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dar00
Freshman

speed Latency and loss

Problem 1

On Aug 7 I switched from Dishnet, at 5mbps download and 1.5mbps upload, to Hughesnet Gen5. Using Testmy.net I was getting speeds that went from 3mbps to 39mbps Download from test to test. Upload swung from 0.100mbps (100kbps) to 0.5mbps (500kbps).

Latency was running 1 to 5 seconds with 15 second spikes. Using WinMtr my loss is, at times, averaging 10%


Since then I have been on the phone five times with tech support, turning things on and off in the Modem and changing the DNS. Only got a tech to my house to check the install after the last phone tech crashed the modem and it wouldn't re-register.  A new modem did not fix the problem. According to Testmy, I have a speed slower than 95% of the country. All this was done with a direct connect to the computer. The Testmy results indicate that the speeds and latency are very unstable making it hard to stream or game play. My signal strength is 97 to 104 and have been assured by numerous Hughesnet people that is fine.

I Don't believe it. Their scale tops out at 270.

Problem 2
I seem to be using way too much bandwidth. My Dishnet was 5GB and I typically used 4.5GB a month. Last month, my Hughesnet usage was 17GB and this month I have already used 3GB in 5 days. Just so you can read this, MY ACTUAL USAGE HABITS HAVE NOT CHANGED. No new devices and no new users. So, where is all the Bandwidth going? Is there something going on with my account that I don't know about? Maybe because of all the resending of lost data? If so, Hughesnet should give out free bandwidth

because of their poor service.

While this sounds like a complaint letter (it kind of is, I guess) I would really like to get this fixed but I have no idea what to do next. The cabling has been checked and the modem replaced. The only thing left is the dish.

77 REPLIES 77
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@dar00 

 

Geostationary satellite internet like HughesNet does not support real time online gaming, as the latency is far too high.  It averages ~600ms - ~650ms, which makes playing those types of games virtually impossible.  This is something that can't be fixed, as the high latency is due to the distance the signal has to travel.  

 

With regard to streaming, though HughesNet can be used for streaming, it can be problematic as of late due to the high number of users on the system at the same time, which has greatly increased because of the pandemic.  This is especially the case in the evenings.  A couple of things you can try are reducing the resolution locally or at the source, and turning off, or snoozing, the Video Data Saver.  

 

The signal strength people varies from location to location.  The closer to the center of the spot beam, the stronger it is, but each spot beam is different.  A signal strength of 97 - 104 is good.  Regardless of what the "scale" may be, no Residential subscribers have signal strengths of anywhere near 270, nor even 200.  They top out at around 130, but again, it all depends on the beam and the placement within the beam footprint.  Again, your signal strength is good.  

 

Regarding your data usage, HughesNet has no control over how or how quickly you and/or your devices use your data.  However, if you're having some type of connection issue(s), it can cause increased data usage.  Remote diagnostics can determine whether this is the case. 

 

The following two topics contain advice regarding data usage...

 

https://community.hughesnet.com/t5/Tech-Support/HughesNet-Data-Management-Tips-n-Tricks-How-To-Elimi...

https://community.hughesnet.com/t5/Tech-Support/Understanding-data-usage-data-loss-and-connection-pa...

 

The reps are on M-F from approximately 9AM to 6PM EST, so hopefully you'll see a reply from one tomorrow.  Please be sure to leave your HughesNet modem plugged in, if you normally don't, so that the reps can run remote diagnostics on your HughesNet equipment if they deem it necessary.  If the diagnostics show that your system is working as it should, you may be asked to perform some speed tests to demonstrate your speed issue.  The instructions for running the tests are here.  Please be sure to read them thoroughly before running any tests, as they need to be run as instructed.

 

@Liz @Remy @Damian 

Gabeu

   Thanks for getting back to me. I understand the time lag. The reason I mentioned Dishnet is that the latency on it was 600 to 900ms as compared to Hughesnet's very unstable 600 to 5000ms. The key word is unstable. Loss is sometimes in double digits and Testmy deviation is running 47 to 150%. It was possible to play DDO on Dishnet but is sometimes unplayable on Hughenet. An interesting effect we have noticed is if two computers are logged on to DDO the latency is around 1,500ms and stable, with 0% loss.


