Well, I can tell you this much. I've had Hughesnet since 2004, and it's been decent. When it snows hard and/or the dish gets some buildup, you do lose the signal, but my dish is low enough that I can clean it off easily. I just upgraded to the Gen4 from the original plan that I had since 2004, and I have been happy with it thus far. There are slowdowns during the peak period, but that's to be expected. I am in the same boat as you in regard to nothing else being available. But, be forewarned, Hughesnet offers Gen4 now, but only the eastern third of the US and a few pockets on the west coast truly get the Gen4 speeds, whereas the rest of the country is put on the older satellite and are limited to a speed of 5Mbps down.
Also, I am pretty sure that it's Hughesnet that Dish offers. They don't have actual satellite internet themselves.
Again, though, with regard to losing the signal, that is the norm with heavy snow and snow buildup on the dish. I don't recall ever losing it when it rains, save for one really nasty storm a few years back. It happens with DirecTV, as well. I hope this helps.
Gabe1972 got a reaction from CA3LE in Satellite internet