Hughes
Reviews and Complaints

I have been a customer of Hughes Network Systems (HNS), formerly Direcway, for over 4 years. Living in a rural area with no DSL or cable access, a satellite system was (and still is), the only viable option over traditional phone line dial-up services. I originally paid over $500 for the initial satellite equipment and have paid a monthly fee for this service. I was also required to sign a commitment contract in the beginning, which I have since completed, but was continuing service on a monthly basis.

Since 8/11/07, my service has seriously degraded. No email via Outlook Express, no Mozilla Firefox access, sporadic IE (Internet Explorer) browsing at best, no secure site access. After at least 6 totally frustrating phone calls to customer service since 8/11, amounting to hours of talking to thick accented foreigners, jumping through hoops and turning my PC inside out, they finally told me that they are experiencing "technical problems" on their end, and their technicians were working on the problem.

When I asked for credit for time lost, but they told me they would not do it until the "problem" was resolved. Meanwhile, they continued to bill my credit card on file. Yesterday, 8/26/07, by accident, I discovered that HNS Customer Service was not telling me the truth. I visited a site called HughesNet Uncensored (via my new s-l-o-w dial-up ISP), a website dedicated to satellite users that I joined years ago, particularly HughesNet customers, which has help pages and forums to answer questions that users have, that are not readily available anywhere else--including the HughesNet site. In the forums, I found many HNS customers/users with older Dw3000 and Dw4000 modems were experiencing the exact same problems, and at the exact same time.

It seems my system Dw4000, as well as the Dw3000, which used to work just fine, are now obsolete by HNS standards. HNS, without telling their customers and users of these modems, are simply not going to update them to be compatible with their systems anymore, and in order to regain the internet service I was accustomed to, I must now upgrade to a Dn7000 system, but at a price.

My choices were $125 with no contract, or *free(with possible shipping) and a 15 month contract. AND, the access throughput(uplink and downlink speeds) are LESS than what I used to get, unless I upgrade my service package for ( you guessed it), MORE MONEY! Isn't extortion and consumer fraud illegal? Now I know why the customer service techs failed to mention important facts. It seems some users are getting better deals, depending on who they have talked to at HNS. Shouldn't someone have told me that I was being denied access unless I upgrade? I never agreed to this when I started my DW4000 service. Does HNS have an obligation to continue my service by whatever means necessary since I had, and continued to meet, my obligation to them? Without being forced to pay extra?

Besides being lied to for the past 2 weeks, I wasted hours of my time dealing with this company. As of 8/26/07, I was paying for service I was never going to get, unless I updated (which I had not discovered yet). I had already completed my original commitment years ago and I did not want to extend it. I told them that I refused to be extorted, to cancel my service (terminated 8/26/07) and that I was reporting them to my state attorney generals office, the FTC, FCC, and the BBB.

Then a lawyer. The only way I was able to stop the billing of my credit card was to cancel my service. Can they legally do this to me and all the other HughesNet customers out there who still are not aware of the true reason of their internet access problems? Can your cell phone provider simply cancel out the signal on your older cell phone in order to sell you a newer one or commit to another contract? Now I have HNS equipment that cannot be used and a painfully slow dial-up system, because of my refusal to be extorted into "upgrade or else".

It just makes me sick. I can't believe anyone can get away with what they are getting away with! Who do they think they are? Someday, we will all be rejoicing, I have no doubt, cause what they are doing is illegal, and someday they will pay!

We've had Hughes for years (and Direct Way) and it's only getting worse. In May, we upgraded from a $59/mo plan to a $79/mo plan with new equipment and resetting the dish in a different location. (We are very, very rural here.) The installer convinces us that with new wireless router we'd have better connection on the laptops. So, we paid him $125 for a Net Gear router.
We get time outs, can't connects, all the time. I have called Hughes several times; you have to go through all their hoops to get anywhere with them. (and yeah, like my guy's name was really "Eugene"--HA!) Anyway, after pulling out wires and relocating wires, he tells me it's the router, I have to call Net Gear. Well---guess what, there is NO serial number on this $125 router we bought, Net Gear won't even talk to me with no serial number. Back to Hughes, and all the hoops, AGAIN. Again, they insist it's the router and we have to go to Net Gear. I explained the issue to them, tough luck lady. I explained that we bought it from THEIR installer when he installed the dish. There was no packaging material left behind, the installer took it. There were no installation discs for the router, no manuals, nothing. I have no clue of what to do now. The installer will not get back to me via phone or email. I agree with Elmer "can't understand why the FCC or some other government agency doesn't come in and require that they tell the truth about their service. Sure, tell people 'if you live in a remote place - we are it!', but don't act like the speed will be the same as normal service." Land line phone companies and utility companies don't require service contracts. If the service is lousy, you should be able to cancel, whether it be internet, phone or whatever!

