HughesNet is one of the largest satellite Internet service providers in the US other providing high speed Internet through satellite to households and businesses that are in the rural areas or those areas that are not covered by cable and fiber optics Internet. The key question to ask is whether HughesNet implements a data limit on its service since satellite networks do not possess as much bandwidth as terrestrial networks. And the short answer to the question about whether HughesNet plans do include monthly allotted data usage is yes. But let me explain the matter in more detail.
This is perhaps one of the most important questions that may frequently be asked by a HughesNet customer, or any other internet service subscriber for that matter, so let me quickly provide an answer ‘HughesNet Data Limit is 40 GB.
HughesNet Internet has offered different plans with varying amounts of data allowance per month, ranging from 10 GB for the smallest plan to 50 GB for the largest plan. To regulate devices that have gone beyond the given data limits, the internet speeds are slowed down for the remaining term of the bill.
The first tier of the offering includes 10GB for $10 with download speeds of 25Mbps or higher depending on location while the highest tier, 50GB for $50 also offers download speeds of 25Mbps or higher depending on location. It can be seen that even if you choose the 50GB plan, the moment the 50GB high-speed data allowance is exhausted, your speeds drop down to 1-3Mbps for any usage beyond it.
Activities that are analyzed as used towards the allowance include both download and upload. So, for instance, if you download 10 gigabytes and you upload 5 gigabytes, what you have used is 15 gigabytes of your data bundle.
Why There Should Be Limitations on Satellite Internet?
Satellite internet inherently has bandwidth and content broadcasting from and to space issues that do not extend to cable or fibre systems. Each satellite has its own limited capacity and covers a large area of land.
Which is why satellite internet providers such as HughesNet feel the need to employ strict data limits and reduce speeds as soon as those limits have been reached – to maintain quality and accessibility for all. If there are no limits, congestion would slow down satellite internet when traffic is high to a point that is almost intolerable.
Does HughesNet Offer Any Internet Plan That Offers Unlimited Data?
Unlike most satellite Internet service providers, HughesNet has most of its plans bound by a certain amount of monthly high-speed data allowance. However, there is one plan available at HughesNet for consumers that does not restrict the data usage - the HughesNet Unlimited Data plan is available since 2021.
The Priority Data speeds with the Unlimited Data plan include 50 Mbps download speed and 3 Mbps upload speed with no overly restrictive Priority Data limit. To be clear, once your Priority Data allowance of 50GB is used up, your connection can be slowed, at least temporarily, during congestion hours, but you never get hard throttled.
Which is quite beneficial, as the HughesNet Unlimited Data plan lets you continue to browse with high speed once you’ve met your monthly usage cap. However, this is a very unlimited plan at $150 per month for the Unlimited plan.
What Can I Do To Cut Down My HughesNet Data Consumption?
If you want to minimize the chances of exceeding your HughesNet data allowance and getting throttled, here are some tips:
- By the nature of being a video and/or music stream, streaming video and music services are notorious for their high bandwidth usage.
- Limit streaming and where necessary, you can choose to reduce the video quality or download content instead of streaming.
- Limit background activity if you can, especially for app updates. These can quietly set fire to data in the background.
- Make sure to use this method during free times that do not attract any extra charge at night especially in the wee hours of the night. This is the best time to download large files as it will not slow down the internet connection during the remaining period.
- Turn WiFi off on devices when the particular device do not require the internet to be used at that moment to avoid the unnecessary data connection.
- Some of the best set up rules include setting up warning and limit for data usage for devices.
- It is suggested to incorporate “data tokens” with some amount of money for additional data if a constant is needed in one month.
Prepaid limits, while being enhanced by HughesNet, are still a reality to consider though there are services offered with unlimited data. This means that it is wise to check the usage frequently and avoid getting caught unprepared due to excessive usage of bandwidth. Before subscribing to the right HughesNet plan for your family, it is also important to determine the data requirements of your household.
