Menu
Hughes Customer Service Phone, Email, Contacts

Hughes
reviews & complaints

www.hughesnet.com
www.hughesnet.com

Learn how the rating is calculated

4.5 3650 Reviews

Hughes Complaints Summary

134 Resolved
498 Unresolved
Our verdict: When using services from Hughes with a poor resolution rate, be vigilant. Understand the common pitfalls other customers have faced. Prepare thoroughly for any interactions with their customer service, and consider alternative solutions if your issues are not addressed satisfactorily.
Verified
The authenticity of the customer service contact information for Hughes has been meticulously verified by representatives from ComplaintsBoard using our proprietary verification system.
Get notifications about new complaints and reviews of Hughes. We promise not to send you any unrelated messages.
Share
Claim Your Business
Take control of your profile: address complaints and engage with reviews
Write a review File a complaint

Hughes reviews & complaints 636

Filter reviews by rating
5
3014 reviews
4
1 review
3
0 review
2
1 review
1
2 reviews
Sort by:

Newest Hughes reviews & complaints

ComplaintsBoard
S
8:36 pm EDT

Hughes you cannot manage your usage, but you will get suspended

It is now 11:30pm. The latest data showing on my HughNet customer usage page is 4pm. There is no hope of properly monitoring your downloads and yet you will be subject to very strict usage policies, one that will not even let you download a file as large as a show on Itunes or an update to your operating system. Daily monitoring of their usage page reveals, on average, a four-hour lag time. This lag time is unacceptable, especially on a tight table of 24-hour usage. Downloading statistics should be updated at least every 15 minutes.

This company behaves unfairly to customers in general. People who are subject to restricted use have a right to monitor their usage in REAL TIME. HughesNet.com creates random rules with harsh punishment. I have written a new slogan for them: HughesNet... it's faster than dial-up, sort-of. Actually, between about 3pm and 12am, it is as slow as dial-up, faster speeds are achieved late night, when you are asleep.

Don't waste your money or time with this company.

Read full review of Hughes and 5 comments
Hide full review
5 comments
Add a comment
T
T
Tamara Alban
, US
Jan 24, 2024 6:48 am EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Do not stream a lot of movies. Don't go on social medias a lot. But they say we used 50 GB in one month. That is impossible. Dec 2023 we streamed 3 movies and we did not even come close to using 50 GB. They are ripping people off. They want you to pay more.

O
O
Ours2use
Osage, US
May 29, 2010 6:15 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I think the fair access is a bunch of bull, as we are in the middle of 72 acres no one around us for 2 and 1/2 miles. Yet we can wake up and be suspended check usage time and it says 364 mega bites in one hour, from 6pm to 7pm. First of all no one was home at that time and with our computers that 364 mega bites it would have taken way longer than 1 hour. As they brag faster speed downloads etc NOT. We have monitored our downloads and most updates might be one or two gigs so go figure. That wasn't the only download they also said more was downloaded at 11p.m. to midnight we were in bed then again the next morning from 12 noon to 1p.m. again no one was on the computers as it was when we got online we noticed everything lagging bad. That is when my husband called and complained as this has been a problem with them continuously at least every other month we fight with them. And again the same conversation who lives next to us "no one" this battle is at least every 2 months. We don't have ipods etc nor do we download movies etc. At first the tech said we can't undo the suspended fair access that was with our first complaint. Then my husband upgraded giving us more bandwidth time. And it happened again this time the tech undid the fair access ..hmmm interesting as they said it couldn't be done. Then it happens again they suggest we monitor our downloads well we are notified when we get updates, but for a month they told my husband to check and keep a record of downloads and usages and times, funny nothing happened that month but they gave us a case number and would look into it . Now 2 months later this happens again the tech lifted the fair access suspend and gave us a case number saying they would look into it. Oh did I mention you now get a token to lift this as you have been a longtime customer. We didn't use our token. But if this was not a problem why offering of the token. Also if we were downloading all this stuff that they say we are we would be out of memory. Since they have taken over the service has been terrible but there is no other server except one and they only handle so many people and you have to keep calling them to see if anyone in this area has moved etc before you can replace them. Yes hughes net can say they are faster than dial up but not by much as my computer doesn't look like the one on the commercial while dial up is still loading. We have had our satilite for 20 yrs with direct tv and it wasn't till hughes net took over have we started this problem.
Not a happy camper

J
J
johnsan
, US
Oct 27, 2009 8:17 pm EDT

Hughes net has to be by far the worst internet service i have ever used. Not only do they charge you a ridicolous amount for installation and thier 125.00 pole that is ### considering I have plenty of places to mount it. I can't get on the internet more than about two hours and my speed goes slower than dial up. And don't try and call them and have a conversation with some ###er in another country who speaks ninety mile an hour broken english which you can't understand a dam word of. I absolutely hate this internet provider, they are a rip off and all they want to help you is more money. After one month of service and the highest internet bill I have ever paid I am willing to tell them no english speaking ### to take that bill, and pole, and dish sitting on it and shove it up thier candy ###!

B
B
Bud Parker
, US
Sep 04, 2009 8:45 pm EDT

Boy, you hit the nail on the head! Once they have you in a two-year contract, they can inflict the "Policy" on you as an inducement to cough up more money. I called the foreign manned service desk four times today and got nowhere.

Another poster said she got good, fast service from this number: [protected]. Pass it around. I, for one, am going to mobilize a campaign to flood State’s Attorney Generals offices with valid complaints. If nothing else it’s fraudulent advertizing. Also, the BBB and Federal Trade Commission.

L
L
LDStechMD
Hancock, US
Sep 01, 2009 9:56 pm EDT

I agree fully, and have approached Hughes on providing a REAL TIME (why wait 15 minutes?) monitor more than once. I always get the same the response - nothing offered through Hughes, but they are working on it. Of course, that's crap. FAP may have originally been implimented to limit bandwidth hogs, but Hughes has since realized they can turn it into a revenue generator. I've been with Hughes for 9 years, and have watch the service go down, while the push for more revenue goes up.

I've been in the tech field since the mid 1990's, moving from dial-up to ISDN and finally to Satelite (no other high speed option in my area). If it weren't for the cost, I'd go back to ISDN simply for reliabilty, even though it is not as fast as Hughes (except during certain periods of the day).

Hughes recongized that even common web browsing is creating greater bandwidth demands, with more and more sites utilizing flash, etc. Add to that all the other large size downloads available, and Hughes recognized a cash cow. There are more levels of service available now, and each one has a higher threshold limit, theoretically letting you download more by paying more. The bandwidth is available - if you want to pay their horrendous prices for it. But if you want to stream anything, dowload movies, etc., you will pay to get it, right? that's their motivation.

There are real-time tools available to monitor usage, but they also generally cost money (so far I haven't found any good free ones). Hughes SHOULD provide something that, as you say, should give AT LEAST 15 minutes updates, but since the real time tech is available, that is what they really should use. My hughes usage will actually update with a 2hour lag, but you can still download a lot in 2 hours, so that's not feasible, either. The truth is they don't want us to monitor - they want us to upgrade and spend more money.

ComplaintsBoard
S
8:26 pm EDT

Hughes rip off

There is no download manager for mac / itunes. And there are strict usage policies that will have you on almost constant suspension if you own a mac and sign-up with hughesnet. I am a mac user. I was told this would be no problem when I ordered. I was concerned about of being able to download large files and questioned the salesperson. I was told could get a download manager — no problem — and download large files between 3am and 6am.

There are no download managers for itunes, which is how macs download music and video files. I have called tech support many times. I am regularly on suspension, meaning no access to the internet for 24 hours. This has seriously hurt my business. The hughesnet phone computer keeps me on hold eternally, and hangs up on me regularly. They respond to support emails with useless rhetoric and form letters.

Read full review of Hughes and 4 comments
Hide full review
4 comments
Add a comment
C
C
CPogo
Valley, US
Oct 13, 2010 7:23 pm EDT

I have Hughesnet because I have no other option. The price is ridiculous and the service is horrific! If you have any other option, take it! If you download ANYTHING you will be put on the FAP and it's slower than dial up. The download manager is a joke! Applications like iTunes are not compatible with it.
If anyone knows of a better option in an area that has very poor cell service, no cable and no DSL I would love to hear about it!

L
L
LDStechMD
Hancock, US
Sep 01, 2009 9:44 pm EDT

Bill Moss, I can't even read your complaint. Ever hear of puncuation marks? It would help to know if you had a valid complaint if it were intelligible.

I dislike Hughes as much as the next person. I've been with them for 9 years (they have always been Hughes - Direcway was a branding name, just like HughesNet is now). They have always had a FAP - just like any other legal BS, you have to read the information. Don't blame them for having an FAP and you not knowing. Yes, it's vague and anything BUT fair, but they had it 9 years ago. Wild Blue also has one.

I don't recommend satelite to anyone. The only reason I still have it is because there just is no other viable option in my area. There are plenty of legitimate complaints about Hughes, including the implementation of the FAP. No knowing it existed won't hold water for a real complaint report, though.

Real problems - Implementation of FAP: i.e, over what time fram is the thrreshold accumulation calculated?
Reinstatement of service after FAP implimentation (discrestionary, and often exceeds 24 hours).
Why FAP levels can be raised by buying next higher service tier (availabitly goverened by monopolistic pricing).
Documented limiting of bandwidth between the hours of 4:00 PM and Midnight Eastern time.
Hughes charges $125 just to call a service tech to come to your home, without telling that you still have to pay them, OR telling you that you can call them yourself (i had to do both).

D
D
Dennis K. Cargill
,
Nov 21, 2008 3:14 pm EST

Hughesnet is the biggest rippoff I've been associated that I can remember. We got it ( DireCway) right after Hurricane Rita when the cable provider did not re establish service to my area. I was under the impression it was unlimited and never heard of the (Un ) Fair access policy until it became HughesNet. I was told I could upgrade to the HN7000S modem for faster connections and more usage.

B
B
bill moss
,
Jul 08, 2008 7:17 am EDT

hughesnet is the worst going to get dsl.they wont your questionsthey wont even answer the phoneshow do they stayin busniessif they dont get me fixedand soon two months is too long to be without computeri will call tv have them come out and watch me pull it off the roofthis is the worst service i have seen dial up is betteranswer the damn phonefix my net or get it off my rooff

ComplaintsBoard
R
1:25 pm EDT

Hughes ripped off

I was tired of dial up as most of the complaints have written about. So I decided to go with hughesnet. Boy was that a mistake. I was at home when the installer put the system in and was at my pc when he fired it up. Took about 30 mins to load everything. Tools ect. So we decided to do a speed test. I had the pro plan, 1 meg down 200 kb up. The test did all of 192 kb down and 8kb up. I said hold on thats not right. Installer said it would get better in an hour or so. Back to surfing the net for an hour or so. With it dropping packets worse than dialup. The hughesnet website would not even come up with in 5 mins.

