About GabeU

Unless the tech downloaded some driver or program to your computer, which I doubt, this almost assuredly has nothing to do with your HughesNet upgrade.    I'd recommend saving any important files to an external drive, if you're able, then reinstalling the operating system. I'd also recommend downloading drivers from the manufacturer before you do this, so that you have them if you need them. If they don't offer them anymore, save the 'DriverStore' folder from C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore. It'll likely be anywhere from 2GB to about 6GB or so in size. Again, this way you have drivers for after the OS install if you need them.   Edit: Though I can't read what the screen is indicating the problem is being caused by, including the code if there is one, you may want to reseat both the storage and the RAM while the unit is off and completely de-powered (after the power (and everything else) is disconnected, press the power button to dissipate any residual power within the unit). If it's a laptop rather than a desktop and it has a built in battery, de-powering is more involved (detaching the power cable inside the unit).  ... View more

@pmbr wrote: After the installer left, computer kept crashing.  When you say your "computer kept crashing", do you mean its internet connection was dropping or the computer itself was actually crashing? If the former, I'd try what Mark suggested. If the latter, it's very likely that it's just coincidence, as I can't see how new internet could cause a computer to crash, with the exception of a new driver being installed that it isn't/wasn't getting along with. ... View more

@maratsade wrote: The issue persists for right clicking on all the browsers I've tried. It works for left clicking, though. Same here. Right clicking, then clicking "Open link in a new tab" (or window) results in opening this same page again. Left clicking goes to the proper page.    Interestingly enough, left clicking on 'Terms and Conditions' or 'Legal' automatically opens a new tab with the corresponding page, but clicking on 'FAQs' or 'Contact Us' goes to the corresponding page without opening a new tab. ... View more

Not to throw this off topic, but it's sad what's happening with landline phones. My landline home phone became prohibitively expensive, as in over $100 per month, and it was having a number of the problems over the last few years I had it. So much so that it was less expensive to go with a cell plan. I don't get a very good cell signal here, but it's enough. I also have a cheap flip phone through Tracfone for backup. It's less than $20 per month with autopay, but very worth it.   My folks had AT&T landline service, but AT&T ended it here a few years ago, so they had to switch to Verizon. With fewer and fewer people having it around here, it wouldn't surprise me if Verizon bows out soon too. Of the seven houses on my little, dead end road, I think my folks' is the only one that still has it. ... View more

While hovering over them they all show the same address, but when I clicked on them they all go to the correct location.  ... View more

@eco    I believe there are taxes on top of the charge for HughesNet voice. ... View more

The Elite Plan isn't fiber optic. It's still a geostationary satellite connection, which means though your overall speed may be better, you're still going to be experiencing high latency, in the 600ms range. It's far too high for real time online gaming, and the gaming server may very well be detecting that high latency and, more or less, is telling you no because of it.    https://www.hughesnet.com/frequently-asked-questions - tick the Gaming category on the left ... View more

@JSMomof2 wrote: Is that No Comment? Understandable after your revelation that you yourself are no longer a HughesNet customer. One wonders why then are you a "Distinguished Professor IV" on their forum? I'm just trying to get some straight answers. Contradictions abound. I'm a "Distinguished Professor IV" on this forum due to helping people for 8+ years on it, and that help is informed by 16+ years of experience with HughesNet.   You're getting straight answers. You're just not liking the answers you're getting. The Video Optimizer, previously call the Video Data Saver, does NOT reduce your streaming to standard def. YOU have to do that, either at the source or with the app you're using. It's designed to keep the streaming resolution down to HD by limiting the speed while streaming to between 3Mbps to 3.5Mbps, but it doesn't always work perfectly with every streaming service. The bottom line is streaming burns through data, especially when the resolution is not actively controlled by the user, and the Video Optimizer, while helpful, isn't a substitute for being proactive.   And with that, I'm out of this conversation.  ... View more

One thing to remember is DVD quality is standard definition (480p). Standard definition streaming uses, on average, between 600MB - 800MB, which for 10GB means between 12.5 and 16.6 hours, so the "15 hours of DVD quality streaming" is fairy accurate, give or take. HOWEVER, depending on the streaming service, the data usage could be more, especially as time goes on.  ... View more

