How does the HughesNet speedtest work?

This HughesNet speed test starts by identifying your HughesNet connection and then selecting a speedtest server nearest to your location.

When you click the GO button it will send packets of information from the speed test server to your device.

The HughesNet speedtest is powered by Ookla and measures the ping (latency), download speed and upload speed from your device and the selected test server.

The time that it takes this data to go to and return from the server determines your HughesNet internet speed.

[toc]

How accurate is the HughesNet internet speed test?

The HughesNet Speedtest is powered by Ookla which one of thee most popular internet connection speedtest and provides accurate and consistent testing experience and results.

By automatically selecting a speedtest server closest to your area, this will eliminate latency & bottlenecks which may skew performance metrics.

Ookla has a global network of over 10,000 speedtest servers in more than 190 countries.

Source: Ookla reliable speedtests

To improve accuracy, it is recommended to run the HughesNet speed checker from a device connected directly to the HughesNet gateway modem or router.

This will help to provide an accurate reflection on the performance of the HughesNet broadband connection and assist to elimate the Wifi related problems.

If you cannot connect your device directly into your HughesNet modem or router, ensure that the device you are running this test is as close the modem or router as possible. Also run the speedtest at least twice and from two different devices to ensure that the problem is not on one of the devices.

Exactly what do the speed test results from my HughesNet speed test mean?

What’s the Ping result mean?

Ping is sometimes called latency which in connectivity terms refers to the the time (or delay) it takes for data to traverse from one device to another. In this instance, from your device using the HughesNet internet connection to the closest Ookla server.

Ping sends data to another computer (in this case, the speedtest server) and measures in milliseconds (ms) how long it takes to receive a reply back.

If the other device is very far away or the network is busy then it may take longer to receive a response and the ping value will be high.

The HughesNet speed test will automatically choose a speed test server nearest to your location to eliminate latency and bottlenecks that can skew performance results.

A fast ping (low ms value) means a faster HughesNet internet connection.

What’s a good ping rate?

A typical ping rate to a device in the same city should be lower than 20ms. A typical ping rate between cities you’d expect to see ping values between the values of 30-60ms, and between continents the figure can climb to over >200ms.

The speed test above will show you the location of the Ookla test server so that you may determine whether your ping result is good or not.

What’s Jitter?

All data (e.g. an email, image, video, voice call, etc) is sent across the internet as a series of small packets. The packets generally move at a regular rate and are rebuilt back together at the destination device.

Jitter is the rate of delay during the transmission of the packets.

Try to think of it similar to running a tap and then increasing or decreasing the flow rate of the running water coming out. When the flow rate becomes irregular (because of the increasing and decreasing), the Jitter value goes up – which is not good.

You don’t usually notice jitter because networking devices can smooth it out but you will notice jitter whilst on a video and voice calls because the connection will momentarily stutter or break-up.

HughesNet Download and Upload speed results explained

Read More:What does the Download and Upload speed metric on my HughesNet speed test actually mean?

Possible causes of HughesNet slow internet connection performance

There are several possible reasons why the HughesNet internet connection is not performing. While we cannot address every possible reason, we have listed a number of common possibilities.

Based on your HughesNet internet setup, some of the suggestions may not be relevant in your case. We hope that they may trigger food for thought or get you on the right path to fix the problem.

Is it your HughesNet broadband internet that is slow or could it be your device (PC/laptop/phone)?

You need to check how many apps are simultaneously running on your device that could be utilizing your system resources (mainly RAM memory and CPU) and your HughesNet internet bandwidth.

If you’re on a computer, you may use the task manager to check your processor and memory utilization.

On other devices you should try restarting the device which should hopefully terminate all apps that may have been running in the background.

Re-run the HughesNet speed test on your computer and your phone to see how the speedtest results compare between the 2 devices.

This should hopefully provide you with some information to work with in terms of whether the issue lies with your device or the HughesNet internet connection.

• What exactly does the HughesNet download and upload speed mean?
• 5 Ways to Speed Up Your HughesNet internet connection Speed
• DNS hack to speed up internet browsing on your HughesNet broadband

Is your Wifi connection the problem?

The root cause of the problem may be your Wi-Fi network connection and not the HughesNet internet connection.

