would a repeater help me?

[dmnmay]

hello anybody, i am new to satellite. i have hughes here in oregon.... only other option was viasat and they wanted $50 bucks more a month. anyway i am only getting 1 mbps during normal hours & up to 25 mbps during tweeker hours? my netflix is allways buffering and drops. i have changes the settings for low quality. would a repeater help in any way? i keep all devices TURNED OFF & UNPLUGGED when not in use. so i am only using one device at a time. my wifi is excellent in all rooms so i am not worried about extending. would a repeater help with the buffering? is it true that companies have a governor inside the modem to limit mbps? i think netflix needs at least 6 mbps to function properly?

would a repeater/extender keep using my juice when i am not using anything?

i only have 20GB a month...

i missed spectrum by two miles.

any help would be greatly appreciated'

thanks in advance.

[Sean]

Unfortunately, a Wi-Fi repeater will not offer any improvement.  A Wi-Fi repeater would only help improve coverage to an area with weak or no Wi-Fi coverage.  It certainly does not improve speed to an area with good Wi-Fi coverage despite what the ads promote.  In fact, they actually cut the Wi-Fi bandwidth in half by repeating every piece of data between the Wi-Fi router and the Wi-Fi connected device.

 

As you are able to get up to 25Mbps offpeak, this also confirms that your Wi-Fi connection is not at fault, but instead with your Internet provider limiting the speed during normal hours.

 

Both Netflix and YouTube require a minimum of 0.5Mbps to stream in low quality.  Many of your speed tests are either under this or dip below 0.5Mbps midpoint during the test, so this explains the buffering issue.  I see a few are under 300Kbps, the equivalent speed of a 2G phone data connection.  Basically, the Hughes satellite spot beam you're connected to is oversubscribed.

 

I suggest setting Netflix to download the episodes you plan watching before heading to bed.  Basically, pick out everything that you might watch the following day and this way you watch them uninterrupted.  A few years ago when I had a slow DSL connection, this was the only way I could reliably watch shows.

[dmnmay]

hey thanks Sean, this info helps a lot.

i figured the repeater wouldnt help but i figured i would ask?

i also figured everything else was good cuz i even saw 30 mbps one time @ 3:am before testing.

i aslo just learned that my wi-fi is as good as ethernet direct plug in.

i ran a test on each and both had same results. 

both took 15 minutes to test.

wi-fi had .233 & hardline had .217

i know how to verify when all wi-fi devices are disconnected.

i am hoping hughes will fix my problem and currently trying to communicate with them?

my only other option around here is Viasat.

they wanted $50 bucks more a month but i would gladly pay that for some decent Mbps.

i havent heard anything about them since i have not meet anybody yet that has them here?

maybe they are new my area like me?

have you heard anything bad or good about ViaSat or any difference between the two?

any insight would sure be appreciated.

thanks again.

P.S. ya i leaned how to download netfix movies on my tablet a few years ago.

then screen mirror to my roku stick on any TV

i learned how to do this for when i was on cruise ships!

down load at ports & watch at sea LOL !

[Sean]

From looking through the the TestMy database, for periods of around 6pm to 11pm (GMT -6), Viasat's test results appear better with far fewer test results under 500Kbps.  Hughes has many test results dipping to under 100Kbps.

 

My first suggestion would be to check if there is any LTE cellular coverage outside and try a few speed tests in the evening.  If you get even a few Mbps, you can try getting an LTE router and a directional antenna to mount outside for the signal (unless you get indoor coverage).  There's plenty of YouTube videos showing how these work, such as the following example:

 

 

If there's no or very poor cellular reception there, Viasat does appear like a good candidate as I've heard far fewer complaints about them compared to Hughes.  One likely reason is the higher price as you mentioned, which in turn means fewer subscribers.  There are also about 1/4 the number of Viasat speed test results compared to over Huges, which also another good sign of far fewer customers on Viasat.  Assuming both provide the equivalent bandwidth on each spot beam, fewer customers = Less network traffic. ?

[dmnmay]

wow thank you so much for the schooling.

thats cool that you can look at previous stats!

i am just outside of klamath falls in oregon (PMT)

i missed spectrum with land cable internet by 2 miles.

i had them in southern california with unlimited 200 mbps for $79 a month.

it was excellent!

i will definitely do homework on that mobile aircard.

i had a verizon one at work that was cool but it wasnt unlimited.

i checked with verizon here while getting some phone stuff done and they said there moble aircard would loose mbps after 10 minutes.

so i forgot about it?

my verizon phone gets 7-10 mbps all day long and seems to be better than hughes lol.

coincidently today my wife had mentioned that t-moble was unlimited.

that video was perfect info.

i am gonna check into that!

if its not available i may switch to viasat......

thanks again so much for the help.

i dont do social media or play video games.

all i watch is netflix from roku on my stupid tv.

and a little online banking.

thanks again so much for the help.

