Most people have a problem ascertaining whether it’s the outside weather that’s troubling your internet connection or is it your connection that has gone rogue. Actually, the cold hard fact is that both can be the culprits. You cannot deal with the weather problems. However, you can do something about a slow or a bad connection.
Satellite internet providers like HughesNet use data signals that travel to and from satellites orbiting the earth in outer space. The latency of all satellite connections goes higher than the fixed broadbands. It is due to the long distance that each signal has to travel. In case you are an existing HughesNet user and are getting distorted or weak signals at your location, you can simply call HughesNet customer service and find out if there are any ongoing issues with the service.
If you are looking for an ISP, having moved to a new location such as the rural areas, a HughesNet connection can come in handy. They offer the widest coverage, having services in all 50 States across the U.S.
You can contact their customer services if you have any confusion regarding their availability and coverage. If you are living in an area that is more prone to tornados or windstorms, you may have lots of questions regarding the feasibility of a satellite connection.
We’re going to try answering as many of them as possible in this post. We do hope that by the end of this, you will have a basic idea of the factors that affect an internet connection.
Bad weather and fixed connections
This doesn’t happen too often but it’s not like it cannot ever happen. Internet connections working on networks like cables, fiber, DSL, or dial-up can all go down if the weather gets bad enough to knock down power cables and telephone lines. The same can happen in case any urban areas get heavy rain and then, in consequence, flooding.
The network of cables and wires can get destroyed during extreme weather conditions. While these events rarely happen, there is always a possibility that they might. If you get too much snow during winter, and the temperature goes down, it can freeze the cables. They will then crack open under pressure and the problem may not get discovered till the snow melts.
Thunderstorms and satellite internet
Would a strong gust of wind blowing outside destroy your internet connectivity? If there is a rainstorm with lightning, will my dish antenna catch fire? These questions are pretty common for people who have chosen satellite internet.
Most of the time, a little snow or rain does not pose any threat to your signals. So, your internet connection doesn’t suffer much due to that. However, no one likes getting wet in the rain all the time or getting frozen in the snow. We all like to limit our activities to the inside of our homes during such conditions.
When a large number of people do that in a certain area, they also start using the internet more for actions like binge-watching their favorite season or playing online games. This causes huge data traffic, which in turn causes slow connectivity due to network congestion.
So, you can’t really blame the weather. However, if there is heavy rainfall outside, your satellite connection, whether it’s TV, Internet, or Phone, will go down. The signals will be scattered and therefore, you may get a seriously slow connection or no internet at all. The same can happen when you’re stuck in a blizzard, a tornado, or a hurricane if you’re living somewhere on the coastal line.
Satellite companies like HughesNet, are coming up with more sturdy, high-capacity satellites to help deal with technical issues. If you are facing slow connectivity then simply call customer services and report the problem if it doesn’t resolve on its own after some time.
Equipment damage with satellite internet
Extreme weather can cause infrastructure failures in your area. These include damage to the external equipment, leaving you with no service for days at a stretch. This can happen, especially, if the storm doesn’t stop blowing or there are problems like flooding, etc.
The cable lines that connect the dish antenna to the modem can crack open and be completely destroyed, in case of freezing due to extreme snow. The windstorm can knock out and damage the dish antenna. You will have to get a new one and it won’t be easy if the extreme weather persists. A hailstorm can also cause damage to the equipment.
Raindrops are the biggest problem when it comes to cranky signals. They cause huge distortion if the size of the drop is big and it’s denser. Snow or fog don’t cause that much problem. You can try using a dehumidifier inside the house in case there is humid rainy weather because humidity can cause connection errors even inside our homes.
Satellite internet signal strength
We’ve already established how HughesNet or any satellite internet works. The data signals travel through radio waves. These waves travel the best when there is crisp clean air instead of a humid dense atmosphere. They get dispersed and are unable to reach the required destination within time. This causes a huge time delay.
Every satellite connection already experiences a half-second delay due to the immense distances.Add all these lags and you get a really bad latency, which just kills your internet’s speed. The dish antenna mounted outside can get displaced during a windstorm.
The ideal position is for the antenna to face the southern sky. If it doesn’t and gets tilted at a bad angle then that may cause slow speeds. You can take care of it on your own, but it may require professional assistance.
HughesNet Gen5 service
HughesNet’s new technology is helping citizens all across the United States, giving them access to reliable and consistent bandwidth overall data plans. The service is stronger and more stable than it ever was before. Contact HughesNet today to find out all about their services and plans and how to get them without facing any glitches and errors.