HughesNet Stinks
I’m so angry I could spit!
I’ve been having constant daily problems securing an Internet connection for well over a month now. My ISP is HughesNet. You’ve heard of them on TV. They’re the outfit that can provide you with broadband Internet Service so long as you have a “clear view of the southern sky.”
I have that clear view. HughesNet provides their service via satellite.
For sometime now, since the temperatures of the Nevada have been at and above 100° my connection to the satellite has dropped and doesn’t return until it cools down to below 100° and the sun goes down.
I’ve made numerous calls to their “technical support.” What that means is I am connected to someone in India who tries to solve problems from there. They do a pretty good job of it too. But the problem is with the equipment here—in Nevada—and no one in India can do much about that.
They then refer the problem to what they call an “advanced technician” in the United States who make “house calls” and try to remedy the problem.
For the Pahrump area that means someone comes out to Pahrump from Las Vegas to work on the problem.
I’ve had 4 such visits over the past few weeks.
The last visit was about 4 weeks ago. The technician told me he was going to replace the “head” on the arm of my satellite dish. Then he told me the replacement head was on backorder. That was 4 weeks ago and I haven’t heard from him since.
Yesterday I called HughesNet technical support again. A fellow named Mac in India told me a technician was scheduled to come to my house today. That was news to me. Had to call India to learn that. “Advanced technicians” aren’t very communicative. One would think they’d phone and schedule an appointment to be sure I would be home. Not the way it is.
So, I’ve been home all day awaiting the visit from the illustrious technician. It is now passed 6:00 p.m. and no technician has shown up or called or anything.
So I phoned HughesNet Technical support again. This time I’m talking to a fellow named Jude. I gave him the case number (they’re real big on case numbers). He then spontaneously said “You are calling about the technician?” Yes, I answered. Haven’t seen hide nor hair of him.
Jude then tells me he is scheduled to be here Monday, July 26. Today’s Friday. That is another three days away. Then Jude tells me he will be here at 8:00 p.m. Monday.
Fat chance I thought. But good old Jude apologizes for the technician for something Jude had nothing to do with. Then he volunteers to credit my ISP account with three days credit against my bill.
Anyway, I have sort of figured an interim solution to my connection problem. I have wrapped the electrical components on the arm of my dish in a sponge then attached my garden hose to it. Using the mist from the hose nozzle sprays the mist over the overheated component cooling it enough to get the connection to the satellite. The downside to that is that it reduces my signal strength but at least I can get connected.
So, we’ll see if anyone shows up on Monday the 26th at 8:00 p.m. (I’m not at all optimistic.)
If they don’t get this thing fixed Monday I’m going to switch to some other broadband ISP. HughesNet tells me if I do they’ll charge me $1,000 because I still have 18 months to go on my subscription. That after having used them for 8 years!
I’m not going to shell out $1,000 to HughesNet. They have breached the subscription contract by failing to provide Internet service 24 hours a day 365 days a year.
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