Here is information regarding a Class Action Lawsuit against HughesNet:

http://www.druginjurylawyerblog.com/2008/09/pbm_files_class_action_against.html

PBM Files Class Action Against HughesNet --- Satellite Broadband Company

The law-firm of Pogust, Braslow, & Millrood, LLC, recently filed in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, a lawsuit against HughesNet, Inc., Hughes Communications, Inc., and Hughes Network Systems, LLC, for breach of contract and frauduluent business practices involving the marketing of the HughesNet® Satellite Broadband Network System.

Filed on behalf of HughesNet® subscribers and consumers, the Complaint alleges inter alia that the satellite broadband Company's nationwide advertisement of "Highspeed Internet by Satellite: Wherever Whenever" was materially false and misleading.

The class action lawsuit also alleges that HughesNet intentionally "oversold" its bandwidth, whereby thousands of HughesNet® subscribers and consumers were subjected to limited Internet broadband accessibility, speed, functionality, and connectivity.

Additionally, it is alleged that HughesNet actively marketed HughesNet® subscribers and consumers to upgrade their broadband plan under the representation that such would result in faster Internet broadband access. Despite this, HughesNet® subscribers and consumers experienced significant broadband delays, including extremely slow uploading/downloading speeds, unreliable connectivity, and the inability to access email. Furthermore, HughesNet® subscribers and consumers were often required to incur additional costs, fees, and early termination penalities, as a result of HugheNet's false advertising.

If you or someone you know is a HughesNet® subscriber and/or customer and have experienced similar Internet broadband related issues, please contact our law-firm for a free consultation.

They do not give you a choice as to how to pay each month. In my case they debit my credit card. I agree with you on the MB that was not explained to us and again in my case they not only slow us down but since I use their email I'm locked out for 24 hours even though I am not over the MB limit.

This is the worst ISP I have ever had. Then I come to find out I have a 2yr contract (much like a cell phone) that I can not cancel without paying a fee of a couple of hundred dollars! This FAP policy is bogus. Says you can't go over the set downloading usage or your connection will slow to a speed slower than dial-up. - Which happens when I'm not even using the computer. Even when I haven't breached my downloading usage, I don't think this connection is any faster than any DSL I have ever had. My recommendation is steer clear of Hughes Net... WASTE OF MONEY!

When my DirecWay DW7000 was installed (two years ago) I was not informed that there was a limit to how much I could download. Why? Because there was no limit! (Not to my knowledge anyway) 5 years ago when I had the old one-way system, there was no limit.

Now, without saying a thing (no email, snail mail or phone call) I have a cap on how much I can download. This gives me about 2-3 hours of streaming video per day. After that, I'm 'throttled down' to speeds slower than dial-up.

The real kicker is that the Hughes company is slow to give you this information, opting to instruct their 'service personnel' (guys in India) to get you to check your system for problems first. (My system has never had a breakdown...knock knock)

I finally got a tech guy (in India) to tell me about this FAP cap that had been implemented. He said, 'Just wait a few hours, your speed will come back'. The Hughes website (I found) says this, too. But, they LIE!

Once I reach my limit, it takes a full day (24 hours) to get my 'high speed' back. Until then, I'm screwed. Just think if they did this with DirecTV. That would mean you could only watch TV for 3 hours per day! I wonder how many people would cancel DirecTV if they did that?

On top of this, my bill went up $10 per month after Hughesnet took over. I wasn't even informed of the price increase! (I get no bill in the mail or email) Isn't this illegal?

Then, after searching the internet, I find out that the reason the FAP was inacted was because some people were selling their neighbors internet service. So, because other people are breaking the rules/law, my service has to suffer.

Also, if the Hughes system is 'bogging down' because of so many users, there should be a 'limit' on how many subscribers they can have...but that is definitely NOT the case! I've also heard that they don't offer this info about the FAP when you order your system. Scandalous!

This company is getting away with it! It will eventually come back to bite them in the @55! I plan on going back to dialup soon as I'm not paying $70 a month if I can't use it freely without worry of reaching my limit.

Plain & simple, these guys are just as big of a criminal as the people that are selling (sub-letting) their service to the guy next door. Had I known about these changes in my service, I would have never ordered it.