So I call tech support after the hour or so was up. Some guy I could not even understand tried to help me. I asked to be put on another sat. He said no. No help there we hung up... So I did another speed test 3 hours later (Around 11 pm) it was 200 kb down 12 kb up. I call tech support again. Same thing no help. Was told it is a shared service. I asked this guy so what do you tell the guys paying for the elite plan at 189$ a month for 3 megs down and they get about 300 kb? The tech said the more you pay the faster it is but its still shared. That sounds like fraud to me.

So I stopped payment on the 400$ check, canceled the service after contacting them 4 times in 24 hours I was told no we are not going to do anything to help you get better download speeds. I sent a letter in to the better business bureau. The bbb is still working on the complaint as we speak. I did receive a phone call from hughesnet asking me what happened I told that person the system is junk and it is fraud what you guys are doing. The person said well I checked the records and you never got to executive customer care. I said ya think? Maybe after 4 phone calls and telling the last tech I was going to stop payment on the check canceled my account (Which took about 2 seconds for them to do) maybe one of you executive persons should have called? I got a blank answer to that. I asked what happened to the customer is right policy is it dead and gone? She said no. I said yes it is have a good day.

So now I owe 199$ for something I don't even have. Plus I took the satellite system off my house and took it back to the installer myself. Now they want 300$ from me because I didn't return it. Errm yes I did back to where it came from.

Do not fool with hughesnet unless you have 400$ to throw away.

Raped ape.

Read full review of Hughes and 2 comments
Hide full review
2 comments
Add a comment
C
C
crystal258
Brooklyn, US
Jul 17, 2014 3:51 pm EDT

highes net is a scam and should be closed down

C
C
crystal258
Brooklyn, US
Jul 17, 2014 3:50 pm EDT

Hughes net really should be closed down

ComplaintsBoard
R
9:50 am EDT

Hughes ripped off

Hughes net is the worst service company I have ever dealt with in my life. When I just called to complain about my service bill being so high, I was just informed that they have been charging me for two accounts. After speaking to a supervisor, I discovered that it was really my fault you see, because "I" failed to cancel my first account when I upgraded my service to a faster router. Their calls centers are carefully constructed to take you into a complete dead end. I am appalled. Why they have any customers is unfathomable to me.

Read full review of Hughes and 2 comments
Hide full review
2 comments
Add a comment
L
L
linksage
, US
Jan 04, 2010 3:52 pm EST

They still have customers only because most of us have no frickin' choice. I've been looking for another provider only to find that every other one out there is just as sneaky and underhanded as Hughes. It's a monopoly, and it'd be great if someone could do something about it. I'd love to see this get taken into court. No one is happy with this joke of a company. I only wish I could find another ISP so my family could tell Hughes to shove it up theirs.

J
J
jking
FORTMEADE, US
Apr 28, 2009 8:51 pm EDT

I THINK THIS IS THE BIGGEST FRAUD THERE EVERY WAS . As FOR as INTERNET. And as for fast serves it's not what they say it is. we might as well have had kept the diale up we had. I'ts about as fast as that. As for as money that too is a fraud they tell you one price and they take all the mony you have in the bank. I'm very dissadeisfied with the whoe thing, But they have you bye the balles now that they have you in there grips. once you sing a contrack you have to stay with them for 2 damm years befor you can get out of it or pay a large amount of money to get out of it.I was told that the price was 59.99 a month with taxes and they just took over 70.00 out of our account now they can't tell me that taxes or 20.00 dollors more a month.
people who are on social securty always get riped off it's not funny.I just hope I can find a news carrer to get this too and have it posted all over where the world Ive made a copy of this letter for my recordes.
yours truly custermer of hugenet.

ComplaintsBoard
B
8:54 am EDT
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hughes intolerable customer service

Some of the worst service I have EVER seen. And I say this having spent years working in the utility industry! The only contact that can be made is to people in India who offer nothing but flowery apologies instead of necessary assistance.

Formal complaint filed this morning with the BBB.

I requested last week for my password to be reset, as the login does
not recognize any username or password combination that I am
putting in. I have forgotten what it is. I was directed to the
Password Reset option on the Customer Care page. As directed, I
am attempting to put in the Site ID, Serial Number, etc. and I keep
getting an error that it is not recognized. I was then directed to
contact Technical Support, which I did. I have a transcript of the
hour-plus conversation.

I asked for the representative to review the case information, and I was still asked what the trouble is as if I were talking to a wall.

I also asked multiple times to be put in touch with a representative in the United States and was denied.

I repeatedly asked that the situtation be escalated to a manager, and was denied.

The only suggestion I was given was to create a new account.

Obviously, there is an existing account to which my payments have been made without fail for over four years, through which I receive automated contact from the company, and which I am now considering dissolving altogether in search of a company with support on this continent.

The resolution that I seek is to be contacted directly by an English-speaking management representative in the United States and to have my login information reset so that I may access my account.

Read full review of Hughes and 58 comments
Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hide full review
58 comments
Add a comment
G
G
gstan1952
West Palm Beach, US
Apr 20, 2010 1:29 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

HughesNet has a habit of cutting me off from internet access when they consider I've reached my "limit".
Even though I'm still paying for the service, after being cutoff, I have no access to the internt.
Within the United States, that's considered "Theft Of Services". Which is a punishable crime.
Gary Stanullwich

R
R
RSWinkie
San Francisco, US
Feb 06, 2009 3:12 pm EST

Hughesnet is the provider of last resort. These are the main complaints.

1. Fair Access Policy is poorly articulated and completely out of date with modern high speed internet needs. While it would seem that a satellite link is a sophisticated technology, the severe limits of their FAP render their services archaic.

2. Service is a joke. Their favorite trick is to not spend any time actually understanding a request, but replying to an question that has not been asked, usually with a response that is equivalent to a no. Using off-shore reps means they are hard to understand and do not understand you. They are often surley and condescending.

3. Cost. They are high end and considering FAP, they are a terrible value.

I've been a customer since 2017 because I really have no other choices (a long story short).

Flee! Run! Avoid at all costs!

R
R
RGresham
, US
Sep 23, 2009 2:38 pm EDT

I live in a remote area that doesn't have cable or high speed internet through the phone line. Obviously, the advertisement regarding ordering hughesnet appealed to me. When I talked to customer service, I told them that my job entailed downloading very large files. To the best of my understanding from the broken English speaking employee, that wouldn't be a problem. I ordered it and of course, my first download went over my fair usage amount or whatever its called. I called to ask why I was told that large downloads wouldn't be a problem, the response was that it wouldn't be if I did my downloads between the hours of 2 - 5 am! Those are typically not my working hours! I now have a wireless card for my computer with 5 GB of downloads per month and it it way cheaper than hughesnet. I'm getting ready to break my contract and can't wait to go to battle with them! In my opinion, it is absolutely the worse service in the industry!

A
A
Author
, US
Nov 10, 2010 1:58 pm EST

I'm a Informations Technology guy. I was visiting a client to install software and during the day the client's satellite modem would shut off -- all the lights go out. After 5 minutes or so the modem would come back on, and the client would have Internet again for 20 minutes or so until the modem shuts down again.

So we called HughesNet support. Very polite people, but they _would_not_authorize_a_technician_to_check_the_modem_ ! When the modem was on, the "help" desk guy would say everything looked OK from his end. When the modem was down, the guy said there was an outage and their technicians were working on it. But most of all they wanted my client to re-boot the router. It's not the router guys! We can SEE the modem shutting down! Bottom line is that the lack of customer service means my client can't get the repair we know they need -- so where's the "service" in that?

K
K
Kableman
, US
Apr 26, 2010 5:14 pm EDT

I have had Hughesnet for 3 years now because I can't get cable or DSL in my area. It is awful. The connection speed is terrible. I am writing this at 2am and that seems to be the only time when I have decent internet access. I keep getting a message that the internet failed to connect to the server. The download time for my mail is just awful. It if has a large attachment, you can forget it ever downloading. Their site to view your mail is pathetic. The customer service is polite enough but not knowledgeable. They read off a script. They are difficult to understand due the the Indian accents. They have NO idea what to do if you are using a MAC. I just ask them exactly what it is they want me to access on the computer and find it myself. I know I am not the only one with this problem. My friend has it as well and has the exact same problems. If I need to download anything at all, I pretty much have to do it at 3am. The longer something tries to download the slower it goes. Then it just cuts you off for "exceeding the fair access policy." Yes, it is still better than dial up if this is all you have access to. But for the money they charge to set it up and the monthly payments, it is a rip off.

M
M
Mark Alessio
, US
Dec 23, 2009 8:44 pm EST

What a sham! Hughes Net should be called lose net because they claims internet speeds 50x faster than dial up and yet at $120/mo my download speeds are at times - slower than dial up. The installation was a complete disaster-the tech was reluctant to install the dish on my roof due to snow so it cost me an extra 100 bucks cash after working him down from $125-plus I had to dig the trench for the cable. In addition, the tech could not use my existing cable from the modem in my garage to my desktop location. He packed his tools and told me to get a wireless router?. Did I mention that the tech was a subcontractor so when you complain to "lose net" they pass the buck-WTF! I've had this "service" less than a week and I already canceled. Do yourself a favor and find someone else to provide your internet service-otherwise bend over and grab your ankles!

