WildBlue vs HughesNet

Want to compare WildBlue and Hughesnet

WildBlue and HughesNet offer 2-way always on Internet via satellite with no phone line required. Both Hughesnet and Wild Blue offer internet speeds much faster than dial-up, and provide internet service to rural areas where DSL and cable can't reach, but make a closer comparison of WildBlue and Hughesnet and you will see WildBlue is the better value.

Compare the customer support - WildBlue’s customer support is 24/7 and is located right here in the United States – HughesNet outsources their customer support to India.

Compare the equipment size – The dish and modem for WildBlue are much smaller than HughesNet. The WildBlue dish measures 28" x 26". Compare that with HughesNet’s dish, which measures 38.5" - quite a difference. What is even more surprising is the weight of the dish - the WildBlue satellite dish weighs 37 pounds, but HughesNet’s satellite dish weights a whopping 57 pounds.

You get cutting-edge technology with WildBlue -WildBlue uses spot beam technology known as Ka band. Ka band provides about twice the allocation and bandwidth than the older technology Ku band used by HughesNet. Simply put - there is more frequency available with WildBlue than with HughesNet.

WildBlue offers better value -WildBlue packages start as low as $39.95 per month. HughesNet lowest package is $59.99 per month.

Free with WildBlue - WildBlue gives you one year free of anti-spyware protection – HughesNet does not.

Compare FAP policies - Both WildBlue and Hughesnet use a Fair Access Policy or FAP to balance the demand and supply of internet capacity for their customers.

WildBlue uses a rolling 30-day FAP, which makes going over the bandwidth threshold unlikely. WildBlue's service plans each have specific download and upload limits. If you exceed the amount allotted, your speed will be reduced to approximately 128kbps until your internet bandwidth usage drops 80% of your FAP limit. According to WildBlue, only about 4% of its customers are ever affected by FAP, so the upload/download thresholds are set fairly high.

HughesNet’s FAP is over a 24 hour period. This method of controlling bandwidth usage is much more restrictive. If you had a project you were working on from home and needed to download a large file you could potentially use up your FAP in one project.

Many customers search for WildBlue Satellite Internet using terms like Wild Blue, Wild-Blue, Satelite Internet, Satalite High Speed Internet, Rural Internet Providers, DIRECT TV Internet and Internet Services. To help customers find what they're looking for, we sometimes use these and related terms on our web site. You may find references to satelite internet, satalite internet, satillite, satallite, sattelite and high speed satelite internet. Please understand that, when any of these terms are used, on our site they apply to Satellite Internet offered by WildBlue Communications.