With the increase in streaming video on the internet, the demand on bandwidth will undoubtedly become more of a problem. So, this situation will only get worse. Until Hughesnet expands their system, they will lose their customers. I'm just another number to them. So are you!

I had Hughes Net for 2 years, only because in my area it was the only option. After 2 years of dealing with their TERRIBLE tech support that can barely speak English and have no idea how to actually troubleshoot an issue I canceled my service on a Friday...That next TUESDAY a debt collector called me and was very nastily demanding $362.00. I called Hughes Net to find out why I owed this when 4 day prior I had been told I owed nothing and I was informed that the charge was for unreturned equipment (which is due to be returned within 45 days of end of service) and my last bill which had a due date of 10/29/10 (today’s date is 10/12/2010). So basically Hughes Net had a debt collector calling about a debt that was not even due yet.
This company is TERRIBLE! go get broadband from Verizon!

I agree I use to have Hughenet last year for about 6 month the first month is o.k on the bill I have Home Basic it was 59.00 first month than the second bill came 119.00 i say OMG I call Hughesnet customer Service why my bill is so high they told me is because Im renting the modem from hughesnet I told them I'm cancel my service they told me if I cancel my service they will contiune bill me up to 6 month so i call my credit company to stop payment so they did, after that hughenet send my bill to collector they call me everyday to collect the money for hughenet I told the bill collector you are invaded of privacy so i hire pro bono attorney after all that everything it was clear up on my case with hughenet

I wish, I had researched this company before I made the mistake of believing their false T.V. advertisement. They have changed their Policy so much as to try and cover their ***. I had their service for only 2 months. I called Their Tech's. 28 times. It was always my system. Strange I have a new Dell computer. We all have the same story and I guess that's how they are stealing our money, let alone everything they can take from your account. Hughesnet sent our account to collections but we canceled our cards before they could rob us even more., especially if you say the word ( CANCEL). I guess now we have to find a way to clear our credit up but I guess they win in the end after all?

Mr. Hughesnet,
How can you sllep at night?

Why not take them to small claims court?

Tom

I have sent in rebate form.Bill Statements & have called at least 3 or 4 times about my second account rebate. I talked to customer service several times & all to no avail. If you don't want to send the rebate I hope you do it by the time i die! this has been going on since i had your dish installed 11/5/ 2007. Please send it to my address at 23500 Ridge Rd in Trinidad Colorado, 81082. You are punctual every month about taking m payments, but so slow about mailing my rebate.

Sincerely,
Charles Hager.

I totally agree. A similar situation happened to me. I live in a rural area where my only 2 options for internet are dial-up or satellite. I had dial-up for a year which only connected at 28.8kbps due to the poor phone line signal quality (lots of static & buzzing). I decided to upgrade to HughesNet 2 days ago. I got the home plan for $60/mo. for speeds up to 1.0Mbps. A week before I upgraded to Huges, I reloaded windows xp on my computer. Windows immediately begged me to download and install updates to SP3 among other updates, but I turned them off until I got Hughes. As soon as the installer set up my dish, I turned windows updates back on & left the house for the rest of the day. When I came back home in the evening, I rebooted my PC & tried to browse the web, but it was slower than my old dial-up connection. I called Hughes tech support & they informed me that I exceeded my 200MB/day limit, which neither the installer, nor anyone else at Hughes I talked with previously, mentioned. I had to wait an entire 24 hrs before I could use my new connect (that I was so excited about). I told the tech that windows ran its updates, which caused me to go over my limit. I apologized & asked them to waive my restriction just this once, but he denied me.

I think that as much as I pay for Hughes, there should be at least double the small limit they put on me. Another option would be to increase the restricted speed to around 200mbps instead of 28.8-ish! That would keep me a bit more happy.

I'm a very dissappointed customer now.

Same issue here. Installed in 11/07 and offered $150 rebate. STILL no check in July 2008. Every phone call (to India) is answered with wait 10 days, it is coming. Emails were uanswered until recently when I was answered with wait 10 days. It has been 10 days. This is such a scam! The service is not so great either.

i also have that trouble. i knew about the fap but didn't figure i would exceed the limit in one day and not even being on my computer i think i'am going to drop them now cause i can't even get on my computer had to disconnect it and go back to dial up to do anything they also told me that if i did go over i would still be able to use my computer like dial up but i couldn't do anything at all not even pull up my aol which i've got to say is better than hughes net

