HughesNet
Terrible service

Hughesnet&Don't Do It! I've been a customer of this satellite internet provider for five years. Like you probably, I have no other internet access choices other than dial up. Rather than restate what the good people have taken the time to say here let me just add that every complaint is 100% valid and true. Congratulate yourself on taking the time to do some research before making the same mistake we did. I would just like to add some specific examples of what you will not be able to do on the internet using Hughesnet. Take your time. There are better satellite services out there and Howard Hughes would have nothing to do with this company today.

First, the Fair Access Policy is nothing more than a scam to get more money from you. It has nothing to do with making sure the light downloader has the same amount of access as the heavy downloader. There is no shortage. Obviously if there was you would not be able to increase your download threshold by simply paying more money per month. It bleeds the people who rely on the internet to make a living, as a single source for entertainment or as a main source for communication... No exemptions for emergency use included.

Second, even when limits have not been exceeded Hughesnet speed is marginal at best and of course it's always your fault. The results of my "speed test" say my download speed is somewhere between 700 and 750 kb/sec.in reality I've never topped 120 kb/sec and that number spirals downward each second. If it's not your fault it's the weather or something else beyond their control. They try to convince you that a signal strength of 65 out of a possible 100 is good reception. But how does all this relate to the user? All versions of Windows have crucial service packs provided at a later date by Microsoft. But, for example, you can't download SP2 for Windows XP without exceeding the Fair Access Policy's (or FAP) threshold and then discovering it's going to take 50 hours or so to download the rest at a speed less than half that of dialup! All satellite providers use an FAP but Hughes' is by far the most restrictive.

You want to download movies from Netflix or anywhere? You can't do it. You want to buy and download a game for your computer or Xbox? You can't do it. You want to play a game online against others on the internet? Forget it. The latency is even worse that of dial up. To be concise, with Hughesnet you miss out on half of what the internet offers.

As a teaser they give you the hours between 12 and 3 A.M. Eastern time as "recess" when you can gorge on downloading without penalty. But still, the slow service does not allow you to finish downloading in 3 hours and the final 1/4 of the program will come at a speed that will take days to complete. One more thing, streaming videos will also put you over the threshold. You must limit your You Tube browsing to just one or two at a time. You also will not be able to catch up on any of your favorite TV show episodes now offered on the net for free. Even at full speed they start/stop at a rate that will have you tearing your fingernails out one by one. Hit 'em where it hurts. Don't subscribe to terrible service with non-understandable support and drop them if you did.

This is what I get for a "premium" subscription costing $80 per month.

Stephen Johnson

Johnson Valley, Ca.

Praying for cable or DSL soon.

Company: HughesNet
Country: USA
Site: hughesnet.com

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