Hughesnet internet?

[Ithaca Gunner]

Comcast is greedy, upped our internet service again.

We got a card from Hughesnet. maybe cheaper? I don't know. what we have is one computer, one T.V. running Ruku. Anybody have Hughesnet, and if so are they worth changing to from Comcast? Prices? Streaming? Reliability?

[SeabeeMan]

The biggest issue with satellite is typically the data caps. They have their issues in storms, just like satellite TV, and can sometimes slow down depending on the usage density in your area. Don't underestimate how much that Roku will use for streaming. I don't know that those have a built in monitor to see how much data has been used.

[metricmonkeywrench]

My info is a bit dated, but i had a coworker that lived out off in the woods way beyond where the cable company provided service and barely had a telephone line. She tried Hughesnet satellite service and was less than impressed and ended up reverting back to dial-up.

[Burnt Fingers]

STAY AWAY!!!! Far away.

[Gus Youmans]

We live out in the country and don't have access to cable or DSL, so we have both Verizon and Hughesnet for internet because we have a home office. One or the other works OK some of the time and some of the time neither of them work at all, especially during bad weather. Last night with good weather and clear skies it took Hughesnet nearly 45 minutes to download a QuickBooks update that would have taken 45 seconds with cable. My in-town office has cable and there is no comparison. Verizon and Hughesnet are better than dialup was.

Gus Youmans

[tai95]

A few people at our campground have it and the ones I have talked to about it were less than impressed with it. I've been looking into starlink (Musk's new internet venture). It's $500 for equipment and then $99/month for unlimited. We have been switching our phones to unlimited for years and if you are at camp during the week it works ok, but once the weekend hit and the place gets full service goes downhill fast.

[namsag]

HughesNet sucks. Not Recommended. Had it for several yeras when we had no other choice but as soon as another option was available we took it.

[Jsm180]

Like others have said, data caps and storms make it a non starter here. Neighbor tried it and was not happy.

I signed up for Starlink, supposed to be available here this year. starlink.com

[MarkW]

A neighbor has had it for about a year and is not happy, it is hard to have a conversation and not have to hang up and call back about 1 in 3 times. They will be switching when there's another option as well. At this point everyone is hoping Starlink works like it is being promised.

[farmbif]

if its the only option it works, its lightning fast compared to service from frontier through the phone line but it a bit slower than 4 bars on a Verizon phone.
via sat is the same price and supposed to be faster

[Winger Ed.]

We have a choice of 3 internet/TV providers here.

Hughesnet is far and away the worst for down time and their customer service seems to work on the theory that:
'the customer is always wrong,,,,,, or just plain stupid'.

[MaryB]

Hughes net sucks to be blunt! I had it for 2 years. Data caps meant no watching more than 1 YouTube video a day, no way could you stream TV, customer service is horrible and treats you like you are an idiot even after I told them my credentials on computers and RF... absolute worst ISP I have dealt with.

I would be patient, part of Biden's big plan is running fiber to remote locations...

[dverna]

None of the satellite options are very good. I have suffered since I move to rural MI. Like others, I have signed up for StarLink and paid $100 up front to hopefully get to the front of the line for service. O currently use a JetPack from Verizon and two simm cards but run out of capacity after 2 1/2 weeks just using the computer and tablet....then it is really slow.

I would not sign a contract with Hughesnet.

[Smoke4320]

"hugessuck" There I corrected their spelling/naming mistake ...sorry no way

[Mal Paso]

I think we have consensus, Hughes Sucks!

[gwpercle]

Do what both my wife and my office manager do when rates go up ... Call the company , tell them you aren't happy with the "New" rates and lets work something out ... would hate to discontinue your good service ... If that person can't find you a discount or new deal ...ask to speak to some one else ... their boss or someone in the deal making department ... usually they can do some mumbo-jumbo kind of refinagling and get your rate back to what it was .
They like to add on junk you don't want or need , up your bill and see if you aren't paying attention ...they can take the junk off and get your rates down and sometimes they have these special deals ...just be nice and be persistent , don't let them go until you get the price down ...

Do Not let on they have you between a rock and a hard place ...act like if they don't get the rate down you don't have a problem jumping ship !
Gary

[Jsm180]

I would be patient, part of Biden's big plan is running fiber to remote locations...

I hope that's sarcasm, we've been hearing rural broadband since Obozo.

[Land Owner]

I know it is not the same (thread drift) but it sounds a lot like like DirectTV, always upping the rate. I had a 2-year DirectTV contract. They never read it. Every month I had to call to correct their billing. Two years of every month calling and in the 2nd year it was worse, 'cause I had burned out all of the front line callers, who had to transfer me to Supervisors, and was working on burning the Supers out as well. I knew most of the gals in Customer Retention by their first name and voice recognition.

