About BirdDog

@GabeU wrote: @BirdDog   I can't remember exactly what it was, but I used something similar to what you're talking about.  I scanned a document, then sent it using a virtual fax or something like that.  I then received the reply fax through the same thing and printed it out.  It was free and it was something that came with a Dell computer I had.    So, not exactly a standard fax, but basically doing the same thing and it sends the document(s) to the company's or person's fax machine on the other end.   It's basically just sending a PDF but for legal reasons they need a fax from what I understand, not an email attachment. Anyway, the virtual thing worked fine for me. I had a phone number they were able to fax to because of the virtual service.   All this makes me crazy these days, I just try to find a way to make it work. ... View more

@Coinoprus wrote: I have VOIP service with ATT uVerse and I can send and receive faxes with it.  Why can't Hughesnet offer the same service.  I understand the technology aspect of the problem but what do they know that Hughesnet doesn't? Cable internet is completely different technology wise from satellite and sending fax over satellite VoIP is much more complicated. It is not supported.   Honestly, fax machines are pretty much obsolete, best to use virtual services like online providers. No paper worries or maintaining a fax machine. Can always print to a regular printer.   I've used them. They assign a phone number, anyone can fax it like a regular number, you print it, you scan and fax whatever. Can receive documents also like a old fax machine.  I worked my mortgage using it. Do need a multifunction printer that can scan documents to then fax.   I used this one 30 day free trial: http://www.myfax.com/ ... View more

The new standard for "unlimited"  (Exede) seems to mean they don't shut you off entirely.  HughesNet could start offering 500 GB plans with the caveat that they might start slowing things down at 10, 20, 30 50 GB based on loading. Actually no different than what is already being offered IMO.   The "unlimited" thing is very subjective and a lot misleading as far as I'm concerned. Exede can say they have an "unlimited" 150 GB plan but the speed can still be anything from 1 Mbps to the max possible speed. Nothing is guaranteed by either provider if you read the fine print.   Nothing is guaranteed by either satellite provider when it comes to constant speed. You won't get max speed 24/7 with Exede "unlimited" plan, I guarantee that. Just like I don't get max speed 24/7 with my plan on HughesNet. Sorry, not how it works with either provider. ... View more

@TG2 wrote:  I'm Gen 4 Ultra plan so basically a 100 GB plan for $90.   WTH!! I'm getting screwed to put it bluntly. I can't even get that plan. I pay $74.89 for 20GB. 10 day time and 10 bonus(2-8am). Well I'm going to bring this up in a customer service call. If they can offer me that plan or something close, I'll consider staying. If not, CYA! Wow when we all get together and complare plans, a person can really see when they are getting the GB shaft. It's really sad, but it's business. And that's how it goes. It's not about customer service in the end, it's about home much cash they can get from a customer.    But I can see your point. You're better off staying put. But for me, it would be a huge upgrade. I'll pay for it, but it will be an upgrade for sure.  You're not getting the shaft but it is based on beam/gateway loading. Is why you have to enter zip code when ordering, different areas have different pricing. The burbs of New York will certainly have different plan pricing than Montana or Idaho.   I, and some others, were simply in the right place at the right time a few years back to get the Ultra plan. It is no longer available, along with Gen 4 plans entirely. Things do change.   Wasn't trying to rub your nose in it. Only saying that Exede "unlimited" plan doesn't look so rosy to me. Plus I generally get good speed. For me that is mostly anything 3+ Mbps as not a gamer and files still download reasonably fast unless in the GB size.   Watched Netflix show just a bit ago even though Testmy.net reported 1.8 Mbps. Granted a family with a bunch of kids trying to do things at the same time will not have a good experience with such speed.   Multiple devices connected at the same time doing data intensive things will certainly degrade the experience for everyone. This is even true for a good cable Internet connection.   PS: Did a couple tests before posting this and speeds were 17.5 Mbps and 24.7 Mbps only a minute apart. Quite an increase from the 1.8 when watching Netflix. Satellite internet speed can change quickly based on loading. How it is, limited satellite and gateway throughput, speed depends on number of users and what they are doing at any point in time. ... View more

