HughesNet Gen 5

Anyone here use this? We had two earlier versions of HughesNet. The first was a “consumer grade” system and it left a LOT to be desired. We then upgraded to the lowest level “business” system. It was really a lot better (faster speed but most importantly more immune to loss of signal whenever it rained hard). We paid a small amount more but got a lot more.

In both instances customer service was really spotty. If it was good is was very good; when it was bad it was awful. Just researching this p.m. that continues to be the case. But, as the most professional review noted, the difference in “bad customer service” rating between HughsNet and Verizon was less than 4% per BBB. So that seems to be more of an industry problem then a single provider problem.

We are in a poor connectivity zone and our options are limited. Right now I’ve got ATT Uverse (without TV) and DirecTV. Service is sometimes an issue with both providers.

Any input on experience would be appreciated. If anyone has a better idea for us rural types with poor broadcast service due to terrain I’d love to hear about that, too!!! :slight_smile:

G.

G, when you said ATT DirecTV has service “issues”… is the the signal itself or the people side of ‘service’?

If the signal itself is the ‘service issue’, yes, rain and snow will impact reception. I always put the dish where I could reach it with a broom so I could sweep out snow that collected in the dish. Trees can impact reception as well. Have you checked your signal strength?

I have no experience with HughesNet but I suspect some of what I said applies to it as well.

There are physical limitations that come with satellite service, that’s just the nature of the beast. You can never entirely eliminate rain fade. I work at a television station and even our very large, very expensive dishes sometimes encounter signal problems if the weather is bad enough. And you don’t always need visible weather to have signal problems - there may be rain or snow higher in the atmosphere that isn’t reaching the ground. Solar flares and electromagnetic interference can also cause disruption. You will also always have somewhat of a signal delay due to the time it takes for your data to travel to the satellite and back to earth, which is why things like online gaming or video chat may not work as well over satellite internet. So if satellite is your only option, these are unfortunately things that you are mostly stuck with.

As far as customer service, I think almost every large cable and internet provider just has crap customer service.

Some of my neighbors on my road used this in the past and were so disappointed with them they discontinued it. One of my friends lives way up this mountain and said reception was dreadful and their customer service was - as she said - probably one of the circles of hell. My new neighbor had it installed only a month ago and already hates it.

DirecTV used to be okay until ATT bought them and now their customer service is just dreadful. They wound up being #4 on the worst customer service list after never having been on that list before. And that was shortly after they got bought out.

I have had Hughes for years, paying for a business plan since I work over it. Upgraded to Gen 5 recently. It is faster and more reliable than previous Hughes, and the built in wifi covers well out onto the land, helping the cell phone dead zone problems. I’m happy. (Well, I’d rather have DSL, but given that any answer at my place must be satellite, this is my favorite satellite I’ve had.)

We have had Hughes Net Gen 5 for six months. It is slow slow slow and unreliable.
We are not impressed. After our one year contract through Dish is up we are ditching it.

Regarding DirecTV, the service is technically satisfactory. As a retired Naval Aviator I’m aware of the problems of weather and electronic signals. :wink:

Customer service with both AT&T and DirectTV is like playing Modified Russian Roulette (in regular RR you load one chamber and leave the others empty; in MRR you leave one chamber empty and load the others). In my last “technical issue” I had to drive almost three miles to a place I could sit and get good cell service. The nice Indian lady on the other end of the conversation kept asking me to be in front of the computer when we were speaking. It took almost FIVE MINUTES before she realized that I was NOT at home and what she was asking was physically impossible!!! She was not stupid but she had a script that she was following and when I went off script it took her a bit of time to engage her brain vice just reading off a page. When she did finally realize that there was no way for me to talk to her and sit at the computer she ordered a service technician visit without issue. On several other occasions with “off shore” technical support I could not get a reasonable response until I got to a supervisor. That is an annoyance 'cause that wastes my time and my time is valuable, too!!!

It’s been a while since I’ve had HugesNet and I don’t remember much about customer service except that it was spotty. Same basic issue as above.

I’m pretty sure that after first of the year I’m going to invest in a whole house “repeater/amplifier.” We do get some signal here but it’s weak and inconsistent. The system I’m looking at puts an antenna on the highest point of the house which gets enough signal to amplify from the tower. That signal goes to an amplifier/repeater that then sends a signal to “house antenna” when then rebroadcasts the signal to my phone or other device. That/those then talk to the house antenna which sends the signal to the amplifier which then sends it out to the tower. This adds a bit of “latency” but since I’m not a “gamer” that won’t be much of an issue. We have a friend in Atlanta who installs these things and he says they can work quite well as long as you have enough signal to amplify and it’s strong enough to send out the amplified signal from the house.

Sometimes rural living does have some downsides!!! :slight_smile:

G.

I’m a couple miles from you. We had ATT/Direct TV for years - internet, phone (land and cell) and television. We got tired of losing signal on cell phone and the TV (worse after ATT took over Direct TV). We ditched the landline, changed the cell to Verizon, and the television to Dish. We kept the ATT DSL because outside of Hughes it is the only one available out in the county. I have not heard great things about Hughes.

DishTV put up a new satellite dish facing a different direction. The reception has been better, and we only seem to lose it during bad storms. Verizon for cell has been MUCH better - I don’t have to find a place in the house and stand just so to get more than 1-2 bars. I can get good reception outside my barn, but spotty inside, maybe because it is metal vs wood. Text always works no matter where I am on the property. The barn is down in a hollow behind the house. Dealing with ATT for the internet is such a “joy” - I’ve had to get two new wireless routers for the internet in the last couple years because they are basically crap. We did upgrade to a greater download speed, but not near their “top” speed. The local service guy is good, but getting through the offshore customer service can be difficult, to say the least. If you can, get the local guy’s business card (the one that came to my house said to call him if there were any more problems).

All this said, we may just be in a better location - on US Hwy 70 on a ridge near a cell tower. Even with the nearby cell tower, ATT cellphone reception was still horrible.

G you are close to where ATT is going to test bed its new Project AirGig internet service over the power company wires. Actual test areas are to be in a yet to be named rural part of Georgia… and in some unnamed third world country

http://www.ajc.com/business/picks-georgia-test-gigabit-internet-over-power-lines/tc1BOynwQAPttLgNRrxDdO/

FWIW, a new satellite dish facing in a different direction is kinda not related to the problem. Doesn’t surprise me since DirecTV and Dish don’t share satellites. They don’t even share compression algorithms on the data that comes from the satellites (company proprietary).

One reason i did suggest checking satellite signal strength and possibly re-adjusting the dish. If the dish mount isn’t nice and secure, the dish position can ‘drift’ which can impact reception (which I’m sure G is aware of :wink: ).

DirecTV, and I’m sure Dish, has more than 1 satellite they transmit data through.

I’ve had DirecTV for many years and think that here in Phoenix the reception is less “quality” than when I lived in Colorado Springs. Once or twice an hour I might get a short spot where the video “breaks up” and I loose the picture. doesn’t last long but sure don’t remember this happening as often in the Springs.

Changing the direction may have helped some - the dish is no longer facing the prevailing wind, rain, hail, ice, snow direction. Being on top of a 3+ story roof, there was some high wind and ice/snow buildup on the dish face were it used to be. It’s in a more sheltered location facing downwind now. Or maybe Directv just has poorer reception at my house.

Verizon also has some new technology they are going to be testing 2018. The last leg of the internet would be sent over a radio signal.

Not sure if you are close to any of these markets.
https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/verizon-testing-5g-11-cities/