??

[dmnmay]

hey Sean, so i did some more homework

im not sure what im doing but i found a t-moble 4G LTE tower in my area ( wich is green )

it is actually closer than my verizon tower ( wich is red )?

it looks like i would need band #2 for triangularization ( dam did i just say that ? LOL )

i am not sure what the colors mean?

i looked at a couple of aircards and i liked the night hawk M1.

i am still learning but i am assuming the M1 can use band #2? or be set at #2 ?

i think i shoulda did more homework before i got hughes but moving to another state was a big ordeal and i wanted a scheduled appointment before i got there...... 

does it look like this would work for me?

thanks again for the schooling!

i cant believe how much ive learned this week!

?

[Sean]

Going by CellMapper's documentation, the green dots are actual cell tower locations that were manually added to the database.  The red dots are estimated cell tower locations, so are not accurate locations. 

 

That's great being near a T-Mobile tower as that Nighthawk is reported to work best with T-Mobile and AT&T.  The Nighthawk M1 supports LTE bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 14, 29, 30 and 66.  Most of your nearby Verizon towers uses band 13, which this router does not support.  I wouldn't worry about T-Mobile band 71 as it's a low bandwidth 5G band, so may not be as fast as the 4G bands.  

 

That nearby site operates on LTE bands 2 and 4, so it should be able to aggregate the two.  You shouldn't need an antenna with how close you are to the tower, especially with the nearby road readings showing green for the measured signal readings.  The router automatically chooses the strongest bands.  You can manually select bands via the command terminal.  For example if you find the nearby site too congested, you could set it to band 66, which would force it to connect to the more distant tower that operates on band 66.

 

From the maps you've shown, definitely try the 4G/LTE route first as it will be night vs day better than either satellite service, especially for the lower latency.

 

Before purchasing the router, I suggest contacting T-Mobile about getting an unlimited home Internet plan.  Going by their website they lease a cellular router with their home Internet plan, so you may not need to purchase a cellular router:  https://www.t-mobile.com/isp

[dmnmay]

Sean again thank you so much.

im learning LOL!

so i stopped by t-mobile in town today before i saw your reply.

i think i educated myself more than the emplyees that worked there LOL.

but they were friendly & helpful. 

they found the unlimited plan but it is not available in my area YET?

they offered a 100GB plan for $50 a month and tried to push a little 5G aircard on me.

it sounded good but i didnt care for the two aircards they showed me.

said it was like $17 a month payment plan.

i would rather buy the M1 outright.

i looked at a couple of other ones on you tube but i liked the M1 the best.

great features and i can add antenna's if needed! 

glad to hear the t-moble towers in my area will suffice.

the $50 plan with 100 GB is better than hughes but i wanna make sure it is not throttled?

hughes gives me 20 GB & i am already down to 10% with 12 days left.......

its terrible, just change UPNP by myself & hughes did a force range...

so i did a quick look for M1 on amazon & ebay.

couldnt find any that said for t-moble?

only AT&T and some said GSM unlocked?

would those work?

my plan is to fire one of those up and then once everything is verified & cool then disconnect hughes sacrificing my contract......

always a pleasure to hear from you!

?

 

 

 

 

[Sean]

That's a pity they don't do an unlimited plan in your area, but then again that's still 5 times more than your Huges allowance. 

 

From checking T-Mobile's 100GB prepaid plan on their website (not sure if it's the same the store offered), it allows video streaming at 480p (DVD quality), which should still be a lot better than your experience on Hughes.  If you go over the 100GB allowance, they throttle the connection to 128Kbps:

Quote

Unlimited Mobile Internet with up to 100GB of 5G / 4G LTE Data - $50.00 per month

Unlimited Prepaid Mobile Internet with up to 100GB of 5G / 4G LTE data • Unlimited data on our U.S. network • No overages or annual service contracts • Includes up to 100GB High Speed Data, available for use in the U.S. and up to 5GB for use in Mexico & Canada • Up to 200MB domestic roaming • 5G access at no extra charge with capable device Additional Details: • Available to US and Puerto Rico customers • Plan does not include talk or text • No activation fees • No International data roaming

 

Up to 100GB high-speed data, then unlimited on our network at max 2G speeds (128kbps). Capable device required for 5G access; coverage not available in some areas. Some uses may require certain plan or feature; see T-Mobile.com. During congestion, customers on this plan may notice speeds lower than other customers and further reduction if using >100GB/mo., due to data prioritization. Video typically streams at DVD quality (480p). For tablets, on-device usage is prioritized over tethering usage, which may result in higher speeds for data used on device.

