Direcway

Approval Rate: 38%

38%Approval ratio

Reviews 49

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  • by

    pmlucas

    Sun Oct 18 2009

    Usually slow (0.1 to 0.2 Mbps). Requires frequent reboot.

  • by

    kittyfonique

    Thu May 21 2009

    This is the worst company in the history..well, in the history of companies. My co-worker and I have been trying to resolve a fairly simple issue for the past few weeks with no answers in sight. Today alone, their "customer service" dept has transfered us to dozens of different people, has kept us on hold for hours on end and has hung up on us three times. Total time spent already: 4 hours today, several hours of the past few weeks and we still can't get the right goddamned dish. I HATE DIRECWAY MORE THAN WORDS CAN CONVEY!!! Please please learn from our awful experiences and DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THEM.

  • by

    starbrst34

    Wed Jan 28 2009

    I had nothing but problems with direcway/hughsnet and am the ultimate of glad that I'm rid of it. The installation was a 4 hour ordeal (I didnt think he'd ever finish) which resulted in a lot of my service problem afterwards. (lesson learned by the installer - you dont place a dish in line with a huge tree because it may work in the spring but once the tree gets leaves it blocks the view of the sky which interferes with the service) When the sun was bright I'd loose my service. When it was overcast I'd loose my service. When it would rain or snow I'd loose my service. If snow collected on my dish I'd be without service. To top it off, tech support/customer service is a complete and total joke! I could not understand them and they could not understand me. (outsourcing sucks and is a definite sign that a company cares less about their customers!) After countless calls due to of bad reception (and having to send them pictures from different angels showing that the dish pointed righ... Read more

  • by

    ghgfhfdh

    Thu Jan 01 2009

    horrible. never use this. ever. their customer service is set up to blather uselessly in foreign languages until you give up. FAP can be hit by the simplest web surfing, which reduces speeds to 1/4 dialup, assuming you can connect at all. if there is any precipitation, you get 0 signal. crashes often. downloading? Ha! you're better off with no internet at all

  • by

    wyrmhaven

    Tue Oct 14 2008

    Do NOT use these people. There is NO, zip, zero, nothing but an excuse for tech support. they keep jacking around w/ their settings and don't tell you till you spend 2+ hours on the phone with their so called tech support and that's IF you can understand them AND IF they can understand you.

  • by

    dsummers

    Thu Oct 02 2008

    I am a computer network administrator. Living in a rural area with no other option for broadband I signed a contract with Hughesnet for their "Pro" plan that boasted download speeds of 1500K. During the evenings we routinely only average 90K download speeds! I have spent hours and hours on the phone with tech support and they always end up admitting that they can't provide the bandwith promised in their advertising campaign... but they will not let you out of your contract. One year later I can say if I were a wealth person I would hire a lawyer and sue for false advertising. Rip Off Warning - STAY AWAY FROM HUGHSNET!!!! (I gave a one star because negative stars are not available!)

  • by

    rockin4d

    Fri Sep 05 2008

    Service is pretty terrible. They've boosted the price 20% and reduced allowed daily data caps by 80% and yet are still somehow able to sell service. Just recently they blocked access to world of warcraft servers and thus alienated a few thousand gamers. I've had the service since 03 and it was halfway tolerable until april 2007 when data allowances were reduced 80%. august 08 the price increases and further port throttling and blocking went into effect. If your a lame assed 'use the net for nothing' but looking at email for 30 minutes a day you may like the service. I only stayed because I was able to play world of warcraft for a few years. since its now unplayable I have cancelled the service. Looking for another provide and dialup wont work so for now I have nothing but the city library. if you want to compensate for all the 1 star ratings. just do the math and subract the 1 star for all 1 star posts.

  • by

    djoconnell

    Fri Aug 29 2008

    I have had Direcway/Hughes.net for four years, because I have no choice. I live in a rural area, where DSL and Cable are not available. The service is spotty. I never knew the term "latency" until I had a satellite dish on my roof. Unlike its companion service DirecTV, which is a clear challenger to cable television, the internet service is slow, even with the fastest, and very expensive, modem you can get. Frequently, I get peculiar error messages indicating satellite outages. And, it is expensive. If I had a choice, any other choice, I would trash the satellite and hook up with the dreaded telephone company or a finicky cable provider. The bottom line is Direcway/Hughes have a pretty red-headed girl next door pitch-woman that makes its service sound like the best thing since corn flakes, but the reality is more like an ugly wallflower that only gets to dance when there is no-one else available. D.