    The signal strength may be ok for receive but the transmitter in the modem has to be weaker than the satellite's. If there is some kind of attenuation in the satellite then this may affect the upload speed.


   If the excess data usage is because of system loss. then it seems to me that Hughesnet should either fix the data loss problem or compensate the users.  The former would be preferable.  If the system is overloaded because of the Covid restrictions, a new satellite is needed.

  

 

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV


@dar00 wrote:

Thanks for getting back to me. I understand the time lag. The reason I mentioned Dishnet is that the latency on it was 600 to 900ms as compared to Hughesnet's very unstable 600 to 5000ms. The key word is unstable. Loss is sometimes in double digits and Testmy deviation is running 47 to 150%. It was possible to play DDO on Dishnet but is sometimes unplayable on Hughenet. An interesting effect we have noticed is if two computers are logged on to DDO the latency is around 1,500ms and stable, with 0% loss.

A number of us have noted that testmy.net's latency calculations can be wildly off.   The most accurate method for testing latency is by running a test directly from your device.  With Windows, you can run either a ping test or a traceroute (or both) in the Command Prompt.  I'm sure the same can be done with Apple devices, and likely even Android devices, though I'm not familiar with their method(s). 

 


@dar00 wrote:

The signal strength may be ok for receive but the transmitter in the modem has to be weaker than the satellite's. If there is some kind of attenuation in the satellite then this may affect the upload speed.


If the excess data usage is because of system loss. then it seems to me that HughesNet should either fix the data loss problem or compensate the users.  The former would be preferable.  If the system is overloaded because of the Covid restrictions, a new satellite is needed.


Your signal strength is not indicative of any kind of problem.  The reps will be able to tell for sure when they run remote diagnostics.  

 

If there is a connection issue that indicates there may have been some kind of packet loss, they may compensate you with some data tokens.  Higher data usage does not necessarily mean data loss.

 

2nd Edit:  I had mistakenly hit the Post button for this reply while I was still in the midst of writing it.  While I was editing it to add what had not yet been written (the second part), Damian replied.  So, if you see an email notification of the first edit, which was AFTER Damian had replied, this is why.  And, if you do, you'll likely also see an email notification for this current edit.

@dar00,

 

Welcome to the community and thank you for posting. First, I am confirming that the information @GabeU provided is correct. I was able to run diagnostics on your account before the modem was unplugged. I did not locate or detect any system issues or with your dish signal quality. This leaves us with the issue of your data expenditure and speed. It appears you are either using an external router to which we have no access to or your system has been fully reset and has dumped all data usage history.  While I can see data was used last month, I am now unable to pinpoint which device caused this as nothing is currently connected. At this point, we have two options. This first would be for you to download a program that records device data to see what is being used. By doing this, we can use these results to help us further troubleshoot. The second is to not fully reset your modem for a month to save your data expenditure amount. This will show how much data specific devices use and we can access this remotely. Please understand that we cannot see the specific content of the data used. 

 

When it comes to your speeds, if you are still seeing lower speeds than normal, please perform our speed test method and provide the results here. You may access instructions on how to do this by clicking the link provided by @GabeU. I look forward to hearing from you.    

 

 

-Damian   

Did some tests but couldn't find the url to post in my Testmy account.  Any idea where it's located?

Dar00

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@dar00 

 

While signed into your account at testmy.net, click on "My Results" on the upper right of the page.  It's the URL from your "My Results" page that is needed.

 

Judging by your HughesNet Community, and looking through recent HughesNet results at testmy.net, I'm guessing it's the following...

 

https://testmy.net/quickstats/Dar00

 

If so, please try to get a batch of 3-5 tests a few different times of day, if you can.  They basically want to see what your speed is like spanned across different times.  Also, please be sure to space like tests in each batch at least five minutes apart from each other (i.e. at least five minutes between each download test, and the same with upload tests).  A download and upload test can be run one right after the other.

