Given that more people are now using the internet for work, school, and even entertainment, unlimited data has become a necessity in most homes today. For example, satellite internet service provider Hughesnet offers “unlimited data” packages, but is high-speed, truly limitless? Hold on a minute, let me explain.
What is Hughesnet?
Hughesnet is among the leading companies that offer satellite internet to its clients in the United States. Satellite internet service is a system where the internet connection is established through a satellite that orbits the earth hence enabling the user to access it wherever he/she is without necessarily requiring cable or fiber optics connection.
Hughesnet is a satellite internet provider company with more than one million active customers. Although satellite internet was previously characterized by its low speeds and high latency compared to other internet types, Hughesnet at the moment has claimed 25 Mbps download speed throughout the area of over 200 million people in the Americas.
Satellite internet service has its demerits as discussed Below.
Satellite internet has its limitations and disadvantages despite improving the scope of internet coverage. Most notably, it is subject to much stricter data caps than cable or fiber:
- The use of limits in the usage of data is crucial to avoid high traffic on the networks. Since many subscribers use the bandwidth offered by a few satellites, the abusive use can have a backlash to all consumers.
- It must be appreciated that there is only limited satellite capacity available in the world. This is a marked downside since while ground-based internet service providers can add capacity on the ground as required, satellite internet service providers are limited by the amount of bandwidth available in orbit.
- Compared with other internet types, latency can be slow when the signal has to make a round trip to and from outer space. This may affect the speed of applications that require real-time results.
Hughesnet Data Plans
Hughesnet offers three residential plans with advertised unlimited data:
- There is a 50 GB High-speed data plan.
- 25 GB High-Speed Data Plan
- 10 GB High-Speed Data Plan.
The essence of these claims is the words ‘high-speed data.
While Hughesnet does provide unlimited internet access, speeds will be throttled to extremely slow speeds after surpassing the high-speed data limit each month:
- 50 GB Plan: Reduced speeds lowered to 3 Mbps after reaching 50 GB of streaming at the high speed.
- 25 GB Plan: The speeds are brought down to 3Mbps once the customers have consumed 25GB of high-speed data.
- 10 GB Plan: Step 2: Speed slows down to 1-3Mbps after reaching the usage of 10GB of high speed.
To give a relativity point, the current FCC benchmark specific to broadband download speed is 25 Mbps. 3 Mbps is insufficient to comfortably stream HD video and for all the current internet activities.
Hughesnet Gen5 vs Viasat
What is different between Hughesnet and the competitor Viasat, which also offers unlimited data plans?
The unlimited bronze 12 plan of Viasat uses a minimum speed of 3 Mbps, whereas the gold 30 plan uses up to 30 Mbps. Nevertheless, Viasat also applies priority data constraints wherein if violated, then the service will undertake network prioritization and slower speeds.
Hughesnet has higher base speeds at 25 Mbps for downloads and this may be favorable for customers who use low to moderate internet. However, for those who intend to use Viasat as power users with 100GB or more monthly usage, the gold plan with 30 Mbps may hold some stability before it reverts to the slower speed due to congestion.
Tips for Conserving Data
Despite this, it is crucial to note that Hughesnet’s ‘unlimited’ data plans may not meet the needs of customers who require a lot of bandwidth every month because the speed will be throttled after the high-speed data limit has been attained. Still, even occasional internet users could gain from the opportunities provided.
Here are some tips to minimize the consumption of your allotted high-speed data each month if you opt for HughesNet:
- Choose to playback videos in standard definition rather than high definition, or disable auto-play.
- Avoid downloading large files and software updates during the day or the billing cycle if you don’t want to burn through your data allowance.
- Exclude background updates and syncing on any device whenever it is possible
- It’s important to employ compression and caching tools while performing web browsing.
- It might be useful to add no-contract monthly purchased increments especially when the initial high-speed allotment is quickly depleted.
The Bottom Line
HughesNet does indeed provide unlimited data plans although they are not purely unlimited as they come with certain terms and conditions. However, with many broadband providers offering only a set amount of data then speeds drop down and you get ‘unlimited’ which means only you can download as much data as you want but at a very slow speed after a certain limit has been reached.
Satellite internet providers, no doubt, have inherent disadvantages compared to the ones that operate on the ground, yet the progress increases speeds and bandwidths. For those living in rural areas who have no access to terrestrial broadband connection, satellite is almost the only way to go.
Hughesnet can provide a way online with careful management of the data as well as avoiding activities that utilize a lot of bandwidth while on the internet they are not yet able to provide what one would consider a home internet. With new satellite fleets in the pipeline and emerging innovations such as multi-orbit constellations being developed to be launched in the next few years, capabilities may further improve to support the delivery of richer and more unrestricted unlimited data plans.