N
N
nancy572
23898, US
Jun 17, 2010 4:11 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

August of 2017, I installed hughesnet as I found myself back College and in need of a service that would provide me with the ability to take on-line courses. Up until June 6 of 2017 I was happy with my service (although it was expensive and had low bandwidth) and not intended to switch, but that all changed when my modem broke. Let me briefly explain the problem.
June 8, 2017 8am
I called tech. services and after they tried to determine the problem by phone made an appointment for a service call. I was told this would occur in 1 to 2 days at $29.95 (Case# 2304471) and although it would put me slightly behind in my Pre-calculus class I agreed to stay by both my home and cell phone in order to wait for the call.
June 9, 2017 12 pm
I called tech services to check on the status of this service call, as I had not received a phone call (Case # [protected]). I was told that I would receive a call within the next 2 hours.
June 10, 2017 9:30am
I called account services to find out what the problem was as I had not received the previously promised calls and they referred me back to tech. services.
9:50 am
I called tech services and they informed me that there was a note on my account saying that there were six failed phone attempts by the installer starting on June 8 at 4pm. Since I had not left the house since the original call I told the tech employee that that was impossible and he told me that someone would call within the hour.
1:20 pm
I called account services, again explained the prior information as well as the fact that no one attempted to call as was promised at approximately 10 am. I was placed on hold in order for the account specialist to re over the notes on my account. After being placed on hold, the call was disconnected and I waited for a call back.
1:56 pm
I called back and once again was transferred to tech services. This was when I was told that someone had tried to call and after getting no answer, left a voice message saying that an installer could not be scheduled at this time and one would be scheduled as soon as possible. After explaining that I was a college student and falling behind in my class due to waiting around the house for an installer to come fix my modem, that is when I was told that there was no installer in my area and they were trying to find one who would respond as soon as possible (Case # [protected]). I then told him not to bother as I no longer needed Hughes net at Verizon was going to have me up and running within the hour and canceled the service call.
After hanging up with tech services, I placed yet another call to account services to cancel my account in which I once again had to explain to a service account manager the previous calls my urgency in needing internet service and she placed me on hold to find out what the status was on this problem. She explained that they were trying to find someone who would be able to respond to my area, which would not be until Monday June 14, 2017 and in the meantime offered me a free service call as well as a month’s free service (Case# [protected]). She then transferred my call to a service manager who informed me that after six failed phone call attempts to schedule an appointment, my original call had to be re-scheduled, which happened at 2 pm today, and that he/she would call me. He then told me to call account services back once this was completed in order to receive credit for these promised offers. I asked if he would just send me a new modem, but he said no, as he could not be sure that my modem was the problem.
June 11, 2017
Have not received a phone call, opened account with Verizon wireless, receiving two ½ times more bandwidth for less then what I was paying at Hughes net.
June 17, 2017
To date I have not received the first phone call from a technician or accounts services concerning my numerous phone calls and active case numbers.

Why am I so upset?
One: I was lied to concerning an appointment time (1-2 days) and that numerous phone attempts were made (although I carried both phones with me for days in order to not miss the anticipated call).
Two: if I had been told the truth from the beginning I could have traveled to the University in order to use the computer labs that would have prevented me from doing a marathon Friday through Tuesday to complete my course homework and tests that were due by June 15, 2017.
Three: I have a connection to Verizon that has two ½ times more usages available to me for $20.00 less a month than what I was paying Hughesnet.
Four: I continue to pay my last two-month subscription even though I cannot use it, as the modem is broken.
Five: A company is only as good as its word and technical support….Hughesnet failed and I was the one who suffered when I needed my service the most.

J
J
JonB866
, US
Mar 26, 2011 12:16 am EDT

I found out about Hughesnet doing a promotional offer about a month ago by ways of a work associate who lives close by and who had gotten the service installed and said it was great. I called the Hughesnet number listed in our phonebook and spoke with an operator who was very polite and had an anser for every question I had. He offered a deal under the "recovery act" saying our equipment would be free and belong to us forever, that the installation would be free, and pay only $40 a month which was normally supposed to be $70. I hastily signed up and 2 days later a technician showed up and had me outfitted and up and running in around 4 hours. He even stayed a while to make sure the service worked correctly. For the first 2 weeks the service was pretty fast to be a 1Mbps connection (speak easy bandwith tester averaged from 756kbps to 1.1Mbps), and sometimes during their late night download zone it would go to over 1.7Mbps. But starting yesterday, the speed during the daytime dropped to just over 100kbps and stayed that way until late last night. Today it is hovering around 300kbps. I called Customer service last night and discovered the only Americans youll ever talk to with hughesnet is the person who got you to sign up and the installer. All i got were East Indians and Phillipinos who did not understand half of what I said and I couldnt understand none of what they were saying. They ended up telling me I needed a computer technician because the issue had to be inside of my computer because their speed tests showed I was within acceptable limits. It was very frustrating, Im just glad that our deal states we are under no kind of contract with them, and if the problems doesnt clear up I will discontinue their service. Wish I would of came here and read all of the complaints befor I got the service in the first place might not have been so eager to sign up.

B
B
Brenda Echols
Castor, US
Jun 08, 2011 8:39 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

The installer arrived at a different time than scheduled and my grown son was here so he told the installer to go ahead. The installer put the satelite dish in front of my home 9 feet from my living room windows and 10 feet from my front steps and I live on 2 1/2 acres of land in a rural area. I immediately phoned Hughes Net when I arrived home and told them I was not satisfied. I told them to either come and move the dish or remove it. They now, without discussing any of this with me, have had an internal investiagation and informed me that since someone authorized the installation, (my son), I would have to pay to have the dish moved. I cannot get anywhere with anyone at HughesNet.

C
C
Can't Win
Awendaw, US
Mar 10, 2012 7:58 pm EST

When our connection speed became longer than a dial up service we called to complain. Ended up paying to "upgrade" .Guess what we got? We pay more to be slowed down with any downloads (which we rarely do at home), have to buy TOKENS to be brought back to a usable speed, that doesn't disconnect a site because it takes too long to load, and still get slow service EVERY SINGLE NIGHT and ALL WEEKEND.
I had to get a Verizon 4G Hotspot for business travel and now i think we'll just cancel Hughesnet and use the Hotspot at home. We've had Hughesnet for years and have never been satisfied. They are extremely misleading .We had no choice at the time because we live in a rural area without cable. We have Direct TV and love it.At the time the satellite internet service was through Direct TV, but once it switched to Hughesnet, nothing but frustration.
It's a beautiful Saturday afternoon and I can't shop online because I barely have a bar and keep getting thrown off.Waste...a huge waste.

ComplaintsBoard
C
11:31 am EDT

Hughes bad for gaming

I wanted high speed internet so I can play online games and brows the internet faster. After getting Hughes satalite internet my gaming was very laggy to the point where I was unable to play. After months of researching each of my games I finally found out it was my internet's speed that was not fast enough. I called Hughes and they told me their internet isnt for gaming becauseit is because the upload speed is to slow, however, the download speed is fast.

Becides that, my service is laggy when just surfing the internet. I will often get disconnected, and for weeks at a time I will have reduced browsing speed because of "high internet use in my area."

I pay about $70 + a month for this service. Compared to other forms of high speed internet like Cable or DSL, I can get twice as fast internet servie, (both uploading and downloading) that works all the time, for $30.00 less a month.

Confused arnt you.

Read full review of Hughes and 6 comments
Hide full review
6 comments
Add a comment
H
H
hughes net sucks
Denton, US
Jun 27, 2009 2:13 pm EDT

I just got it and about an hour after they left i tried to play on xbox live and it makes my xbox freeze and the connections horrible.I have tried multiple times and only once i got on for about 2 minuts then it kicked me off. also when online you can only get on 1 computer at a time.They told me it was great for gaming and you could have multiple computers online, but its all just a scam to get you hooked on crapy internet for two years.

L
L
LeafsFan2005
Germanton, US
Apr 13, 2009 8:18 pm EDT

The reason Hughes has a "fair access policy" is simple: it's a satellite ISP and everything has to go through the satellite and, unfortunately, Hughes doesn't have a lot of those orbiting the planet. Here on the planet, everything is routed through wires and routers. With satellite the signal has to be sent to the satellite, which takes about a second then get routed to the proper station on the ground, then receive a reply and make sure it gets routed back to your satellite. This isn't exactly easy when the satellite is 20, 000+ miles away and if it were to get overloaded with so many requests at once and broke down, then it's not as easy to fix. Hence "fair access".

Of course "fair access" to Hughes means just using the Internet to check your e-mail. I don't think they understand yet that broadband Internet is for watching videos and playing games.

G
G
>/?.
, US
Apr 13, 2009 8:08 pm EDT

HUGHES SUCKS but my surfing and gaming is really not TOO laggy yes its not as good as dsl or cable not it beats dial up butr i hate this "fair access policy" i mean wtf noother forms of internet have it

I
I
isaiah
,
Jul 24, 2008 7:28 pm EDT

ya same here. i try to play w.o.w. and get nothing but lag. i upgraded and got the static ip and saw apsolutly no change in game play, just the pocket book. so i downgraded and it plays the same :(.
this is the only internet avable to me in my area so im stuck.

K
K
Kimberly
,
Jul 21, 2008 4:53 pm EDT

I feel your pain. I have hughes net also and I can't do hardly anything! Even if I watch youtube videos for about 30minutes I will go over what they call "fair access limit". If I didn't live so far in the country I would have cable or dsl. For now Hughes Net is the only service I can get unless I want the slow dial up.

J
J
Jesus
,
Jul 21, 2008 4:41 pm EDT

Hughes net is horrible... I got it so i could simply play Warcraft 3 Frozen Throne faster and have a little faster surfing speed, but it failed to even do that. It was fast when i got it but then it got slower and slower. Now i can't play games at all, and i get kicked off the internet all the time, AND im paying over 100 $ month. When i called them they said i need a static IP adress. So i got one and it made absolutly no diffrenece. Hughes net sucks don't bother.

ComplaintsBoard
J
12:31 pm EDT

Hughes liars!

I need a static IP address to support my VPN back to my home office. I was told I could pay extra for a static IP for which they certainly charged me more. However, the home office does not "see" my "static IP" because hughes net web accelerator software spoofs IP addresses. total failure & totally worthless. after two months of wrestling with this worthless system, I closed the account. they had the gall to bill me $300 for violating a "contract" I have never seen. I asked for a copy of the contract & of course they don't have one. I wrote them a certified letter offering to work things out, but they never responded. Nevertheless, they have turned me over to a collection agency, if you can believe that. they are the biggest bunch of liars & creeps I have ever dealt with. AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS!

Read full review of Hughes and 1 comment
Hide full review
1 comment
Add a comment
F
F
finisr3
, US
Aug 05, 2009 1:48 am EDT

im sueing the company, if any one wants to be apart of this let me know . tubedude3@hotmail.com

ComplaintsBoard
V
5:33 am EDT
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hughes unprofessional technical and home service practices

I have repeatedly had to call Hughesnet service department to investigate why I had such a poor or no satellite signal (non-weather related).Once your call enters into the technical department you are speaking with someone in India? The answer to my question about signal strength from this person in India was " do you utilize a Google tool bar, if so, remove the Google tool bar. I hung up following his comment and called the service department back, told them what the Technician (India) had said, they apologized and suggested I have a service technician come to my home to fix the problem for a minimum fee of $120.00. The service technician (Guardian Enterprises) never showed up or called to say he couldn't make the appointment. Enough is enough... I'm moving on.