Well i just signed up and got Hughes and i tell ya now its the worst crap i have ever had. They never once said to me anything about the Fair Access Policy till my computer slowed down and i called them. Then it took me 15 minutes to understand what that guy was saying cause he wasnt from the good ole USA.
After we talked he lifted the banned and said it can only be done ones and i turned my computer off after that and didnt get back on till the next day and about 20 minute after i was on it went slow i checked it and dam and behold it was there again. So now u can say me and Hughes are in a Cage Match

Shouldn't the satellite internet providers have to disclose the daily limit of downloads you can access? (FAP - Fair Access Policy) Nowhere in their advertisement is this stated. They lead you to believe that you will have the same service as dsl or cable or even dial up. I was not aware of the "fair access policy" until I kept being shut down after downloading some music (legally) and watching a few videos on you tube. This is the worst! Paying top dollar for this service and only really being able to check email and look up a limited amount of stuff. This is okay for 1995 but not for 2009.
Another thing I don't understand: It's going through the sky. It seems that that should be unlimited? The sky's the limit?

Continuation of above post by me.

Ok, you spelled bandwidth right, your spelling and grammar are still horrendous.

Geez man, try harder, would you?

And stop being so xenophobic, it isn't healthy.

dtvhacker: (or script kiddie)

Would love to know what you know about rape, probably nothing. You shouldn't talk about things you don't know about as if you do, makes you look like an idiot.

If you care to email me, I'll tell you what it's like. It's worse than you can possibly imagine.

I'd also like to know what is wrong with "foreign" people, you racist ###.

No support for Xbox or PS3? Awww...poor baby. You should really be paying attention in school instead of gaming anyway. Your spelling and grammar are horrendous.
(that means really really bad.)

What exactly is "bandwith" (Here's a free spelling lesson for you, it's spelled bandwidth, you ###.)

If you have to download files that are too large for downloading during normal times, get a download manger and set it to run between 3 and 6 am, the FAP is not in effect then.
Or you can code your own, since you claim to be a hacker. Which is total ###, and you and I both know that. But whatever.

It's unfortunate that you couldn't spend some time doing some research into how HughesNet works. If you did, you wouldn't have had to come on here making bigoted comments, and crying about how much you think it sucks.

Grow up, would you?

I'm an ex-subscriber of HughesNet that recently canceled due to the overpriced, overhyped, and subpar service of the Pro-level package. Though I was paying $80/mo I still hit the FAP limit on a regular basis, my service being shut down for days on end for making legal downloads. So I switched back to the ultra-cheap and slow but reliable dialup service that is truly unlimited until DSL becomes available. I have no plans of re-upping my service with HughesNet unless they get rid of the FAP, and I hope it gets banned as per the act of "Net Neutrality" that was already won against Comcast.

I also live in an area where you can't get fast internet service. I almost subscribed to hughesnet until I searched complaints.

I have a Verizion USB card for a laptop and was told by the sales guy it will also work on a desktop computer. It is the UM175 USB Modem. I guess it runs on their 3G network and let me tell you it is FAST! It works GREAT! You can watch video's online with no buffering.
It plugs into a USB port on your computer.
I am no longer stuck with slow internet and I can't tell you how pleased I am with the service and how FAST this product is!

My suggestion for anyone who is stuck with dial up and are looking for options for faster internet is to look into this type of aircard or sometimes called a datacard. Check with Verizion or Sprint for products and service in your area.

If you can get pretty good cell phone reception in your area this type of card should work.

Hope this helps.

I am having to use my smart phone to send this because our hughes net service is so bad that most of the time we can't use it. It is our only provider here in yakutat alaska since starband went away. We are being ripped off

Here is information regarding a Class Action Lawsuit against HughesNet:

http://www.druginjurylawyerblog.com/2008/09/pbm_files_class_action_against.html

PBM Files Class Action Against HughesNet --- Satellite Broadband Company

The law-firm of Pogust, Braslow, & Millrood, LLC, recently filed in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, a lawsuit against HughesNet, Inc., Hughes Communications, Inc., and Hughes Network Systems, LLC, for breach of contract and frauduluent business practices involving the marketing of the HughesNet® Satellite Broadband Network System.

Filed on behalf of HughesNet® subscribers and consumers, the Complaint alleges inter alia that the satellite broadband Company's nationwide advertisement of "Highspeed Internet by Satellite: Wherever Whenever" was materially false and misleading.

The class action lawsuit also alleges that HughesNet intentionally "oversold" its bandwidth, whereby thousands of HughesNet® subscribers and consumers were subjected to limited Internet broadband accessibility, speed, functionality, and connectivity.

