Imagine you are driving down the highway and run out of gas. Surely that’s bad enough, but then you discover that you cannot refill your gas tank and are stranded for 24 hours or more. Welcome to the world of high-speed satellite internet.
To deal with this problem, we built HNFAP, FREE Windows software that acts like a smart gas gauge for your HughesNet high-speed Satellite internet. HNFAP™ (pronounced "HEN-fap") enables you to download as much as possible without running out of gas.
Satellite Internet: Best Option for Rural Customers
There are three major satellite internet providers in the United States: HughesNet, Starband and WildBlue. With satellite internet, you download and upload data via a satellite dish mounted in your yard or on your roof, similar to how DirecTV and Dish networks provide TV channels via satellite.
When compared to other means of internet access (cable, DSL, T1, dialup, etc.), satellite internet is generally more expensive, slower (except for dialup), falters during rain and snow, has a noticeable lag, doesn’t support online gaming or virtual private networks, and has strict limits on how much data you can download each day.
But on the other hand, if you live out in the country, satellite is currently the best affordable option for high-speed internet (though perhaps that will change someday with the US Rural Broadband Initiative).
HughesNet Satellite Internet
HughesNet® is a high-speed satellite internet service by Hughes Network Systems, the same company that provides DirecTV satellite TV. HughesNet is much faster than dialup, always-on, and requires no dialing in, no waiting and no tied-up phone lines. HughesNet is compatible with Windows and Mac computers and is available anywhere in the contiguous USA with a clear view of the southern sky.
I have been a happy HughesNet customer since 2006, except for one key issue…
You’ve Been FAPPED!
To ensure adequate internet access for all HughesNet subscribers, HughesNet maintains a Fair Access Policy (FAP). HughesNet assigns a download threshold for each service plan that limits the amount of data that a user may download each day. (Note that all satellite internet providers have a download limit, not just HughesNet.)
Subscribers who exceed this limit will experience a severe reduction in download speed for at least 24 hours, to the point where the Web is essentially unusable. This is known as being “FAPPED.” You can still send and receive short email messages, but Web browsing is too slow to be practical.
With the $80/month HughesNet ProPlus plan, you can download up to 425 MB of data per day. That’s about 2 hours of standard definition video or 15 minutes of high-definition video. So you can forget about using satellite internet to download HD video from Netflix during normal hours. Thankfully HughesNet provides a “FAP-Free” unlimited download period between 2-7 AM daily when you can schedule large downloads such as Windows updates and video.
But if you download too much during the day, your download speed drops to about 20 Kbps, even slower than dialup. At this speed, the CNN home page for example takes over 4 minutes to load, as shown in this chart of my internet experience:
| HughesNet Typical | HughesNet FAPPED | EarthLink Dialup |
|
| 0min:04sec | 0:14 | 0:31 | |
| DevTopics | 0:11 | 3:43 | 2:35 |
| CNN | 0:12 | 4:07 | 2:47 |
| Download Speed | 1087 Kbps | 22 Kbps | 38 Kbps |
| Upload Speed | 97 Kbps | 58 Kbps | 33 Kbps |
Recently HughesNet added the option to refill your gas tank once per month for free. This was a huge help. Additional refills in a calendar month will cost you $10.50 each. So you don’t want to run out of gas.
Don’t Get FAPPED, Get HNFAP!
We wrote the HNFAP software because we were tired of getting FAPPED. And if you’re a HughesNet customer, you should find it useful too. With HNFAP you can:
Download as much as possible. HNFAP monitors how much you use the internet, graphs it for you in real-time, and helps you maximize your limited downloads each day.
Avoid download penalties. HNFAP helps you avoid the FAP penalty by warning you multiple times when you approach your download limit, so you don’t have to suffer through slower-than-dialup speeds.
Detect bandwidth-hogging websites and spyware. Some websites these days run high-definition videos and ads without you even knowing it. Also, malicious websites and viruses can install spyware that use your computer to send and receive lots of data. HNFAP alerts you to large data transfers so you can disconnect your modem and investigate the problem.
HNFAP is available for FREE! There is also a HNFAP Pro Edition for $19.95 that provides:
- Interactive graphs showing Available Downloads, Downloads and Uploads for Today, This Month and Last Month
- Alert warnings when you download or upload too much in a short period of time
- Customizable colors and alert sounds
- Priority Web support
- Free product upgrades
HughesNet is a registered trademark of Hughes Network Systems LLC. HughesNet is not associated with nor endorses HNFAP or Mini-Tools in any way. HNFAP is a trademark and Mini-Tools is a registered trademark of Mini-Tools LLC.
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July 27th, 2010 at 2:24 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by TechnologyLover and ComputerGeeker, Timm Martin. Timm Martin said: Don’t Get FAPPED, Get HNFAP –The Premier FAP Monitor for HughesNet High-Speed Internet – http://devtopics.com/9a [...]
July 28th, 2010 at 9:16 pm
[...] Don’t Get FAPPED, Get HNFAP –The Premier FAP Monitor for HughesNet High-Speed Internet [...]