  • by

    fuckyouyahooco_m

    Wed Aug 20 2008

    i install and they suck

  • by

    rintya7d

    Mon Jun 02 2008

    Hughes Really sucks. I could go on and on but, I am sure it is the same with everyone. You all know what hell it is to deal with them. I too, have NEVER recieved my promised credits for poor and no service. Unfortunatly they know they got us and they stick it to us!!!! They know that most people that have Hughes have no other choice. Therfore they will continue to take advantage of us. I am looking into WILD BLUE any thoughts on this?

  • by

    erikclaw

    Wed Mar 05 2008

    I have huges net and it is unreliable at best. My speeds range from proper to crawling. The customer service personel are no better. After numerous complaints they finnaly admit that the bandwidth in my area is subject to fluctuations and they can't do anything about it. Bunch of crap! I just got the number for their corporate offices and are now dealing with them directly. The speeds should not range from 800&125 to 600 and 25. Happens all the time.

  • by

    thepfarm

    Thu Feb 21 2008

    we are VERY pleased with HUGHES.NET!! I suspect those having major difficulties with signal loss in rain, etc., have a poorly aligned antenna dish, resulting in very low signal strength. They should blame the installer, not Hughes....and get that installation re-verified by the installer. To determine your actual signal strength do the following: Open your internet browser and type 192.168.0.1 into the address field---NOT into the search engine, the ADDRESS field. Press enter. Click on "System Status" Note: It is a round button on the Drop down menu, probably illuminated in GREEN if your system is working properly. At the top of your system status display is your signal strength--the closer it is to 80 the better. They say that anything over 55 is adequate, but it must be over 31 just to connect with the satellite....sooo the closer to 80 you are the better! If it is a low number call your installer and have them re-align your antenna if you don't know how to do s... Read more

  • by

    demonditspecia_list

    Sat Dec 22 2007

    You don't know why everyone is so down on hughesnet because you don't realize you are being ripped off just like everyone else. Hughesnet is a lousy company because they sucker people (through false advertising) into thinking they will be getting a service that will meet their needs and then some. When in fact, if you wanna do more than jusy check the weather now and then you're sol. And you better forget about updates, or streaming video, or any type of useful downloading you might do. Fap, was made up to rip people off. Most people were already customers when it came about, and never signed anything agreeing to any type of fap limit. They were never given a choice, and they can't cancel because of contracts. If you can't deliver the service that you advertise, then stop advertising that you can and do. Most of us don't have the time or money to waste on lieing cheating companies like you. Btw, I signed up on this site just so I could post this comment so you know I have a little i... Read more

  • by

    dougrate

    Fri Dec 21 2007

    I dont know why everyone is so down on Hughesnet. The only other option out where I live is dial up and that really sux. Hughes has been for us a very good system with much better speeds than we had before the technician was very professional. It is expensive but much cheaper than paying the cable company $40,000 which is the only other choice we have for high speed. Thank you Hughes Net

  • by

    mrgwashere

    Sat Oct 20 2007

    In 2005 we purchased a home in a rural area. So rural in fact that DSL or cable internet connections were not an option and likely will not be available for many years. My husband is an applications programmer who telecommutes. I perform contract graphics work much of which is web based. Obviously, we needed an internet connection for more than surfing. We opted for purchasing a Professional Level connection through HughesNet (which at the time was in fact DirecWay).  We very rarely see "Broadband" speeds which the FCC defines as 200 kbps and up. Then came their "Fair Access Policy". They claim this has been put in place to insure all customers have equal access to internet down/upload volumes in a semi-equal playing field. Nonsense!! What it means is that they are overselling a product and service they can't deliver and can't/won't spend the money to upgrade. As a result, since HughesNet has limited access to satellite time and has to spread it over an over-sold subscriber base... th... Read more

  • by

    jglscd35

    Sun Sep 23 2007

    when i bought my house about 5 years ago i was not in an area that offered dsl so i reluctantly decided to use direcway. not only was my service only slightly faster than dial-up, but at the beginning i was paying about $100 a month. i still have that grotesque receiver in my back yard as those useless pinheads never picked it up after i discontinued my service. direcway is so bad i would rather go without internet service than get their service for free.