Read full review of Hughes
Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hide full review
ComplaintsBoard
K
11:28 pm EDT

Hughes ripped me off

I ordered hughes.net, and was advised thru the sales rep that I needed to sign up for the small business plan for home networking. I had the business equipment installed and the installer never stuck around to see if my speeds were acurate for the plan I was on. I spent over a week for hours at a time with the technical department trying to troubleshoot the speed issue. After a week had passed I get a phone call from a foriegner that says they cannot fix the problem and are closing the case on my problem file. I called and said I wanted my money back for what I paid for and didnt receive. IT WAS A BIG NO. I have fought these folks long enough. I called the bank today and filed a dispute with my credit card for this charge of 450 dollars.
These people are the worst people to deal with. Even corporate which I contacted and still didnt have any resolution. I need all the money back that they took from me.

Read full review of Hughes and 1 comment
Hide full review
1 comment
Add a comment
S
S
Storm
,
May 12, 2008 8:31 pm EDT

There is already a thread on this. I would suggest writing your Congressman, your Governor, and both of your Senators as well as contacting a good Lawyer regarding a Class Action Lawsuit. These are all things I am doing in my state. Don't expect much to be done at the moment, however. The Government is far too busy NOT dealing with our current economic crisis.

ComplaintsBoard
C
11:12 am EDT

Hughes service charges

My Hughesnet system was installed in Sept. 2007. Since then they have replaced the modem twice, under warranty. In April 2008 I once again lost service for 5 days. When I called the service number they said something was wrong with my equipment, and a service man would be sent out, at a cost to me of $125.00, because the warranty had run out. I agreed to this, and when the technician showed up he was the same guy that installed the system.
After trouble shooting i was informed by the tech. that my equipment was operating just fine, and that the Hughes Net Sattelite was not functioning properly way up there in space. He said that the reception problem was NOT MY EQUIPMENT, but the Sattelite 's, and their would be no charge to me for the service call.
Well the was a charge of $125.00 I was told no matter whose fault it was and I had to pay it.
THIS is TOTAL BULL CRAP!~!, and I'm not going to give up until I talk to an American who can give me satisfaction! All I get is a bunch of elephant riders over in India when I call the service number! Now I'm searching for the phone number of their headquarters in Germantown Md. Does anyone have that number?

Read full review of Hughes and 2 comments
Hide full review
2 comments
Add a comment
J
J
John J.
,
Jul 13, 2008 5:15 pm EDT

Do not get too aggitated with the reps you think reside in India or elsewhere.
apparently you have not been to the DC metropolitan area. Many reps with English as a second language are right here in the tech corridor located in Germantown, MD and don't be surprised if you are actually talking to a customer support agent here in the good ol U.S. of A!
Just the same, I doubt that a tech staffer here would know any more than someone overseas because of the nature of the "soft shoe book reading tech" hardly ever knows more than the hands on field tech that comes to your house to service the equipment.

As for the service techs, there are only a few people that install the hardware in the state due to the "wired" broadband market and the sat internet market being scattered in areas like where I live. So never be surprised if you see the same and only tech come to your place to work on your hardware. I considered being a installation tech myself several years ago but there was not enough work to keep me gainfully employed.

I am a HugesNet customer residing in the rural tier of southern Maryland in a fringe area that does not provide any other broadband services, even the dial up is terrible... the connection I am using to write this blog is only 28.8 kbs to that tell you how bad it is. I have been a DirectPC/HughesNet customer for over 4 years and this is the first time I have had and major issues with my hardware. In the last few months, I have had issues with going over on the Fair Access Policy (FAP) which is annoying because the downloads are mostly updates! Considering that I have not had this issues in the first 3 years, I think this is a ploy to get customers to upgrade to the more expensive packages.

It is likely that my transmitter took some damage last moth during a series of thunderstorms, but my connection quality has been slowly degrading over 6 months. I chalked it up to the satellite and atmospheric conditions and even the trees coming into bloom, but my signal strength has been a average of 62 since I purchased my system in 2004. I cheked my dish for any potential damage due to a fallen tree brance on my roof, and only thing that i could see is a very stretched RG-6 cable feeding the dish's transmitter port. I changed it out, rebooted my modem and my connection worked better than it had in months!
5 hours later, the system began to cycle in and out as if it was continuously rebooting.
The Transmit status falls out every few minutes and the TCP Acceleration Status is red flagged in and Not operational. I gave it 24 hours to see if it will clear itself up before I called it in.

So today I finally called in and had it looked into. During the call, there was a recording stating that there has been outages on the 93 longitude's satellite.
OK, But my service says its on 95 West and "has not had any problems" so says the service tech.

The tech rep pinged my modem and conducted a test and the end result: He stated that my transmitter is bad and needs servicing. Needless to say, My dish has been out of warranty since 2005 and is the likely culprit but that dose not account for the 6 some odd hours of above average service before it crapped out.

So now I have been hit with the $125.00 service fee and a 5-7 day wait, and a day of leave i will need to use for the tech to check things out at my home. I also have to use Juno to do the basic online task until i'm up linked again.

The only positive I have is a 7 day discount to my service until a tech services my system.

M
M
matt
,
May 11, 2008 9:53 am EDT

i posted this on another forumn but i will post it here too, if i can save at least one other person the time and trouble (and lots o cash for very little in return) that is Hughesnet, so much the better: my girlfriend and i are finding out the hard way- you cant read the full details until you are online.. thier 'Fair Access Policy' (do not exceed 200mb of daily download for our package or you get effectively shutdown for 24 hrs)is anything but... AND, contrary to what they say on the phone, they DO close ports, .. online gamers(or anyone) beware. Dial up is a better (faster? in alot of cases)option... when i get mad enough ill see what the state attorney general's office says...there needs to be some regulation of these type of businesses... oh and to cancel ..$350.00 to get out of thier 2 year contract. i REALLY wish we could get the terms of use mailed to consumers before entering into contracts like these.. id have gone without internet if id have known itd be like this - mad in rural Idaho...one thing i d like to add... you wouldnt go to a store, see an empty shelf and let the store clerk convince you to pay him for the non-existant item- why is Hughesnet allowed to sell more bandwidth than they appearantly can supply?... this, im guessing is the reason for the F.A.P... i heard another reason... but seem far fetched, as if your like me, the nearest house is quite some distance away- (the sell connections to your neighbor reason). believe me when DSL finally reaches us here, we will be rid of this mess-- i would be ashamed to offer such a poor product to my customers- but then corp. america has no soul or conscience.

ComplaintsBoard
A
2:02 pm EDT
Featured review
This review was chosen algorithmically as the most valued customer feedback.

Hughes - slow speeds and terrible service

Same complaints as the myriad of others who have posted about HughesNet. - slow speeds (especially upload) - frequent random errors while browsing - phone technicians that don't know how to troubleshoot their product - onsite technicians that are unprofessional and don't know how to troubleshoot their product - horrendous, institutionalized customer...

Read full review of Hughes and 19 comments
ComplaintsBoard
M
11:51 am EDT

Hughes hughes.net horrid company

Don't waste your money or time with Hughes.net This is absolutely the worst company I've ever had to deal with. If you have any alternative for Internet, go with it. When I started with them 4 yrs ago it was fine. But they have been adding people to the Satmex 5 and Satmex 6 satellites to the point where there is no bandwidth and no one has any speed. If they tell you to "upgrade" your modem for faster download or upload times, don't believe it. I have the HN7000 and it is worse than the DW6000. Now with their FAP you can't even download music or watch videos or you get turned off for 24 hours.

The most recent "crisis" is their email upgrade which was suppose to take one day. Well now its Tuesday April 29 and we've had no email since Friday. Maybe they outsourced the upgrade to India like they do the customer support. Those people don't have a clue. Now, they are switching back to the old email system. What idiots. I live in Central America and have no choice. If you have a choice of providers...DON'T USE HUGHES.NET ... The only good thing about my service is I deal with c-com, a VAR in Canada and they respond to emails and actually do provide "value added".

Read full review of Hughes and 3 comments
Hide full review
3 comments
Add a comment
A
A
Asar
, IN
Apr 08, 2009 2:30 am EDT

I got a message from "florance smith" (florancesmith114@hotmail.com) . In that there is written that i have won some in Euro Afro Asia Sweepstakes Lottery International Program. I wanted to know is this company true or Fraud?Perhaps this program happens in holand...

L
L
Lisa Jacobs
,
Jul 24, 2008 8:13 pm EDT

Hughesnet is HHOORRIFFFICCALLY AWFUL! I have logged over 17 hours to upgrade my ssllooowwww system to a faster speed. HAHA on me. I only pay a lot more and cannot get any quick access. I have talked to several different countries after arguing with the automated person for 15-20 minutes. They understand nothing, NADA, nil, etc. I even had my service shut off for an upgrade when it did not need to be shut off. I wanted to pay my bill by a different debit source and ended up being restricted to my online account because I am a child. I am 43 years old. I was unable to speak to an English speaking person, and was transferred after being on hold for multiple times and multiple hours, to other countries and never did get a number to talk to a real person in my language. If I terminate sevice with Hughesnet before 1 year I have to pay a $400.00. I have been trying to finish my masters degree online and have spent more hours at my neighbors on their service to complete assignments. I continually speak to anyone and everyone so they don't have to suffer the way I have and the way you others have also suffered. Hughesnet has cost me litterally thousands of dollars. Pardon me but individuals of other countries are certainly "screwing" us. I have never before in my life said anything so disgraceful sounding as that, but this company (Hughesnet) inspires that in me.

J
J
John Smith
,
Jun 30, 2008 4:13 pm EDT

Hughes net has always kind of sucked for even web browsing because once you hit the FAP it takes you to below dial up speeds, I know this because whenever Hughes starts not loading anything(sometimes not even google) I switch to a dial up connection.

Thats great because it ties up my phone lines which is one reason i pay ridiculous prices for sat interenet. I can't even play star craft online. That game is 10 years old and only requires a 28.8k modem meaning hughes isn't even delivering that.

ComplaintsBoard
M
2:17 pm EDT

Hughes awful service

How is it that all of us can suffer the same issue with the AWFUL service by Hughes.net and they just keep taking the money out of our pockets?!

If the wind blows there is no service (I live in Kansas for God's sake!), if it rains there is no service, if it snows there is no service, if the sun shines a certain way there is no service, if Hughes makes an "Upgrade" (God help us all) there is no service, if a bird flies by and poops...you get my point.

