HughesNet

[Dweeks]

Does anyone have this? If you do, do you like it? Pros, Cons...... I am contemplating this, as dialup in rural South Carolina, is getting old.

 

[wickedinhere]

I have had it for about a year and its 100 times better than dialup. Its not as fast as dsl or cable but if you mainly use it for just surfing the net its great. If you download or upload huge files it can get a little slow. When we moved to my property this year this was our only way to get high speed internet. Make sure if you get it to watch the installer and make sure they ground the system to an earth ground or you will have problems other than that i love it

 

[Adron]

Had Direcway for about 2 1/2 years before they were taken over by Hughes. We have had very good service. Occasionally when there is HEAVY cloud cover locally or really bad weather over Atlanta (or wherever the uplink is) we may be out for a 1/2 hr or so. Up time is very good. Download time is server dependant as I have been able the get some very good d/l stats, but lots slower from other servers. DW d/l several 2-3Mb files daily. Uploads are limited to 56K, but it is a full 56K, not some fraction thereof. Customer service is primarily from India. But one problem I got a call back from Miami FL. Not to mean there were many problems, just a couple and after that was solved we haven't had to contact CS for close to 2 years now. Latency is a problem for gamers.

Yeah, I'd rather have DSL or cable but, ............

 

[HomeBrew2]

Just wondering what the costs involved are ... upfront, monthlys ? Would appreciate any current first-hand info. Thanks.

 

[wickedinhere]

I think i paid around 600-700 for the equipment and the install and the service is 59.99 a month.

 

[HomeBrew2]

I think i paid around 600-700 for the equipment and the install and the service is 59.99 a month.

Yeh, the monthly is much less than I thought but still high for me.

Sure like your golf car ... pic of mine attached ... not very pretty but I sure love it

 

[Dweeks]

They have a promo running for $398 after rebates and then the monthly of $59.99. The monthly would be a wash for me since I would be getting rid of an extra phone line and isp fee per month. I just hate how long it takes to d/l files and surf the net on dialup. I do gaming but I could always keep 1 dialup isp and use the house main phone line for that.

 

[WVBill]

I've had HughesNet for about 2 months now and it's GREAT!
I used to have AOL dial-up as it was about the only service with a local number. (I hated AOL - "Just give me a browser, I don't want all your 'content' " ) But then AOL started offering it's e-mail service free if you have your own ISP and I think they cut back on the number of modems available for dial-up connections because I started having trouble connecting. So that was the "nail in the coffin".

I got the $395 up-front + $59.95/month deal.

Have only had one outage - when there was a huge thunderstorm passing by. But I probably shouldn't have had the computer on then anyway...

I routinely get 300 - 400kbps download speeds and 200 - 300kbps upload speeds.

But note - you will not be able to do on-line gaming or a VPN connection, or some interactive web sites with satellite broadband. The latency (the time it takes for the signal to get from your house to the satellite and then to the ground station and back) is 1/4 second. That may not seem like much but games and VPNs "time out" in less than that.

For normal browsing like TBN, I recommend HughesNet highly.

(Not affiliated - just a satisfied customer).

WVBill

 

[wickedinhere]

I wish they had offered those rebates when i signed up but it was directway when i got it. Thats a nice cart i dont know what i would do without mine, i have an ezgo, 5 inch lift, 22 inch tires and an 8 horse motor.

 

[Adron]

By the time I get rid of the extra phone line and the monthly ISP fee, I figure tha t it costs me about $10/ month for Hughes. Very cheap for the extra speed. Plus it is a complete write off on taxes since DW needs it for work.

 

[HomeBrew2]

Oh, so they have satellite upload now (200-300kbps)? No more phone connection required? Or did I misread?

(My cart is a '99 Yamaha, 4" lift, 20" tires, torque spring)

 

[slowrev]

By the time I get rid of the extra phone line and the monthly ISP fee, I figure tha t it costs me about $10/ month for Hughes. Very cheap for the extra speed. Plus it is a complete write off on taxes since DW needs it for work.

does DW use VPN in her work application ? If so DW is out of luck, VPN will not work with any Satellite system I have heard of. Much to my regret.
Ben

 

[slowrev]

Oh, so they have satellite upload now (200-300kbps)? No more phone connection required? Or did I misread?