You could eliminate the Wifi network being the cause of the issue by connecting your computer directly to the HughesNet internet modem or router using a network cable and run the HughesNet speedtest again.

If speed improves when you are connected using a cable then this suggests that the fault could be with your Wifi network.

Possible things to check are:

• Are the Wireless channels you are using for your Wifi network (SSID) overlapping with your neigbours?
• Is the Wireless frequency congested? You should consider switching to 5Ghz?
• Is your Wi-Fi network signal from the modem or router obstructed?
• Does your performance improve when you are standing directly infront of the HughesNet wireless network modem/router?

The amount of devices connected to your home network

Every device that is connected to your home network or Wireless network is utilising the same HughesNet broadband internet connection.

If you have multiple devices on the web, streaming video, streaming music, downloading or uploading files, video conferencing, etc, this may have an impact on the performance of your HughesNet internet connection because the available bandwidth has to be split between all the devices.

Are you aware of how many devices are connected to the HughesNet internet connection? Do not forget about all the smart home devices, security cameras, doorbell cameras, Google or Alexa hub or other similar devices that may be continually connected.

Who is connected to my Wifi network?

• Check that your Wifi network password has not been compromised?
• Do you have an unsecured Guest Wifi network?

Neighbours could be using your Wifii network and using up all your HughesNet internet bandwidth downloading, uploading, streaming or running peer-to-peer file sharing over your HughesNet internet connection. Worse than that, they could be carrying out unlawful activities.

There are two apps that you may use to scan your wireless network to check who’s connected:

• Windows users may use Wireless network watcher
• Apple MAC users may use whoFi (who is on my Wifi)

Both applications will scan your Wi-Fi network and display a list of the connected devices.

As an alternative, you can log into the HughesNet wireless router to find out who is logged in to your Wifi network.

Have a look at this tutorial on how to use these Apps

Wifi signal strength

If the PC, laptop is not picking up a strong signal it will affect on the throughput, speed and internet performance regardless of how fast your HughesNet internet connection is.

Conditions that can affect your wireless signal are;

• Walls, doors or floors between your device and the HughesNet internet modem or router
• Electrical appliances like baby monitors and microwaves
• Overlapping Wi-Fi network signal from your neighbors
• Long distance between the device and your HughesNet internet modem or router.

Do I need a wireless network signal booster for my HughesNet internet?

If you find that you have Wifi black spot at your property, a Wifi signal extender aka a Wifi booster is the solution to boost the signal strength across your property.

The Wifi network booster simply picks up the existing Wi-Fi network signal as it is becoming weak and then re-transmits the wireless network signal at a more stronger rate to extend its coverage.

Locate the wireless booster/extender where the wireless network signal from the HughesNet internet router or model is beginning to become weak. Approximately where your wireless signal drops down to 2 bars. You can use your phone to determine where this is.

Health of your Device

Viruses or malware can slow down your device and the performance of your device. Viruses or malware may be working quietly and concealed in the behind the scenes download and uploading information and slowing the performance of your whole internal network down.

When is the last time you ran a full Virus and Malware check on the device?

When’s the last time your HughesNet broadband modem or router was rebooted?

In the same way as other Internet Service Providers, HughesNet’s broadband infrastructure is frequently being updated to support new features and changes in technology. Similarly, the broadband internet routers or modem at your home will also occasionally need an update to support changes in the HughesNet internet network.

The update could be in the form of a software update or an upgrade of the physical HughesNet modem/router hardware to a newer version.

You may be able to carry out the software update by logging in to the HughesNet modem/router. If you cannot do this or are not confident doing this, get in touch with HughesNet and they will be able to either do this for you or talk you through it.

The type and age of the device

Newer PCs, smart phones and other internet enabled devices are generally faster than old devices due to developments in networking technology and protocols.

Do you experience the same problems or newer devices?

Is the fault external to your property?

This is one of the most likely reasons for HughesNet internet issues. There are miles of cables used to deliver the HughesNet broadband internet connection to your home.

The fault could be with the physical cabling that comes into your property and terminates into the modem or router in your house.

You should get in touch with HughesNet who will be able to conduct the relevant line tests to see if there is a problem on the HughesNet broadband internet line.