I beg our county government to PLEASE run cable in our rural area...someday I hope they listen.

Read full review of Hughes and 7 comments
Hide full review
7 comments
Add a comment
B
B
bdwood54
, US
Nov 02, 2017 10:33 am EDT

Hughes net sucks. I thought I had signed up for Dish Net because I called dish and every thing I talked about on the phone led me to believe I had signed up with dish net with a 1 year contract. The tech came out and installed the system and I didn't pay too much attention till I walked out side and saw the dish that said Hughes net and Informed the tech that I had signed up for Dish net and he told me that they were the same thing and I didn't think too much about it. I was not told I had a limit on the system. I was told by the person that I would get 25 mbs and when I reached my limit it would drop down to 10 mbs which would still be enough to easily stream movies. What I got was 25mbs to start and use my allotted gigs it dropped to 1 mbs upload and down load which you can hardly get on the internet with. They told me I had so loang that I could opt out. Wrong. They will offer you a little something to keep trying just long enough to your opt out period is out and then they put the screws to you. I am not going to stand for it. I am writing a letter to the Attorney General of NC< Cal and the US attorney general. I writing a letter to the BBB and going to start posting complaints to their face book till they allow me to disxontinue without paying 400 for something I didn't sign up for. If you don't like drama and problems don' ever sign up fo Hughes net.

Valerie
Valerie
, US
Dec 02, 2008 11:43 am EST

I have been a customer of Hughes Net for 5 years, only because I live in a rural area and have no other choice for internet service (I don't consider dial-up a choice). The service has not been that good since I started but knew I had to live with it until a wireless tower was built within range of my home. The service with Hughes Net continued to decline through the years, and many frustrating hours were spent on the phone with people that can't even pretend to care. I upgraded my modem to the 7000 in February, and paid the premium price of $79.99 per month for 'the best' plan. It didn't seem to make a difference in my service, which continued slow. I have been thrown off through their FAP about three times a week, which is extremely frustrating. I tried all known wireless companies, but was forced to live with slow service with Hughes Net. (There is a wireless internet service tower within 2 miles of my home but it is blocked by my neighbor's pole barn). This did not stop my search for a wireless company, and last week I finally found one that is 9 miles away and they provide and excellent signal. I never thought the internet could be so fast, this is really amazing. NOTHING comes close with Hughes Net, THEY ARE NOT HIGH SPEED. When I called to cancel my service, they informed me that I will be paying a $300.00 'early termination' fee. After being a customer for five years? What do they want, a lifetime commitment? The girl was actually laughing at me on the phone and said I can't do anything about it, because they reset their contracts when someone upgrades the equipment. I talked to three people on the phone, and each one told me that this is something that Hughes Net has as a policy and I can't get around it. Now I know why I wasn't told of this fine print when I upgraded. I would think that if there is an upgrade in the equipment, that it shows customer loyalty and people should not be penalized for this. I am frustrated and have to live with losing $300.00 to these scam artists. I feel the $300.00 is worth the price to have service that is light-years ahead of Hughes Net, AND I'm paying $40.00 per month for this! I will never go back to Hughes Net, if I have to use a satellite in the future it will be through another company, or I go to dial-up. I recommend anyone considering this company for service to run as fast as you can the other way. You will not get good internet service or customer service, and you will pay a high price. Lesson learned.

M
M
MHScottLewis
Kilmarnock, US
Apr 20, 2009 1:36 pm EDT

I will never recommend HughesNet to anyone. We subscribed about 6 month's ago and it is the equivalent of throwing your money in the trash. Of course, like most people, we assumed we were upgrading from dial-up. Hah. Thank goodness we kept the dial-up account, because in an emergency we rely on that for speed. Or I need to get around 4 or 5 a.m. to take advantage of one of the few times that HughesNet offers high speed internet. I am in the process of finding something better (rural area) and will cancel my subscription immediately. Somebody needs to close them down or penalize them for ripping off consumers.d

A
A
Ames
Gurley, US
Dec 31, 2008 8:48 pm EST

Can you please give the name of the faster company you are now using?

A
A
Ames
Gurley, US
Dec 31, 2008 8:39 pm EST

I agree with the post that was made regarding Hughes Net. We are under contract with Hughes Net and do not have service much of the time. My husband has to go to the library to post his grades because he cannot get internet service at home and we pay $60 a month for the service (no service). We have more than 30 case numbers from calls we've made about the problems we have with our connection. My husband was on the phone for over 3 hours the day after Christmas trying to dissolve our relation with them, they told us we would have to pay $300 termination fee, but we could upgrade to the faster service. I'm so glad I read the other post which stated the faster service was no faster and that our contract would start over with the upgrade. This is the worst company I have ever been involved with and would never recommend them. If they would change their way of thinking and put the customer's needs above their greed I'm sure they would be a much more prosperous company. RUN!

L
L
Les McLagan
,
Jun 11, 2008 6:20 am EDT

I guess I might as well chime in. Maybe between us we can save someone else the misery of dealing with this low life company. This was also submitted on [redacted] .com

I have been a Hughes.net user since 8/22/06 in that time I have experienced the absolute lowest, most useless, most uncooperative tech support that it has ever been my misfortune to experience. I am an electronics tech with over 45 years experience both in circuit level troubleshooting and IT. I do not need a flow chart reader to tell me that my system is fine when I can't access the internet. I have had trouble with the Hughes.net system from the very beginning. On two occasions they have sent me new modems unnecessarily because they simply were too incompetent to isolate the actual problems. Before you contact tech support with this company you had better first have a couple of good stiff drinks and take a few valium. You will get a very pleasant sounding person with such a thick East Indian accent that if you have poor hearing as I do, you will only catch one word in ten. Then the first thing they will do is have you reset your modem, in the process clearing any diagnostic data it has stored. Of course in most cases clearing the modem gets you going again for at least few minutes, so then they can find no problem and simply apologize for any inconvenience you have experienced and tell you to call again if you keep having trouble. Of course when you do call again you will just go through the same endless loop. It is like an insidious "Mobius Strip" The greatest problem is that after you have wasted often an hour or more on the phone and hung up, ten minutes later the problem will often re-occur. I have actually had to reset the modem as many as a hundred times just to get my email, but they continue to say the system is fine. In one case I logged the error codes that the modem was reporting for over a week. It tallied over 26 different error codes in that time. Armed with that data I called again the next time the system quit and before resetting it. The first thing they did again was demand I reset the modem before they would run any diagnostics, and as they would not budge from that I finally did. As soon as it came back up working they simply told me that since it was presently not showing any problem there was nothing they could do. When I tried to give them the error codes they told me that at their level of support they did not deal with the codes and refused to connect me to a higher level because the system had responded to a reset.
In one particular incident about six months ago I went through this insane run-around for nearly three weeks, being told at every call that there was no problem. Finally one day I called in and upon describing the problem was immediately transferred to higher level support who told me that the problem was a router problem at their end in the network operations center and that they were already aware of it and assured me that their engineers would have it fixed within a few hours. IT TOOK ANOTHER THREE WEEKS! Then to really make it frustrating I had to argue with their billing department for a half hour to get just one month’s credit on my bill.
Now the final straw. The system has been only marginally useful since then with it becoming slower with time. This last week I have been trying to do some very large downloads of data that I need to get soon. Finally I hopes of getting a bit more speed and a little higher limit on their so called "fair access policy" (frankly that is a total joke, it should read unfair access policy") I spoke to their tech support and then the billing office who both assured me that going to the next higher service package would definitely improve my speed as well as adding 75mb to my FAP limit. Once they had me suckered into spending the extra money they told me the system would be down for an hour while the computers updated my equipment. After much more than an hour when it was still down I called their tech support. They walked me through a re-registration of the modem and said it would then work. Well it did not! In point of fact what they had done was transfer my system to a transponder that was completely non functional. They actually had a pre-recorded message on the tech support line before you could speak to anyone that plainly stated that customers on that particular transponder would not be able to access the internet for some time due to network operations center problems, and that their engineers would have if fixed shortly. I called them and demanded that they switch me back to the transponder I had been on, and they flatly refused. They said that it was their policy not to move anyone to a different transponder unless the signal strength was below 52%. It was just a few points above that at the time. The fact that they had switched me from a transponder with a 94% and fully functional only minutes before did not seem to mean a thing to them. When the person I was speaking to became rude about it, I demanded to speak to his supervisor. He flatly refused to transfer me to the supervisor! I then asked for his name and employee number so I could file a complaint. He gave me his first name only and said his employee number was classified. It is not! It is mandatory that he give that information if asked since without it there is no way to register a complaint. A first name is useless; there could be a hundred Randy's working for Hughes. I finally got him to transfer me to billing to cancel my service. The lady there said that she would definitely get it straightened out, and that they did not want to lose a customer, but that I would have to contact tech support to change the transponder. After jotting down the case number she gave me, I again called tech support, this time I got a different person who again refused to change it back, and if possible became even more belligerent and rude than Randy had been. I have now signed up with Wild Blue. I hope they will be a bit more realistic. In the meantime while I wait for them to install their equipment, the dead Hughes.net transponder finally came back online about 24 hours later, unfortunately it is displaying exactly the same symptoms as occurred six months ago when it took their network engineers 3 weeks to realize they had a problem and another 3 to get it right.

B
B
Bob Olin
,
May 27, 2008 11:52 am EDT

I see I am not the only one complaining about hughes net. I wrote a letter a month to their "corporate office" from February to May without a reply. I don't thing it exists. Their employees say they have no way of communicating with them. They did not have the decency to answer. Everytime I attempted to call, I was on the phone for at least one-half hour and being transferred to six or more people, most of whom I couldn't understand
(language barrier), with absolutely no satisfaction. I had problems with their equipment and their technicians could not fix it, they wanted me to buy new equipment even though we did not know exactly what the problem was.
I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND HUGHES TO ANYONE. I SWITCHED TO WILD BLUE AND AM GETTING GOOD SERVICE WITH AMERICANS, SO FAR!

ComplaintsBoard
M
12:28 pm EDT

Hughes cannot connect to internet

Ever since Hughes mail "improved my service" over the weekend, I cannot access my e- mail at all.

It either get an invalid request, web page can't be found, , cannot connect to the web server, does not recognize my user name ( I have been using the same name and password for over 2 years, or does not recognize my password. HELP!

Read full review of Hughes and 2 comments
Hide full review
2 comments
Add a comment
K
K
K Karnan
,
Apr 29, 2008 11:54 am EDT

Unbelievable-4 days without consistent access-either at desk or web based. I get a random email once in awhile.

