Lesser of two evils.
My options for service are Hughes or Comcast. I had Comcast for many years prior to Hughes and decided to change because of the "even more unreliable service" from Comcast than I currently experience with Hughes. I was a very angry person when I had Comcast. I waited so patiently off contract (month-to-month) for Verizon to trench in lines to out semi-rural area, but they ran out of money and interest. Abandoned yellow lines all over the county sticking up out of the trenches they walked away from. Enough was enough. Not that Comcast had technology issues. The lines and connectors in our community were poor quality from the contractors they used to bring service. A foggy morning would shut off my Comcast repeatedly, Windy day....no service, dog peeing on the utility pole...no service. A bird landing on the line....and OMG, there goes the service. Concast would not entertain repairing/running new lines. But THIS review is about Hughes. Yes, Hughes sucks, and I knew at the time that they were not recommended, but I've since lived to "anticipate" the poor quality and that, in a weird way, made me LESS angry. I always knew that if a gave it 10 minutes or so, a brief blur of connectivity would ghost its way past the dish on the roof. My kids hate the slow and turtle-like "speed", but I didn't care. I was feeling better about not being so ragging angry, feeling better about not calling Comcast almost every day (literally on speed dial) and speaking at idiots telling me to push my reset button, and I was feeling better about not spending an eternity in Hell when I die for reasons of going postal when the Comcast truck was at my neighbor's pushing their reset buttons like a monkey looking for a snack and scratching their empty skulls. Hughes.Net will certainly be gone someday, but when another provider comes along. I'm more relaxed with Hughes....I can breathe a bit easier now!! The signal goes away for a little while, so that gives me a chance to walk around outside and pick up some sticks (to throw at the dish), or to yell at the neighbor's dog. Stuff like that. Breaks are suppose to be good for us, aren't they? Thank you Hughes
hughes net SUCKS
There service is so so slow and they only let u use 5 gb for the $60 package,which we use within two days!!ugh so annoyed and it cost $400 to cancel.
Tired of the lies!
Living in the country, our options are limited, so HughesNet was our only choice, better than dial up.
Service was acceptable until late 2013, when speeds fell considerably. We were convinced, by heHughesNet, that was due to outdated technology,which would be resolved by upgrading to Gen4. That's the first lie, as the only thing increased was our bill. When our family increased we installed a wireless router, and that's when the pitifully slow speeds became problematic. Phone and online support has been useless, repetitive tests conducted by barely understood call center employees. Repetitive emails promised return calls from engineers, more lies, as they never fulfilled the promises. We are using Excess now and not looking back. HughesNet was acceptable, but not when there is an affordable, reliable, English speaking service like Exude.
Happily writing this review from Exede Satellite Internet...
If you’re looking for the whole package, go to http://www.exede.com. The internet speed is better, the prices are more affordable, and the customer service is unbeatable.
I cannot comment on the quality of hughesnet internet, as my service was never set up. What initially drove me away was the dishonesty I felt from their company. What kept me away was the facts. The long version is below, but ultimately I found Exede to be genuinely polite and helpful, cheaper, and with faster internet. Don’t waste your time on Hughesnet.
I recently purchased a home, and the previous owners used hughesnet. They had even purchased their satellite and router rather than renting. Thinking I could save money by using the existing equipment, I called Hughesnet to set up service. Their customer service, although sickeningly polite, seemed fake and was ultimately a wast of my time. Further, I was lied to in oder to be placated so they could get my business.
1st call- Nobody seemed to understand there was already equipment at the house that I would like to reuse. And most importantly, nobody told me I can’t reuse it. Finally, after multiple explanations of the fairly self-explanatory, the sales manager tells me they have to send out an installer to “make sure the equipment is working.” He tells me if all looks good, I can use what is out here. If not, they will put in new stuff.
Installer gets here- “This order is for new equipment install,” he tells me, and I explain the above. He tells me the signal looks great, and I need to call hughesnet. Well, I figured their ploy was to get new stuff installed while he was out here, so I’ve played their game. The current equipment is verified and I can now call with that info.
2nd phone call- I call to reactivate the used equipment. The salesman says he cannot handle that type of request and directs me to call customer service. (This would have been a good time to tell me I cannot reuse equipment).
3rd-5th phone call- Maybe this one is on me, but most of their phone tree options will direct you to an automated message of a different number you need to call...sometimes the number you dialed in the first place.
6th phone call- I get to speak to a person in customer service, who transfers me to “upper management.” He kindly cancels my first order and tells me I need to speak to sales to “activate used equipment.” Who, if you recall, already told me they can’t handle that type of request.
7th phone call- The poor salesman gets the brunt of all my frustration, because on this phone call, he finally tells me they do not transfer equipment. They “cannot ensure quality service,” he tells me. Which, take that as you like it, but my interpretation is that this is their way of making more money. I could have accepted this policy from the beginning, if they hadn’t lied to me and wasted so much of my time. And if they had been honest instead of trying to dupe me into getting the install, and transferring me around their entire, incompetent company, I may have a better opinion to offer. But how can I expect “quality service” from a company that lies to me from the beginning? Instead, I am now a happy customer with Exede, after just fifteen minutes on the phone.
