I've had it with HughesNet!!! Need Advice

[EddieWalker]

Jazz,

It could easily be another five years until I'm serious about opening, and it could be longer. I'm not under any preasure to get it done or open.

As for guests, it seems that the technology is changing so quickly, that anything I plan on using today will be outdated in six months. Satelitte really sucks, so I have my doubts that a commercial system will be all that much better. Even with twice the power, it's still Satalitte.

This cellular setup is really cool and I'm wondering if it might just go the route of the telephone. For a very long time, offering phone lines was considered mangatory for people to call on and to use their computers on a phone modem. Now phone lines are not even installed in new parks. Heck, it's almost impossible to get a pay phone.

The phone company may have to upgrade their lines before I open, which will affect what I decide to do too. A new bank is being built, and it will require high speed service. I've been told that once they bring it out for one business, it's real easy to jump in and get them to do it for others.

If that doesn't work out, there is the option of a T-1 or sub T-1. The install cost is a bit steep, but not rediculous. Once up and running, it's my favorite plan as of right now.

Eddie

 

[riptides]

I would not worry about the cell stuff going away anytime soon. Wireless will be the future along with fibre. The current cell stuff has numerous standards in front of it that are all competing for speed and saturation points. It will only get bigger, better and faster.

Unfortunate the US ranks 15th globally for broadband speed and access. Now, that sucks, big time.

 

[Jenkins003]

I once had DirecPC which was before Direcway. It only did downloads, you had to have a dialup for the uplink. It was very expensive and horrible service but it was the only option at the time for anything faster than dialup. You had a limit on how much you could download before they cut your download speed to a crawl for several hours. I was never so glad when DSL came to my area. Sounds like things haven't got much better.

 

[riptides]

Just a general observation about satellite stuff.

Who would have thought this would ever be available to consumers?

We are talking about computers talking to low earth orbiting services!

How good can these services be? Think GPS and so the bar is there.

 

[SCRich]

Verizon has NOT purchased Altell but has made an offering. All of these purchases are subject to FCC and FTC approval so it is in the process but it can take a long time for approval then after the purchase it will take a bit longer to wrap both networks up into one, Rome was not built in 1 day.

I have a Verizon UM150 which is an OK card, the AC595U is better but more expensive. I also use a Cradlepoint CTR350 router purchased from EVDO Forums - EV-DO Discussion, Support, Coverage, Compatibility, Tips, Verizon, Sprint, Alltel, UM175, Kyocera KR2, WRT54G3GV2, WRT54G3G-ST, Cradlepoint CTR350, PHS300, MBR1000, CTR500 : EVDOforums.com and they have great support. DO BE VERY CAREFULL as to what you purchase, all routers will not work with all modems. Make sure you research everyhthing prior to each purchase both the modem and the router to make sure they will work with each other. Also make sure the modem will work with the provider, just because you have a the router and card that will work with one cellular provider it does not mean that your setup will work with the other.

I was spoiled, DSL for years at my homes, Cable modem which was faster at a rental after I moved and NOTHING when we finally built the ranch. I can't stand it!!! I have little to no cell service here and surfing is slow, not dial up slow but slow after so many years of DSL and cable it's painfull. I have had to purchase a cellular repeater and high gain directional antenna to make it work, that's what I get for living in the middle of a pine tree farm! Now I get some speeds like DSL light here at the house, if I have to do any heavy uploads like photos to a web site I take my laptop and router with me into town and do it there. No need for the router but it's so easy, I often leave it in the truck on an inverter and go into a diner for lunch or dinner and take care of the uploading via WiFi.

 

[EddieWalker]

This is the router you want if you need one Kyocera KR2 Evdo Wireless Broadband Mobile Router EV-DO (KR2) | KR2 [Kyocera] | kr 2 rotuer kr1 TXRTR10000 kr 1 D-Links DIR-450 3G Wireless Router 54Mbps 802.11g 4-Port EV-DO Kyocera Kr1 Evdo Wireless Mobile Router EV-DO dir450 dlink

After looking around and trying to find a better deal, I orderd this router from this place. They are by far the cheapest.

Thank you,
Eddie

 

[JazzDad]

Jenkins wrote: "You had a limit on how much you could download before they cut your download speed to a crawl for several hours."

My current HughesNet contract states that if I go over 200Mbs in a 24 hour period they clamp my speed down to slower than dial up. An the fastest our prior dial up ever connected was 26.4Kbs!

