Last March, I spent $500 to get HughesNet satellite internet, because there was no cable or dsl in my area at the time. I continued spending $70/month + $5/month invoice fee for 1Mbps/200kpbs upstream speed internet that is slower than cable, dsl, and stops working after using only 375MB of bandwith in a 1-2 day period. Now I have Verizon DSL available, which provides FASTER service for only $17.99/month, with only $59 of upfront cost, instead of $500 like those bastards at Hughesnet, and no 375MB download threshold. I called up Hughesnet to cancel, and they told me there would be a $300 early termination fee!! 'Don't you read contracts before you sign them sir?' was what the snotty Hughesnet phone rep snapped at me.

Now if they had given me free installation, or a free satellite dish, I could understand they might want to make their money back if I canceled within a year or two. But I spent $500 on install/dish fees, I've spent over $800 on their crappy service for 1 whole year, and they still want another $300 for canceling before two years of service!

Do yourself a favor and do not deal with these crooks. Wait for DSL or cable internet and you will not get raped by the Hughesnet bastards.

Well the repairman just left here from trying to 'fix' my Hughesnet satellite system AGAIN. According to them there is nothing wrong with my equipment. I was also just on the phone with customer support asking about the terrible upload and download speeds I have been having. The speeds I am getting right now at this moment are LESS than HALF of what was advertised/promised when I began this nightmare over a year ago. The customer service technician tried to make an analogy comparing the horrible speeds to many cars traveling down a busy road; meaning when there's a lot of traffic it is congested and the speed is slow. My response to that was well if it is that congested why don't you build a BIGGER ROAD? Since i got up this morning at 6 a.m. (when the speed was good but unfortunately I was busy getting the kids off to school) I have watched the speed drop in half by 8 am and drop by HALF AGAIN by 10 a.m. According to their 'parameters' this is acceptable. What a load of crap. Something that doesn't work as it was advertised is of no use to me, especially something costing this much!

I might add this is not the only trouble I have had with them; 2 days after the original installation my modem went out and i had service only about half the time. They sent me a new modem but it was the wrong model and would not work with the dish I have. Then they got mad at me when I asked for a call tag to return the equipment. They actually expected me to return the modem at my cost. Ugh. Many phone calls later I finally got a repairman to come out. Not only did the modem need replacing, but the radio arm too.

Once the system was 'fixed' that time I then tried to recoup some of the money I had been shoveling their way, since i had sporadic or no service for about 6 months while they had me foolishly undoing cables and looking outside to see how the weather was, NOT WANTING to send a repairman although I had asked them to do so repeatedly in that 6 month period. Well, they didn't want to give us ANY credit on the bill, because I had stopped calling them every day. Go figure. I finally got a supervisor and asked her why in the world would I want to continue to call when they obviously weren't going to DO anything? I finally got one month free service for 6 months of B.S.

So now we are on the speed issue. If I quit my day job, and stay up all night in the middle of the night I guess it would be O.K. to use the computer then, but gee, I can't do that. The speeds are fine in the (late) night time and right when I get up to go to work, at 5 am. After that it all goes down the tubes. I can actually get a better connection speed on DIAL-Up!!

The last call to customer service really got me steamed. I can get a better speed they tell me (now) if I upgrade my plan for another 10 or 20 dollars a month, and go to the 'pro' or 'business' service plan. I think they have already gotten enough of my money, and I am not going to upgrade.

On a side note, they are launching a new satellite, and the speeds are supposed to be wonderful as it won't be bouncing your signal back and forth twice before it gets to it's destination. Too bad this privelige is going to be for NEW customers and not for the ones who are already pulling their hair out.

If you live in the boondocks like I do, for goodness sakes don't get a HughesNet system, go with another provider or you will be sorry.

I absolutely cannot believe this company is still in business. Against my better judgment and because I had no other options other than dial-up, I had this service installed about a month ago. The experience was the worst I've ever had on every level you can imagine.

The advertisement for me was free 'standard' installation, $99 activation fee and first months service upfront. Ordering the service went great! Of course it would be cause they haven't stuck it to you yet. A few days later, another company called to schedule the install (HughesNet apparently outsources this to independent contractors).

The technician came out on a really cold, rainy day and it was obvious he didn't want to be here but he checked out my house to figure out where to put the MONSTER dish. He told me that due to the way my house is and the trees around it that he could not do a 'standard' installation and me have optimal reception. To this day, I don't understand that because DirectTV had no issues like that when installing my satellite TV service.

At any rate, he determined the installation would include a pole. I asked how much it would be and he said no more than $125. Reluctantly, I agreed. He told me the size pole I needed was also not standard and he'd have to go buy it and return on a different day.

