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SAVING DATA: MY OWN EXPERIENCE

Every internet service provider rations the amount of data each customer can use per month at the standard speed. If you break your data cap, your download speeds will be cut drastically. Knowing how frustrating this can be, you can benefit from learning how to economize on data without hampering function.

You might find it helpful to know my own experience with data caps, and with my efforts to get the most out of my data allotment.

Needing to research a high volume of material, and being pressed for time, I use Google Chrome for browsing. Chrome is faster than competing browsers, but it comes with a significant drawback: it consumes more data. I needed to find ways to get the most out of what I had.

My data saving program began with disabling auto-play video. Not only is such video advertising annoying, it eats a huge amount of data.

First,  I disabled Adobe Flash, which most- though not all- auto-play ads run on. This required opening my computer’s control panel and hitting the ‘settings’ tab. From there, I scrolled scroll down to the ‘advanced settings’ tab at the bottom of the ‘settings’ window. On the second page of ‘advanced settings’, I found the ‘privacy’ tab. Under ‘privacy’ I found the ‘plug-ins’ tab. One of the options there is ‘manage individual exceptions’. Hitting this tab revealed a list of several optional apps, and Adobe Flash was the last one listed.  I hit ‘disable’ for Flash.

Disabling Adobe Flash doesn’t mean you can never use it again. If you want to watch a video that requires Flash, you can enable it as needed, then disable it again when you’re finished.

If you’re a typical web-surfer, disabling auto-play video and audio should reduce your data consumption by about 20%.

My second major step in saving data was enabling Chrome’s data saver extension. This app compresses picture, video, and sound files.

After hearing about the data saver extension, I looked it up through the browser. It told me the extension was available through the Chrome Web Store. Visiting the store, and searching under ‘apps’, I brought up ‘extensions’.  ‘Data Saver’ was the first extension listed. I chose the ‘download’ option.

Downloading the Chrome Data Saver extension takes only a few seconds. If you want to disable it later, you can easily do so.

Google says that use of this extension will reduce data consumption by up to 70% on some devices. In my own experience, it actually averages 15% to 20%. Every bit adds up, though.

Other browsers feature their own  data saving extensions and means to disable auto-play video. The procedures for them may differ slightly from the Chrome process, but they follow the same general outline.

There are other means of saving data. You can, for example, limit the number of tabs you keep open at a time. Downloading your data saver extension and disabling auto-play video will produce the bulk of your saving, though.

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It may be helpful for you to know what happens when you order HughesNet service, and how your internet equipment will be installed.

When you call us to order HughesNet service, a friendly customer service agent will ask you how many people in your household will be connected at once, what you use the internet for, what your budget is, and what kind of internet service you’ve had in the past. The purpose of these questions is to find the HughesNet service tier and equipment that will best meet your needs. The CSA will explain all charges, what to expect at installation, and any promotions that may be in effect.

When you’ve agreed to schedule installation, the CSA will find the date and time window that work best for you. The window will usually be two or three hours, in case a previous installation takes longer than expected.

The technician will bring with him a satellite dish, a modem, and any cable needed for your HughesNet system.

After greeting you, the technician will conduct a site survey. The internet signal comes from a satellite 22,000 miles up in the stratosphere, and the technician has to make sure your dish has clear line of sight to it. He will need to point the dish to the southern sky. He will mount the dish on the house or on a fence post or pole, unless trees, buildings or other obstructions are in the way. If he can’t get clear line of sight from your house or an existing pole or post, he may recommend a pole mount. This requires extra work and material, so if a pole mount is necessary, he may charge extra for it. Pole mounts are not necessary for more than about 5% of HughesNet installations, though.

After the site survey, the technician will mount the dish, using his own mounting hardware. He will check line of sight again, and adjust the dish level and angle for the. strongest possible signal. Then he will run a coaxial cable into your house.

The technician will connect the cable to your modem, and will connect the modem to his mobile electronic device. He will bring up a screen which tells him your strong your satellite signal is. If it’s not as strong as it should be, he will adjust the dish again. Once he has confirmed that your signal is strong enough, he will give you a code to activate your service, and ask you to boot up your computer so you can verify that your connection is working.

The technician will then present your paperwork, collect any fees due at installation, clean up the work site, and explain how to contact customer service with any questions or concerns.

Your HughesNet installation is then complete, and you are ready to begin surfing the web.

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DATA CAPS & YOU

To get the most out of your internet service, it may help you to know what a data cap is, and how to avoid breaking it.

Most internet service providers, to keep their networks from becoming clogged, limit the amount of data any customer can use per month. Most providers offer tiered service, with higher prices for plans with higher data caps. If you use more than your monthly allotment, your data speeds will fall dramatically, and will remain low until your next monthly service period begins. This can be highly frustrating, and can make some internet functions impossible.