Never again. In the end though, with financial perks, discounts, credit cards, and "incentives" for me to stay, they ended up PAYING ME to view their channels - but I EARNED IT. Nobody in their back offices double check the stuff they try to pull and eventually the price they pay when you are PERSISTENT and INSISTENT in holding their feet to the contract provisions.

[uscra112]

OK, you mind-numbed gamers and video addicts, you've had your say. I've been on Hughes satellite for over ten years and am perfectly satisfied with it. No, it's not for sogging in front of a screen watching a bad movie and binge eating Cheetos. VOIP has the problem of latency. (Time up to satellite and back down) which annoys some people. About twice a winter I have to brush snow off the dish.

For news, weather, blogging and email it's perfectly fine. One feature I REALLY like is that it firewalls against the constant pinging by Chinese (and FedGov) computers looking for an unguarded port to hack into, (yeah FedGov - I used to see them all the time in my logs, before I switched.) And if somebody wants to geolocate my IP address all they get is a location in a central Kansas feedlot. Having a life outside movies, gaming and Bitcoin mining, I'll stick with HughesNet even if they do bring fiberoptic into my valley.

No, they haven't upped my rate. In fact I pay less now than when I started ten+ years ago.

[too many things]

hughes had a class action and were out for loooong time . 1 out 20, can see that
but dont go there, i got 1.44 in the settlement
if you want the dish its here.

[Markopolo]

hughes net is a "last resort" situation... dont do it unless you have zero options... dont ask me how I know...

[Jeff Michel]

Buddy down the road had Hughes net...... It worked sort a kinda, sometimes. Ended up dropping it.

[redneck1]

I had it for awhile when I had no other options , I won't say I had a good experience with it . i also didn't have quite as terrible an experience as a lot of other have had either .

[CoolHandMoss]

I had hughesnet for a while. No cable internet here. As others have said, the data cap is ridiculous. Once you are past that you may as well just use your phone. It's weather dependent, and twice the price of superior cable internet. The worst part is the contract. By the time my contract was up I couldn't wait to drop it.

Other considerations: starnet is shaping up to be much better. Still expensive but that's the only downside. Also, uncle joe is handing out cash like candy including a chunk to work toward getting broadband to the 30% of the country without. I was about to pull the trigger on starnet until I saw this infrastructure plan and now I think I'll hold out until that handout is forced upon me and I can get real internet even if it is shamefully funded by hardworking americans for no good reason.

[uscra112]

I had hughesNet for a while. No cable internet here. As others have said, the data cap is ridiculous. Once you are past that you may as well just use your phone. It's weather dependent, and twice the price of superior cable internet. The worst part is the contract. By the time my contract was up I couldn't wait to drop it.


So you're saying you get cable internet for $30 a month? (Half what I pay to HughesNet)

I have no contract. Haven't had since about 2012. But name ANY service provider who doesn't start you out with a contract.

I am finding it interesting that so many of you cannot live without 24/7 video. Seriously, can you not read?

I rarely exceed 1/3 of my data cap, despite being on-line reading or posting for 6+ hours every day. (Mobility Handicapped, not a lot else to do.)

[BigAlofPa.]

I have friends who have comcast. Their raising rates all the time is the main complaint with them. I have service eclectic it's 93.00 a month after modem rental and the other fees. I don't remember the last time any rates were changed. I have this package.
100M Internet
Download: Up to 100 Mbps
Upload: Up to 10 Mbps

Monthly Data Plan: 1,500 GB/Month

[CoolHandMoss]

So you're saying you get cable internet for $30 a month? (Half what I pay to HughesNet)

I have no contract. Haven't had since about 2012. But name ANY service provider who doesn't start you out with a contract.

I am finding it interesting that so many of you cannot live without 24/7 video. Seriously, can you not read?

I rarely exceed 1/3 of my data cap, despite being on-line reading or posting for 6+ hours every day. (Mobility Handicapped, not a lot else to do.)

I was paying $100/month for hughesnet. My parents in the same county are getting real internet for $50. Their internet is not the best but it is beyond comparison to hughesnet.

Furthermore, for many people the decision is not just whether there are better options but whether or not they can do the reading they need to do, if they aren't so video dependant as those that you are calling out, on their phones or by way of computers tethered to their phones. In such cases why would one pay $70 or more or whatever hughesnet costs now for the minimum crappy coverage to be able to read when they already pay a bill for phone data that can supply just as well or better.