Additionally, it is alleged that HughesNet actively marketed HughesNet® subscribers and consumers to upgrade their broadband plan under the representation that such would result in faster Internet broadband access. Despite this, HughesNet® subscribers and consumers experienced significant broadband delays, including extremely slow uploading/downloading speeds, unreliable connectivity, and the inability to access email. Furthermore, HughesNet® subscribers and consumers were often required to incur additional costs, fees, and early termination penalities, as a result of HugheNet's false advertising.

If you or someone you know is a HughesNet® subscriber and/or customer and have experienced similar Internet broadband related issues, please contact our law-firm for a free consultation.

Hughesnet is by far the worst company I have ever dealt with. I have the same issues as you regarding the bad modem, virtually no connection to the internet and they won't let me cancel without paying a $400 fee. I have been waiting for a service tech to come out and replace the modem for 2 weeks now. Hughesnet says they will credit me for only the number of days I was without service and nothing more. I have spent countless hours on the phone with technical support and spoken with managers in billing on numerous occasions. It is a dead end circle of frustation with no bearing in sight. I have their headquarters location and number so anyone else who has problems can contact them:

Hughes Corporate Headquarters, Hughes Network Systems, LLC
11717 Exploration Lane
Germantown, Maryland, 20876
Phone: [protected]

I haven't actually tried the number but I'm pretty sure the address is correct since hughesnet management gave it to me after a 45 minute argument. They wouldn't give me the phone number which I find interesting. Believe me, this company is as bad as it gets. I have never dealt with more problems for such a long period of time

We got Hughesnet satellite service in July 2017 and have had problems with it right from the beginning. As the months rolled by, being a year now that we have had the service - service has gotten even worst.

We have an HN7000S with hoem service and are suppose to get 1.0 mbps service. For that rate of speed you need to be online between 3am to 6am eastern time, after that it drops to 680 kbps and slower. The worst part of all that they don't tell you about is a think called "Fare access policy" - with the service I'm paying for, you are only allow to I download 285mb of data in a 24 hr period, if you download that much in one hr - you are cut off under 24hrs elapse.

I work from home and so does the wife sometimes and we download large file and get cut off after 2 or 3 hrs. Our boss has stopped allowing us to work from home. Hughesnet is a rip off service and the india tech support is useless. They can't fix anything.

If you don't have hughes net - stay away -- we are changing to Verizon WiFi it is better. I hope that takwe me to court for not paying the cancelation fee so I can have the media in the court room so everyone will know about this company.

My wife and I signed up for hughesnet service in June of '07. We live in a very rural farm area and only have 2 options for internet. Dial up or satalite. Tired of slow dial up, we signed up. We paid $400 in advance for the equipment and instalation. We were supposed to get a $100 rebate. We downloaded the rebate form. It stated that we had to wait 2 months. By then the offer was expired. Since we signed up, the service has been slower than dial up. We have complained to customer service which sends you to tech support in India. These people are barley understandable. Eventually they send a tech contractor to your home. This is usally the guy who intalled it. Never fixed the problem. Over 13 months we had maybe 6 service calls. The other thing blamed for the slow service was the fair usage policy. Something never mentioned when we signed up for the service. Asknig for more punishment, my wife and I decided to upgrade our plan to the proplan. The phone call was easy enough. They said all we had left to do was rerun the setup prograhm on our home computer. Half way thru this process, we get an error message. My wife calls the tech support. A week later they send someone to aim our dish at a diffrent satalite. Some where during this process, they inactivated the original account that was in my name and made a new one in my wife's name. Then wanted an immediate payment of $93. This was for equipment for which was already ours. I spent an hour and a half on the phone with billing trying to get this problem fixed. They wanted me to da all the leg work for their screw up. I was supposed to call tech support to get the accounts merged, then call back to billing to get a refund of the money that I was chrged for in error. Finally I had enough. I told them to cancel both accounts and dtop all buisness transactions immediately. Well now they start talking about early cancelation fees. They already closed my account. They have aready voided the agreement. A day later they took $250 out of my account. I am contacting a lawyer and filing a lawsuit against hughes. If anyone else is intersted let me know.

My satellite internet service developed a problem. After three 1 hour calls to technical support, the problem had not been resolved. Finally asked for a service technician to be dispatched to my home for repairs. Was told that this tech call would cost $125. I said send the tech on out! Tech arrived, fixed the problem and charged me $125. Next billing cycle, Hughesnet charged me an additional $125. So in reality, the service call was $250, not $125 as explained to me. Called billing and discussed the problem with them... did no good, they charge $250 per service call for whatever the problem!

Do not do business with this company... they are scam artist!

