The End of the (Dial-up) Blues

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,599]

Without DSL or cable options, I finally broke down and got Hughesnet. It is faster, but time will tell it it's worth the money. But I finally can watch youtube here at home. :omg:

[Rollerman 290]

Good deal Terry, hope it works out for you & is waht you want.

Does this mean I can now send all my fwd emails with lots of pictures & videos?

Oh wait....I already do. :drool:

[Operator 7]

T-Mo keep us all updated on Hughesnet , hope it works great for you.

We went from dial up to high speed and oh boy the differance!

Randy

[Suburban 550 28]

Good luck with it T-Mo. Hope it works out well for you. I started out with dial up and went to Verizon DSL. Like Randy said "What a difference". DSL is like a rocket ship compared to dial up.

[Kelly 1,033]

We went to DSL a few years ago, no way will I ever go back to dial up.

[KyBlue 655]

I'm with kelly on the never going back.... it'd be one of those kicking and screaming deals...LoL

TMo Congrats on the upgrade!!! Hope it works better for ya than the one I used..

[Bill 4]

I got to ask, whats Hughesnet :omg:

[C-Series14 15]

HughesNet is a high-speed Internet solution that uses satellite technology, not a phone line, to give you a super-fast, always-on Internet connection.

www.hughesnet.com/ :omg:

[jerrell 1]

:omg: congrats T-MO, still on DU and hate it when i get an em with youtube or a lot of pics it takes me forever to view them

know you will enjoy the service, is it really 50 X faster than dialup???

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,599]

Jerrell,

It is faster than dial up, but I don't think 50 times faster. I can now watch a you tube video and I can see a marked improvement in surfing.

Now, here's the kicker with satellite internet service - the FAP (Fair Access Policy). This policy limits your bandwidth usage. Hughesnet's FAP is if you exceed your quota for a 24 hour period, you fall into the FAP and they reduce your speeds for 24 hours. I have already ran across it. I got the "Home" package, i.e. for $59.95 a month, 1 mbps down load speeds and 128 mbps upload speeds and a FAP limit of 200M. First day I used 107M for bandwidth usage. Saturday, without thinking, I hit the "OK" button when I was asked to update my software. Now, keep in mind, I haven't been doing my updates because of the slowness of dialup, so I had a quite a list of updates to perform. A whopping 213M, to be exact. I noticed later in the day that speeds were considerably SLOWER THAN DIALUP! I called Hughesnet to ask what was going on - bottom line I forgot I had downloaded all those updates and I was in the FAP.

Now, I was thinking about upgrading anyways, so I went ahead and upgraded to the ProPlus Package, 1.6mbps download, 250 mbps upload and a FAP of 425M. So I'm out of the FAP.

So, that FAP might be a problem if I use this thing too much. Give me DSL any day.

[jerrell 1]

:omg: yeah T_MO i saw that when i was researching hughesnet, sorta like a limit of minutes on the cell phone, keep us informed, still looking for something as i got informed by altel that they don't know when or if they will get dsl here.

[bustedglass 1]

I have dial-up, and I HATE it , but, I cant get high speed from my carrier, Bellsouth. Something about not enough "Plugs" where I live .

I was concidering Hughsnet, but it is kind of pricey. Anyway, it's good to hear from T-Mo about it. I will keep abreast of his threads, and maybe change my mind about the cost being worth the service . Thanks T-Mo, keep us dial-up prisoners informed.

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,599]

For the benefit of the dial-up prisoners, here's an update.

I upgraded to the ProPlus, i.e. 1.6M download speeds. Sunday I checked the speeds and was recording about 1200 kb once and then about 1420 kb a while later. Last evening it was running pretty good. But then later on it was slow. I check the speed again, and after several speed tests, I was getting from 253 kbps to 386 kbps. Not acceptable for a 1.6M limit. So I call Hughesnet and they tweaked the modem and did improve a little, but still not good. They ended saying that during peak times performance will drop. Not acceptable if it's only running a fifth of what I'm paying for. Later I checked and got 481 kb and then 623 kb. Then at 11:30 CST my wife check the speed - 1576 kbps, which is great.

But, still I'm not liking it dropping off to around 300 kbs when I'm paying $80 a month for 1.6 M! :omg:

[Rollerman 290]

Terry that doesn't seem like any bargain.

I understand the slow speeds in peak use hours, but sure seems like it could be more consistant across the board.

[CasualObserver 3,411]

Sounds like you and they need to have a meeting of the minds there T-Mo. I don't understand the slowdown during peak usage. Unless I'm mistaken Hughesnet is satellite, right? It's beamed straight to you. I mean on a cable or DSL line a slow down can be explained by line traffic, what's their excuse for a direct transmission? You're TV doesn't "slow down" on satellite... I don't understand why the internet would.

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,599]

Good points and excellent questions, Jason. I'm not sure if Hughesnet is giving me a run around or that their customer service is lacking in technical knowledge. I have visit a Hughesnet forum (unofficial forum, I might add) and the biggest complaint is their customer service "technicians" who seem to be located in India. When I called the rep kept telling me to open up IE, and I told him numerous times I don't have IE, I have Safari as I have a MAC. I will monitor the speeds periodically - I have a 30 day money back satisfaction guarantee. I might use it if I'm not pleased with the service, but agin, it is faster than dial up. :omg: