After reading all the negative reviews and complaints should I stop my purchase of Hughes net service before they come out and install it?

[Detra Fondren]

I just purchased internet with hugged net due to moving into a place someone had an outlandish bill with century link(great service) they Have not came out and installed anything yet; what I'm asking is should I try to fond service somewhere else? Can I cancel the contract since ity hasn't started yet and get my money back?

[El Dorado Netwo]

Depends on what area you're in and how you want to use your Internet connection. As a general rule, Cable Internet will be faster and cheaper than satellite, and usually has no (advertised) data cap.

And, yes, you can cancel your HughesNet service order anytime before installation with no problem.

[Chris11]

Hi Detra,

Thank you for posting and welcome to the community! Alan is correct in his explanation. Hughes satellite internet is a great service for those who have little options in their area. This is a support forum and the majority of the topics discussed here are to help people who have concerns with their service. However I'm sure our community here will be able to offer some good quality feedback.

- Chris

[Detra Fondren]

Thank you for your quick response. Will they refund the 70.00?

[Chris11]

Hi Detra, 

Yes you should be able to receive a refund if the install is not completed. The best number to call would be our 24/7 support center at 1-866-347-3292.

- Chris

[El Dorado Netwo]

Yes, any charges associated with the sale before installation should be refunded.

Just make sure you check what Century Link is offering in your area so you know your options. Depending on where you live, other options may include Cable, DSL, Wireless (WISP) Providers, Cellular and Satellite.

[rayconn02]

Yes-get out now!!!-I was foolish and stuck out the 2 year contract of hit and miss service -just got off the phone after 45 minutes trying to close my contract-had the connection drop (verizon phone here is excellent-huges must use their own service ) what a pain in the you know where. bubuy hugesnet- I'll never be back or refer you to anyone

[El Dorado Netwo]

Paraphrasing what Chris said, "This is a support forum and the majority of the topics discussed here are to help people who have concerns with their service." Most of the "get out now" comments you read on a support forum are from people like rayconn02 who have had a service problem that wasn't resolved for whatever reason. That was his first post here so we may never know what the problem is or whether it could be fixed. Many people have had their problems fixed here. 

Hughesnet currently has about about 1 million customers, and about 8,000 have posted here at one time or another. If you do the math, that's about 8 customers out of 1,000 who have posted here, and not all of those posts are negative. 

I'm a retailer and I have over 500 customers, most in outlying areas with no cable or DSL, and they can all call me if there's a problem. If a system is installed correctly, preferable by a local retailer who will take better care of you, then it truly does work very well.

Every Internet Service Provider (ISP) has unhappy customers at one point or another. Nonetheless, I recommend you consider your local options, and not just because some customer with one ISP is unhappy.

[Gwalk900]

Speaking as a 11 year Hughes subscriber:

Hughesnet sat internet is a connection type of "last resort".

So much depends on your location. A quality installation is also important.

While Hughesnet has data limits, there are no automatic "overage fees".

There is no way that a sat connection can compare to a ground based ISP such as Cable, Fiber or a WISP.

If your alternative is cellular, then a careful look at the data limits and how overages are applied.

My Hughes system runs very well, but then again I have taken the time to understand my systems limits and how to get the most from it. There is a learning curve.

VPN, FPS games, streaming in general and in HD in particular are a no-no as well as VOIP unless you go with the Hughes "house brand".

I have the 50/50 GB @ 15 Mbps Ultra plan available in my area and routinely get 20% above my plans rated max speed.

Again, much depends upon your location as far as system and plan availability as well as beam/gateway loading.

Just my opinion.

[mecmaine]

If you have any other choice, cancel it now.  I have lousy service - slow, inconsistent, needing to reboot over and over.  My verizon LTE is much faster.

[mecmaine]

Wish I had known about a local service.  I know this system sucks for us.

[El Dorado Netwo]

Mecmaine, if you're having problems and truly want some help, why not just start a new topic instead of simply posting complaints in others'?

[shirl1946]

Alan Thompson come and use my connection see if you like it!!!!

[El Dorado Netwo]

If there is something wrong with your connection, it can be fixed.

If you were one of my customers, I would fix it.

If you want help fixing it, you can get it.

[ljaj2008]

Hey... I have CenturyLink DSL at my house I am moving out of, and HughesNet at the farm I am moving to. When we moved in here, we got the DSL service. Both pairs in the six pair cable they run here (when I dispatched phone techs in Colorado, we called that a "drop" - ah, rural living) are not good enough for consistent DSL signal.