I made the biggest personal judgement error of alltime by joining Heghesnet.com. Faster than dial-up? Not hardly. I started with the $60.00 a month plan because I was told by the female sales agent that based on what I described as my daily useage, the system, bandwith and so on, would be plenty.

After day (2) I had already exceeded my FAP (2) times and was told I needed to buy an upgraded plan which now runs $80.00 a month. Any better speed, performance you ask? Not a bit, not even close. You call tech support and they are foriegn nationationals usually in India or the Phillipines and I admit, they sense if duty and purpose cannot be questioned but their knowledge and ability to make decisions are. They have no lattitude whatsoever. When I signed up, I was told I had a 30 grace period, no questions ask refund for installation and equipment if the system did not meet my needs. well they extended that to 60 days after my 3rd complaint. Now when I called to cancel, I was told that the $125.00 pole I had to pay for was not going to be refunded, nor was the installation fee of $175.00. That the most I would get a refund on was $200.00 on an initial out of pocket expense of $524.00. Plus I have to pay for the "slower than dial-up" service used to date. This system works about 50% or less at full capacity. The rest of the time, I get messages that the satelite linkage is experiencing problems...that is about (6) times per day. Speed I promise is same as dial up the other 50% of the day.

I plan to call Hughesnet today at [protected]. I caled the other day to another phone number they had listed and was told the call could not be completed as dialed. I caled (2) more times to make sure I was not making a dialing error myself...but same message came up each successive time.

If the phone call does not achieve anything, I am contacting the FCC, FTC and BBB. hese people need to be investigate for their overt lack of truth in advertising and the fact that they know the systems they offer will NOT meet normal useage needs by customers and have a bait-n-switch operation, probably legal, going on. They sell you a package, knowing it will not work, so you go back only to find out you bought an insufficient package and must upgrade and increase your monthly costs by a whopping 25% just to end up with the same poor quality service.

Please note, if anyone has any suggestions of how I might obtain (REAL) high speed internet without the decepptions, please let me know. I live in an area that does not have cable, DSL or Broadband services...and we are a 1st world nation?

Wish me luck against this misleading 800 lb Gorilla!

Walter A. Bradford waltana02@msn.com

Hughes has a thirty day grace period, couldn't you have canceled during that period for a full refund. Now that's minus installation of course i mean it's not like they could undo the work to install the system. Additionally no provider guranntees any speed that would be dumb on their part. Every provider states up to. So i guess im saying do research before you buy or cancel within 30 days. Hughesnet moves more data to and from space than any other company in the world.

YES, all TRUE!

I've been with Hughes Net/Direct Way as well for more than 12 years. All the above is true and worst.

FAP should be a rolling 7 day/576hrs. You can not use the service for more than a week... and then return home only to exceed the FAP in a couple hours. Such a shame there is no alternative to force these folks to offering a Fair Plan for a Fair and reasonable price. I pay 80/month for 425MB/24hrs... or at the speed offered app. 1 hr usage a 24/hr period.

They want to state how fast the speed is, which I could live with since there is no other option where I live (like the poor sole above) but the FAP is a complete RIP plan. A perfect example of unfair business practice at work. Almost like dealing with the current government.

Something that my area got recently was wireless. They put a connection for it on a neighbors corn silo and now, that i'm free from that rediculus contract, that's what i'm getting. as long as it's lined up correctly, you should get good service even in the wind and snow (HughesNet can't promise that). you just need enough of a clear line that you would need for HughesNet, and it would be with a more 'local' internet service. They may have to find a place high up to put it, but many places will help and look into that for you

Apparently the only way to resolve an issue is to go through the BBB or other institution, so if you haven't already - do it! I checked HughesNet's rating on BBB - it's an A+! They have a couple thousand complaints registered against them (including the one I lodged against them today with the BBB), and they have all but 1-2 per category resolved, so that gives them an A+ (wow, don't we all feel protected now?). I have been fighting with HughesNet for SIX MONTHS about biling me for for terrible service that I cancelled SIX MONTHS ago. They still want me to pay them; they still keep trying to charge my credit card, and yesterday I got a collection letter. I have a credit score of 796 and have never been late on anything in my life. Enough already. I wish I had answer of another provider for you but I don't. My rural area just got broadband through my phone company six months ago. I would recommend to everyone not to use HughesNet, but to just haul yourself, your kids, your homework, backpack and disks/CDs down to the local library (which oddly enough had broadband long before me), and just wait it out.