I am glad hughesnet is working out for you sir. I am sorry for offending you by offering a negative review of hughesnet. It was not a personal attack on you or your preferences.

[uscra112]

If they have phone internet they don't need anything else, so Hughes' rates are irrelevant. Except that cell plans START at over $100, do they not?

Calling HughesNet crap because it isn't fibreoptic cable is disingenuous. It provides a different service, one that covers areas that have neither cable nor cellular, (and in my case no DSL either). Language matters.

[curdog007]

My in-laws have it, and it is worthless. But there's nothing else where they live.

[uscra112]

I think I see the disconnect here. I was 50 years old before there even WAS a n Internet. I lived with dialup for years. I used cellphones that were the size of a brick, and had no screen of any kind. You youngsters think a Palm Pilot is antediluvian. (My grandkids don't even know what a Palm Pilot was.) So be it.

[CoolHandMoss]

If they have phone internet they don't need anything else, so Hughes' rates are irrelevant. Except that cell plans START at over $100, do they not?

Calling HughesNet crap because it isn't fibreoptic cable is disingenuous. It provides a different service, one that covers areas that have neither cable nor cellular, (and in my case no DSL either). Language matters.

Yeah true. The O.P. probably does not have a data plan on his smartphone. He'd be silly to pay for a data plan when he can get 10 gigs of hughesnet for less...

[Gtrubicon]

We had Hughes net for 3 days last year, they could not deliver what we were promised and paying for so they let us out of our contract. Worst part is that damn dish is still bolted to the side of my house. If you have trees, don’t do it.

[Ithaca Gunner]

The jury has spoken and I looked at the rates. It could cost me MORE with Hughesnet than Comcast due to their ''tier'' plans, so they're out of consideration.
I know how bad Frontier is from various horror stories from folks who've had them. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

[Jsm180]

We have Frontier copper wire DSL backed up with ATT hot spots on our phones. The speed on Frontier is marginal for streaming, 2.8mb/s, but it works most of the time. Looking forward to canceling them when Starlink comes online.

[MrWolf]

I am in the same boat. My options are Satellite (Dish and Hughesnet) or Frontier. I did put up my own 42' cell tower and managed to get two bars of Verizon 4g which I used to run my internet. Was faster than Frontier dial up but caps would get me every once in awhile due to computer updates or if I tried playing an old Xbox game. Dish internet lasted two weeks and they ended up paying me not to be a customer. Something about the beam not working in my location.

Out here they basically pick Dish or Hughes and my neighbors complain about Hughes. I got stuck getting Frontier. Pathetic. They are in bankruptcy for a reason. Just recently in one of my almost monthly rants with Frontier being down, started throwing their performance vs actual, etc. and asked for a supervisor. Ended up in the wrong department that turned out to be a God send. Seems Frontier offers discounts to disabled folk and this woman managed to get me "bonded" internet at 18 mgs for $5 less a month than the garbage 6 guaranteed. I will be switching to starlink come January when Frontier will be at $100 a month. I dropped my Dish TV superbowl morning. Turns out Verizon has new cell plans that have free Hulu, Disney +, and ESPN for as long as you have the plan. Sorry didn't mean to ramble. Good luck.
Ron

[CoolHandMoss]

Telling you, check out starlink. It's not completely off the ground yet (pun intended) but it is getting going. It is also expensive but it is expected to be pretty good in all other ways.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Check for local ISP's that work off of towers. We have a local provider that has been highly reliable ( Vistabeam) over 15plus years. Landline is a copper pair, carrier will not even try to provide internet. Local cell service, Verizon, OK and getting better, but finding the right window is critical. My DishTV has been remarkably reliable for 20-30 years, I understand they also provide internet, not sure about that. I do live where 'THE SKIES ARE NOT CLOUDY ALL DAY, HOME HOME ON THE RANGE". It is semi-arid, few clouds, little rain to disrupt signals. Worked well in high country Colorado, again not much for cloudy overcast skies.

[Norcal707]

The jury has spoken and I looked at the rates. It could cost me MORE with Hughesnet than Comcast due to their ''tier'' plans, so they're out of consideration.
I know how bad Frontier is from various horror stories from folks who've had them. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Have you checked into Starlink as many have suggested?

