User Profile
pferron
Sophomore
Joined 6 years ago
User Widgets
Contributions
Defective refurbished modem (HT2000W)
Earlier this summer (2019), my old modem, and the dish transponder, were zapped by a nearby lightning strike. The tech said the anti-lightning squib failed to protect the modem. He had with him a replacement modem, an HT2000W. It had an ungodly long and complicated password--more on this later. The "new" modem worked fine for a month or so, and then a couple of weeks ago it started disconnecting from the satellite, requiring a reboot. It would work fine for a few hours and then would disconnect again. After a few days I called the Service Center, every few days, for another week and a half. On successive calls I was directed to perform increasingly elaborate resets, re-registrations, re-installations, whatever. Nothing helped. The modem soon began requiring reboots every 20-30 minutes. Finally tech support decided to send out the technician. He asked me if the modem was a refurbished modem. I said, I don't know, how can I tell. Then he looked on the back and noticed the long, complicated password. "Yup," he said, "It's refurbished." He said Hughes had finally started sending him new HT2000Ws, and he got a new one out of his truck and set it up. It seems to be working fine a day later. TL;DR: Watch out for refurbished modems. Mine had a 16-letter/number password that was a nightmare to type in. If your password isn't something simple, like "pine42blue", you got a refurbished modem. Sometimes the refurb center cannot diagnose a given modem's problem, especially if it's intermittent, and they slap a new label on it and put it back in circulation. At least that's what I suspect. Question: The Service Center said that I would have to pay $100 or so for this technician's visit. This seems outrageous. The service call to replace the lightning-zapped modem was free. I was given a defective replacement modem...so now I have to pay to get that modem replaced? I haven't received a bill yet, but I'm on the lookout. the local power company says they are bringing high speed internet to my area...there is competition even in the hinterland, Hughes.Solved3.6KViews0likes5CommentsRe: Update to "This site can't be reached--after HughesNet modem replacement"
Yes I received the return demand via email. Here is the text: From: hnscrm@hns.com [mailto:hnscrm@hns.com] Sent: Wednesday, June 19, 2019 11:02 PM To: redacted Subject: Notification Id :REMOT: RMA 20 DAY HUGHES : RMA equipment not received - 20 days Dear redacted, We hope your experience installing the replacement HughesNet modem went smoothly. We want to let you know that we have not yet received your faulty modem at the repair center. We shipped your replacement unit to your address on file on May 31,2019. Please be advised: Hughes will charge your account an unreturned equipment fee if we do not receive the faulty modem in the next 20 days. If billed, this 125.00 USD fee will be collected in addition to your monthly service charge via your standard payment method (your credit/debit card on file or via invoice). Already shipped it? Thanks! You can monitor the status of the receipt of your shipment through the website rmastatus.hughesnet.com. This web site requires your RMA Request ID 121106387 for security purposes. Please note this number for your records. Please allow up to five business days to process your return. Haven't shipped it yet? If you haven't returned the faulty modem yet, please ship it to the address below. We encourage you to obtain and retain a tracking number when shipping your modem back to us. Please allow up to five business days to process your return. Hughes Network Systems, LLC RMA Number : 303275482 16060 Industrial Drive Gaithersburg, MD 20877 Sincerely, Hughes Customer Service.5.5KViews0likes3CommentsUpdate to "This site can't be reached--after HughesNet modem replacement"
This refers to a thread marked Solved. The problem actually was NOT fixed by rebooting all of the equipment. In the first reboot, to simplify things I did NOT restart a wireless D-Link modem I use to add ports and range to my network. I left it off, and everything worked ok, making me think the reboot solved the problem. After a couple of days, I plugged the D-Link router into the wall socket to restart it, and shortly thereafter some of my devices started having the "This site can't be reached" problem again. I did the power-off/reboot everything routine, including the D-Link, but that did NOT work. I puzzled over this for a while, then I unplugged the D-Link. Everything starting working again. I plugged the D-Link back in, and the problem returned. Aha! So the problem was that the D-Link modem was "polluting" the network with bad DNS addresses for some websites. I have no idea how this actually happens, nor have I tried to restore the D-Link modem to working condition. It is gathering dust in a box at the bottom of a closet, unplugged and no longer causing harm. In other news, Hughes customer service is demanding that I return the old HT1100 modem (it was zapped by lightning, the original cause of my recent troubles). I'm being threatened with a $125 unreturned equipment fee. Oddly, the written instructions I received with the replacement modem directed me to NOT return the old failed HT1100, presumably because it is an out-of-date model.Solved5.6KViews0likes7CommentsRe: This site can't be reached--after HughesNet modem replaced
MarkjFine, I did those steps exactly as you described--and it seems to have worked! Have been able to access all the usual sites including Amazon and others (AWS-powered?) without issues from our two desktops and my two smartphones. It's been about 90 minutes and all is well. I think I need to have my wife turn off her smartphone before she gets home, then boot it up when she gets here, so (a) she will be able to access Amazon etc. sites, and (b) so her phone doesn't pollute our network with any corrupted DNS stuff. Many thanks for the help. I'll wait until tomorrow to confirm all is still well before marking this problem solved.8.4KViews1like2CommentsRe: This site can't be reached--after HughesNet modem replaced
No, perhaps I wasn't clear. After redirecting the Hughes modem DNS and rebooting everything, my phones CANNOT reach the Amazon etc. sites. My desktop's access was unaffected by the reboot--it's been able to reach Amazon etc. since I changed its default DNS to Google a few days ago. Net-net: Except for a brief period this morning, my phones can't reach Amazon and other sites thru the Hughes modem, both before and after changing the modem's DNS setting.8.4KViews0likes8Comments