(My cart is a '99 Yamaha, 4" lift, 20" tires, torque spring)

That is correct, however that system is much more expensive and has to be installed by a professional by law.
Ben

 

[wickedinhere]

You dont need a phone line at all. Upload and download are transmited and recieved through the dish.

 

[Jimbrown]

I have had it for about 4 years. It works far better than any dial up. It does go down from time to time due to wx. generally it is a very short time. Less than 1 hour. I suggest you go to these sites and look around.
HughesNet Portal

broadband help » Forums » HughesNet Satellite

If your wife is using this for business and does a lot of up and down loading you will probably need one of the business plans. If she uses any programs that require dedicated ports ect you will need to get a static IP. If none of that means anything then you probably do not need it. You should also read the FAP policy in the DSL reports FAQ. You are limited based on your plan how much you can download over a given period of time. If your computers are networked DSL is also the best place to get useful information.

 

[Hard]

I have had it since May. Far faster than dial-up. I did get the small business/commercial version. Up front costs of $1100 or $1200 and $99 per month. I get faster upload and download speeds than their basic packages. The dish I had to get with this package is quite a bit larger than the regular dish.

 

[woodchuckc]

I checked out the HughesNet site, but could not find the answer to a question of mine.......

Do you have to use separate dishes for DirecTV and HughesNet, or can the same one be used for both? I know that my current dish (I only have DirecTV) will not work with HughesNet, but I hope that I won't have to end up with 2 dishes.

Thanks!

 

[riptides]

Check an see if Sprint or Verizon offer broadband services in your area through next generational cell services such as EVDO.

I use a card in my PC and take it everywhere. Speeds ranges from 300-1.2 down, 100-250 up. 59.99 unlimited access, does VPN too.

Verizon calls their service VZaccess manager. See their web site for coverage maps, be sure to look for digital signals.

I have DirectTV but their broadband service has issues with certain VPNs, and their business plan is too pricey.

-Mike Z.

 

[NoMo]

Do you have to use separate dishes for DirecTV and HughesNet, or can the same one be used for both? I know that my current dish (I only have DirecTV) will not work with HughesNet, but I hope that I won't have to end up with 2 dishes.

There is a mounting kit that you can purchase to integrate "some" of the DirecTV LNBs onto the HughesNet system. However, I'd recommend separate systems. Getting the dish aligned for Internet and all the TV satellite signals is pretty tough and you'll likely end up with a compromise where neither service is as good as it could be.

Before anyone purchases a satellite Internet system, I strongly encourage you to search your area for wireless ISPs (WISPs). The cell phone companies may also offer service to your area, so check them out too.

If you find that satellite is your only option, then look at both WildBlue and HughesNet to see which offers the better service & price for your location. There are also resellers (aka VARs) that may offer something you like. I had DirecWay/HughesNet for two years through Agristar. The nice thing about VARs is that they usually have english-speaking Americans on their support teams whereas Hughes generally uses people in India to handle calls.

 

[woodchuckc]

There is a mounting kit that you can purchase to integrate "some" of the DirecTV LNBs onto the HughesNet system. However, I'd recommend separate systems. Getting the dish aligned for Internet and all the TV satellite signals is pretty tough and you'll likely end up with a compromise where neither service is as good as it could be.

Before anyone purchases a satellite Internet system, I strongly encourage you to search your area for wireless ISPs (WISPs). The cell phone companies may also offer service to your area, so check them out too.

If you find that satellite is your only option, then look at both WildBlue and HughesNet to see which offers the better service & price for your location. There are also resellers (aka VARs) that may offer something you like. I had DirecWay/HughesNet for two years through Agristar. The nice thing about VARs is that they usually have english-speaking Americans on their support teams whereas Hughes generally uses people in India to handle calls.

Thanks for the info! I live far enough out in the sticks that I don't even have cell phone service (I can sometimes pick up a strong enough signal to make a call if I drive the 4-wheeler up on the top of the ridge about 1/3 mile from the house). The fastest I can connect via phone line is 26 k on a very good day, and there are so few people on the lines in my area (3 miles from the nearest main road) that the phone company has no interest in improving things.

Thanks for the heads-up on Wildblue and Agristar - I will check them out.