[Der Gebirgsjager]

. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Reading through this thread I see only one mention of Via Sat. I've had them for 5 years and have no complaints. Originally they were Exede, and the name changed a couple of years ago. Their basic plan didn't give much data, but you get more if you pay more, and now for $118 per month I can't use it all. I do have to go outside during or after a snow storm to brush off the antenna dish, and the same for Dish TV's antenna. Otherwise, signal interruption is a rare thing, and doesn't last more than a few minutes. That's happened maybe twice a year for 5-10 minutes. Perhaps they aren't available in your location, but if they are I'll give them a Recommend.

DG

[Ithaca Gunner]

I've gotten some ideas that I didn't know existed here and I thank all for your contributions. All I can say is, life was much simpler and happier driving a '62 Belair and having only newspapers and a few T.V. channels for entertainment and a rotary phone, personal visits, or hand written letters for communication.

[MaryB]

I hope that's sarcasm, we've been hearing rural broadband since Obozo.

I live in a town under 300 population... I have fiber being buried as I type, run to my house scheduled for this summer. And I am 100+ miles from the nearest city over 90k pop. 25 miles+ to 5k+ population... if you get the idea I am in the middle of nowhere...Obama did get the money, phone companies got the grants to put it in... I will be getting 1gig speeds for what I pay for 30Mbps DSL! I stream 4k TV and 30Mbps is borderline for that if I want to browse on the computer at the same time(something I do all the time).

[MaryB]

I know it is not the same (thread drift) but it sounds a lot like like DirectTV, always upping the rate. I had a 2-year DirectTV contract. They never read it. Every month I had to call to correct their billing. Two years of every month calling and in the 2nd year it was worse, 'cause I had burned out all of the front line callers, who had to transfer me to Supervisors, and was working on burning the Supers out as well. I knew most of the gals in Customer Retention by their first name and voice recognition.

Never again. In the end though, with financial perks, discounts, credit cards, and "incentives" for me to stay, they ended up PAYING ME to view their channels - but I EARNED IT. Nobody in their back offices double check the stuff they try to pull and eventually the price they pay when you are PERSISTENT and INSISTENT in holding their feet to the contract provisions.

Dumped DTV and will never go back. They priced themselves out of the market in my opinion. I stream SlingTV for $65/mo, get all the channels I like to watch, have all the free movie streaming services... streaming will kill sat TV.

[MaryB]

hughes had a class action and were out for loooong time . 1 out 20, can see that
but dont go there, i got 1.44 in the settlement
if you want the dish its here.

If it is one of their 1 meter dishes I could use it LOL to bad I am so far away! Shipping would be more than a new Chinese dish off eBay

[Win94ae]

Comcast is greedy, upped our internet service again.

We got a card from Hughesnet. maybe cheaper? I don't know. what we have is one computer, one T.V. running Ruku. Anybody have Hughesnet, and if so are they worth changing to from Comcast? Prices? Streaming? Reliability?


I got Hugesnet before their new Gen 5 service, 10 or so years ago. They fixed the box when it broke but with a $5 service charge over a few years. It is still $50 a month but now I don't have the data cap I stated with, or at least I haven't hit the new one yet.

It is hard to get a hold of them, their site never worked for any of my computers well enough.

The box messes up from time to time, sometimes for days.

[tai95]

Dumped DTV and will never go back. They priced themselves out of the market in my opinion. I stream SlingTV for $65/mo, get all the channels I like to watch, have all the free movie streaming services... streaming will kill sat TV.

Satellite TV will be around for a long time. As shown by this thread there are slim pickings in some area for internet in general. If you do manage to find it you are probably not going to have enough bandwidth to watch tv. I have directv and the wireless genie boxes. I take the "hub" from home to camp and have the same stations wherever I go. The new wireless boxes are great because all of our friends pitch in and we get them a box and they have satellite in their camper too.

[Idaho45guy]

I used it back in 2007 when I moved to the country in Arizona. It was awful. Data caps, horrible customer service, ridiculous prices and all the rest. Ditched it after a couple of months.

Now my dad has it out at his place. He's on ten acres in Idaho and has no cell service at his house. He has to drive or walk about 100 yards to get a signal. Hughes Net is his only option. I'll inherit the place when he passes, but I will sell it if Hughes Net is still the only option at that time.

[am44mag]

Comcast is greedy, upped our internet service again.

We got a card from Hughesnet. maybe cheaper? I don't know. what we have is one computer, one T.V. running Ruku. Anybody have Hughesnet, and if so are they worth changing to from Comcast? Prices? Streaming? Reliability?

I have Hughesnet. I hate them. Their data caps suck, we're not getting the internet speeds we are supposed to be, and the reliability is spotty at best. Some days it's fine, others it pretty bad.

For streaming, or really any internet beyond the bare minimums, I'd look somewhere else for internet. Once our contract is up, we're switching.

