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I have seen the available plans for my area (northern california) and my question is, are the speeds consistent throughout the normal day? Does the service slow to a crawl during 'prime time' for pacific northwest? I am really tired of having internet that I basically find useless except for browsing facebook. Even that tends to not work well during peak hours, on hughesnet right now and I feel pretty frustrated, particularly after having my gen4 service degraded to the point of being un-usable, only to be told that upgrading to gen 5 would fix everything (oh but with a contract extension of course!) and once the upgrade was finished, back to the old slow degraded service.
I have a couple of weeks window where I can switch providers with no ETF because of the issues etc, but I really am hesitant to try viasat, since I wonder if it is just the same situation, Too many customers, not enough capacity.
Does Viasat have a 30 day trial period?
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Posted 2 years ago
VeteranSatUser, Champion
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You say you had Exede before. If that is the case, why did you change to Hughesnet?
Viasat is going to have a lot more available capacity once their new satellite cones online in a few days. Hard to say the actual impact it will have on speeds until it has been in service awhile, but there is no reason why with next generation technology there is no reason it shouldn't be superior to anything Hughesnet can deliver in the foreseeable future.
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Right now, having been switched to gen5 at hughes, I am really upset because I cannot stream video at ALL and I get told there is nothing to be done about it. It is a network issue, TLS handshake loop.
I actually don't care if I have to stream say at 480p as long as it works. I do not have any HD screens so HD video is not a priority.
My main desire, is that the service just work, a little video, my guidlwars 2 gaming, etc (yes, when the service works, certain MMO games like EQII and guildwars2 etc play quite nicely)
I wish there was a trial period, so that I could compare viasat to the current craptastic service I have, before being locked into an endless contract with huge ETF.
I do appreciate the feed back. I just don't want to switch and find myself in the same boat, except paying even more then I am now. Right now, with the discounts being applied for the next 12 months, I am paying about 45$ a month for the gen5 20GB plan.
I am in the 95595 zip code if that helps.
VeteranSatUser, Champion
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I would wait a few days and see the prices of the plans coming out. If you can get Bronze or Silver unlimited for $75 or less, I would make the switch.
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I have a buddy that has Hughesnet up in Michigan. His biggest complaint is big monies for limited download capacity.
Looking at Hughesnet vs. Viasat, I think Viasat beats them hands down with more generous and versatile plans.
Who knows what the future brings? The way I see it, if you sign up for Viasat now, you will be in for a two year commitment. If Viasat does eventually get oversubscribed, by the end of two years, Viasat 3 will be coming on line, widening the pipes, so to speak. I honestly don't know what the future plans for Hughesnet are, but my impression is that there are none.
If you're stuck with satnet, I think you could do worse than going with Viasat.
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not having to worry about the bit bucket, not having to fret if he wants to watch some short UFC highlights clip on facebook etc would be nice.
Thank you for the input. =)
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Then the techs all say "you need new equipment, it will be much better if you upgrade".
Well their upgrade has me locked out of being able to stream video, the only site I can get to work is my amazon video. No netflix, no cbs...
They are sending a new modem to make sure that isn't the problem, but still, even with 50% discount for the next 12 months, it is frustrating. Where are these incredible speeds I am supposed to be getting? The new video features? How can I enjoy those if I can't stream at all?
I just don't want to get into the same problem with a new service. If Viasat had a trial period, I could get it installed, while the hughes account is still active, test it out and if we like it better, stay with that, and cancel hughes, no interruption of service. I am just wary of making the switch and then being in a 2 year contract, and the same boat as I am now.
The trial period would go a long way to helping with new customer anxieties.
VeteranSatUser, Champion
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I read somewhere that Hughesnet threw in with ONEWeb, but I don't know where that initiative realistically stands at the moment.
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Lourdes Brett Sainte Maverique-Maunier
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Stephen Rice, Champion
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If you have the opportunity to ditch Hughesnet for Viasat and not pay an ETF, I would say do it. There are a few things to keep in mind when switching though.
First, the unlimited plans do still have data caps. You get "up to" whatever speed your plan allows until you reach 150 GB. After 150 GB, your speeds will slow down. Internet should still be usable, but your speeds will slow down.
You mentioned that 12 mbps will be fine for you to do your streaming. Here is another thing to consider. Just because your plan allows up to 12 mbps, it does not mean your video will stream at the same rate. Only regular file downloads and web browsing is at 12 mbps. Your actual video will stream using data ranging from 1 mbps to 3 mbps depending on the video quality level your plan allows.