  • by

    trulypoed

    Sun Aug 12 2007

    As I see by other comments, I have to agree that this service is truly a rip-off. Support is essentially non-existent and the troubleshooting tree they use is a farce. I was asked if there was snow on my dish after telling them it was a sunny day in the Northwest. And, if you survive the help desk fiasco and they send a tech (took several months without service before they agreed to send a tech), it can get interesting. They change service companies as much as they turn off customers! My last call (they had to send several techs over several days) resulted in my being asked to remove several 90 foot fir trees as the installer aimed the dish between the branches and the trees must have grown. Now, in fact, the trees are close to 90 years old so I didn't understand why it became my problem. After all this, my Indian friends said I would get a credit for the three months I ended up being without service - any takers on betting if I saw the refund? Agree this company should be in... Read more

  • by

    seabooty

    Mon Jul 02 2007

    DO NOT GET THIS SO-CALLED SERVICE! It will be the biggest mistake you've ever made. Everything they advertise is a lie, I don't know why they haven't been indicted by the FTC or FCC. The speed is comparable to dial up, and you need not call customer support if you don't speak east Indian. And support tells you there are no supervisors! You will spend long hours on the phone trying to cancel, we reversed the charges on our credit card, they turned it over to NCO, a collection agency, immediately. The only thing that worked was turning them in to the BBB, we were credited a full refund after sending the equipment back. But there were many hours of frustration wasted trying to deal with them and them passing the buck, apparently no one is responsible for anything their business does.

  • by

    stayawayfromhu_ghesnet

    Fri Jun 22 2007

    Absolutely awful. Expensive mistake and the most unhelpful customer service reps ever. Have reported our problems to the BBB. Do not go with Hughesnet. Would cost us $700.00 to terminate service contract even though our service is awful and slower than dial up service was. Kids now use dial up instead and we pay for Hughesnet each month for no use. Stay away....wish I had read reviews first. Costly mistake.

  • by

    hugheshater

    Thu May 31 2007

    Horrid. Don't call customer support unless you've taken 20 hours worth of foreigh language. Dallas installer was nice, even set it up in rainy/cloudy conditions and it works great (the TV goes out before internet!). Way overcharger for far too little product, constantly hitting FAP on the home plan (200 MB per rolling 24 hour period) which is next to nothing, all ports are blocked unless you pay 20 bucks for static IP, browsing speed is below diplorable but file download is decently close to ratings, if it works it works, if it doesn't, it's dead. absolutely nothing there during peak hours, i could go mow out 1 acre front yard in the time it takes to load a page. But in non-peak times it's decent. bad service, if you're in the boonies like us and it's your only choice, take it. The second our contract is up our stuff is hitting ebay and we're switching to a local company that runs on RF signals (whom we had before HN till they had a long term service outage that prompted us to go t... Read more

  • by

    verymadmike

    Tue May 01 2007

    Ridiculous FAIR ACCESS POLICY, very expensive for low bandwidth and pathetic customer support. Chatroom support weasel tried a backchannel port 80 hack into our network during "tech support Q and A". Network was not even at the satellite location andthe butthead hacked in anyway. Probably looking for resources and things to liberate. I really can't say enough bad things here.....Find somone Else, anybody else

  • by

    jerilee

    Mon Apr 30 2007

    I’ve had issues with Direcway/Hughesnet from day one of installation.  I was told by Tech support that I was exceeding their FAP (Fair Access Policy).  I reviewed my FAP report and notice that I had usage when I wasn’t home or when I was asleep.  You can view your report at http://customercare.myhughesnet.com/frm_usage.cfm.I disconnected the power source from the modem unit overnight and continue to have high usage on my FAP report.  After reporting this to help support they connected me to higher support.  The higher support issued me a new customer account number.  Everything worked great for several months.  Now the issues have started all over again where I cannot access online due to high usage of FAP.This past weekend I was gone from Friday thru Sunday and had high usages on my FAP report.  How can that be when I’m not home and the unit is unplugged?  Try this some time if you’re having issues with the FAP.I’ve contacted help support several times and they’re no help at all.  Hel... Read more

