December 20, 2008
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I Really HATE HughesNet
I have not had access to our Internet Service, which is Hughesnet or Hughes Satellite Services. I’m not sure but I think you’ve seen the ads on TV. We have cable run to all the houses but cable service is not connected out at the main road. So, temporarily, we are stuck.
Why do I hate them? Let me count the ways…err, reasons. ONE: if the weather is bad, which means rainy, cloudy or even too windy, our service sucks. Either it keeps getting interrupted or you don’t have any at all.
TWO: We paid a fortune for our installation which also included the modem. In less than two years, this modem crapped out. To replace it? $149. I was really pissed since it’s more expensive to use their service than both dial-up and cable. They should, at least, cover the modem that makes our receiving the service possible. But NO…of course not. When you are stuck, you are screwed.
THREE: we actually are limited in the amount of downloading we can do in any 24 hour period. I kid you not. We are limited to 185 mbs. Have you gotten updates on your virus program? Your Windows program? Any of the many programs we all seem to use? Have you gotten a new computer or hard drive that you need to install an operating system on and it needs to update? We actually rented a motel room so that we could download all the updates needed on the Beast’s laptop AND his new hard drive. What is funny is that even the motel limited him. He couldn’t fully install all the updates needed but he got the majority of them.
FOUR: Most of the *techs* they use are obviously located in India. You can hardly understand them when you call for technical support for any reason. Worse, they are obviously reading from some technical manual and don’t know how to deviate from it at all. It’s mind boggling when you are trying to find a solution and don’t need to go through all the BS that they try to put you through. I am not an idiot and dislike being made to feel like it. I am more *tech* than most women my age that are using a computer. I raised two techs and they taught me a lot. Thank you, my sons.
FIVE: The Beast checked the information about HughesNet online and it said you were allowed 200 mb of downloads. BS!!! I was told 185 by their *techs*. I think it’s actually less than that before you go into the *red* zone. For an additional $20. I think it was, you can go to 300 mb. I shudder to think of how much it would cost to go all the way up to 500.
SIX: We have checked out the speed of our downloads and, believe it or not, it is SLOWER than dial-up service. I kid you not. We have been lucky to get 10kbs most of the time. It will start out faster and then slow WAAAAAAAAAAY down.
All-in-all, I hate HughesNet. The sooner I can get rid of it, the better. Don’t waste your money unless you are in a situation like us. And don’t believe all the hype. It is NOT hi-speed.
The Beast is constantly upgrading our computers. We have wonderful equipment and hi-speed processing. Hell, we have 64-bit even. So it isn’t OLD equipment causing the problem. It’s HughesNet itself and what they are actually producing. We build our own computers. We have sons that are techs to give us advice if we should happen to run across a new problem. The Beast also has a stubborn streak that won’t allow him to be defeated by a glitch. He WILL find the answer. He swears a lot but he finds the answers. This end we can control. HughesNet we can’t.
We are online now. How long it will last I don’t know. The Beast wants to accept the new modem because he doesn’t trust this one. I am starting to believe him on that part. So it costs us an arm….and it only has a 3 month warranty. How’s that for sucky? If it’s a good piece of equipment, it should have a much longer warranty, don’t you think?
Oh well, enough of my ranting. Just BEWARE of promises that I am sure other people can attest to about HughesNet.
Love you all. More on my days off the internet tomorrow.
