Actually, I have had HughesNet in the past, and do not agree with ANY of your points.
* "Slightly faster than dial-up." High-speed is a relative term. Seven times the speed of dial-up, about the speed of HughesNet, is very slow for someone switching from DSL, cable, or fiber-optic, but will be VERY FAST for the TARGET MARKET, people switching from DIAL-UP because there are NO OTHER OPTIONS.
* "Disable internet completely...pass allotted download limit." Firstly, the Internet is not disabled completely, it is just significantly throttled. Secondly, you can PAY $10 to have it reset. Thirdly, if using excessive amounts of Internet like mass quantities of video streaming is not allowed, then DON'T DO IT... it's not like you can do that stuff with dial-up, anyway. In rural areas, there is NO WAY to make this possible. It just can't be done in the first place. Finally, satellite ISPs (which DO provide "REAL" Internet, it just can't be used in all the same ways as easily as in a large cities) MUST enforce these limits, whether THEY like it or not, because if they didn't, their satellites would explode under all the excessive load.
* "Internet gaming, Xbox Live, etc..." See "Thirdly" above. It's not like they work with dial-up, either, and they actually MAY work depending on what it is. It is to be expected when you're sending signals to space and back four times, it will not work as well as a light-speed overland cable.
* "$60/mo for slower than DSL and low download limit...cable is faster" OF COURSE. It's NOT ABOUT being faster than DSL, it's about being faster than DIAL-UP. For someone that has used real high-speed internet in the past, this service will, indeed, be significantly less useful. However, the service is designed for those for whom it is the ONLY OPTION besides dial-up. If you're switching from many years of using DIAL-UP, it will be UNBELIEVABLY fast. FAST IS RELATIVE!
* "The first real ISP..." Again, HUGHESNET IS A "REAL" ISP. ISP STANDS FOR "INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER." HUGHESNET PROVIDES "INTERNET SERVICE, " WHICH IS A SERVICE THAT ALLOWS SOMEONE TO CONNECT TO THE INTERNET AND ACCESS WEB PAGES. THIS IS WHAT IT DOES. IT MAY NOT WORK AS WELL AS WHAT IS FOUND IN LARGE CITIES, BUT IT IS NOT DESIGNED TO. NOBODY IS CLAIMING THAT IT DOES. IT IS DESIGNED TO WORK BETTER THAN WHAT IS USUALLY FOUND IN RURAL AREAS. After I had HughesNet for a while and ACKNOWLEDGED ITS LIMITATIONS, a high-speed internet service provider came to my area. I promptly cancelled my HughesNet service and switched to it, as HughesNet, no, did not work as well as it and did have low limitations. However, WHILE I HAD HUGHESNET, it was the BEST OPTION AVAILABLE TO ME, which is all anyone can ask of it and is what it is designed to be.
In short, HughesNet does NOT, no, provide high-speed internet... when by high-speed you mean DSL or FiOS speed. HughesNet DOES, however, provide Internet that is MANY, MANY times faster than the service they are designed to replace. HughesNet is not a "scam." It is not trying to cheat anyone out of their money. If you pay for it, you will get the service that you have been told you are paying money for, and it will work as well as you have been told it would. In many situations, it may not make SENSE to use HughesNet, but, and I can't stress this enough, THE CONSUMER BEING AN IDIOT AND BUYING THE WRONG THING DOES NOT MAKE WHAT THEY BOUGHT A SCAM. |