Only response i got with live (haha) chat was- we are sorry for the inconvenience.

I dont want to waste my time talking to someone in a noisy room who cant hear me and whom I have trouble understanding for an hour to get an answer of ...hmm, sorry.

I have to say that up until Saturday I have been very happy with hughes.net service. A bit slow once in awhile but a small price to pay for living in the "boonies".

D
D
Dorothee Racette
,
Apr 28, 2008 6:35 pm EDT

Same here! - I believe the "upgrade" has failed or was considerably more difficult than they envisioned. I run a business and have not had access to my email or the webmail feature for two days either (same experience: website does not recognize my user name).

I don't know what to do either, since it's absolutely useless trying to call tech service somewhere in Bangalore...

ComplaintsBoard
M
6:38 am EDT

Hughes lousy service

Just another voice crying in the Wilderness... we have no current alternative to Hughes Net but they are the WORST... if you are fortunate enough to have any other option besides this outfit take it. Hughes Net is one big rip off and they treat their customers like cattle (funny when you think of the fact that customer service is handled out of India!). We are going to see if an internet aircard will serve our needs... at least we will be dealing with real, local people.

Read full review of Hughes and 2 comments
Hide full review
2 comments
Add a comment
L
L
Linda Griffith
,
Nov 09, 2007 12:00 am EST

This internet company advertises to be High speed internet__WHAT A JOKE. They are no faster than dial-up but cost 4 times the amount of dial up. They are sooo nice to you at customer service UNTIL they install the junk (which will set your bank acct. back about $450.00) and you immediately start having problems and you call customer service and get someone in India that cannot understand you and keep you on the phone for an hour or so, then tell you they have to transfer you to advance technician which may be in the Philliphines or MAYBE Florida and you stay on the phone for another hour or two going over the same things you did the numerous times that you have called before. You can e-mail them with a problem and they tell you that you will have to call customer service that the problem requires REAL TIME ASSISTANCE which it actually does if you are willing to stay on the phone at least 4 or 5 hours every day. It is the biggest RIP_OFF ever--STAY AWAY from this provider!

D
D
DON THOMPSON
,
Aug 18, 2008 12:16 pm EDT

We're paying $120/ month for almost dial up speed. Hughes net will not do anything except ask me to continue to do "Speed tests". I have spent numerous hours on he phone with them trying to resolve our issues and am done. I have 6 months left on our contract (that no one has a copy of) then, will be done with them. I always make a point of telling everyone that I know just how bad Hughes Net really is. I hope that you all do the same.

Don Thompson
Richmond, VA

ComplaintsBoard
V
4:39 am EDT
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hughes scam advertising!

I am ALL OVER filing a class action suit against Hughes Net so if anyone is seriously interested in doing so and knows how to go about it, please let me know ASAP. I'm serious. Really serious. I won't go into every detail of our experience with this company but I'll just hit some 'high' notes. Total pun because seriously, this situation couldn't have gotten any lower.

We live about 5 miles outside of a city. Due to that, for whatever reason, we have NO options for internet besides dial up. My husband just got a new job which requires him to have a very fast internet connection. So, we finally decided to bite the bullet and look at getting satellite. We found our options to be Hughes Net and Wildblue. After some research, it appeared that Hughes Net was going to be the only way to go due to the fact that Wildblue's ONE tower already had the max on customers.

So, here we go with the nightmare. We had the service installed by some good ole boys from about an hours drive away. They came, put this enormous, Star Trek looking contraption on the side of our house, ran cables to our office, hooked everything up and told us it would probably be about 48 hours before the service would be up to speed and running fast.

We waited for that to happen and it never did. We started the customer service route after about a week of dealing with slower than dialup speeds and this was the beginning of the true nightmare.

We never spoke to ANYONE who spoke English, our hold times for even talking to someone was on average, at least 45 minutes, we were promised call backs by Tier 4 reps and never received them, we were told we had 30 days to cancel the service with no penalty and it turned out to be a lie (they're trying to nail us for $390 and some change), we would be on the phone for 3 hours with someone--taking up an entire evening away from family time---only to discover that the problem still wasn't fixed... the list goes on and on.

Finally, I got so furious that I was literally screaming at this woman---who by the way, probably didn't understand half of what I was saying, what with her broken English and all---and I DEMANDED to speak to a supervisor. To which, I was told that they basically didn't exist. When I pressed, and I do mean, PRESSED, the issue, she told me he was on the phone with someone and couldn't speak to me. WHAT?!

I emphatically told her to cancel our service and that she had better not be sending me any bill whatsoever because they would never see one cent from us. She told me they WOULD be sending a bill for the aforementioned amount and that it would be my responsibility to get the contraption off the side of the house or else they would charge us even more. She told me if I really wanted to, I could try to call back and speak to the technical support people and maybe they would send someone out to remove it. I told her they better just get someone out here to get this piece of ### off my house. I rarely curse at reps but I have HAD IT!

All in all, I have NEVER, EVER in my LIFE dealt with a company so unprofessional, mickey moused and ridiculous... in all my days, never.

And I have a bill for almost $400 from them. Which I won't be paying a penny of. My only question is where do I start on remedying the situation legally? Because I am JUST that kind of woman... I am ready to go on this. My husband lost work time---he had to go to hotel parking lots to do his work on his laptop so he could have the speed he needed---and we spent countless hours trying to fix this with this company and got absolutely no resolution. Just a big fat bill and some alien, teaser looking crap stuck to the side of our house.

Anybody ready to take some action? Please get back to me. I'm definitely ready...

Read full review of Hughes and 13 comments
Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hide full review
13 comments
Add a comment
B
B
BunnieFerro
Wellsville, US
Apr 16, 2010 8:07 pm EDT

As far as the phone call and insisting for almost an hour to speak to a supervisor AND telling them I would not pay them a dime ...I had the VERY same thing happen with me and Hughesnet! I called Hughesnet in Feb. to pay my bill current and end our service on March 1, 2010 because we would be moving and not keeping their internet. At the end of March I received a bill for another month of service. I called them and the nightmare began. First I was told by Jeff, in billing, that on Feb 22 when I talked to Ken...AND received a case number...that Ken did not make note to stop our service on April 1, 2010. On Feb 22, 2010 when I talked to Ken and paid the bill he told me that I had to pay the full month and would receive a refund from April 1 thru the end of the billing cycle. I told him I thought THAT was a bit ridiculous, but would do it anyway because I wanted the service stopped and would finally be rid of them and wanted to just do what it took to do so. I paid $158.78 on that day. Then on March 20, 2010 I received a bill for the next billing cycle and found out that my service was not stopped! I called and was given a reference number by Sam with technical support, then was transferred to Jeff in billing who and he began to argue with me when I told him that it was not my fault that Ken did not do his job and make note when I called to close my account and made the payment on Feb 22. I began to continuously ask for a supervisor and was told that he, himself (Jeff) was a supervisor, that there were no supervisors, that all of the supervisors were on the phone with others and could not talk to me, and finally...that there were no supervisors working at that time in billing that day. When I became irate and yelled that I was being taken advantage of and would not give them anymore money...I was put on hold for the 6th time and low and behold...a woman who said her name was Francis who could not speak much English either, got on the phone and said she was a supervisor and that she was briefed by Jeff and that they would stop my service as of that day and pro-rate what I owed them up till that date. There was nothing she could do, nothing no one could do, no other supervisors ...BLAH...BLAH...RIP OFF BLAH!
I would GLADLY testify and get on the ban-wagon to teach this company a lesson! I received a bill for the pro-rated amount of $26.74. Now, we lived way out in the boonies and to have the correct internet to be able to home school our kids and for our Missionary work we were at the mercy of Hughesnet... and NOW, they still have me because if I do not pay this $26.74 it will go on my credit report against me! WHAT CAN WE DO!?!?!?!OBVIOUSLY THIS IS HOW THEY RUN THEIR BUSINESS AND THEY ARE MAKING A FINANCIAL KILLING RIPPING US OFF!
I plan on sending a letter telling "someone"..."anyone" off when I sent the check for $26.74! Also, reporting them to the Better Business Bureau.
Please feel free to contact me.

V
V
vaughan1962
Bassett, US
Mar 23, 2010 9:08 pm EDT

hughes net, i believe there false advertizing about there speeds. They state you can download a intire album before you can download one song from dailup..what a joke we cant do it that fast. Also they set a limit of 200mg you can use before you lose speed..I have exceded this limit and dailup is zooming compared to the speed of hughes net. Also they have you in a fix, , , they say you have unlimited downloads at the hours of 2am- 7am, what a joke or haveing you cornered, who is willing to say up untill them hours to get what you want..See they have you in a fix. the 200mg limit they set you cant do nothing much untill you have used this up. 200mg is very small when it comes to downloads..Take a whole album, it would take 200mg to 500mg to download a intire album, and they know this. We had hughesnet about 2 weeks, and what i see is shocking, shure hate to see the bill..I see alot of bad comments about Hughesnet.do your research before jumping in to this investment please.

N
N
nick
Goochland, US
Dec 13, 2009 12:57 am EST

We have had to close "TWO" accounts (ad the advice of our bank) over Hughesnet! It began with unauthorized payments from our Visa...then we paid by a check...once they had our checking account information, they began making drafts from that. We now pay by money order.

A couple of months ago, the router went...of course they have no technicians available to fix it, so they had to mail us a new one (which took 2 weeks). They had the "nerve" to require us to pay return shipping for their faulty equipment!

It seems that there are many of us that want to do something about this...we just need to know how to go about it!

S
S
Snapdragon351
Ethelsville , US
Dec 10, 2009 9:00 pm EST

I agree 100%. I had them for 2 years due to the contract THAT I TRIED TO GET OUT OF 45 MINUTES after the installer left. FAP was a problem withing 45 minutes and has been for 2 years. Its good for email and very small amounts of browsing forget youtube and other media. Ive been trying to get a credit back for 45 plus days now that they owe me and agree that they owe me. Also their customer service is in the Philippines it took a total of 14 hours to get a friend of mine hooked up AFTER I GAVE THEM THE EQUIPMENT. 14 hours of phone time after an installer put it in. I wouldn't wish these people on my worst enemy.

pippa601
pippa601
Vale, US
Aug 24, 2009 11:20 pm EDT

I'm so totally with you on this one. WORST ISP EVER. Despite the fact that I can't understand what they are saying...I'd rather go back to Charter than deal with these buffoons. Too bad for me, NO ONE else offers internet out here in the boonies. Get info about a class action ASAP, I'll be all in it!

