If you live in a remote area where DSL or cable high speed Internet service is not available Hughes Net satellite network may look pretty appealing to you. However pricey, their initial two-year contract may present itself to be of great value.

Before you sign any contract with Hughes Net however, you should know about their fair access policy. The “always on” feature as advertised by Hughes Net is a blatant deception. I will admit I did not read their fair access policy and my failure to do so has resulted in the predicament I am in today. They likely provided that somewhere in the fine print and I missed it.  I am of the mind set that vendors should provide services as advertised and honor their initial claims.  Their fair access policy totally contradicts Hughes Net’s advertising of virtually unlimited online access and lightning speed downloads.

I didn’t realize that my service allowed only 200meg of bandwidth in any random 24-hour period. Few potential customers will realize that regularly scheduled maintenance updates for their computer, or receiving a few large picture files from friends may exceed the allotted bandwidth which will result in their being denied high-speed Internet service for the succeeding 24 hours.

At that time Hughes Net will reset the service to a usable status but the down time is very unpleasant. Until that 24-hour waiting period expires my present service is so slow it would make my old 28K dial up modem seem like high-speed access. The service is so slow Outlook Express shuts down before incoming email messages are completed. This results in receiving the same messages over and over again and prevents me from sending emails until the 24-hour penalty period has lapsed.

I don’t see anything fair about Hughes Net’s fair access policy in light of the fact that [for a higher monthly fee] customers can easily overcome the bandwidth problem. It isn’t as though there is an actual bandwidth shortage. Hughes Net simply wants more of your money before providing any reasonable amount of service. Apparently the goal is to first get you hooked and then get deeper and deeper into you pocket. I declined that proposal due to the fact that the program to which I am presently subscribed costs four times that of regular dial up Internet already. 

Hughes Net technical support did offer an alternative solution to being kicked off or having to subscribe to a more expensive service. That solution involves waking up at 3:00 A.M. to download or upload files. They offer a free zone from 3:00 to 5:00 A.M. each day. I felt like sharing the only Spanish phrase I could clearly articulate after hearing that suggestion from the lady of the same accent - I refrained. Oddly enough, every technician I have spoken with on the Hughes Net team has had the same notable Spanish accent. On several occasions, to the degree they were difficult to understand. Being placed on hold while seeking telephone support I am always treated to Spanish music repetitively. After ten minutes or so this adds to my growing frustration.

Needless to say, I am not a happy online surfer these days. Feel free to contact me at the email link below if you have any special questions or concerns about my Hughes Net experience. That is, providing my online service hasn’t been temporarily shuffled into one of the frequent 24-hour Hughes Net dead zones. Otherwise I will be happy to respond to your inquiry. Please don’t send those cute little Gif animated icons in your email. You might inadvertently exceed my allotted bandwidth. If you are among the disgruntled Hughes Net customers who would like to warn others on a shirt like the one shown above let us know.

Otherwise I must advise...

DON’T GET HUGHES NET!

EMAIL US!

DONT GET HUGHES NET!