HughesNet Sucks There Are Other Options Out There

After two years of using HughesNet, and an initial honeymoon period where I was pretty happy with the service, I have come to lathe HughesNet and with all every fiber of my being. HughesNet sucks. It just really sucks, and it only seems to be getting worse. You can barely play World of Warcraft, can't play anything on Xbox Live, and quite a few times you can barely get your Gmail to load up. 

I know that there isn't much that's objective here, so I will just go ahead and post one photo.

Top is Verizon LTE tethered from a Galaxy Nexus
Bottom is HughesNet on a typical Sunday night.

The speeds that you are seeing on HughesNet above (bottom photo) are typical when you are in an area where there are quite a few other homes with HughesNet service. It's not unusual for HughesNet to totally oversell your area and when you all try to use the service at the same time, you can't get online at all. 

I know that two years ago I didn't have any options. Verizon only had 1X (2G) service. Then Verizon had 3G, and Verizon 3G is good enough for web surfing, playing World of Warcraft, and online games. 

Verizon LTE is a whole new ballgame. Speeds from 17 MB down and 7 or 8 up are typical. I am far away from the tower, but I have a Wilson Electronics LTE booster that's boosting my LTE and 3G signal enough to make me feel like I am actually using proper broadband.  (I am in the middle of writing up a huge post on Wilson Electronics, they fricken rock.)

Before you sign anything with HughesNet, please check all your options. Check wireless carriers. Do your research on the Internet. Anything is better than HughesNet.