S
S
Sara
Sedro Woolley, US
Jun 14, 2009 1:55 pm EDT

Totally agree. My friend got hooked up to Hughes Net a week before me. She called and said it was great and that they had a really good special going on at the time. So i called and signed up. That was 35 days ago. First they say free installation - $125.00 you are going to end up paying because the satillite weighs over a 100lbs. and a pole mount is what they recomend (not to mention out here we get bad storms in the winter- 100 lbs on my roof isn't a good idea). So i had to pay $125.00 up front. Now keep in mind I bought our equipment-my friend leased hers. They billed me $460.00 up front- which is your charge of equipment and first month/last month service with an 18 month contract. There is a $150.00 mail in rebate that i have to fill out and mail in this week, if i cancel after 18 mon. Hughes net will buy the equipment back for $200.00 (so they say now). My friend called me frantick yest. she went to use her debit card and it was declined. Hughesnet overdrafted her account over $100.00. When she called she got someone from another country who couldn't speak english! They didn't tell her nor I that they would debt the account every month for billing-when we both called and said 'NO" send us an invoice every month-they say it will cost you $5.00 extra EVERY MONTH! For what?! Paper and postage they say. It's a JOKE! DON"T buy into it! I'm in a world of torture for 17 more months.
I 'm very interested in the class action suit-get me the info! PLEASE!

J
J
J Gilliland
Altoona, US
Jun 11, 2009 9:55 pm EDT

Hughes Net is a JOKE! We are in the same boat here. We have $400.00 invested in the equipment plus they want to charge us an additional $400.00 for breaking our contract. It was done thru the credit card company which they say they cannot help me with the automatic billing with Hughes Net without seeing our contract. What contract, I have nothing to show them because Hughes Net never gave me anything. We have had Hughes Net for 2 months and have had nothing but problems and I have been on the phone to their tech support off and on the entire time and gone thru the same steps we always go thru and NOTHING helps. Dial up internet would be high speed compared to this mess. I am interested in the class action suit and the addresses of anyone I can write letters of complaint to.

N
N
nick
Goochland, US
May 08, 2009 2:43 pm EDT

We (my wife and I) are most definitely ready to participate in and to support any class action law suit that can be taken against Hughesnet. In fact, I ended up here by performing a search regarding taking legal action against them.

It would take me forever to describe the experiences that I have had with them. In brief - False Advertising regarding speed and performance / False Advertising regarding installation fees / False information/promises regarding credits to re-imburse me for those installation fees / Being required to pay the shipping charges to return their faulty router after waitin over a week to be shipped a new one / Rude Customer Service / Straw that broke the camels back - unauthorized payments taken from my bank account after making a one-time payment over the phone - then refusal to reverse the payment.

I cannot in good faith, stand by and allow this company to take advantage of other people the way that they have us. If there is any possibility of participating in a class-action law suit...Please Advice!

A
A
ahole
Shitservice, US
Mar 01, 2009 10:44 pm EST

You Go Girl; Hughes.net sucks Their motto should be 50x slower than dialup.

R
R
Renee Callanan
,
Nov 25, 2008 12:23 pm EST

I have a similiar complaint. Highesnet is too expensive and was slow, they ripped me off for $300.00 for disconnecting. The ususal disconnect fee for other companies is $150.00. They also own Direct TV, another ripoff for the consumer. My advice is to stay away from Hughesnet and Direct TV and any other companies owned by Hughesnet.

ComplaintsBoard
V
8:34 pm EDT

Hughes no service!

I have paid in advance for internet (wireless) services and for the last month and 1/2 I have been unable to access the internet. I am going through a horrible time in my life and have minimal resources. Up to this point of my life I have been able to meet all my bills but at this time, lets say, if I am not going to have the services I paid for I'd rather have this money for other bills.

Read full review of Hughes and 3 comments
Hide full review
3 comments
Add a comment
D
D
DianaThomas52
Parrish, US
Jun 25, 2010 10:28 am EDT

We have been without service through out the day, starting at 6 am, and will get service back around 6 pm. We have called about this and they told us that they were having problems with their systems due to the storms they were having. Come on, this has been going on for 2 weeks now and i run a business from my home and with the bad service, i am loosing money. We have had HughesNet for 1 year, but if this is the kind of service we are gonna get, we will find another means, even if we have to go back to Dial-up.

M
M
Mary
,
Jul 27, 2008 8:00 pm EDT

After a recent "no service" situation, I understand and sympathize. I would be tempted to just not pay them; however, that would hurt your credit rating. I was told I'd been cut off because I exceeded the Fair Access after the service being down with a recording saying they were sorry for any inconvenience. Next day, they claim I had over 200 MB which again exceeded the allowed amount. Again the following day the same thing happened. So I disconnected their modem and used my phone line instead. Today, It's back on but for how long who knows. I am very dissatisfied with their service! If I had it to do over, I would stick with dialup modem or ANY OTHER SERVICE AVAILABLE!

H
H
heathepw
Vinemont, US
Jul 15, 2008 9:31 am EDT

I've had HughesNet for about a year now. About three months ago the modem lights would go off regularly. I had to disconnect everything and connect it back in a certain order to get the modem to start working. This went on for a couple of months. Finally the modem totally died. It took over a week to get my new modem. When I connected everything I could not access the Internet. After several long conversations I was told I would have to pay $125 to have a technician come out and realign the dish. I'm paying over $90 per month for this service so needless to say I wasn't happy. And as far as mounting the dish on a pole, mentioned in an earlier complaint, I think they do that to everyone. Apparently nobody has an acceptable roof to mount it on.

ComplaintsBoard
B
12:30 pm EDT

Hughes slower than dial up!

Due to no alternative for high speed internet upon my relocation to rural New Mexico, I subscribed with Direcway.com, which has subsequently changed names to Hughes.net. For the first 18 months starting back in 2004, the service was good. Not as fast as the ADSL I had at my previous residence. Things started to slow down and Hughes offered to sel me a new modem, an upgraded model with much higher speed capability. Ever since I purchased the new DW7000 modem, the hughes service has gone straight down hill. In the past year the modem simply dies and I have re-booted it over 400 times. The service has been getting consistently slower. Must be the additional users they are subscribing that now has their satellite overloaded. Since October 2007 I have made over 8 calls to Tech Service to complain about simple web pages that will not even load. You get a fix and a speed test while on the phone, but 2 hours later the speed has again dropped. Since 2004 I had never exceeded the Hughes Fair Access Policy. Then when I returned home one evening, the FAP was implemented. The net result was, even though I turned off my PC and unplugged the Hughes modem, that I was over the FAP limit and had literally no internet for 5 days. Hughes could not explain how I continued to be over the Fair Access Policy limit when the modem had been unplugged for over 30 hours straight.

If you live in a remote rural area, you have little option other than dial up, however at a $64.00 per month difference between dial up and Hughes.net, I can accept the slower speed at a reasonable price.

The concept was good and possibly before they overloaded their satellite capacity or only allocate a minuscule part of the satellite capacity for their broadband ISP service, it was acceptable to pay $75.00 per month when there was no alternative, but $75.00 per month for dial up level service is criminal.

Read full review of Hughes and 3 comments
Hide full review
3 comments
Add a comment
R
R
report them
Houston, US
Oct 14, 2008 4:59 pm EDT

The only good thing about Hughes.net is you don't have to hear that dumb dial tone. It's WAY slower than dial-up.

M
M
Marcia Quinn
,
Apr 29, 2008 11:49 am EDT

Don't waste your money or time with Hughes.net This is absolutely the worst company I've ever had to deal with. If you have any alternative for Internet, go with it. When I started with them 4 yrs ago it was fine. But they have been adding people to the Satmex 5 and Satmex 6 satellites to the point where there is no bandwidth and no one has any speed. If they tell you to "upgrade" your modem for faster download or upload times, don't believe it. I have the HN7000 and it is worse than the DW6000. Now with their FAP you can't even download music or watch videos or you get turned off for 24 hours.

The most recent "crisis" is their email upgrade which was suppose to take one day. Well now its Tuesday April 29 and we've had no email since Friday. Maybe they outsourced the upgrade to India like they do the customer support. Those people don't have a clue. Now, they are switching back to the old email system. What idiots. I live in Central America and have no choice. If you have a choice of providers...DON'T USE HUGHES.NET ... The only good thing about my service is I deal with c-com, a VAR in Canada and they respond to emails and actually do provide "value added".

R
R
reva dark
,
Apr 06, 2008 5:12 am EDT

I live in Belize. I pay 96.25USD (includes 10% sales tax) per month for service which is only slighlty better than dial-up. Dial-up is 52kps here. I have the DW 7000 2 watt satellite. I sell real estate so need to email photos. When purchasing the system, I had great hopes of enhancing my business and was looking forward to getting my work done quickly. NOT!

ComplaintsBoard
D
11:01 am EDT

Hughes terrible service!

HughsNet is by far the worst Internet Service Provider in the freaking world! You have to spend hours on hold, hours talking to every GD Gandi in India and still get no help. Try taking it to a english speaking supervisor and you'll get the same thing. Idiots with no customer service skills at all. Only thing HughsNet knows how to provide and provide good is charging ungodly amount of money for absolutely zero service. One can only hope that all the economic problems going on will affect them as a company and rid us of such shady businesses.

Read full review of Hughes and 3 comments
Hide full review
3 comments
Add a comment
B
B
Brookolson
Gilbert, US
Apr 09, 2015 1:06 pm EDT

They steal money off my cc anytime they feel like it over drafting me nonstop after being told to take card off file and never touch it again. They say I'm sorry I can't do anything by a supervisor and what do you know they do it again! Need a attorney!