@TG2, Just gets back to semantics to me, we look at it differently. HughesNet could change all their plans to "unlimited" tomorrow with the caveat they will "prioritize" once the plan amount is surpassed. I honestly don't see the difference.   I can stream Netflix and other video sites even when my speed is around 1.5 mbps so I don't have an issue. Large file downloads, I schedule them for Bonus time or do them during the day when I can. I'm Gen 4 Ultra plan so basically a 100 GB plan for $90. Sure not about to jump ship when no idea how that 150 GB "unlimited" plan actually performs.   Still feel they are playing a marketing game with the 150 GB "unlimited up to speed" thing then adding the "prioritizing" part after the 150 GB.   PS: Even cable internet "unlimited" has a throttle after a certain point for residential accounts, usually around 200-250 GB. Otherwise, everybody and their brother would be hosting servers from their home for Amazon, Ebay, Facebook, Twitter.......etc. ... View more

@TG2 wrote: Honestly jimbo,   Because they can charge what they want. When you have nothing it's supply and demand, nothing more. I pay 74.89 for the 20 gig plan. But I only get 10gig in the daytime hours and 10gb bonus( from 2am to 6am). Yes exactly! Rip off! But it's no bid deal. We now have UNLIMITED Exede in our area for $150 per month. Yes it's double the price, but unlimited is worth it. In my area, there have been several going to Excede. The speeds are slighly slower, but with unlimited, who cares. Just buffer your movie and watch it.  I'll be switching soon, unless Hughesnet goes unlimited for a good price, because I feel I'm getting taken advantage of by Hughesnet. And seriously people, 20GB is NOTHING in today's world of technology. The plans should be a lot higher. Just my .02 And the fine print: On Unlimited service plans, after 150GB of data usage, we may prioritize your data behind other customers during network congestion.   Will admit 150GB is a lot on satellite but even that is "up to" speed. Interested in what real world speed actually is on all the beams. Especially during prime time.   HughesNet is also basically "unlimited" if they used that marketing term since they don't cut users off after allowance is exceeded, they just throtlle the speed down. The same as Exede is doing. ... View more

@GabeU wrote: @BirdDog   I'm wondering if maybe it was a 10Mbps plan, as doing a Google search shows that they may have, or have had, something like that.  Something called Comcast Internet Essentials.   @VortecCouple seems to be conflating data amount with speed, two very different things. Again like you say, should repost under different topic like Tech Support or Products and Plans, this is the billing section.   VortecCouple, do you have a problem with your billing? ... View more

"When we used Comcast as our ISP, their rep told us that we only used about 2% of our 10G plan per billing cycle."   Never heard of Comcast having "plans" let alone a 10G one. Their service is usually 200-250GB across the board from what I understand. They are cable, not satellite.   They have different speed plans but the amount is the same, quite high. ... View more

@thewarehouse wrote: @maratsade while I do appreciate the links, I noticed that this area specifically states its not where to go for support. I was lookng more for emotional support perhaps, not technical. There is nothing wrong with my system or with the HughesNet equipment; it just isn't perfect. I have no other internet options and so I will stay with HN and live with it. I am grateful to have internet at all. These issues make things a little difficult but it is what it is.  I am hopeful (almost-ever-the-optimist) that HN will improve. It can only get better.  @thewarehouse, May I ask what is perfect in this world? I can do whatever I want with the service but am not a real time gamer.   If looking for perfection in life then you probably will be disappointed with everything. Striving for perfection is good, but truthfully it is not possible for man made things IMO. ... View more

"General Discussion A place to chat about tech or tech-related topics and just have fun. 🙂 *NOT FOR HUGHESNET SUPPORT*"   Would be best to post under the Tech Support topic if actually wanting help.   https://community.hughesnet.com/t5/Tech-Support/bd-p/TechSupport ... View more