  • by

    blue1079

    Fri Apr 20 2007

    Hmmm.. What can i say about this company? Well where should i start i had it installed in my home. And canceled my service 2 hours after the installer left my home. Because well it worked fine until after he left then it went to shit. The people that installed it didn't want to say much good about the company, should have figured it out then. But i didn't i know i'm gonna be sorry because i tried to reason with them i just offered to return all the equipment and count my losses but that wasnt good enough. the woman i spoke with at hughesnet wasnt to friendly i asked to speak with her supervisor but only got put on hold while she claimed he was on the phone for 30 min. So i just said forget it and spoke with her more only for her to tell me there wasn't nothing they could do about forgetting about it all and just return everything. so now i guess it will go against my credit but oh well, i guess. After not getting there money the sent a paper in the mail saying that the service was goi... Read more

  • by

    orthodon1

    Mon Apr 02 2007

    Ripped Off! I called to schedule new service. I had all necessary equipment since I had purchased the home with the DirecWay system installed. I just wanted to have it turned on. I explained all to the person on the phone. "No problem". Once all my personal information and credit card info was given, I was told that I would need to have a service representative come to my home to "aim" the dish. Seemed it could just have been turned on. I was given the names of 2 local service representative. Neither was willing to come to my home to set me up. I offered to pay them a service fee. Both turned me down and explained that they make their money on the install of new equipment. Out of frustration I signed up with StarBand instead. My wife pays the bills and asked me about the Hughes Net monthly billings she had been paying for the past 1 1/2 years. I called to stop the billings and tried to get a refund for the fees I was charged w/o ever having the system set up. The bills contin... Read more

  • by

    rmcdermo

    Wed Mar 21 2007

    Direcway broadband is the crappiest of services...Not only does their product not perform, but they had the balls to lie about the DW4000 units not functioning last January, citing numerous programming issues. After 7 days of phone calls, I came across a news article, stating that Direcway had lost its right to a European based satilite license. The loss of the rights to use this satilite would cost any customer currently using a DW4000 to have to purchase the new system, DW7000. Although, if by some chance you get to speak to someone and by some chance they speak english, you would likely be told a lie. *** My advice would be to stay away from this company...They're crooks! FYI...They could care less what people think...I don't know how they stay in business. I'm feel bad I had to give them a 1 star rating...They should have a negative star rating.

  • by

    manfrommaine

    Mon Feb 19 2007

    This company is the worst of the worst. You better think twice before signing a contract with Hughesnet. Once you sign they've got you and you will go crazy trying to deal with them. In my 57 years on this planet I have never dealt with a company this bad. Don't believe their "high speed broadband" sales pitch. The poor unreliable speed plus dealing with incredible bad customer support will drive you nuts. Buyers beware!

  • by

    bink4587

    Tue Feb 13 2007

    If there were negative ratings for this service I would give it. Have been a customer for 3 years, and if continuous outtages, slow downs, and limited downloads are what u want - then you'll have IDIOT tattooed across your forehead like me. Have DW 4000 series, and upon different conversations with tech/sales support - say the answer is the DW7000, but upon further investigation from their own sales dept, was advised that there would always be service degradation during peak hours (oh, by the way, it took 5 minutes for this site to load on 2/13/07 at 8:00 pm CST) and would still be limited by FAP downloads. PLEASE PLEASE hear my confession of HE-- with DIRECWAY/HUGHESNET - I would not wish this on anyone with a choice, and hope this might save someone the frustration of Hughesnet... Everytime I see that Red Headed lady on TV saying "Your Welcome" I flip her off - I'm sure i'm not alone.