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@dar00 

 

In case it might be more convenient for you, you can set up a batch of five tests to run automatically.  You can do so by clicking on "Automatic Speed Test" on testmy.net's main page.  Make sure you're signed in before doing so.  On the page it takes you to, you can set it up exactly like the following, then click "Start Automatic Test".  The "Identifier" box can be anything you want, but everything else should be exactly as you see it.  After clicking "Start Automatic Test", be sure to leave the browser page open, as it has to remain open for the tests to run.  Once five tests have been run, the testing will stop, and you can close the browser page.  Again, other than the "Identifier" box, if you wish to change it to something else, please be sure to set it up exactly as shown.  Combined, how often, the number of tests, the test sizes and "No Forward" checked.  

 

Capture.PNG

Damian, (sorry I spelled your name wrong on the email)  Sent you an email a few days ago haven't heard back. Did you receive it containing my Testmy link and some other comments?

Daroo

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@dar00 

 

If the reps haven't asked for information to be sent via PM they often don't see them or answer them.  If you sent it via HughesNet's support email, it likely won't make it to Damian, but rather a Tier 1 rep.

 

Like Damian intimated, you should continue with this topic if you need help.  They prefer troubleshooting and help to be done and given via the Community due the fact that it can also help others experiencing a like issue.  If they need any personal information, however, they will ask for it to be sent via PM, and for which they normally provide a link.

 

Being that the reps are mostly gone for the weekend and won't be back until Monday, it would likely be a good idea to get a few more speed tests in before they get back.  As it stands now, your download speed looks fine, though your upload is a bit low, though this is only going by a few tests.

@dar00,

 

I did not receive any emails as you must have sent it to the general HughesNet support email. Once you run the 3-5 speeds tests across a few days, I will have a more accurate way of going about troubleshooting as I do not want to perform actions that are unnecessary at the moment. 

 

-Damian  

Did a lot of tests.  Some of them I flat don't believe but the link is Testmy.net/quickstats/Dar00  The identifier is Home.

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@Damian 

 

You can use this link, which is for dar00's tests with the Home identifier...

 

https://testmy.net/quickstats/Dar00?type=user_name&q=Dar00&extraIDX=1

@dar00,

 

Thank you for providing me this information and you as well @GabeU. This has been most helpful. It appears we do not have communication with your modem currently. Is it currently unplugged? If it is, once it is plugged back in, I will be sending commands to your modem with instructions to reset parameters in a specific order. This is one of the first steps to perform in a situation like this.  

 

 

-Damian 

The Modem is generally on between 10 am and 11 pm Pacific time.

 

@dar00,

 

Thank you for your patience. I was able to send commands to the modem. Please allow a few hours and run a speed test again. Once you do, let me know what your results were. 

 

 

-Damian 

On Testmy.  Results were 1.9 down and 1.2 up.  Not good.

@dar00,

 

The only device I see connected to the modem is an unknown device on the 5GHz network with a fair signal instead of a good one. Please connect a device to the modem directly via Ethernet cable when running diagnostics. This is because the number your modem is reporting is much higher than the results from the speed test you have recently run. Devices connected with fair/poor signal will always report lower numbers. Direct connection rules this out completely.  

 

-Damian 

The unnamed device is a cell phone.  All speed tests have been done with my desktop and a direct connection via cable to the modem.  Did a test a few minutes ago and the download was 900kb  and the upload was 1.2mb.

Dar00

Damian

What's going on?  Connection still the same. bad.

Dar00

@dar00

 

This is very strange indeed as our diagnostics on your system shows much different speeds and good functionality. I believe it will be best to have this issue escalated to the advanced technical support now that you have performed the required speed tests. Please allow a day for me to create a case detailing your issue to be escalated unless you would like to call yourself and have this escalated. Please let me know what is more convinient for you and we will move on to the next steps.   

 

-Damian