 

The Nighthawk M1 needs to mention it is unlocked for it to work.  The AT&T model will only work with the AT&T model, much like an AT&T SIM locked phone.  The following is an example on Amazon that should work on T-Mobile:

https://www.amazon.com/Netgear-Nighthawk-MR1100-GSM-Unlocked/dp/B07G5KWZ3H/

 

I see there's a few comments mentioning about it not working on T-Mobile, but it's likely they are using the wrong plan with the device, such as a mobile handset SIM.  Here in Ireland, operators are not able to restrict which devices SIMs can be used in due to the EU Net Neutrality rules, but am not sure how if there's similar rules in the US.  For example, I can place my phone's SIM into my Nighthawk M1 and it will operate fine apart it dropping incoming calls. ?

 

Best of luck escaping the Hughes contract. 

[dmnmay]

ya i think im gonna pull the trigger on that nighthawk.

been reading a lot of good reviews.

gonna go down to T-Mobile again just to double check on some things?

it says no data cap does that mean no throttling?

when i talked to verizon a few months back they told me after about 10-15 minutes it slows way down and prob wouldnt be good for streaming?

so i dropped the aircard idea........

i will prob only use about 75 GBs.

i think netflix barely works at 1 mbps but calls for 6 mbps. 

i wonder what kind of speeds i will get?

when our phones automatically hook up when entering the house or turning on the nighthawk will that use a lot of data even if not using them?

i have been unplugging my 2 roku devices because i think they draw data for screensavers, time & ads even if the TV is off but not quite sure?

ya im probably gonna have to just take the hit on that hughes contract.....

but if evrything goes right it will be worth it in the long run.

i will be saving $45 a month!

have a good evening or morning or whatever time it is in ireland! LOL

?

[Sean]

As I mentioned above, it has a 100GB cap and then it's throttled to 128kbps for the remainder of the month.  128kbps is barely usable for anything more than e-mail and browsing, so you definitely don't want to go over the 100GB allowance.  It's worth asking T-Mobile if you can purchase another 100GB if you reach the limit before the month is out.  Otherwise if you find yourself regularly running into the 100GB limit, you could get a second prepay SIM, then when you reach the 100GB limit, swap the SIM cards and purchase a 100GB plan on the other SIM.

 

I have a neighbour that asked for help with their 4G Internet connection as they said it was very slow for downloading files.  When I tested their connection, I got around 800Kbps (0.8Mbps) here on TestMy.  When I moved their 4G router about to try finding a better signal spot, I managed to get their speed up to around 8Mbps.  I said that it should be now fast enough to stream Netflix if they want.  To my surprise, they said already have Netflix and had no issues streaming but just found their connection slow for downloading files such as kids homework.  So a stable 1Mbps connection should be adequate for Netflix.  Higher bitrates will give better picture quality with a HD plan (which requires 5Mbps), although I suggest keeping it set to standard definition (480p) if you stream more than an hour a day.

 

If you have an unlimited or decent data plan on your mobile, I suggest not connecting it to the Nighthawk's Wi-Fi.  This way you phone will continue to use your cellular plan's data allowance instead of eating into your hotspot's 100GB allowance. 

 

For the Roku's or anything else connected to your home Wi-Fi, I suggest keeping an eye on the Nighthawk's built-in usage meter.  It shows the accumulated usage on its screen as well as in its web interface.  Before heading out, take note of the reading.  Then compare it to when you come back to see if it has clocked up anything.  If there is noticeable usage such as >0.1GB each time you head out, then either unplug your network devices or switch off the Nighthawk before heading out.  

[dmnmay]

Your the man Sean!

we just bumped up our verizon phone data plan from 2GB up to 5GB because we were using to much wi-fi data with hughes on everything.

ive never had to monitor my data before?

in california we had 8 devices hooked up to 200 mbps unlimited $73 month. ( it was usually around 208-215 mbps when i tested for curiosity ) 

i miss those days.

great idea with monitoring the usage when gone & the second SIM if needed!

i can do a month first and see what happens?

thank you.

??