It was crunch time, I needed internet access that week in order to do my job (I work from home). My company was taking down a server that previously supported me through dial up so time was of the essence. I explained this to the technician and he promised he would have it installed in time to prevent any down time with my company. This was on a Tuesday. Due to his schedule, he told me he would try to be back on Friday but most likely it wouldn't be until Saturday. That was fine because the dial up server wouldn't be taken down until Friday so I really wouldn't need access until the following Monday. Friday came and I called to see if he would make it out that day. He told me he couldn't and we did expect this but he did say he'd be out the next day.

Saturday came and went and the tech not only didn't show but didn't call and didn't answer or respond to the numerous calls I made to him. I finally reached him on Sunday and asked if he could do the install that day so I could work the next day. His response was, 'I don't work on Sunday's'. NO apology or concern for the position that he has now put me in i.e. I won't have access to my companies system in order to work on Monday. Not to mention, the guy then proceeds to blame ME for the situation because I'm not a standard installation. HE KNEW THAT WHEN HE PROMISED TO HAVE THE INSTALLATION COMPLETED ON SATURDAY.

He then told me he'd be at my house to do the installation around noon on Monday. Ok, that wipes me out of a days work but I have no choice at that point. Monday comes along and he didn't show up until 4:30. Because of the late start, he couldn't complete the installation before it got dark so he quit and said he'd be back the next morning. Now at this point the pole, dish, and everything on the outside of the house had been installed and all that was left was putting the cables through the hole (that we ALREADY had drilled for him) and connecting the inside. We supplied him with a flood light to do this so we could be done with it but he refused and insisted 'he was done for the day'.

Great, another day of not being able to work. He comes back the next day and spends 3 hours completing the installation. He packs up his stuff and then informs me that I owe him a check for $295.00!!! The install, his words, 'would not be more than $125.00'. I am now furious!!! He says the size pole was extra, digging the hole was extra because my ground was too hard and it required extra effort to dig it, etc. He knew all of this when he quoted the $125.00. Of course I protested but the guy cared less and demanded his money. Now, I just wanted him out of my house and his attitude was starting to scare me. I was home alone and he was very intimidating.

I wrote the check just so I could get him out of my house and lock the door behind him. Did I mention he also left ALL of the packaging laying in my yard as well as the debris from the install?

I called the company he worked for and left a message. I sent a lengthy email to them detailing everything that transpired and never got a response from either. I also called HughesNet and reported the situation. They said they would make it right and I should expect a call back within 5 days. Never happened. I called again a week later, got the same thing 'you will hear from us in 5 days' never heard a word. Based on every complaint I've read on here, I now know, I am wasting my time trying to get justice from these losers with absolutely no integrity or honesty.

Now this was just the installation process, I haven't mentioned how bad the service sucks. It's slower than dial up much of the time and try to get somebody who speaks English on the phone, it won't happen. I've been on the phone with India several times since the install due to the slow speed and getting disconnected. After I had the install, I had another company come to install wireless networking in my house. This caused even more of a slow down in speed which HughesNet said would not happen. LIARS!!! Their India guy had me do all kinds of stuff to try to improve my speed but all he did was have me do something that disabled my wireless networking. I paid good money to have the wireless put in and now it doesn't work and I'll have to pay more to have that fixed too. Does HughesNet care? Hell no!!! They now have my money and a contract ensuring they'll continue to have my money for the next 2 years.

These people could care less about their customers, customer retention, their reputation or anything else. They take complete advantage of those of us in rural areas who HAVE NO OPTIONS. I think they know that as soon as we get other options in our rural areas, we will all drop them like a bad habit so they are scamming as much money out of us while they can.

If ever there is a class action suit filed, count me in. I have NEVER seen anything like this.

When we decided to move to the country, it took us nearly a month to find an Internet Service Provider who could help us. If you are outside the city limits, and surrounded by trees, you soon find that there are very few options other then satellite. We were assured by HughesNet that although there might be interruptions for weather, our speeds and downloads would be up to DSL capacity. After paying nearly $1, 000 to get hooked up (equipment and installation charges) we soon found out that there were some 'missing pieces' they left out of the sales pitch!!

The company uses Fair Access Policy act to limit the amount of download you can receive over a 24 hour period. We've never experienced the performance demonstrated in the commercials. Additionally, the service has gotten worse and worse until we have decided to just go get wireless cards.

I 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.

Calling their Customer Service line gets you someone located in India at a call center. I feel badly for these people, as they probably have no idea what we are comparing our experiences to. They also have no power to issue credits or to fix anything. I've gotten through to someone in the U.S a couple of times, but only after waiting a week for a call back. It's amazing how they can get away with this!

If you are in the county and need service, go get a wireless card!

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!