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help with slow and inconsisitent speeds

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kellycha0s
Freshman

help with slow and inconsisitent speeds

okay.

streaming is sketchy at best (roku player). speeds are slow most of the time.

i can get decent speeds in the morning. that's about it.

 

over the past couple of years i've had many conversations with tech support as well as advanced tech support.

 

in the past two weeks i've had a technician on site twice.

here's what he did: when he was here last week he switched the dish from beam 19 right to beam 17 left (he also mentioned that his program (?) was telling him to connect me to beam 63 which he said doesn't yet exist).

today he replaced the modem and the radio. he said all the hardware looks good. he also was quite surprised and confused that my speeds were fluctuating wildly from one minute to the next.

 

i've been running tests at testmy.net but even there i'm having issues because i'm clearly getting inaccurate results.

 

i'm at a loss. i'd like to know if anyone has any thoughts on this? what steps should i take next to try and solve this mystery.

 

36 REPLIES 36

1. First, speeds change invariably over the course of the day, and speed tests will vary depending upon the technology that is used. Not all speed tests will work correctly with satellite.

2. Speed tests won't give you any clue as to the problem you may be having with streaming services because each service is different and not all work very well over satellite. That said, streaming services work very different than downloading a single file, which speed tests are designed to evaluate. Streaming involves several files as well as several parts of files (packets) that must be acknowledged to ensure they are received in order if at all.

 

3. Stopping and starting of a stream, which may look like and be reported by an app as 'buffering', is generally not a speed issue over satellite. It has to do with data latency across the network and the ability of your streaming app to communicate properly without timing out to the streaming server (and vice versa). Many times if the latency is too high a request for a new set of 'frames' may appear too late for the server to recognize to do something about it, so the server is waiting for either a resend or it just gives up and stops, giving you an error.

 

4. Latency is typically 500-600 mS at best over satellite (100s of times longer than terrestrial internet) and can't be improved due to the physics of radio waves going from your dish, to the satellite, then down to the ground station, out to the terrestrial internet, and then back through the reverse path. It can be negatively affected by the number of people actively using the internet your spot beam at the satellite, at the corresponding ground station where it connects to the terrestrial internet, or by the routing by the ground station's internet provider and backbone.

You can improve streaming performance by ensuring you are using the lowest resolution available, which lowers the amount of pings the app has to make to the server, thus alleviating the potential impact of latency. Most of the apps initially set this resolution and data rate very high with so it's worthwhile to check the settings on each app you use:

Roku in particular uses a tremendous amount of data and has a high refresh rate, making it particularly susceptible. Conversely, Netflix does some kind of preloaded caching for movies and shows which is all done in the background. I have no idea where it's stored, but Netflix seems to work extremely well over satellite. We've been watching Stranger Things 4 and other series with little to no problems at all using the lowest setting (configured on the web site, not the app).

Other services like Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ depend upon the time of day, day of week, etc., and it can vary quite a lot. For example, I can watch an episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi on a Thursday at 11:30 EDT during lunch on my 55" Samsung TV and it will run all the way through without stopping once. However, once it hits 12:30 it will start to have problems for about an hour where it has to be restarted after about 5 minutes of play. The problems magically go away at 1:30. It all depends upon the user loads mentioned in #4 and could be an indication that others just have the same idea of trying to stream during lunchtime. Conversely, I have very few problems watching anything using the Disney+ app on an iPad while walking or running on a treadmill.

This is a fact of how the system works. Techs may find something to improve performance slightly, but you will still have many of these technical limitations no matter what is done. This is what people mean when they say you can either learn to work satisfactorily within those limitations or without the service altogether. The choice is yours.


* Disclaimer: I am a HughesNet customer and not a HughesNet employee. All of my comments are my own and do not necessarily represent HughesNet in any way.
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV


@kellycha0s wrote:

 

**What Gabe originally wrote and then edited out: "You have already had many cases escalated over the last 2 years and a lot of them allude to the fact that the only gateways your able to be switched to both experience issue frequently."**


I never wrote that or anything like it.  I have no knowledge of any escalated cases, nor what any escalated cases resulted in, nor would any other subscriber.  Only HughesNet employees have access to your history.

 

Edit:  After reading through the replies, Damian wrote that, not me.  And it's still there.

 

https://community.hughesnet.com/t5/Tech-Support/help-with-slow-and-inconsisitent-speeds/m-p/137759/h...

oh...oops. sorry about that. yes, damian wrote that.

 

and your thread must read differently than mine. because what i read no longer has the bit about gateways experiencing frequent issues.

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV


@kellycha0s wrote:

oh...oops. sorry about that. yes, damian wrote that.

 

and your thread must read differently than mine. because what i read no longer has the bit about gateways experiencing frequent issues.