Overall, you will be much happier with Viasat. Just make sure you understand the plan you are subscribing to. I am very happy with my Liberty 12 plan and I don't have to deal with slower bit rates for video streaming.
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For now, I guess since they are pretty much comping my internet for the next 12 months, I will wait and see.
Contract is up then, and if it still doesn't work as advertised, I will switch. I just don't want to get caught in the endless loop of changing providers only to find out they both suck in different ways.
I do think it is a bit ludicrous that the plans on each site are touted to offer HIGH SPEED! etc and the reality is, because of the size of the customer base, your speeds will average 5 to 6 down and 1 up regardless of plan... I only WISH I could get even half what I am supposed to get on this gen 5 20gb 25 down and 3 up plan...
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So if I want to get multiple videos via playon, I will just have to go visit my son and glomp his internet for a couple days... lol He doesn't care, he has unlimited land based Suddenlink.
This solution is going to prove very cost effective. Both phones on the USCellular total plan, together, cost us 126$ a month, with the discounts for ebilling and autopay in place.
My bill before changing plans was 92$ and I paid HughesNet anywhere from 65 to 90$ a month for internet that didn't work half the time.
I think even with the 30$ increase in my cell phone bill, I am still saving money...
The actual tethered internet is slower as in the speed test says it is only 2.2 MBPS down and 586KPS up, however it is MUCH faster feeling and more responsive then satellite. There is virtually NO latency. everything loads up very quickly and my games play flawlessly.
I wonder how many other people will start exploring the possibilities of what their cell service can do for them internet wise.
The only thing that could make this better, is if I get one of wilson's cell signal booster kits. That is on the list for this next winter.
For now, everything works well and we can take our internet with us where ever we go, and since we plan to travel this summer... well I just don't see a downside.
Thank you all for your input.
OH by the way, as soon as I cancelled my hughes, and stuck the Gen4 modem back on, miraculously my internet seems to be performing almost like it used to, except it does go up and down a lot. I think they are hoping I will feel like "oh hey they fixed it, maybe I will just keep it" ... ain't happening lol I like my tethered internet much better.
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I am really OVER the rip off that is satellite internet. Smart phone wifi tethering isn't a perfect solution but it does cover 95% of our internet needs, and I go visit my son when I have to do anything big, like update my Garmin GPS that I use on the motorcycle.I would encourage you to make the switch, but treat it like you have to treat your satellite internet, keep watch on your usage and don't binge on videos overmuch.
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But my data signal isn't quite good enough to be quick. So I called WeBoost just now to see if I could maybe buy an upgraded antenna or something. Their customer service is amazing and they are sending me (for free) a new stronger antenna to replace my outdoor antenna, and the old outdoor antenna will replace the indoor antenna. They believe it will help significantly. What a great company to just offer that without me even complaining!
That's cool you live in an RV and ride a motorcycle. I'm also a rider and live on a beautiful forest farm in the wilds of Madison County, NC.
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But my data signal isn't quite good enough to be quick. So I called WeBoost just now to see if I could maybe buy an upgraded antenna or something. Their customer service is amazing and they are sending me (for free) a new stronger antenna to replace my outdoor antenna, and the old outdoor antenna will replace the indoor antenna. They believe it will help significantly. What a great company to just offer that without me even complaining!
That's cool you live in an RV and ride a motorcycle. I'm also a rider and live on a beautiful forest farm in the wilds of Madison County, NC.
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So far (it's only been a day), Viasat speeds with the 12 Mbps unlimited plan during the day have been 17-18 Mbps with less Jitter! I hope that this continues and I didn't make a mistake.
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DishNet? Was that through Viasat/Exede or HughesNet, I know they wholesaled for both at one time.
VeteranSatUser, Champion
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I know this solution isn't for everybody, because most people like to use their internet extensively.
However, it works well for my gaming. Toby can do his facebook stuff and we don't have the latency issues we had with satellite.
We each use our own phone's tether, and each phone is on 'unlimited' so we each have our own 22GB allotment before they throttle the speed. So basically, we get 44GB between us, instead of 10GB we had to share, and what one person is doing on their computer doesn't impact the other person. The way I see it, it is twice the internet at a quarter of the price, since my bill only went up 15$ when I switched both lines to the total plans.
So our next purchase will be a weboost signal booster so we can get good enough signal inside that we don't have to keep the phones sitting in the window lol, and hopefully winter weather won't impact it as hard as it does satellite around here.
I think as the cell companies get that 5G rolled out, satellite companies might have to re-think their business model, because more and more people are going to start using their phone data plans when possible. It just makes more sense where it will work, to only pay one bill and get the same or better service, which is portable.
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