your curriculum to use less video.
Another really important thing is to monitor your usage religiously. I check mine at least twice a day, and usually three times.
Finally, you will need to adjust your expectations and those of your children. They can't download and play video games like there's no tomorrow. They simply can't. Satellite internet has parameters that cable doesn't, and we all have to operate within those parameters.
I have found the reps on this community to be more than fair and very willing to help. If you think you were misled by the sales people you can request that they review your sales call that was recorded. If they neglected to give you any required information or made any misleading statements, they can waive your early termination fee. I've seen it done here on several occasions.
There is a wealth of information on making the most of your data in the archives of this forum. In addition, everyone here would be happy to walk you through the steps of making your data work for you. I hope you will avail yourself of the help we are offering.
I wish you the very best in your home schooling endeavor! I can tell you from personal experience that it can be a wonderful thing for kids and parents alike! 🙂