 

[EddieWalker]

We've had two heavy storms hit since I've gone to the Alltel connection and I haven't lost my signal. It's raining real heavy right now as I type this, and I'm still amazed that I'm online. With Hughesnet, I'd have to wait for it to stop raining to be online. That difference alone is HUGE. Add lousy customer support, having to have a technician come out several times a year and not knowing when it will work or not is just part of the list of why satelitte is doomed and why I'm so happy with this new connection!!!

You'd have to realize that for years, when it rained, the connection would drop. The people at Hughesnet and the techs that came out here all told me that the rain doesn't affect the signal, but with differnt dishes, different radio transmitter/receivers and different modems, it's always failed when it rains.

Eddie

 

[JESSE1]

Does the Alltel system work with desktops or just laptops? I'm on dialup, no other internet available. I thought about getting Hughesnet but don't really want to worry about the equipment needed.

 

[riptides]

Does the Alltel system work with desktops or just laptops? I'm on dialup, no other internet available. I thought about getting Hughesnet but don't really want to worry about the equipment needed.

The solutions providers have cards or USB devices available that can plug into your PC/Laptop or Router. It is best to figure out what you have, then what you need, then what you may be connecting to use the solution.

It could be something as simple as a USB (Broadband) modem plugged directly into your PC.

Or it could be something as complicated as a PCMCIA card into a router that shares a wireless network and a hard-wired network thus giving all access to the broadband service.

Did I mention antennas and amps to boost the signal? You can do that too.....

 

[EastTexFrank]

You'd have to realize that for years, when it rained, the connection would drop. The people at Hughesnet and the techs that came out here all told me that the rain doesn't affect the signal, but with differnt dishes, different radio transmitter/receivers and different modems, it's always failed when it rains.

Eddie

Eddie, I don't know why they say that rain doesn't affect the signal. They tried telling me that when I was talking to them about using their service. They must be talking about drizzle and light cloud cover because when those big ol' Texas thunder clouds form and the rain is bouncing 5' off the ground, I can lose my tv signal. I don't see that a ISP signal would be any different.

Anyway, I'm glad that you're happy with your new service.

 

[bones1]

You're welcome Eddie.Now optimize XP for broadband.
How do I optimize my MTU and RWIN settings? DSL FAQ - dslreports.com

 

[EddieWalker]

Does the Alltel system work with desktops or just laptops?

Both!!!

My wife has a laptop and she just plugs the modem into the back of it. The modem is probably an inch thick, two inches wide and four inches tall, plus a small antena that sticks out the top of it. The actual plug folds, so it has an L shape for her laptop.

It came with a cable that plugs into the USB port on my desktop computer. It actually has two plugs so that it can be used in two USB ports at the same time. It says that is to increase speed, but I really can't tell compared to Steph's laptop that she just plugs it into, and the desktop, where I use two ports. It's fast for us eitherway.

The cable is about two feet long, so you can sort of find the place in that range with the best signal. We've moved the desktop from under the desk to on top of it and have the modem on a shelf as high as we can get it. We get a solid 3 out of four bars this way. When it was on the ground, we were between 2 and 3 bars. Again, I really can't tell the difference in speed, but it makes us feel better having it up there.

Until the router gets here, we take turns on which computer it's plugged into. It's just as simple as pulling it out of the USB port and plugging it into the other computer.

Eddie

 

[3RRL]

When you get your router life will be much easier.
Loretta has her laptop in the office on the main level and I have an old desk top in the basement. Do you remember the layout Eddie? We have the router with air card plugged in it near a window facing the back deck. The air card gets the best reception there so that's where it and the router stay. Our wireless connection from it to our computers is great in all parts of the log home.
I had DSL and then Time Warner Cable and that was really fast at the Rancho house, so I was spoiled. I'll tell you, although a bit slower, this air card with wireless router works pretty fast. I'm happy with the performance. Only thing is if one of us is downloading a big file, it does slow down. But big deal. It's fast enough for me.

 

[warhammer]

I have a Sprint broadband account for my laptop.
Its about $50 a month for unlimited internet access. Seems to work pretty well. Speed is faster than dialup but slower than cable. The more bars on the signal the faster the connection.
If you get a cellphone signal where you live this may work for you. I use mine out at the farm all the time. I have good line of sight to a cell tower a couple of miles away.

Warhammer

When I moved out to my land, I did some online searches and decided to go with DirecWay Sattelite for my interenet connection.

That was about 4 years ago, and since then, I've had five seperate technicians out here to fix my system, I've had everything replaced from the cables to the dish and modem replaced at least once, and some parts replaced several times. When it works, it's OK at best. Uploads are always slow, but downloads on a good day are pretty fast. If it rains, the signal is likely to be lost depending on how heavy the rain is. We've lost the signal due to the frost on the dish on cold mornings and have even lost it on cloudy days.