  • by

    madrx8

    Fri Feb 09 2007

    I have read all these posts....suffice it to say.. I agree with them all! Direcway is THE WORST Internet provider out there! NO CUSTOMER service and if there is a rain cloud in the sky...well.. forget getting on the net. 2 long hard frustrating years of this BS and I'm done. Fortunately, cable just arrived in my neighborhood and the "CABLE GUY" will be here today! I'm not trying to rub it in to you folks who may still be stuck with these losers..I'm just posting this in case you are smarter than I was and you may be doing your homework BEFORE you get screwed!!

  • by

    jddrake26

    Thu Feb 01 2007

    I contacted the BBB and here is my report Now it is time to contact My State Attorney General. This worked for me when I had problems with Direcway / Hughesnet. Filed against : Johnston Communications 320 E. 3rd Street Villisca IA 50864 & WildBlue Communications, Inc. Greenwood Corporate Plaza, Bldg. 1 5970 Greenwood Plaza Blvd., Suite 300 Greenwood Village, CO 80111 WildBlue Communications, Inc P.O. Box 4427 Englewood, CO 80155 1-866-WildBlue (945-3258) Complaint Description: I signed up January 5, 2006 and the automatically took the money out of my account for the dish. I have been waiting over a week for an installer. I contacted them on my installtion date which was set for the morning and they later changed it to the afternoon. Then later that day I called in and they said they would not make it due to weather. So they rescheduled me for the following Monday. If it takes this long to get an installer out here how long will it take if I have technical pro... Read more

  • by

    kittyangel

    Sun Jan 14 2007

    SO MANY LIES, IT MUST BE FRAUD if you work from home, dont be fooled into thinking you can count on these scumbags! I cant even belive hughesnet has the nerve to advertise 24/7 tech support, its a complete and utter lie. at 9:00am sunday morning, "24/7 tech support" turned out to be an answering service. yes, an answering service. not a hughesnet receptionist, not even a company voice mail system, but an outside answering service, like what your local doctor has. is it possible anyone could really run a billion dollar company this way??? the phone rang 10 times before some rude gal answered with the words "please hold." I had to hold for 3 minutes for the priviledge of leaving a message for tech support to call me. after 2 messages and 5 hours, still no call, and no way to call tech support directly. this is the quality of service we get for $199 a month business pro package. you would think that since these theives made 600 million dollars in the first 9 months of 2006 alone... Read more

  • by

    perspective48

    Fri Jan 12 2007

    OMG...just OMG for anything over $2.00 this is rape

  • by

    fredzayn07

    Thu Dec 14 2006

    Bad would not describe Direcway, which is now called HughesNET. I have had a problem for 6 months now and they can't seem to figure out what's wrong. I have probably been on the phone for 10 HRS. Does anyone know anything about WildBlue satellite internet?

  • by

    smackmetoo

    Wed Nov 15 2006

    We just had Hughes installed. After Three years of Dial up it was our only option and I guess being as desperite as we were to get in tune with the rest of the world we pulled the trigger. After paying $499.00 for the install,plus an additional $125.00 to have it placed on a pole. On would think that the installer would have done a top notch job.. 1. I was stood up Two times by the installer Third time he was 30 Min late. 2. Didn't use the lock washers included in the kit. 3. my pole is not level. 4. He wasn't going to buried my cable. (Four feet from my house) How do you mow around that. 5. The hole he drilled to run the cables was gooped with cheap Silicon. 6. The cable run inside the house was not forethought. 7. I had to install my own old work gang box. 8. He did not use a wall plate with cable connectors. 9. Thankfully I cut the hole in the wall. 10. I buried the cable so I don't chop it with the mower. 11. I installed the wall plate and cable couplings. after ... Read more

  • by

    debl5454

    Thu Sep 21 2006

    Okay, so I wasnt quite smart enough to check out this site, before getting involved with Hughes. It is really nice to know that I am not totally computer illiterate! I thought I was going crazy...hours and hours of tech support with someone that I had to make repeat every word. Everything was always blamed on the clouds, Internet Explorer, Windows or McAfee. After purchasing many programs that correct errors, in each program, I found this site. Thanks so much for restoring my sanity. I am a very trusting person. Tech support told me that upgrading would now solve my problem. "Okay, I will get back with you," then I came directly to this site. The upside... my contract was up on Aug 28th. This door is about to slam. Thanks so much for all the input.

