tryshz
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Re: Controlling Data Usage
Ok - back from our day trip, and have just spent some time reading the articles you linked - quite an education there! Some stuff I knew - most I did not, and am glad to know now. Anyway I took a screenshot of what data I had available just before 9AM - and as we are (ouch) operating on tokens till the data is replenished - there was 4746 MB left of the token I bought last night before we were kicked off the internet due to a rainstorm. When we got home, there was 4623 showing as still available. So between 9AM and 3:30PM - when no one was home - 123 MB got used. Normal? Of course, both computers were still hooked up and running, as is the laptop and tablet on wifi - so maybe that is why? Anyway - I was glad to find the history thingy in the HughesNet meter that is on my taskbar. Didn't know that was there, but have used that as a general 'here's what you got' reminder. I also track usage every morning first thing on a spreadsheet - which tells me when and how much has disappeared. We had a shocker of a learning curve on who streams what at what resolution - whew! Spent a few days nailing down which services stream at 720p rather than 1080, or at least give us the way to adjust it. Interesting reading about routers - and I know nothing about them (my 'techie-ness' is more in building websites than in hardware) - but that seems to be the best way to nail down where and when and how much data is happening day to day. We have a router - we got it when we signed up for HughesNet - a service called Nightshift - which gives us the capability to download Netflix content to a USB stick on the router during our 'free time" overnight and then watch later without using any more data. Works like a charm - the router they sent us is an ASUS RT-AC52U Dual-band Router - 802.11ac - Wireless-AC750. I have no idea what all that means - but it is on the box the router came in. Do I need to enlist their help to access whatever tools it might have to track data? They are very responsive every time I have had any problem with the Netflix stuff - but this is a whole new area. I did check our data usage by app in Windows 10 - at least for my computer - and by far the largest usage (like 91GB over the month) was our Playon.tv media server - which we used to download (again overnight) stuff from network TV - course that doesn't work with OTA channels - so not sure how that can be used when you are on and antenna. I was glad to see that a lot of the suggestions made we are already doing - and I will check my husband's computer for the 'auto-play' and other things that are eating data when we don't want it to. Hope I can navigate all this - going to try and install Glasswire and see if I can understand how to use it too. Thanks so much for your suggestions and the reading material - you have been a huge help! Trish5.1KViews0likes1CommentRe: Controlling Data Usage
GabeUwrote: tryshz Unplugging your modem might save you data, but only if data is being used while you're not actively using the service. And, if that's the case, the best thing to do would be to figure out what is using the data and stop it from doing so, as if it's doing so while you're not actively using the service it may being doing so while you are, as well, and eating even more data. What devices do you have connected to HughesNet? The following two posts may also help... https://community.hughesnet.com/t5/Tech-Support/HughesNet-Data-Management-Tips-n-Tricks-How-To-Eliminate-Phantom/m-p/41581#M29776 https://community.hughesnet.com/t5/Tech-Support/Understanding-data-usage-data-loss-and-connection-paths/m-p/78602#M55972 Thanks for replying! I am not sure if anything is - just trying to hold on to all the data I can. On HughesNet I have connected my Nightshift router, my husband's and my computers - on wifi is a laptop, a tablet and our TV.The laptop and tablet are on most of the time, should I be shutting them down in between use? Thanks for the links to the articles - will read them diligently! I also took a screenshot of my usage page this morning - as we will be out of the house most of the day - and will taken another when we return - see if stuff is getting used. Thanks so much for your help! Trish5.1KViews0likes2CommentsControlling Data Usage
Asking for any input or suggestions. We have just disconnected our DirecTV service (price was just too high), and are now going with an antenna and downloading ahead of time and limited streaming. Have found some sites that let you NOT watch HD (Hulu, Klowd, and Sling) - but having a tough time not going over our limit for the month. This is our first month doing so - so hoping it will get better. Will just turning off the modem when we go to bed or are going out of town for the day help any? Not sure about how data gets used without me knowing about it - any advice on that for a somewhat tech-savvy person here. We use Nightshift to record Netflix in our bonus time, and also playon.tv for lots of other shows - but does anyone have any more suggestions? Thanks in advance!! TrishSolved5.1KViews0likes4CommentsRe: New plans - price way up - data allowance way down...help?!!
Thanks for the info on the new modem. The one we have is just fine - and we did get the nightshift router and their lovely way to record all things Netflix - so we are good - and you just confirmed that. Thanks! Oh, and the last time I checked our speed we were getting 29mbps - so not complaining at all!!8.4KViews2likes1CommentNew plans - price way up - data allowance way down...help?!!
We have had HughesNet for almost 2 years - was really tough to adjust to NOT having broadband, but we have been able to do pretty well. I look now and see that the plans that "our area" qualifies for and am in shock! Right now we have Gen 4 Ultra - 50GB Data and 50GB Bonus bytes. Now it looks like there IS not equivalent - the highest amount of Data is 30GB and the price went from $89 to $129? Wow - this is bad. I was never given the option of upgrading to Gen 5 - guessing that location matters - we are in rural North Carolina - and did not know there was a newer (and better??) modem that we could be using? Really need some help here - living on a fixed income, this is rapidly pricing itself out of our possibility. Can someone advise me? I would say I would call but that has been a lesson in torture - obviously the 'help' people - english is not their first language - and frustration mounts pretty quickly when simple things are constantly misunderstood. So starting here, hoping for some good info! Thanks! TrishSolved8.4KViews0likes7Comments