Customer satisfaction at Hughesnet seems to about the same as at Viasat.
Conclusion: Satellite internet technology needs further competition before some of the public will be satisfied.
"Why I canceled service with hughesnet after 15 yearsCalled and asked for an extension of my vacation mode, told it couldn’t be extended and to continue would have to have it on for 6 months, guess for the mice to use. This is the way to lose a long time customer, as I promptly canceled my service. DIRECTV and my local telephone company allowed for indefinite suspension. Guess Hughesnet thinks it has a strangle hold on their customers, if they are willing to lose one of their first customers like me, I will make it a point to never return and to discourage others"
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Posted 1 year ago
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Mission impossible. No matter how hard any company tries there will always be customers that think they got the shaft. Go to the terrestrial Internet provider forums and they are full of people who are bitching and griping as well.
As has been said many times most customers of Exede and Hughesnet are satisfied with the service. I had Hughesnet for 13 years before I went to Exede and had no real complaints knowing the limitations involved. These forums attract people who are having problems. A lot less people come here because things are fine and you find that with any forum for any company in the world you can name. If both Hughes and Exede sucked as bad as the impressions you get from their forums they would quickly be out of the residential Internet business.
A small number of customers will have problems that are not addressed to their satisfaction and they will be very vocal about it. Some of the complaints are legitimate and others are not and they either don't understand the limitations of satellite based Internet or just want to make waves. Both Hughes and Exede try to address customer concerns within the framework of the people that make all the decisions and they pretty much chart that course successfully.
Steve Frederick-VS1/Beam314, Champion
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Hfcomms, you hit the nail on the heard that most people only get on these forums when they want to gripe about something. Every now and then someone will come in and express positive thoughts.
GabeU, Champion
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VeteranSatUser, Champion
- 5133 Posts
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Correct me if I am wrong, but if you suspend Viasat service you can only renew it with what plans are available? That is a good way to lose a Freedom or 150GB "unlimited" plan!
GabeU, Champion
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Andy
VeteranSatUser, Champion
- 5133 Posts
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.Plans at my location have changed at least 3 times in the last month.
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Brad, Viasat Employee
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Chaim Isaac Lipschitz
VeteranSatUser, Champion
High latency, low primetime speeds, severe data usage restrictions? How are people satisfied with that?
That being said, to me Viasat is the best of the "last resort for internet options".
GabeU, Champion
Then, of course, you have the types of complaints. "I used my data in four days! Their service *$(@#." No, actually, that's your fault, not XYZ's. I often ask people who make claims like that: "If you fill up your gas tank, then drive all over the place and run out of gas on a road in the middle of nowhere, do you blame Ford or Shell? I bet not."
Hfcomms
I was on a Hughes 9000 modem with the rolling 24 hour fap. The local installer does both Hughes and Exede and he recommended the switch. I wanted to try a newer/quicker satellite and I could of upgraded the Hughes or try Exede and the installer said he was doing more Exede lately so I tried Exede.
The Viasat1 service was superior to both the Hughes 9000 series as well as a little better than NextGen. Been very happy with Exede and would do it again. No Viasat 2 plans available in my area yet and I'm on an older modem with 12Mb capability but at times I've seen up to 15Mb to 17Mb and I can do pretty much anything I want so at this point for me no real reason to upgrade to Viasat2.
As a disclaimer I've installed both KU and C band satellite dishes and I installed my own Hughes system. They say you can't but there is a workaround for it. I would of done that with Exede but couldn't justify spending the $ for the specialized satellite meter required. I know how to make sure I get a good installation and I can fine tune the dish if necessary but so far there is no reason to. So yet, I'd do it again.