Sorry.  I hadn't read the entire sentence or post, just the first part.  

CAN NOT GET AN HELP FROM HUGHES NET FOR A FAULTY MODEM THAT CONSTANTLY BLINKS ON THE BOTTOM 4 WHITE LIGHTS. I RESEARCHED EVERYWHERE & REBOOTED THE MODEM, TO ONLY HAVE IT STILL CONNUE TO BLINK. IT CAUSE ISSUES WITH CONNECTING TO MORE SECURE SITES. EVERY NUMBER I CALL FOR HELP SENDS ME TO THE PHILIPPENES, WHICH DO NOT HAVE THE "TOOLS" OR ABILITY TO ASSIST ME PROPER.

TRIED CONTACTING SOMEONE IN TECH TO HELP ME, DOESN'T SEEM TO BE POSSIBLE. SO I HAVE COME OUT TO THESE SITES FOR HELP MAYBE. I PAY TOO MUCH TO GET OUTSOURCED TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES THAT ARE NOT EQUIPPED TO HELP US HUGHES NET GOOD CUSTOMERS WITH ALL OUR ISSUES. I HAVE BEEN TRANSFERRED UP FALSE PRETENSE OF BEING TRANSFERRED TO SOMEONE WHO COULD HELP ME, TO FIND THEY ARE ABLE TO HELP EITHER. I HAVE ALSO BEEN DROPPED OFF LINE. I SPENT DAYS CALLING AND ALL I HAVE GOTTEN IS STRESSED. I DO NOT NEED, ESPECIALLY DURING THESE HORRIBLE DOWNFALLS OF OUR COUNTRY & FREEDOM. NOT TO SAY THE DEVALUED DOLLAR & RECESSION. I AM 70 YRS. YOUNG AND SEEN MUCH THRU MY DAYS, BUT THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE OF OUR GOVERNMENT NOW HAVE LOST THEIR MINDS AND GOING BACKWARDS. I FEEL THE PROBLEM I AM HAVING WITH HN IS DUE TO TOO MANY BUSINESSES ARE ALLOWED TO MONOPOLIZE AND GIVE LESS CUSTOMER SERVICE. IF ANYONE HAS EVER NEEDED TO GET HELP WITH A BLINKING MODEM BOX ISSUE AND SUCCEEDED, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. THANK YOU & HAVE AN ALOHA DAY. DO NOT LET THIS CRUMMY GOVT. BRING US DOWN.

 

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@Leola 

 

The Receive, Transmit, LAN and WiFi indicator lights blinking is normal.  Blinking indicates activity. 

 

If you're having a problem with your service, please start a new topic in Tech Support, which you can do here.  Please do not use ALL CAPS, which is annoying and considered shouting, and please leave out the government rant.  This isn't the place for that.

So sorry, no excuse ,I was merely looking on how to contact HN Tech at a phone number that doesn't take me out of the USA. Those overseas reps do not have the ability or tools to help or do anything except sell & upgrade. 

maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

The lights are supposed to blink.

Are all 4 bottom lights suppose to constantly blink even when I am using any HN WiFi ? I read rapid blinking could mean faulty modem box & to unplug & reboot. It did nothing and connotes to blink. I am use to bad service from living in a very rural area in the upper desert of S.CA.  At first my HN work great, but last week when I upgraded to a more GB service, the rapid blinking start after the rep. gal redid my account settings & all. Not been able to find one phone # that gets me Help in the US. I am a spunky 70 yr. old gal, that will learn how to deal with this lack of communication with HN. Good Day Fellow Customers

maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

Yes, the lights blink when you're using the wifi.  The blinking only indicates you're connected to the wifi and that it's working.  The reps here hopefully will chime in with some info for you regarding how your modem is working, but it may be working fine.  Hopefully someone will reply to you tomorrow.  Stay spunky!

Leola,

 

It appears this is your first post. Welcome to the Community! We'd be glad to help out and take a look into this.

 

Unfortunately, I was unable to find your account through your Community profile. Please send a private message to the link provided below with your account number or a phone number tied to your account!

 

https://community.hughesnet.com/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/102584

 

Thanks,

Remy

406-581-6356

maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

Are you the same person as Leola? Remy will likely only deal with one ticket at a time. If you're Leola, please contact Remy privately by using the link he provided. If you're not Leola, please create a new ticket to avoid confusion. 

Just started using mine today and it’s not working on roku. Keeps stopping and going

maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

If you'd like help with your particular issue, please go back to the main Tech Support page and start a new ticket by clicking the blue button labeled "Start a topic." Provide as much detail as you can about the issue so the reps on this site can look into it. 

 


@Dors9123 wrote:

Just started using mine today and it’s not working on roku. Keeps stopping and going