The Breakdown: HughesNet Internet Plans for Seniors
If you’ve already had a gander at HughesNet’s top satellite competitor, Viasat, you know that Viasat’s top-tier plans have higher download speeds and up to 100 GB of data per month. But do you really need the extra speed and data? It boils down to what you need the internet for.
10 GB for Basic Internet Users
While the $59.99 monthly price tag is attractive, HughesNet’s 10 GB plan is going to be a squeeze for many of us, considering that the average American household burns through at least 350 GB of data per month. “Household” is actually a key term here, because if you live with a spouse or partner, you’ll be splitting that monthly data allowance between the two of you.
Pop quiz: I mentioned up top that internet providers measure connection speed in megabits (and sometimes gigabits). As for data, they measure it in megabytes and gigabytes. There are 8 megabits in every megabyte. Question of the day — how fast would you be able to download a 15 MB attachment with a 25 Mbps HughesNet connection? Find the answer in the next tip box.
What will 10 GB of monthly data give you in practical terms? Seven hours of combined standard-definition (SD) video streaming and 20 hours of video chatting, for one. That breaks down to roughly seven minutes of video streaming and 22 minutes of video chatting per day per person, if you’re a family of two.
If your daily routine includes surfing, checking your news feed, and shopping online, you’ll need to carve out some data for those as well. While emailing doesn’t eat up much data, downloading summer camp pics of the grandkids does.
Answer: So, how long would it take to download 15 MB on a 25 Mbps connection? If you said 4.8 seconds, you’re a math whiz. Now you can impress the whole yoga class with your internet savvy.
I think you get the picture: 10 GB isn’t much. So even if you do consider yourself a light internet user, it might be better to start with one of HughesNet’s 20 GB or 30 GB packages and then downgrade if you’re swimming in extra data at the end of the month.
20-30 GB for Light to Moderate Internet Users
Once you break into HughesNet’s middle-tier plans, you start to have more freedom — more video chatting (up to 45 minutes per person per day, if you need it) and more wiggle room for surfing, podcasting, and emailing. A 30-minute podcast, by the way, only uses about 22 MB of data, as long as you’re listening at normal sound quality.
Speaking of podcasting, you can stretch your middle-of-the-road 20-30 GB HughesNet package into a souped-up 70-80 GB power plan by waking up early and downloading your podcasts during the Bonus Zone. Remember, that’s 50 GB of extra data at full speed from 2 a.m. to 8 a.m.
One thing I wouldn’t recommend doing, even with your 30 GB HughesNet plan, is burning through all your data streaming movies. That would put you in the HughesNet “Danger Zone” pretty fast, even if you’re watching in SD. Instead, download those Netflix series in the early morning for viewing later in the day (just like in the old days when we taped TV shows to watch at night). Either that, or consider a satellite TV plan like DISH or DirecTV to complement your satellite internet service.
FYI: When we say we’re streaming a video in SD, we’re talking about 240p to 480p. That means you get up to 480 vertical lines of pixels on your screen, which is why watching 480p video on your laptop looks better than stretching it across a much wider TV screen. For TV screens, HD (720p to 2160p) gives you a crisper viewing experience.
Bottom line? Data-wise, you can make do with either of these plans, but you’ve still got to keep an eye on how much data you use.
50 GB for Moderate (to Heavy) Internet Users
At 50 GB, this is HughesNet’s package that offers the most data, but it’s not a ton of data compared to what other providers offer. On the other hand, if you take advantage of the HughesNet Bonus Zone’s early bird special, you can boost your data allowance to 100 GB per month, which is as much data as you get with Viasat’s top-tier plan, the Platinum 100. Also, your HughesNet package costs $149.99 per month, while the Viasat package would weigh in at $199.99 after the first three months. That’s a savings of $50 per month!