We ran over 7 millions speed tests in 12 months and found that Hughesnet's average national speed was 14Mbps from September 2022 to September 2023, with some times of day reaching up to 49Mbps. Keep in mind that Hughesnet’s offered speeds ranged only from 15Mbps to 50Mbps during this time, so it seems the company is delivering around the expected range.
That might not sound like an expected average for the promised range, but very few internet providers do. You should always expect your internet speeds to average less than your plan speed says. In fact, the speeds you see advertised from most internet providers are “up to” promises—meaning you could get up to that amount of speed, but the provider isn’t saying you will. Some of that is because internet speeds naturally fluctuate based on usage and bandwidth, but we give bonuses to providers like T-Mobile 5G Home Internet that advertise their average speeds, not up-to Mbps.
That all said, Hughesnet’s newest plans offer up to 100Mbps, which now means it’s matching competitors like Viasat and Starlink. If you sign up for Hughesnet, you can always track your speeds to get an idea of your true average experience using our Hughesnet speed test.
Hughesnet's data caps, however, are still on the smaller side compared to its competition, but they've been trending upwards. In fact, Hughesnet premium data caps now top out at 200GB, which is a lot on the satellite internet world. Keep in mind that premium data is basically the high-speed stuff, and Hughesnet, like Starlink and Viasat, offers unlimited standard data once you exceed your premium data allotment. Standard data comes with the risk of deprioritization or speed throttling, so it might be significantly slower than your premium data experience. And if you're already dealing with slower speeds, you can imagine what that could lead to.
That said, we've tested Hughesnet ourselves over the course of several months, and we purposefully exceeded our premium data cap to figure out what the standard Hughesnet data experience is like. We didn't find out speeds slowed significantly; in fact, after averaging it, there was little difference. So, though you might experience slower speeds, you also might not at all. It’ll depend mostly on where you live and how dense satellite customers are in your area or how difficult it is to get a signal to your home.
You can also buy Hughesnet Data Tokens at reasonable prices if you want more data in a month, and Data Tokens don't expire in the same month you purchased them. In fact, you can hold onto the data as long as you want, saving it up for Christmas or to stream Netflix’s latest season premiere.
Of course, as a budget pick, Hughesnet's biggest advantage doesn't come in blazing fast speeds (though Hughesnet Gen 5 technology certainly helps with that) or generous data allotments. Hughesnet really shines as a simple, cheaper option for those who want to be able to check their email and browse the web occasionally, but don't rely on it as a huge part of their day-to-day life. Or for those who want internet in their summer home without expensive prices year-round.