I would sooner take a leak on a live electric fence every day for a month than stay with them.

[oldred]

I would sooner take a leak on a live electric fence every day for a month than stay with them.


Yep I agree and the dirty tricks they use is something else no one has mentioned, or if they did I missed it maybe. When you sign up the system will be smoking hot and work really great, that is until the trial period is up and they have you locked into the contract! After that the good service comes to a screeching halt and starts to drag along at little better than dial-up, in fact during the short time we were stuck with those crooks we kept dial up so we could still use Ebay.

Some here have mentioned that they treat customers like idiots, they do that because they seem to just automatically assume that anyone who signs up for their service an id,,,,,,,,err well maybe they just assume we were less than real smart!

[Burnt Fingers]

We have CenturyLink legacy DSL at our place. It's expensive and really crappy. We're supposed to be getting 10 meg service but are lucky to have a steady 5 meg.

I've got Rise coming out later this month for a site survey and possible install.

I've heard good things about them.

[MaryB]

So you're saying you get cable internet for $30 a month? (Half what I pay to HughesNet)

I have no contract. Haven't had since about 2012. But name ANY service provider who doesn't start you out with a contract.

I am finding it interesting that so many of you cannot live without 24/7 video. Seriously, can you not read?

I rarely exceed 1/3 of my data cap, despite being on-line reading or posting for 6+ hours every day. (Mobility Handicapped, not a lot else to do.)

I needed to trim the budget... DirecTV had jacked the rates again to $120 month, I was using Verizon internet with data caps at the time, had dumped Hughes Net for the cell modem... local phone company changed hands, they immediately upgraded equipment to offer DSL so I jumped at it. Internet went up $30 but no data caps and way faster, dumped DTV for SlingTV(streaming TV) for $60. So I saved $30/mo and got far better service. I do have some TV shows I like plus I like movies. With 5 free streaming movie choices I can almost always find something to watch and relax before bed(gets me away form reading on screens with the blue back light that disrupts sleep).

I am disabled, I do read a ton, I play on my radios(ham radio), learning 3d CAD for the new 3D printer I picked up, designing a dish mount for a 1.2 ghz dish antenna I am putting up for ham radio... learning to weld... but I have days I am stuck in bed or a chair and entertainment is a must!

[gwpercle]

I hope that's sarcasm, we've been hearing rural broadband since Obozo.

Isn't this just Obozo Part Dieux ?
Gary

[Big Tom]

Check out starlink.com - not available in all areas yet and still in a beta phase. It may be the best option in a rural area. Also, if you have good reception with T-Mobile, they also offer a home internet device that may be worth looking into.

[Mal Paso]

Starlink requires a clear exposure to the sky. There will be fewer satellites in the beginning and obstructions will limit a lot of people. There is an app to determine if it will work for you. Should have the bugs worked by now. LOL

[Wayne Smith]

I needed to trim the budget... DirecTV had jacked the rates again to $120 month, I was using Verizon internet with data caps at the time, had dumped Hughes Net for the cell modem... local phone company changed hands, they immediately upgraded equipment to offer DSL so I jumped at it. Internet went up $30 but no data caps and way faster, dumped DTV for SlingTV(streaming TV) for $60. So I saved $30/mo and got far better service. I do have some TV shows I like plus I like movies. With 5 free streaming movie choices I can almost always find something to watch and relax before bed(gets me away form reading on screens with the blue back light that disrupts sleep).

I am disabled, I do read a ton, I play on my radios(ham radio), learning 3d CAD for the new 3D printer I picked up, designing a dish mount for a 1.2 ghz dish antenna I am putting up for ham radio... learning to weld... but I have days I am stuck in bed or a chair and entertainment is a must!

I hate to tell you this, Mary, but your TV has the same blue back light. My kindle has a blue/yellow light switch to turn the blue off in the evening.

[Castaway]

Sloooow. If my wife is online at the same time forget streaming. Heavy clouds means virtually no service. After we surpass our data cap, it slows down even more.

[Burnt Fingers]

I hate to tell you this, Mary, but your TV has the same blue back light. My kindle has a blue/yellow light switch to turn the blue off in the evening.

I have a Kindle Oasis and can adjust the color of the backlight. You can make it a nice warm amber color.

I also have Kindle Unlimited. A normal book takes me about two evenings to read. I'm reading an average of 16 books per month. Kindle Unlimited saves me a BUNCH of money.

[MaryB]

Yes but it is 9' from me versus 2' for the computer monitors, or 1' for the cell phone(kindle app). So the amount of blue is diminished a LOT