 

 

[dmnmay]

hey sean so i found out with the T-moble magenta plan you can also get a HD video pass to stream 1080p for $0.

i forgot to ask if i can turn it on/off whenever i want?

hopefully i can do that inside a app or something?

i got a new nighthawk M1 coming from netgear directly.

10% off with free 2 day shipping ( $252 total )

i will get the magenta plan after i get it!

if i need to are those omni-directional antennas for the roof any good?

i will be happy if i can get 6 mbps during the daytime!

thanks again for the help.

 

 

[Sean]

You can turn on/off the Nighthawk unit whenever you want.  Just push the power button for a few seconds and it will turn itself off and the same to turn it back on.  It will retain its usage figures.  It also has a battery, so if you have an RV or go camping, you can take it with for Internet access assuming the destination has T-Mobile data coverage.  It also works during power cuts, which I've used mine during several times.

 

Check with T-Mobile if the Magenta plan will work in an Aircard or Hotspot as I think that plan is for a mobile phone.  I didn't see any mention of it on their mobile Internet plans page where I saw the 100GB for $50:

https://prepaid.t-mobile.com/prepaid-internet

[dmnmay]

Hey Sean im stoked !

i fired up the nighthawk today & got 16 mbps @ 5:pm in the afternoon!

Netfix is quick and back to the way it is intended to be watched?

i got the netgear mobile app fired up and changed codes and stuff.

( it didnt want to complete with my i-phone 7 but did apply on my wifes android for some reason? )

the only thing is that on the LCD screen on the nighthawk it says 16 days remaining and doesnt show how many GBs are remaining?

does tt take a day or so for everything to jive & process ?

or do i need to punch in details on the app?

i found something in settings but it wouldnt let me change anything on my iphone?

maybe i should try it on my wifes android?

i got 4 days remaining on hughes month #3.

so it will cost me $400 early termination fee if i cant get out of it?

and $300 if i dont return the equipment.

but i will be saving $43 a month so it will pay for itself.

thanks again so much for the help!

i really appreciate it.

??

 

[Sean]

That's great having it up and running, hopefully the speed is holding up through the evening. ?  I'm not sure what prevented the iPhone from connecting, unless there was a spelling error in the Wi-Fi password. 

 

For the GB remaining, you may need to set this up in the NetGear Mobile App:

1. Go into the Netgear Mobile App, then touch "Data Usage"
2. Change the "Data Limit Unit" to "GB"
3. To the right of "Data Limit", touch the pen icon, enter 100 and touch 'Go'.
4. Change the "Monthly cycle starts (day)" to the day of the month that you activated the plan.
5. Touch the top-right back arrow to save the change and exit.

 

When you cycle through the screens on the Netgear (briefly push its power button), it should show the GB used like this.  I haven't used mine in a while, so it's showing 0 here:

 

To check the signal reading on your Nighthawk M1 - Go into the Netgear Mobile App, then go into the menu -> Settings -> Network -> Advanced Info.

 

The most important signal readings are the RSRP (signal strength) and the SINR (signal quality).  The RSRP should be no more negative than -100dBm and the SINR should be above 10.  If either is worse (e.g. RSRP of -110dBm, SINR of 5, etc.), then move the router to another location and wait a few seconds for the readings to update. 

 

Hughes sure is stingy with that hefty early termination fee, more like a fine for leaving them.  No wonder they can get away with such poor service, as I'm sure there are some that can't afford that early termination fee. ? 

[dmnmay]

Hey sean, ya i got the data info in the app but it wouldn't apply on my i-phone but it did work on my wifes android?

the app works on my iPhone for the most part but wouldn't take the data? but now it shows the change because of the wifes phone. LOL

 

my RSRP & SINR fluctuates in-between 113-115 & 7-9

that is in the center of my house & gets a signal to all my devices.

i moved the night hawk all around my house and the signal quality got worse LOL

that is a cool trick though knowing how to look around!

 

netflix works well on 5G but slower on 2.4G

2.4G has a better wi-fi signal than 5G why is that?

ROKU in bedroom had 4 bars on 2.4G and 5G said to move the device around ( or connect anyway )

i connected the netfix on 5G anyway and it is great!

 

i did order a 2pc skinny flexible TS9 antennas that are 7'' long back when i ordered the nighthawk.

it will be here in a week or so.

it was only $8 bucks so i figured i would try it?

 

my speed test are getting 18-20 mbps all day long!

gets up in the 30s in the evening.

im so happy.

 

gonna cancel hughes in 3 days.

its a lot of money but i will be saving $43 a month.

so it will pay for itself in 9 months.....

thats how i look at it to make myself feel better anyway LOL

 

always a pleasure

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