Not only not very polite, but stooping to childish name calling. Nothing he says can be backed up by real world stats. He fails to mention that upgrading the Hughes system is expensive, because it involves changing out all the equipment. The deals are only for new customers. Once Hughes has you, they know you don't have any alternative and so they are gonna stick it to you when they can. The 9000 is only guaranteed at the same rate for download that the 7000s is, unless you pay for the $120 a month service. Seems to me that name-caller is only out to see more upgrades and put more money in his own pocket. Most users don't have the technical expertise to even understand what they are getting. I know Hughes hates it when i call, because I've already been over all there crap baby-steps and so they can't BS me about what the problem really is. And I NEVER signed up for the crap I have to deal with now -- I agreed to a 4 HOUR FAP threshold, not the unfair 24 hour that they shoved down our throats. Mr. "Hughesnet Dealer", you need to keep your unsupported propaganda out of the complaints area. Name calling is very poor advertising. Hughes continues to go down hill in customer support ratings, and I'll dump them just as soon as there is any viable alternative.

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I use HughesNet at my business in a network with 5 computers. We have never bypassed the Fair Access Policy. I think you are not being honest with the use of your system.
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Then your computers are not kept up to date and are potentially at risk. The security patches for most software products will cause you to exceed the FAP.

How do I know? I happen to be a "computer support professional" with over 500 customers ;)

Rex Moncrief
www.smartergeek.com

As a simple example (per machine):

50MBs (megs) = only about 15 songs (legally purchase on iTunes, etc)
Most MS patches or updates are more than 50MB's.
Vista SP1 is 434.5 MBs
XP SP3 is 316.4 MBs
To download the newest Acrobat Reader update requires 20MB's.
An iTunes update requires about 50MBs.

This doesn't include normal surfing, youtube, etc.

Wild blue will "throttle you down for a month" but they also ALLOw more bandwidth per month..(12000 MB download and 3000 MB up) for the medium package, I have hughes and they allow 200/day= 6000 month
GOD help you if you have tech questions...you will be talking to someone in India that will only offer to send tech guy and charge to align dish... I have ad to call them SEVERAL times, and after hours of confusion end up fixing myself...or it magically starts working fine, , , , , I go through where is dish located? are there trees, bad weather ect..dish is located exactely where their guy installed it! kinda of a joke but better than dial, for the price wish I would have gone thru wireless evdo connection, NO BANDWIDTH issues and always on..same speed or faster..and price is a little cheaper (depending on what package you got with hughes.)

HughesNet has over 12 satellites in the sky (more than any other competitor). They are not selling more equipment than customers. If you want more download capacity subscribe to a higher package. This service has a specific application in rural areas where other forms of internet are not available. There is a free zone between 3:00-6:00 am to download whatever you need.

YOU STATED
"What the major flaw is that Windows System updates do not work this way. They download at any time and only install the updates at the configured time. This can easily be validated by examining the System Event viewer on any Microsoft system."

This is not true. Learn windows, or hire a technician to help. Additionally, I believe your computer has a virus that is causing you to pass the Fair Access Policy. Viruses/Worms utilize bandwith.

I use HughesNet at my business in a network with 5 computers. We have never bypassed the Fair Access Policy. I think you are not being honest with the use of your system.

Last, if you don't like the service you can always go back to dial up ;) -or- Get WildBlue...they will throttle you down for a month when you bypass their Fair Access Policy! And their service is slower, less reliable, and lower download capacity.

This is what you get when living in an area without cable, or DSL. Be happy there is some form of service available. Quit complaining, and move back to civilization if internet is that important to you!

There is a major flaw with the Fair Access Policy and HughesNet's documentation of this policy.

The policy states:

What do you recommend I do during the Download Period?
We recommend that you automatically schedule your system updates during the Download Period. We also suggest the use of a download manager software application to assist in the scheduling of large file downloads.

What the major flaw is that Windows System updates do not work this way. They download at any time and only install the updates at the configured time. This can easily be validated by examining the System Event viewer on any Microsoft system.

I also have problems with their service. Please contact the Better Business Bureau at www.bbb.org That is the only way we can make sure something gets done.