  • by

    marionmcculler_s

    Thu Sep 14 2006

    Many problems with modem. Customer service is awful.

  • by

    mregister

    Mon Aug 14 2006

    This is a terrible company. Extremely poor customer support, technical support. I regret ever doing business with this company. BUYER BEWARE!

  • by

    arellanodl

    Thu Aug 10 2006

    huges net direcway is the absolute worst you will live to regret getting service. bad install the dish was literally falling off our house spent 12 hours on hold and with "tech support" in the mid east, no help, no compensation but they made sure they stopped our service the very day after payment was due with no warning, and took 2 days to turn it back on. NEVER GET HUGHES DIRECWAY

  • by

    hdeas1

    Tue Aug 08 2006

    Purchased HughesNet hardware and service over three months ago. Has worked aprox. three weeks since. Have called fifty plus times, written letters, and sent emails. Spent ten plus hours on hold. No assistance in resolving my service issues whatsoever.Requested refund and was told no, instead they would charge me a $300 early termination charge. I was told I needed to make a better effort at resolving the problem before cancelling. I was told if I didn't pay it they would send it to collections and my credit would be impacted. I have disputed the charges with my cc company and written the BBB and FTC. Currently unresolved. Far and away the worst most deceiving company I have ever dealt with or even heard of. I strongly advise against contracting with this company.

  • by

    3eagle

    Thu Aug 03 2006

    Ill add my nickel to this endless list of complaints as an attempt at therapy and a sign of solidarity. Like many others I live in the boonies and had no other choice but Direcway. The system was installed in 2003 and we had several minor problems which were corrected after much phone in ear time with various support techs around the globe. In December 2005 the really good stuff started happening, the system went dead. I called the Customer disservice number and got a case # which was followed by a service visit after a month of waiting. The service tech, who showed up mid day with his girlfriend on a road trip had a spare modem and could fix the problem in no time at all he said. Ha! Jokes on me turns out the modem was configured to work in the Chinese hemisphere and was useless in Colorado. Another month and the correct modem was sent to me and after lots of multi-hour calls to various tech support experts the system did work again but very slowly. Often Id use my dial-up number ... Read more

  • by

    pearlybaker

    Mon Jul 31 2006

    Hughes.net is worse than dial-up. DO NOT purchase their services... you WILL BE SORRY. Our company purchased their highest service... with the DW7000 series. Advertising says 2000 down and 500 up. If you talk to your salesperson, they should tell you that their "minimum threshhold" is 800 down and 150 up... at this point, I would be elated if we were getting even those speeds. We have been getting speeds under 100 down and as low as 37 up for almost two months now. I have had a Case # for two months, and I am continuously told that I will be getting a call the next day from their advanced support engineering. The problem is, every time I call in I end up being put on hold for anywhere from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours waiting for a superviser to talk with. I will be filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and with the FTC, as well as the State of Michigan. Sad thing is, they use India for their tech support. I thought the people of India belie... Read more

  • by

    juliesanchez

    Thu Jul 20 2006

    I couldn't agree more with the horrible ratings others have given to Direcway/Hughes. Since the switch from Direcway to Hughes, my service is down more that up, the instructions to change my e-mail service were such a joke I finally gave up and went to hotmail, and the system is slower than ever. If I wanted such crappy service I would have stayed with AOL!!! And they had the nerve to charge more than $700 to install!!! What a joke!!! Sure wish I had seen this site before shelling out all the money!

  • by

    jdj47ff9

    Thu Jul 20 2006

    I have had Direcway for four years. As with others here, I signed up as an alternative to dialup as I had no other way to connect. At first Direcway was pretty decent but over the insuing years, service and speed have diteriated. although I have not had too many tech problems, the times I did need customer service have not been bad. My independent phone company now has DSL, which I signed up for yesterday and I love it. My internet now flies at speeds near cable and at half the price of satellite. I will be cancelling my DW/Hughes service as soon as I migrate my email changes. If it is all you can have, I would still go with sat but anything else is better, except maybe dialup.

  • by

    frankripley

    Wed Jul 12 2006

    I would recommend Direcway/Hughesnet ONLY to my own worst enemy. The service is just absolutely terrible in every aspect. I would never recommend it to anyone else.