Six hours of TV per day is a lot of data. With your prior service it's entirely possible that streaming used less because of a variety of factors, including overall speed, congestion, and latency. The new service has higher speed, and likely a lot less congestion due to being new and there not being a lot of subscribers on it yet. Even with the Video Data Saver on, the new service could still be using more data to stream the same things you did before, as before the speed for streaming may have been a good bit below what the VDS allows due to those aforementioned factors, whereas now it may be hitting its limit, which is normally between 3Mbps and 3.5Mbps. Six hours at 3Mbps to 3.5Mbps is anywhere from ~8GB - ~9.5GB of data usage. And, of course, that's just the streaming. Anything else done will use more data as well, and again, higher speed can mean higher data usage with webpages. If your laptop is a Windows laptop and you don't already have one installed, I'd recommend installing an ad blocker like Adblock Plus. If you do use that one, make sure to go into the options to uncheck "show acceptable ads". Ads can chew through data, and blocking them can save data that adds up... no pun intended. Also, again if your laptop is Windows, you may want to try Glasswire. It'll show exactly how much data your laptop is using, and just what on the laptop is using it. There's a Premium version, but the free version is good enough. There's also a version for Android.     With streaming, your best bet is to set the resolution at the source to conserve data, if you can. I know some streaming services don't give that option, but many do. Low def will look terrible on a big TV like that, but standard def may look okay. Some may allow you to set it to 720p, which will use about 0.9GB to 1GB per hour, depending on the service.   I'd check to make sure that any other devices you have connected aren't auto updating or connecting to the cloud.   There's a way you can see data usage by device connection in the modem pages, I believe, or online, but I don't have HughesNet anymore, so I'm not quite sure how to see it. Hopefully one of the reps or other subscribers, including @maratsade , can tell you how to see it. ... View more

Faster speeds don't require more data, but faster speeds means your devices can use more data, depending on what they're doing. As maratsade intimated, this is especially the case with streaming. If the streaming was limited to a lower resolution because of speed, it may not be now, which means more data use. Even simple things like ads on webpages can cause more data usage when you have higher speeds.   If there is an alignment issue, causing degraded service, this can cause higher data usage because of dropped data packets, needing to resend those packets multiple times for them to get through completely. Keep your fingers crossed that this is the reason for the majority of it. However, if you do stream, I'd check the resolution settings, perhaps locking them down to something that uses less data.   One last thing is satellite TV receivers, especially from DirecTV. If you have one and it's connected to HughesNet, this could also be a source of higher data usage. These receivers can use your data to download things to the receiver that would normally be done via their satellite. IOW, they'd rather use your bandwidth than their own to update the receiver. System updates, guide updates, etc.  ... View more

I'm not familiar with Call of Duty, but if it's an online game you're trying to play it may be related to the latency, which is far too high to play real time, online games.   If it's just a connection to verify the game or something like that, but not actually play online, then hopefully one of the reps will be able to help you figure out what's wrong.  ... View more

@eco wrote: Yep, same old ecoalex, too bad Hughes doesn't merge the old account (logon) into a the new (Gen 6). That's unfortunate. I guess it's because it's a whole new system with new equipment rather than just a modem swap and repoint. ... View more

@Kayla96 wrote: My internet browser will not search, my apps on my roku will not even open so there is no complaint of buffering because it is not working entirely. When you say your internet browser will not search, do you mean the internet doesn't work at all at this point? Like a webpage won't even load?    If this is the case I'd make sure to note it in a reply, as speed testing won't be possible under those conditions.  ... View more

@maratsade wrote: @Remy    The change of account forms on the page you provided are for franchise/enterprise or for SME business customers. That wouldn't work for a residential account holder, right?   Even more interesting is that the two links after #1 on that page don't work, or at least not for me. ... View more

But therein lies the problem. You 'upgraded' to a fusion plan a month ago, which means you had another plan prior to that.   The new subscriber deals are meant to attract new subscribers. HughesNet is no different than any other ISP in offering deals to new subscribers and lesser deals or no deals at all to current ones. ... View more

Is the $79 deal not for new subscribers?  ... View more

@RobertOder wrote: I just took a picture on my iPhone.  how can I send it to you? If it's something you need to send privately to her, send the pic to her via private message.   If it's something you want to post here, click to reply to her and then click the camera icon in the ribbon at the top of the message body. You can choose the picture from there.  ... View more

@maratsade    I'm curious about that too. Though it would often say 'five free email accounts' or something similar in an advertisement, including on their own website, I've never seen anything in the subscriber agreements guaranteeing anything about email service. Granted, I started my service with DirecWay in 2004, then didn't upgrade to Gen4 until 2016 and then Gen5 shortly after it became available, but I always read the subscriber agreements before I signed up/upgraded, though I admit the one for Gen5 I only skimmed, as it was a rehash of the Gen4 agreement, more or less. ... View more

