Hughes Net satellite broadband getting faster, but still only 5Mb
By Justin Montgomery
Hughes Net broadband service has finally gotten a bit faster. Though still nothing spectacular, speeds can now get upwards of 5Mb downstream with their “ElitePremium” package. They’ve also increased speeds of their other two packages; “Elite,” and “ElitePlus” to 2Mb and 3Mb respectively. Come on guys, can’t you do better than that?
The higher speeds are possible due to Hughes’ “SPACEWAY” 3 satellite, which is the largest satellite in the US and the world’s first commercial satellite with on-board switching and routing capabilities. The satellite, which launched back in April of 2008, is said to have the largest capacity of any commercial satellite ever launched, according to the company’s press release. But still, shouldn’t it be able to achieve higher speeds that 5Mb? Cable and DSL are approaching 15-20Mb, and Verizon’s FiOS is set to deliver up to 50Mb.
“ElitePremium rounds out the most exciting range of satellite Internet access plans ever offered,” said Mike Cook, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Hughes. “Over the last few weeks we have enhanced the speeds across our full range of service plans. We are the only provider that offers consumers in under-served parts of the country such a comprehensive range of true broadband service options.”
The more popular consumer-based plans; Home, Pro, and ProPlus have also been given a speed boost to 1 Mbps, 1.2 Mbps and 1.6 Mbps, respectively. All normal plans have already been bumped up, and the 5Mb service will become available on August 21st, 2008.
Being that satellite broadband is the only option for several rural communities that don’t even have DSL service, 5Mb is plenty adequate. I guess beggars really can’t be choosers, and they should just be glad they have access to broadband internet. The press release made no mention of the prices, but history has shown that satellite broadband is not cheap. My guess would be well over the $100 mark for the 5Mb service.
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