We have had very bad (slows down to a crawl, sometimes turns off entirely three, four, twelve hours at a time, never tests above 1.5 MBPS) DSL service here for almost EIGHT years. Since it is a slightly damaged sheath that allows liquid in, it is a very mild short to ground that can self repair temporarily by the added voltage used when they test the pair. So, every time I call to complain about this chronic problem, they exchange my modem and assure me that a tech will look into it.

Terrible service.

Eight years.

The good? With DSL service you don't worry about data limits, what you are streaming, what's left, disabling flash, disabling autoplay of videos, whether or not someone will forget to turn off WiFi on their cell phone... data is just always there, no worries (unless you are at my house, then you can expect two to twelve hours a day with no internet available on your always on, no limits data connection).

Getting used to HughesNet is a learning curve for me and it is frustrating me. I am figuring out a data leak right now. I also added unlimited data to two 4G-LTE phones to make our data habits not completely painful to change. Between HotSpot data available to share on those phones and our Primetime data from Hughes, we have 36GB per month whenever plus the 50GB at night. Won't be quite as unconcerned about what I do on the internet at our farm compared to the old place, but the new location required that I make the change.

[Kristi Dodd Gar]

Alan I am sorry but you are very offensive and must get paid very well by HughesNet! I have had HughesNet for over 7 years now and just found out about this "community" today so how many other of those 9,000,000 + customers who haven't posted as you say don't know about it and/or just got rid of the service without posting that is a judgement call not facts. When every person who does complain has the exact same issue over and over again that falls on the provider as poor service to continue to have the same issues. I have called HughesNet over 4-5 times per year every year over problems with this system and/or service. I routinely have to replace my modem about every 2 years because it just quits working. I have DirecTv also and lose my service about 2-3 times a year due to weather whereas my HughesNet goes out anytime it rains for more than 5 minutes, snows, wind blows too hard, etc. You can't watch any kind of streaming tv with this service unless you want to not have internet for the rest of the month until your allowance restores even after upgrading to Gen 4! If I do elect to watch a 40 min episode of a show I missed and have the data to cover it the video constantly buffers about every 10 min and is poor quality. I can latch onto my LTE from AT&T with my personal hotspot and all these issues go away and I've been doing that regularly now for months to avoid using Huhes as much as possible. I indeed finally have another option and as soon as I can get it installed will be ending this terrible service! You just keep on backing these guys who by the way are up for several lawsuits in several states due to their illegal practices and providing false information to get customers. Just like the lie they tell you that the speeds are just as fast as DSL and you can watch NetFlix, Hulu, etc. anytime you want!   

[Kristi Dodd Gar]

Run as fast as you can if you have any other choice in your area!

[El Dorado Netwo]

Alan I am sorry but you are very offensive and must get paid very well by HughesNet!

Believe what you like. I regret you find my comments "very offensive" (I'm assuming you're referring to my comments and not me, since you know nothing about me). Easy to dismiss someone else's efforts when you know nothing about them, and are suspicious of anyone who has anything less than negative to say about HughesNet since that has been your only experience.

I'm an unpaid volunteer here donating my time and experience to help others, and am not "paid by HughesNet." I have been in the satellite communications business for 35 years, and I've worked with HughesNet equipment for 13 years since 2002. I'm a HughesNet-authorized Retailer and Certified Installer with over 500 customers here in my area. They all have my phone number, and know they can call me at any time if there is a problem. I wouldn't get very far as a local business person selling and installing a service in my own back yard that didn't work.

And I unapologetically stand by every word I said above:

If there is something wrong with your connection, it can be fixed. 
If you were one of my customers, I would fix it.
If you want help fixing it, you can get it.

Too bad you didn't find this Forum sooner, and sorry you have had to struggle with HughesNet problems for 7 years. I'm glad to hear you have other options and wish you well.

[El Dorado Netwo]

Also, if you bother to read the top of this thread, you'll see where I advised the original poster to consider her other options for Internet. Hardly the advice of a "shill" for HughesNet.

[Pawnee County]

It depends on the choices I have Cellular available 3 companies with lower data caps,  3g or EDGE connections 3.3mb when I am lucky and HughesNet.  With HughesNet I get 13.2mb down-load most of the time never below 3mb.  I have lost signal during thunderstorms but it isn't very wise to be using a PC during storms anyway.  When I lose the Internet signal I also loose the DirecTv and even the antenna TV at times.

[glashtin]

Get out now and never look back.  Snail mail is better than this service sometimes.  Do NOT get locked into there cruddy contract. It is something your will regret for the rest of your life.