I second @MarkJFine's suggestion about the third party email. I'd also add that ISP provided email is progressively going by the wayside, with many ISP's no longer providing it in any way, so there may very well come a time, and maybe not that far off into the future, where those who rely on HughesNet's email service will need to transition to a third party provider. In fact, though I'm not 100% on this, I believe they're no longer offering their email service to new subscribers and are now only keeping it available for existing subscribers who still use it, though I've no doubt the number who still do use it is gradually decreasing.   It's just something to keep in mind.   I've been using MSN's email service (it became Hotmail and is now Outlook.com) for about 25 years, and it's always worked very well. I use Gmail too, though that one is primarily a 'just in case' backup. The only thing I've ever really used HughesNet's email for is Community Notifications, and even then I forward them to my regular email, only checking HughesNet's webmail site every few months to empty the Inbox. ... View more

Does it work again if you clear the cookies?    Also, it's just a thought, but I'd shut all devices connected to the modem, whether by WiFi or Ethernet, then power cycle the modem, meaning unplug it, wait for at least a minute, then plug it back in. After waiting a couple of minutes for it to be fully back up and ready, try it again. This may help if it's a DNS related issue.   You could also temporarily try using a public DNS service, like Google's or Cloudflare's. There's a way you can change the DNS in the modem's settings. It's in the Advanced Setup section, the same section where you can adjust the WiFi settings. You can uncheck Obtain from ISP and add the DNS settings, then click Save Settings. I don't know that this will make any difference, but it's a fairly easy thing to try.  ... View more

Though I could be wrong about this, I think Zimbra may be the email host they use. HOWEVER, like maratsade said, I wouldn't log into that Zimbra thing. Something's up, that's for sure.  ... View more

As a test, I'd install 'NetWorx' on your computer, then try streaming a video from the service on that computer, with the video quality settings on low. NetWorx will let you monitor the bandwidth usage in a live manner. It's got a free 30 day trial, so you wouldn't need to pay for it (it used to be totally free, but they changed it 🙁).   I'd try it both with the VDS off and then on to see if there is any difference. The VDS is supposed to lock the maximum bandwidth down to around 3Mbps when streaming, but a 3GB usage in 90 minutes shows it's not doing that. That's closer to 4.8Mbps, as an average.   I'm not at all familiar with Hallmark Movies Now, as in whether they have an app or you stream directly from their site, but if the former I'd still make sure to set the resolution at the source, as in the website, in order to ensure it's truly streaming in a low resolution.   Lastly, you might want to also use Glasswire on the computer while doing this. Glasswire will show you what apps/processes are using data, and just how much of it. This way you can rule out anything else using data at the same time. It only shows the usage of the device it's installed on, so if another device on your network is using data, it won't show that.   Just some ideas.    In the end, it's possible that Hallmark Movies Now uses a type of streaming that the VDS just isn't detecting in order to engage, though it's been around for quite a while. If that's the case, hopefully they'll be able to update the VDS so it does.   Edit: I just saw that Hallmark Movies Now is available through Prime. If Prime works well for you, as in the VDS, getting it through them instead may be a viable option. A pain, I know, but just something to keep in mind. ... View more

@Grog_280    Though I don't know if it will make a difference, something you can try on your Fire TV is to go into Settings > Preferences > Data Usage Monitoring. Turn it on, then go to Set Video Quality and change it to something lower. By default it's on Best. If you change it to Good, it may help to reduce the resolution at the source by only allowing the TV to use an amount of bandwidth that will trigger that to happen.    With this said, if the problem is due to system congestion, or a combination of congestion and the high latency inherent to this type of satellite internet, it likely won't make any difference. Congestion tends to be most prominent in the evenings, when the highest number of people are online and many are streaming. As for the latency, unfortunately, the high latency can sometimes cause issues with streaming with some services, even when the overall speed is good enough.    I'd also check to make sure that nothing else is using the service at the time you're trying to stream, sapping available bandwidth.  ... View more

If you're referring to the HughesNet's WiFi Booster, remember to put it about halfway in between the HT2000W and where the signal drops out. This way it extends the signal in the direction of the booster placement. The booster needs to be close enough to the modem to get its signal, but far enough away to extend the signal in the chosen direction.  ... View more