We won’t tell you to limit your use of the internet. We won’t tell you not to download music or videos. These, after all, are among the reasons most people want broadband service.

Without such drastic measures, there are a few other steps you can take to get the most out of your data plan.

First, assess your household’s needs. If only one or two people will be connected at a time, and if you use the web strictly for e-mail and light surfing, then you may not need extreme speed or a high data cap. However, if several people may be connected at once, you download video or music frequently, or you conduct business over the internet, you will need more speed and more data.

Second, consider changing your browser. Google Chrome is usually faster than other browsers, but it consumes more data. This is partly because Google- more than any other browser- scans your e-mail and searches for keywords, which it uses for precisely targeted ads. Not only is this annoying, and a possible privacy concern, it consumes data.  If wringing the most out of your data plan is more important than saving a few seconds on a search, then you may want to use a different browser.

Third, close auto-play videos whenever possible. In Chrome, pull up the ‘settings’ bar. and go from there to ‘advanced settings’. From there, go to ‘privacy’, then hit the ‘plug-ins’ tab, and disable Adobe Flash. This won’t block all auto-play videos, but it will block most of them. You’ll seldom have to listen to annoying ads, and you’ll save an enormous amount of data.

With other browsers, the procedure for disabling Adobe Flash is similar, though it may differ in one or two details..

Finally, limit the number of tabs you keep open. If you have multiple tabs open at once, some pictures and videos may be loading in the background.

(To get the most out of your internet service, talk to us. We are your source for HughesNet.)

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GETTING THE BEST DEAL IN INTERNET SERVICE

How can you be sure you’re getting the best deal in internet service? There are a few questions you should ask about any web service offered.

First, make sure you understand all charges. Many internet service providers offer low monthly rates for a promotional period, usually three months to one year. After the promotional periods, though, the rates increase sharply. Some providers offer ‘free’ equipment and installation, but they add the equipment and installation charges to the monthly fees, and they require long term contracts, with fines for early termination.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you’re being cheated. Make sure you’re getting a complete list of all charges before you sign a contract, though. Before you agree to installation, be sure you understand the total you pay in advance, the total monthly fees, including taxes and other surcharges, and the total you will pay after any promotions end.

Second, assess your needs. Consider how many people in your household are likely to be connected at any one time, what kinds of devices you connect to the internet, and what functions you want. If you will connect only one or two devices, and your web use is chiefly e-mail and light web surfing, then you might get by with fairly low speed and a low data cap. If you intend to connect multiple devices, though, or if you want to download music or video, then you will need a higher download speed and more data capacity.

Conduct a speed test of your present internet service, and monitor how much data you use. This will tell you how much speed or data capacity you will need from a new provider. If your present service is too slow or too limited, these steps will still give you a rough idea of how much extra speed or capacity you will need.

If you’re paying a low rate for your internet service, but it’s inadequate for your needs, then you’re not getting a bargain.

Finally, to be sure you’re getting the best deal in internet service, talk to us.

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SATELLITE INTERNET: HOW IT WORKS

To understand the advantage in HughesNet service, it may help you to know how satellite internet works. It differs from other sources of internet service.

In rural- and some suburban- areas, the dominant internet services are either dial-up or DSL. Each requires a phone line. Dial-up service ties up the phone, so you can’t place or receive a call while connected to the web.  Dial-up is also extremely slow- too slow to be practical for any but the lightest web-surfing or e-mail.

DSL (digital subscriber line) service won’t tie up your phone, but it brings other disadvantages of a community phone line: your download speed will be affected by your distance from the central office, and by the number of your neighbors connected at the same time. If you’re close enough to the central transmission facility, you could see download speeds in excess of 6 megabits per second. If you live farther away, or if your community DSL system is under heavy usage, your download speed could drop to a small fraction of this.

With satellite internet service, you won’t face these problems. Your HughesNet system will not require a home phone line. Because it receives its signal directly from a satellite high in the stratosphere, it is independent of any neighborhood phone or fiber system, so your service will not be affected by the number of your neighbors connected at the same time.

HughesNet is faster than typical DSL service. and many times faster than the fastest dial-up service. HughesNet offers four levels of residential internet service. With the basic plan, you get download speeds of up to 5 megabits per second (MB/S), and with the best plan, up to to 15 MB/S.

HughesNet’s Echostar XVII satellite network features the highest download capacity of any satellite internet service.

Your HughesNet service will be suitable for web-surfing, e-mail, word-processing, social media, and downloading music or video. The only function we don’t recommend it for is interactive gaming. The signal from your computer has to travel 22,500 miles to the satellite, then travel the same distance back. The round trip takes about a quarter of a second. For most uses, this is not a critical lag, but it can ruin an interactive game that depends on quick reflexes.

Apart from that one limitation, satellite internet service works. Is HughesNet right for you? Call us, or fill out a contact form, to find out.