@tim81499 wrote: Using Windows 10 World of Tanks.   Love the game but it's just too much lag. It's the only game I play. There are NO other service in my area other than iffy celular and probably never will be. I actually get better results using my cell phone as a wired hot spot. If I try to play WOT on Huges the best I can do is hope the rest of team can carry the game because I end up being just slightly better than totally useless. Then they report me as a bot. Hughes gives me 600+ ms lag, Cell gives me 175+ ms lag which is still too much. Sorry @tim81499, they can't do anything about ping/lag on satellite as it is 22.3 thousand miles up and 22.3 thousand miles down. Games that are real time sensitive will not play well on satellite due to the delay. ... View more

@BirdDog wrote: @Kaiserfamily wrote: My tv is a roku tv. Everything on that works smooth. Amazon firestick apps work fine except for kodi. It is running 17.5 with covenant. I am online streaming. I can start the stream but then it buffers and gets stopped. That sounds like a problem with Kodi then. If you're running a plug-in to watch unlicensed content then it might be getting cut off at the content end. Also what definition is it trying to stream?   I've read Kodi is getting hit with liscence problems because they allow unauthorized (unpaid) content streaming with some add ons. I have a Pi 3 Kodi box myself but use it as a local media server and have not tried online streaming with it. PS: may want to watch this and do other searches about the problem:     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI5SzOim4cA ... View more

@Kaiserfamily wrote: My tv is a roku tv. Everything on that works smooth. Amazon firestick apps work fine except for kodi. It is running 17.5 with covenant. I am online streaming. I can start the stream but then it buffers and gets stopped. That sounds like a problem with Kodi then. If you're running a plug-in to watch unlicensed content then it might be getting cut off at the content end. Also what definition is it trying to stream?   I've read Kodi is getting hit with liscence problems because they allow unauthorized (unpaid) content streaming with some add ons. I have a Pi 3 Kodi box myself but use it as a local media server and have not tried online streaming with it. ... View more

Outside rain and snow have no impact on your indoor WiFi unless you are losing a good satellite signal because of it which feeds your WiFi network.   Need to try to keep snow off the dish as it can impact your signal. Ice even more so.   Like CORROSIVE says, the coverage of your WiFi  indoor signal is on the customer for the most part. The built-in HughesNet WiFi is not powerfull enough to reach all devices in all situations. Even a beefed up system with extenders and such will still have limitiations in certain situations and location of the extender and devices. ... View more

One of the better articles I've found on the subject:  http://blog.solidsignal.com/content.php/5849-How-fast-should-your-internet-be-for-DIRECTV-On-Demand   Neither DirecTV or DISH are very forthcoming on the actual requirements for steady, no buffering, live streaming. Recording during the Bonus time is the best option. Again, you'll eat lots of data streaming HD video either real time or recording. ... View more

The reason it is buffering so bad is it is trying to reduce the qaulity which I do not think on demand allows. It pushes the stream at HD in many cases. Doesn't matter the Data Saver option, that just chokes speed of the stream when on.   Boils down to leaving data saver on and buffering or turning it off and less buffering. Either way you are going to use lots of data using on demand as it pretty much streams in HD most of the time. A video in HD is a set amount of data, if you watch it with data speed choked or unchoked it will still use the same amount if the whole video is watched.   To clarify, the video data saver option only works for streaming sites that have different definition options that automatically lower based on connection speed the way I understand. It chokes the speed to attempt to stream at the lowest definition available. On demand has no such option, it pushes at least 480p at the least for older video but usually at least 720p. ... View more

@dfbeck wrote: I have the same problem and it's so intermittant that I finally canceled the tech call they had on hold for me. Can't dianose a problem that isn't occurring. Did you get a chance to see the log before it was erased? Did it have a number of 5, 10, 20, second uplink errors? I'll be interested to see if re-aligning the dish makes a difference. Mine has been re-aligned twice in the last 6 months and the modem has been swapped once. I hope that takes care of it for you. Sorry I missed your question earlier. Don't know what the log showed for duration each time but there were numerous red x's for uplink and overall state code was going from good to 12.1.9 - a transmit problem has occurred. ... View more