I have had Hughes net for a few months, it sucks... They repeatedly build my credit card that they stated they did not keep on file. With out my permission they took a double payment out of my account, I was not behind and did not owe them a double payment.. but this caused a chain reacation of overdraft fees and car insurance issues, because they took money ment the car company. I filed a thing with my bank, now they keep trying to re bill me double every month.
I finally got tired of the mess and came to an agreement with them I paid a 124. dollar payment and they wrote off 102 . dollars.. all is well right? NOT EVEN CLOSE, One week later I get a thing on my net saying i am late with a payment and they are going to turn off my internet... LOL I call and they say it is because of that double payment I filed against.. I said I worked that out withe agent when I made the payment a week ago. They said I did not.. How funny is this.. I have to call India.. and can barely understand the idiots working for them...but I have to keep calling.. So Last night im calling them, and while I was on the phone with a supossed supervisor, (mind you I hear a lot ppl. laughing in the background) I ask my husband to please check the fish in the oven so it doesnt burn, I am then told by this woman marjorie that I was being rude and she was terminating the call.. and she hung up on me. I called back and was told she put in the notes that i cursed at her and that she ended the call... I then ask to be transferred to account specialist to just have this thing turned off.. they refused to turn it off... Saying they were going to start an investigaition and I should fax them my July bank records to show there was no refund posted to my account.. So I did that this morning and as instructed I called them this after noon, They still say i am wrong that I owe them money and they are going to disconnect me, I tell them to go ahead, they transfer me again to an account specialist, he refused to dissconnect me because my husband, who is first on the acount was not here to authorize this, LOL He told them 3 times last nite to disconnect it.. RUN FROM HUGHES NET, DO NOT EVER EVER BUY THEM, , , , THEY ARE GOING TO CHARGE ME A DISCONNECT FEE NOW TO HAVE IT TAKEN OUT.. I WOULD LOVE TO SUE THERE BUTTS OFF... BUT DONT HAVE THE CASH TO DO SO. BUT AT LEAST I CAN WORN OTHERS RUN DONT WALK, DO NOT BUY HUGHES NET...

This is EXACTLY what happened to us! And, we had direcway for YEARS without any real complaints. I have seen this all over the internet.

Not only did we upgrade the modem, we upgraded to a bigger plan too, so we could have even more speed and limits. HA! We have less now than we ever did, and they will not allow you to re-commission the old modem!

I think the FCC should look into them saying they can provide these services when they obvious cannot handle the clients they have.

They seem to cycle the service down to areas at different times for a short while, and then POOF your equipment is mysteriously fixed again (since they keep saying it has to be the equipment). They are not suppose to restrict you, if you do not go over the FAP!

It's ridiculous. But, they get away with it, because those who do have their service - generally cannot get anything else. So, it's take it or leave it. But, it shouldn't be legal.

I hope you do have the means to sue them. I wish you ALL the luck you can imagine!

While I don't disagree about your complaint with HughesNet, I don't see what you'd gain by taking them to court. You'd have to spend more than the $300 cancellation fee to hire a lawyer, file the papers in court, etc.

When my husband and I lived in Georgia, we went with Direct TV and also purchased the internet through them. Later on the internet part was taken over by Hughes. We had sooo much trouble with their customer service, which at this time was still in America. They never sent bills on time, and when they did it looked as though someone had stomped on it as there was dirt all over it and the typing was sooo bad and mispelled. It didn't even resemble a normal invoice. As I balanced my check book from day to day the check for them never came through. I called them and was transferred from person to person. I asked one person who owned this company and he replied "Howard Hughes, but he is dead." I finally was at one time transferred to an so called executive customer service. She gave me her name and the next time I called they told me she had quit. This fiasco went on every month. One of my attempts, with a name and regular address, I sent a registered letter. No one signed for it and it was returned undelivered. The post office felt so bad about this, they refunded my postage. After months of no checks being cashed it was finally resolved, but when our contract ran out we went with another internet service. I see all the complaints and realize the problem is much worse now. There is no way I would ever purchase internet service with them. I even get a little angry with their advertisement on TV. I advise anyone considering them as their provider DON'T!

I have never recieved a bill or an account number. Just a call from the local person that helps with setting up the equipment. We have had it for one month and still have not recieved a bill/invoice or anything like a contract. What is that about? Anyone else had this problem?

I feel your pain. I have been having a problem with them as well although we are dealing with a lot more money. They charged us over $200 for one month, said they would refund it to our card and on the next pill they were charging us $151. They didn't refund as at all and even worse they charged us more the next month. We called them so many times and they keep telling us that we have been refunded even though we just called the credit card company and they told us that we have not been refunded at all. It's terrible, we called and couldn't even get a supervisor. So now the only thing we have left that we can do is fill a dispute against them and have our credit card company help us. I have never had this much trouble in my life. Once we get this squared away we are going to try and switch companies but its hard because we live out in the forest and can't get cable. Anyway I just wanted to put my rant on here and I hope that somebody else will read this and think twice before signing up with this company.