Most of the time, it's just annoying and frustrating. Last year, after HughesNet took over DirecWay, they came out with a new modem. The HN7000S, which we received. Since then, it seems like the problems are even worse. It's more likely to lose it's signal on the lightest of rains and cloudy days.

In April, it got so bad that I had to have a technician out here again. Cost for that was $125. He was here three times becuase the problem was my dish wasn't working anymore. The two he carried with him didn't work either. So after a week of being offline, he came out and got it working again with a full 90 day warrenty.

It's almost 120 days since then, and it's not working again. Or I should say, this morning, it's 80 degrees outside, clear skies and I haven't had a signal for the last two hours. I have one now, but it's not something I can rely on. The customer support said that my dish and modem are not reading each other and that I need a technician out here again for another $125.

To say I'm unhappy wouldn't begin to cover it.

I'm paying $60 a month for lousy service and have hundreds of dollars into this worthless equipment and service calls. The technolody isn't getting better, it's actually been worse over the last year.

I have a phone line and might just go back to dial up. I hate the idea of it, but I hate throwing away money on something that doesn't work even more.

There are several threads on cell phone internet connections that I'm curious about. Who has this, where did you get it, and would you recomend them? I'll change cell providers for my phone if that helps to.

Please help!!!!!!!!

Eddie

 

[riptides]

I have a Sprint broadband account for my laptop.
Its about $50 a month for unlimited internet access. Seems to work pretty well. Speed is faster than dialup but slower than cable. The more bars on the signal the faster the connection.
If you get a cellphone signal where you live this may work for you. I use mine out at the farm all the time. I have good line of sight to a cell tower a couple of miles away.

Warhammer

Neither Sprint nor Verizon offer unlimited plans anymore. Some people are grandfathered into unlimited, but with new plans there is a 5GB limit, and once you exceed it, you can expect to pay.

I posted a while back on what you can do for 5GB, or what it looks like.

Bottom line, it is a limited service.

 

[bones1]

Neither Sprint nor Verizon offer unlimited plans anymore. Some people are grandfathered into unlimited, but with new plans there is a 5GB limit, and once you exceed it, you can expect to pay.

I posted a while back on what you can do for 5GB, or what it looks like.

Bottom line, it is a limited service.

Very true. There was a guy a while back that made the news. He and his family ran the bill up to over $9500.00. They (kids) didn't pay attention to the 5G limit. Always check your usage half way through the month to be sure.

 

[EddieWalker]

The KR2 Modem arrived yesterday, so that was a nice suprise. The directions that came with it are about as bad as I've ever seen. Neither Steph, nor I, can figure them out. There isn't much to it, just the router, the power cord and another cord that plugs into the computer. Then don't mention the cord that plugs into the computer in their instructions at all, but since there is only one place that it fits, that's where I put it. It's an ethernet cable, so that's where it went.

They are in California, and open until 6pm Pacific Time, so we're going to call this evening and see if somebody there can walk us through this. Steph's computer doesn't recognize a signal, and she hasn't been able to figure out what to do. With the previous router, it was all automatic. She just turned on her Dell Laptop, which is less then a year old, and it found the signal all by itself. My dad had the same thing happen to him in his RV, behind us. He turned on his laptop, and it picked up the signal all by itself.

With the KR2, nothing.

Eddie

 

[riptides]

Eddie,

You mentioned previous router. Could it be your laptop is stuck on that network? Can you refresh your wireless networks?

The KR2 should come up and announce itself under 802.11b/g and n protocols automatically. Hopefully your laptop speaks on of thise protocols too.

Get back at us with some more questions, I'll be back on-line later tonight.

 

[jinman]

Eddie's success with his new modem and Ron Hall's recommendations finally were more than I could take. My WISP provider is fine when it works, but they have a nasty habit of going down on the weekend with no support until Monday. That's exactly what happened last weekend when I was trying to download the Texas CDL handbook. Also, I'm locked into one desktop computer and we can't take the modem on the road with my wife's laptop.

So, I went online to Verizon and ordered a USB727 Novatel Modem. The activation fee is $35 and monthly fee of $59.95. I'm not currently a client of theirs.

The modem arrived today, just over 24 hours from when I ordered it. It's now installed on my desktop and I'm typing this message on my wife's laptop. The speed is slightly faster than my WISP provider.

Now, I'll cancel the dialup provider at $19.95 and my WISP at $46.65 per month. I had kept the dialup because I needed a backup when the WISP went down. I'll actually come out ahead and have a much higher speed and flexible modem. This new modem is tiny. It's hardly larger than a flash memory stick and has a slot for a MicroSD card. Pretty slick!