Once I find another provider Hughes net is OUT
Did not want to give rating they are even worth one. Called, because speed is still very slow. Called again today asked them not to automatically take out payment, too late for that changing banks. She said it would cost 5 extra dollars to send paper invoice "seriously" I said guess you have to make money some way. Then I let the ladie know your company has strikes out with me two times and here in the states strike 3 your out. And it is coming right down to that. I have never had this bad of service. So of course I am very frustrated. Once I find another provider Hughes net is OUT
I have called several times to get better service.. this is the worst internet for the cost we pay.. i cant even get my direct tv to work with this hughes net. what a waste. i have already told several do not use and i am going to cancel today. didnt want to give a rating at all.. becouse this company is a joke
3 month after cancelled service. $214 charge
First of all, we purchased this equipment ($660)in 2004. Not a lease. Now we was able to get local internet for $35. So we cancelled Hughesnet. That's when the scam started. We was told at the time of cancellation that we don't need to do anything. Then 1 month later, we got a box from UPS. Specific instructions of how to return our equipment. This equipment is owned by us. So, I don't need it for anything. So I sent it back. Today my debit card was deducted $214. Called customer service. Some woman is BFE answered. Very hard to understand. She said that we must send the equipment back. She didn't know that we checked the tracking. They received it 6 weeks ago. She told us to send it back and she'd credit our account. Told her that we have receipt of the delivery. After been put on hold for about the tenth time. She said they never received it. Asked to talk to a supervisor for 4-5 times. Denied everytime. After 2 hours on the phone. She admitted that we owned the equipment. Then was told they would credit our account as soon as they get our equipment. OMG. I'm positive I'm still gonna get screwed on this issue. $660 for equipment. $59.99 per month for almost 10 years. And they still want to screw me out of $214. Please do not deal with this company. Unless you have a lawyers degree. Then please SUE them to death. Unfair business practices. Oh yea. Sharpen up your skills of speaking Indian.
Not for everyone....
I have never written a review before, but I wanted to share that HughesNet is not for everyone.
Pros:
1) It's sometimes the only option for people living in the country. If HughesNet is your only option, please don't be discouraged by negative reviews. I grew up in the country, so I've learned that that kind of living makes having fast internet almost impossible, no matter the ISP.
2) Customer service is wonderful. Granted, we've only had this service for a week, but the customer service reps have been friendly and helpful throughout the entire process. HughesNet didn't meet our needs, but they did offer to take $20 off our bill each month to make up for some of the cons that I will mention later.
3) Trial period. You get a 30 day trial period, so if HughesNet is something you choose to try out, it is fairly painless to give it a whirl and see for yourself. Ending our service was easy thanks to kind customer support.
Cons:
1) The biggest complaint I have is that you only get a 5 gig monthly data allowance, which we were not aware of before the service. They do have 5 gigs of "bonus bytes", but these can only be used between the hours of 2 am and 8 am. If you go over your data allowance, there will be overage fees. This was just not feasible for my husband and I to worry each month that we might be going over our data. In about 3 days of actually using the Internet, we have used 3% of our data allowance and 1% of our bonus bytes. To put this into perspective, our new ISP offers 300 gigs a month and no overage fees should you by some miracle go over.
2) HughesNet is not for you if you are a gamer or like to stream movies or music from Netflix or Spotify. Fortunately, not everyone cares about gaming or streaming media, but if you do, please don't waste the time and money. We could not even get our Netflix to show the list of movies, let alone stream them. Upon calling customer support, we learned that HughesNet does not support the gaming lifestyle, and even if it did, it would drain our monthly data.
3) Clouds. Because HughesNet is satellite internet, we had an entire day where we could not access internet due to overcast skies.
4) Speed. I'm actually not so picky about internet speed (since I have lived in the country where internet reliability is an issue), but it annoys my husband who has always had fast internet. I personally don't think it's too bad, but if it's something you're sensitive to, you might want to reconsider.
We have since switched to a new ISP with the same monthly payment that offers more to meet our specific needs.
Another Contrary View
Where I live there are two options Satellite or dial up. We used dialup for years and decided to try Hughes. In the time since it was installed I can only think of twice where the service was not available and both times involved a thick layer of ice on the dish. My only complaint would be that the customer support can be kind of dicey. Currently I am trying to get a straight answer of why new customers on my plan get 50gb of off peak data and ours is still 10gb. They will eventually get around to answering the question and fixing the problem, it will just have to be at their timetable. Normally the system works great and we don't have to deal with the human component but when you do have to deal with people in this organization BE PREPARED they are well trained in double speak and talking in circles. No one seems able or willing to answer a direct question with out have to discuss with other parts of the hive mind and get back to you. Don't get me wrong the service itself works and works well 99 percent of the time but that 1 percent of the time that causes you to need customer support will leave you questioning why you choose this company. Then the service goes back to working and you can go back to blissful denial and forget all about the craziness that was the phone call or god forbid an attempted chat with someone at Hughes.
A Contrary View
It is important not to compare Hughes' satellite service to any kind of wire or local wireless service. A satellite internet service can only be compared with other satellite services available to you. Satellite internet service will always be inferior to land based and local wireless alternatives.
I did have many frustrations with Hughes over a year period. To my surprise, the issues with dropped packets were related to the quality of my wireless router ... when I upgraded my router ($250), service issues were largely resolved.
I appreciate that Hughes made serious efforts to help diagnose and resolve issues. I am in a remote area, Hughes sent service personnel to my residence multiple times at its (hughes) expense ... so the trashing of Hughesnet customer service motivations, I think, is inappropriate.
I don't like bandwidth limitations and cost is high ...but reasonable levels of service are possible with Hughesnet