Legal Node

Applicable to Customers who subscribed on or after December 19, 2023 

Hughes maintains a Fair Access Policy to ensure fair and equitably balanced Internet access for all subscribers to the Hughesnet® service (“Service”). 

Service Features and Conditions

All Service Plans feature Priority Data and unlimited Standard Data. Each Hughesnet service plan (“Service Plan”) comes with an amount of Priority Data that may be downloaded or uploaded at Service Plan speeds within a billing cycle (“Priority Data”). 

If a subscriber uses all of their Priority Data during a billing cycle, he or she can continue using the Service using unlimited Standard Data until their Priority Data resets. Standard Data is prioritized behind Priority Data, which means that during high traffic periods, subscribers using Standard Data may experience slower speeds, which will lead to web sites responding and loading more slowly and certain activities such as video streaming or large downloads/uploads being significantly impacted.

All Service Plans include data-saving features to maximize your Priority Data. With the Video Data Saver feature, streaming is optimized with video streams at DVD quality (up to 480p). For best performance, you should leave any video streaming applications at their default automatic resolution setting. Most video services are supported, But not all video sources are identifiable.

Use of the Service between 2 am and 8 am is not counted against your Priority Data.

How does the Fair Access Policy work?

Hughesnet Service Plans allow unlimited downloading and uploading. However, to ensure consistent performance and fair and equitably balanced Internet access for all subscribers, the Fair Access Policy provides for a specific amount of Priority Data, based on your Service Plan as described above. This is the amount of data, in bytes, which can be uploaded or downloaded within the billing cycle at plan speeds before you begin using Standard Data. The policy is implemented automatically by monitoring the amount of data sent from or to your satellite modem.

When is my Priority Data amount reset?

Each Service Plan’s Priority Data cycle is based on the date of the Service Plan’s activation. The reset cycles are based upon a 28-day month (1-28), and the cycle day matches your activation day. If your service is activated on the 29th, 30th, or 31st day of a month, your cycle will be set to the first day of the month. As an example, if you activate service on October 3, your cycle day is 3, and your Priority Data will be reset overnight on the third day of each month. If you activate your service on October 30, your cycle day is 1, and your Priority Data will be reset overnight on the first day of each month.

How is my usage calculated?

Hughesnet counts each byte of data sent from, or to, your satellite modem. This includes packet headers, re-transmissions, and other standard overhead which is part of any IP communications. However, when Hughesnet is able to apply compression and reduce the size of the data you send or receive, only the compressed (smaller) data is counted against your usage.

As noted above, use of the Service between 2 am and 8 am is not counted against a subscriber’s Priority Data. 

What happens if I don’t use all of my Priority Data?

Any unused Priority Data at the end of your billing cycle expires, and your Priority Data is reset to the amount assigned to your Service Plan.

Who is affected by the Fair Access Policy?

Some users consume significantly more bandwidth than the average user. By providing a monthly Priority Data amount, more of the shared bandwidth is made available for everyone to use. Most subscribers will have a better experience as a result of the Fair Access Policy.

Online activities such as viewing web sites, checking email, watching video clips or similar short streaming media, and automatic software updates are unlikely to cause you to use all of your monthly Priority Data.

Heavy Data Subscribers

While all Hughesnet Service Plans come with a monthly Priority Data amount and unlimited Standard Data, some subscribers consume significantly more bandwidth than the average. Subscribers who use more than 1 TB of Standard Data per month are considered “Heavy Data Subscribers”. Hughes may, at its discretion, prioritize Heavy Data Subscribers' Standard Data usage behind non-Heavy Data Subscribers’ Standard Data usage. By utilizing these various bandwidth management practices, more of the shared bandwidth is made available for everyone to use, resulting in a better experience for most subscribers.

If I use all of my Priority Data, what should I do?

You might consider upgrading your service plan or purchasing Priority Data Tokens.

How do I verify how much Priority Data I have used?

You can track your past usage and Fair Access Policy status by using the Hughesnet Mobile App or logging in to your  my.hughesnet.com account, clicking on Customer Care, then clicking on the Check My Usage link in the Resources section.

How do Priority Data Tokens work?

Priority Data Tokens allow you to purchase additional Priority Data if you have used your monthly Priority Data. Once a Priority Data Token is applied to your account, your Priority Data is restored.  Your Priority Data Token data balance is available by logging into your account at my.hughesnet.com, your Hughesnet mobile app, and Support Center usage displays. Your Priority Data Token data balance carries forward from month to month.

Last revised: December 19, 2023