  • by

    specialstuff

    Fri Jun 23 2006

    same experience as everyone else. want my mopney back. can't connect, trying to charge $600 to get out of contract. we need a class action law suit!

  • by

    gojupiter

    Thu Jun 22 2006

    I have installed Direcway (now HughesNet) equipment for 5 years now, operating out of Gaithersburg, MD. I have gone on service calls and received both good and bad reports. Some of the bad ones really surprise me. I can't understand why it takes weeks/months to get someone out to your home to fix something you paid good money for. But customer service can be hit or miss in any company you deal with, depending on the time it takes to speak with someone and their expertise. I believe this is a very good system if installed properly. Most of my repairs require a simple fix and a repoint of the dish. Sometimes the radio (on the arm) or modem fail and need to be replaced. It might take a week to get equipment for those but I sympathize with those waiting that long or longer to get someone out to take a look. If you need service within 100 mi of Gaithersburg, MD, you can e-mail: [email protected]. Leave a phone number and we will call back and try to solve your problem.

  • by

    eloney1

    Fri Jun 09 2006

    I have had Direcway now hughesnet for 4 years and it sucked when I first recieved it but over the last three years it has gotten much better I am looking at getting the .98 dish or 1.2 meter dish to improve the quality and speed and to help when it rains as far as cloud cover goes I never loose my signal except when a really big storm moves through then I go to my good old trust worthy NETZERO it is still free and have been using it for about 10 years so I will and do recoment HughesNet but if you like downloading large files alot well to bad just move into the city and get your cable hookup.

  • by

    scvtex

    Fri Apr 21 2006

    I've been a Direcway customer for 4 years. It's slow and the technical support is terrible. I've only stuck with it because I live in the boonies. But they have gone from terrible to abyssmal with this switch from Direcway to Hughesnet. The switchover instructions sent out don't work and even their knowledge base contains incorrect information. Questions to email support go unanswered. The Indian support line (hold time: 1/2 hour), which is barely understandable, gives incorrect information or none. Yesterday, I requested to speak to Advanced Technical Support, which is US based. They flat refused to let me speak to them. I'll be without email for a few days, but I'm switching to WildBlue. Enough is enough. I would not recommend Direcway/Hughesnet to my worst enemy.

  • by

    jpmecowrit

    Wed Apr 19 2006

    I've been a Direcway customer for 4 or 5 years now. I've had all of the trouble described by everyone else - down time, slow time, but the killer is having a problem and calling tech support in India and getting help from someone who does not know what they're talking about and doesn't speak English. I found a way to reach the corporate offices in Maryland and began complaining to them directly. The president of Hughes Network Systems is Pradman Kaul and the VP of HNS and boss of Direcway is Paul Gaske. You can reach them at 301-428-5500. Frankly, you'll find them of little use. They really don't care that their service is lousy and their customers are unhappy. They've created a corporate culture designed to isolate management from customers. What's really pissed me off is that I just upgraded to the new 7000 series modem because I needed faster speeds and was reluctant to change my email address. This upgrade comes with a 15 month commitment. One month after signing I rece... Read more

  • by

    rthomasf

    Mon Apr 17 2006

    I have never experienced anything as bad as Direcway ------ Service ---WHAT SERVICE???????? The most recent debacle is that e-mail is being switched from Direcway.com to Hughes.net. That's just wonderful - especially where one has stationary, business cards, and advertising that will run all through 2006 with the Direcway e-mail address. One is given 6 pages of instructions on how to switch e-mail and additionally a deadline of 4/22 to make this switch. NOWHERE IN THIS SIX PAGES OF CONFUSING JIBBERISH IS THERE AN E-MAIL ADDRESS OR PHONE NUMBER TO CALL TO GET HELP!!!! I'm running a business, have tried to execute this e-mail transfer for five days. Myself and three staff members have worked on it and while we're not Bill Gates, we're not computer illerate either. After about 12 man hours of effort we've suceeded in creating a situation where we're not getting any e-mail at all!! Compared to this fiasco, FEMA's handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina looks like a pillar of brillia... Read more