R
R
R. Arriaga
Edinburg, US
Sep 07, 2010 8:43 pm EDT

I connected Hughsnet in November 2009. When I placed the order I was not informed about a contract. I specifically asked if there was one and they stated there was not. The installer arrived while I was not at home and charged over $100.00 for a router that he stated was needed and was not. My room mate unknowingly paid for this un-needed piece of equipment. (SCAM) That next day I checked my checking account and they had debited my account for $449.00 when I called them they said that was the cost of the equipment. I stated that i was not buying but leasing. The installation which was quoted as free with no contract now cost an additional $149.00 instillation and equipment fee for a total of $249.00. Today September 7 2010 I was notified that I had to vacate my rental house. Property was sold. I called Hughsnet was placed on hold for forty-five minuets. When an operator answered she stated that early termination of a contract would result in a $400.00 penalty. I explained that I did not have a contract and she explained that there was nothing that could be done I would be billed. I asked for a supervisor. His accent was horrible and barely understandable. His comment you will be charged period. I have contacted BBB and they stated Hughsnet has a very bad reputation with many complaints. To date I have had my service interrupted many times. I am only allowed 200Mb maximum in a 24 hour period after which the service locks-up. It is only available without interruptions sometimes between 2:00 am and 6:00 am if the 200Mb limit is exceeded you do not have service until twenty-four hours after you exceeded this limit. Tokens are available for $5.00 for each additional 200Mb. If you call customer support you are charged almost $4.00 a minute and they download their updates and charge it to your allotted 200Mb. This results in not having service sometimes for days at a time. I just learned about the corporate number and was informed that I may receive better service with them. I hope this information is helpful in deciding if you want to receive service from this provider. [protected] is the corporate number.

A
A
amy
,
Jun 13, 2008 1:53 pm EDT

I had big issues with my service. My hughsnet was installed on 6/11/08. I had it shot off on 6/12/08. I was told that I had thirty days to decide if Iwanted it or not. Yea right LIARS! I could disscounted and pat $400, but would be refunded $200 if I shipped and paid for shipping the equipment back.Bull crap.
I spoke to more then one person who kept telling me that they could not doing anything. I then spoke to a supervise, who informed me that the day my service was installed they tried to bill my credit card, which they did not have permission to use. So make a long story short after all this run around I contacted corporate and spoke to a very nice lady named Rebecca. She was the only one willing to fix the issuse for me. The corporate number is [protected]. Calll them with your issuses because you will not get any where with customer service. If we keep passing on this number maybe they will see that they can't keep doing bussiness the way that they are and fix the issuse.Hope this helps.

ComplaintsBoard
T
5:22 pm EST

Hughes slower than dial up and no support!

About 16 or 17 month's ago I had Hugesnet satellite installed Because I can not get DSL and or Cable here in the country. After paying around $500.00+ for the equipment a Young man come to install the system He insisted he could not install the system with out a pole mount and that would be an additional $110.00, This was for the pole and a bag of cement to set the pole in the pole cost $9.00 and the bag of cement cost $6.50 at a local hardware store. I am sure this person was getting payed from Hughesnet now I am in $610.00 and I still don't have High speed internet after an hour or so the system was up and running and I felt I had been Had! At $59.00 a month I got terrible up and download speeds at peek times some of the time I could not even get on the net I had kept my Dial up Just in case as I had to use it often. After a wile this so called FPA Had kicked in so I upgraded to the pro plan and was told this would be fast 1.5 down and 200 up all this for only $79.00 a Month thats $80.00 a month for An average of 77 down and 20 up during peek times they have a disclaimer for this too. I recently call about slow speed and got 3 (three) different stories about my slow speed and no help was available and that I was to wait for a call from the next level of support with in 24 to 48 hours. No one called I called back only then did I talk with level 4 this is what they said and some one would call with in 5 work days They called and said they knew there was a problem and the were working on this problem. still have the same problem I would think they have over sold there available bandwidth this has been a total negative experience and I would not recommend this service to any one They have my money and I got terrible service. I will put out the word about this matter as much as I can Hughesnet get your stuff together.

Read full review of Hughes and 2 comments
Hide full review
2 comments
Add a comment
J
J
Jodie
Springtown, US
Feb 03, 2009 7:05 pm EST

I had Hughesnet installed March 2008 because I have no other option living in the country.
It cost me $80 a month and is down more than it is up and working. I have called in trouble at least 8 times.
The last time I called, two weeks ago...they determined my problem was my modem. They sent me a new one...I replaced it and it did not work. I was on the phone with 4 different reps for 2 1/2 hours and then, they told me ...
"well...obviously... the problem is the dish. We will have a service man come out but, it will be a service charge. You can ship the modem back to us at your expense". There is absolutely nothing wrong with my dish...it is the modem.
If I had another option for internet, it would be worth the penalty to get rid of this nickle and dime service.

D
D
Dan
,
Jul 16, 2008 1:09 pm EDT

Hughesnet has been a total rip off! Slower than dial-up! And NO support and NO HELP!

Hughes Customer Reviews Overview

HughesNet is a satellite internet service provider that offers broadband connectivity to customers across the United States, particularly in rural and remote areas where traditional high-speed internet options are limited or unavailable. Their services include various internet plans with different data allowances to suit individual usage needs. HughesNet emphasizes its availability nationwide, leveraging satellite technology to provide internet access. Additionally, they offer built-in features such as data-saving modes to help manage bandwidth usage.

Hughes In-depth Review

In Summary: HughesNet offers satellite internet services primarily targeting rural and remote areas where traditional broadband is not available. While it provides widespread coverage and a variety of plans, customers should be aware of its speed limitations, data caps, and contract terms. The installation process is straightforward, but there may be initial costs involved. Performance can vary, especially during peak times, and customer service experiences are mixed. HughesNet includes features like built-in Wi-Fi and a Bonus Zone, but users must weigh these against the overall cost and value for money. The company also shows a commitment to sustainability and community involvement.

Company Overview: HughesNet is a long-standing provider of satellite internet services, known for connecting users in rural and remote areas. Their core offerings revolve around internet connectivity with a focus on areas underserved by traditional broadband.

Internet Service Options: HughesNet offers a range of plans that vary in price and data allowances, with speeds up to 25 Mbps. All plans come with data caps, and exceeding these limits can result in reduced speeds. Contract terms typically require a 24-month commitment.

Installation and Setup: Installation is generally handled by professional technicians and is often praised for its simplicity. Customers receive a satellite dish and modem, but there may be initial setup fees or equipment costs to consider.

Performance and Reliability: Users report that actual speeds can sometimes fall short of advertised speeds, particularly during peak hours. However, the network is known for its reliability in areas where other internet services are unavailable.

Customer Service: Customer service experiences with HughesNet are varied, with some users reporting quick and helpful responses, while others have faced challenges. Support is available through phone, email, and chat.

Coverage and Availability: HughesNet's primary advantage is its extensive geographic coverage, especially in rural and remote areas where other internet options are limited or nonexistent.

User Experience: Customer reviews are mixed, with some praising the service for its availability and others critiquing it for speed and data limitations. The user interface for account management is functional, and the mobile app offers additional convenience for managing services.

Additional Features and Services: HughesNet includes built-in Wi-Fi with its modems and offers a Bonus Zone, where customers can use additional data during off-peak hours. Other value-added services may be available depending on the plan.

Pricing and Value for Money: When compared to other satellite internet providers, HughesNet's pricing is competitive, but it may seem high compared to traditional broadband. The company occasionally offers promotions, but customers should be mindful of termination fees and refund policies.

Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility: HughesNet demonstrates a commitment to reducing its environmental impact and engages in various sustainability initiatives. The company also participates in community programs and strives for social responsibility.

Pros and Cons: HughesNet's key advantages include its availability in remote areas and the inclusion of features like the Bonus Zone. However, the disadvantages of speed limitations and data caps are significant. The service is best suited for users with limited internet options.

Final Verdict: HughesNet is a viable option for users in rural and remote locations who have limited access to other types of internet services. While it offers reliable coverage and some unique features, potential customers should carefully consider the speed and data limitations, as well as the overall cost, before committing. For light internet users and those without other options, HughesNet can be a suitable choice, but heavy streamers and those used to high-speed broadband may find it lacking.

How to file a complaint about Hughes?

Here is a guide on how to file a complaint against Hughes on ComplaintsBoard.com:

1. Log in or create an account:
- Start by logging into your ComplaintsBoard.com account. If you don't have an account, create one to proceed.

2. Navigating to the complaint form:
- Locate and click on the 'File a Complaint' button on the ComplaintsBoard.com website. You can find this button at the top right corner of the website.

3. Writing the title:
- Summarize the main issue with Hughes in the 'Complaint Title' section.

4. Detailing the experience:
- Provide detailed information about your experience with Hughes. Mention key areas of concern, any relevant transactions, steps taken to resolve the issue, the nature of the problem, and the personal impact.

5. Attaching supporting documents:
- Attach any additional supporting documents that can help validate your complaint. Avoid including sensitive personal data.

6. Filling optional fields:
- Use the 'Claimed Loss' field to state any financial losses and the 'Desired Outcome' field to specify the resolution you are seeking.

7. Review before submission:
- Review your complaint for clarity, accuracy, and completeness before submitting it.

8. Submission process:
- Click the 'Submit' button to submit your complaint.

9. Post-Submission Actions:
- Regularly check for any responses or updates related to your complaint on ComplaintsBoard.com.

Follow these steps to effectively file a complaint against Hughes on ComplaintsBoard.com.

Trust badge
Collect Your Trust Badge
Be recognized for outstanding customer service

Contact Hughes customer service

Phone numbers

+1 (866) 347-3292 +1 (844) 737-2700 More phone numbers

Website

www.hughesnet.com

Your Voice Matters: Our Commitment to Genuine Reviews

Empowering Real Experiences

At ComplaintsBoard, we believe in the power of true customer stories. Our platform is a space for authentic voices, where experiences, both good and bad, are shared openly and honestly.

Dedicated to Authenticity

ComplaintsBoard is vigilant in our fight against false reviews. Our team employs robust verification methods to ensure every review reflects a real customer experience, upholding the integrity of our platform.

Encouraging Detailed Feedback

ComplaintsBoard values reviews that come with real evidence. Whether it's a photo, a detailed account, or additional documentation, such substantiation adds credibility to your story, helping others make better-informed decisions.

Balanced and Constructive Conversations

We're more than just a complaints board; we're a community for balanced dialogue. ComplaintsBoard encourages reviews that not only highlight issues but also acknowledge positive aspects, fostering a fair and comprehensive understanding.

Free and Fair Platform

ComplaintsBoard's commitment to maintaining a free and unbiased platform is unwavering. Every review is treated equally, ensuring that your voice is heard and respected, regardless of the nature of your experience.

Is ComplaintsBoard.com associated with Hughes?

ComplaintsBoard.com is not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected with Hughes Customer Service. Initial Hughes complaints should be directed to their team directly. You can find contact details for Hughes above.

ComplaintsBoard.com is an independent complaint resolution platform that has been successfully voicing consumer concerns since 2004. We are doing work that matters - connecting customers with businesses around the world and help them resolve issues and be heard.

Use this comments board to leave complaints and reviews about Hughes. Discuss the issues you have had with Hughes and work with their customer service team to find a resolution.