Setting Up Your HughesNet Account

Setting up your account involves providing some information to the installer or dealer and selecting the service plan and options. The dealer will get a Site Account Number (SAN) and Personal Identification Number (PIN), which are needed to commission your modem.

Getting Your Satellite and Mobility Equipment

After you have provided the necessary information to set up your HughesNet account, your equipment will be ordered. You will need the HughesNet satellite equipment and mobility accessories to take your system on the road.

Receiving Hands-on Training

The original installation and commissioning is performed by a professional installer. It is also the responsibility of the original installer or dealer, to train the new mobile user in proper alignment and verification procedures, when moving the satellite dish. Receiving hands-on training is very important - it can make the difference between a stressful experience and enjoying your new system immediately.

Using DSSatTool, from Don Bradner and DatastormUsers.com

For the commissioning of your modem, the installer/trainer must use the web interface of your modem and the Registration - Installer functions. After commissioning, Don Bradner’s DSSatTool provides an easier way to get your modem to communicate with the satellite from a new location. It is also uses fewer network resources. This is discussed in Chapter 2, Every Time You Move - Redeploying Your HughesNet VSAT.

The Outdoor Unit (ODU)

The ODU or antenna includes the dish, or reflector, and the feed arm, which holds the active elements (transmitter and receiver). These are pictured above.

The Indoor Unit (IDU) – HughesNet Satellite Modem

The HughesNet Model DW6000, DW7000, or HN7000S modem supplies DC power to the LNB and the transmitter. It also transmits the inroute signal and receives the outroute signal. Both outroute (received) and inroute (transmitted) signals operate at L-band, between the modem and the outdoor electronics. The numbers in the illustration above indicate the order in which the lights come on, after a normal power reset. The DW6000 can no longer be commissioned.

The Interfacility (IFL) Dual Coaxial Cables

This component is what connects the outside components (ODU) to the HughesNet satellite modem (IDU). The cables run from the antenna Rx-Tx feed arm, through the point of entry into the RV, to the modem. The IFL cables connect the LNB and transmitter to the modem. The IFL cables carry DC power supplied by the satellite modem, for the outdoor electronics. They also carry the L-band signals to/from the outdoor electronics and the modem. HughesNet requires dual RG-6 cable for this purpose.

Mobility Kit Components

Following is a list of mobility kit components, along with a brief description of each:

1. Aluminum Tripod - The tripod supports the antenna assembly. It should always be weighted down with at least 50 lb. of ballast. Shown in the figure is the 60-SMSN25 tripod, which was specially developed for this purpose by CST/berger.
2. Offset Adapter - This custom designed offset mount moves the center of balance of the satellite dish to directly over the center of the tripod. This creates a well-balanced antenna assembly, less prone to tip over. The one shown is the original design and the sturdier of the two models offered.

T-Level - Attached to the mounting adapter, a T-Level makes it incredibly easy to get a plumb mast. Achieving a plumb mast is the key to properly pointing your dish, for optimum signal quality and minimum cross-pol. This is described in Chapter 2, See Every Time You Move - Redeploying Your HughesNet VSAT .

1. Adapter Hardware Set - This is to securely attach the offset adapter to the tripod. It also provides a large eyebolt for attaching ballast.
2. Ballast Strap - This attaches to the eyebolt (part of hardware set), for adding a minimum of 50 lbs. of ballast.
3. 50’ Dual RG-6 Cable - This is the receive and transmit InterFacility Link (IFL) cable, which connects the outdoor equipment to the satellite modem indoors. All connections use compression-fit connectors.
4. Collapsible Water Jug - When filled with water, this provides the needed ballast. When empty, it is very compact and lightweight, for travel. Hard-plastic water containers are much more durable, but are bulkier to transport.
5. Lensatic Sighting Compass - This is used to help determine your azimuth - the direction in which you will point your dish
6. Suunto Tandem Compass - This is the ultimate compass, which allows you to determine your line of sight, even when there are lots of potential obstacles, such as in a heavily wooded area. You can sight elevation, as well as azimuth.
7. BirDog Satellite Meter - This digital satellite meter kit includes everything you need. It makes locating the right satellite and adjusting the dish to optimize the signal even easier than the OPI. Because this meter positively identifies the satellite, you will be immediately able to set up your antenna and know you are online, before you ever connect the cables and turn on the modem.
8. Outdoor Pointing Interface (OPI) Meter - This digital satellite meter kit includes a 22KHz filter, which is needed except for use with the DW4000 pre-ISIS transmitters. It makes locating the right satellite and adjusting the dish to optimize the signal simple and straight-forward. Only used OPIs or the more expensive DAPT meter are now available. There is a free software OPI available.
9. User Guide and Setup Card - The SMSN HughesNet Mobility User Guide contains more than 100 pages of useful information, including fully illustrated setup instructions. The Setup Card contains a checklist for setup and other information.
10. Not Shown - The following mobility kit items are not shown on the previous page:
11. Knob kits - Knobs can eliminate the need for tools, when setting up.
12. Elevation adjuster - This is used for setting the elevation.
13. Mast level - This optional level can also be used to help you plumb the offset adapter mast.

The items pictured are only representative of the actual kit components. In some cases, an item of equal or greater value may be substituted.

Pointing the Antenna Properly

TV satellites transmitting their signal to the earth have a large footprint. As long as you are in that footprint, it is a relatively easy task to aim towards the satellite and acquire the signal. Transmitting a signal back is a much more precise task.

Satellites in geostationary orbit, like the HughesNet satellites, are spaced approximately 45-50 miles apart. If you draw a straight line between your dish and the satellite, it will be about 22,300 miles long. If you move your dish even one degree off peak, the other end of your line will have wandered off target, by approximately 389 miles.

There is also the very real possibility that if your antenna is not pointed or aligned correctly, you could be firing a high frequency transmission to an adjacent satellite and potentially disrupting service to thousands of its users. This is referred to as Adjacent Satellite Interference (ASI).

This is a very serious issue to satellite operators and is why it is so critical that your dish is correctly pointed, locked down tight, and stabilized properly.

A properly pointed antenna has the strongest possible received and transmitted signals (signal quality and co-pol, respectively). And, it creates the least possible interference for other users on the satellite (cross-pol).

The most important thing to remember is that a properly pointed antenna doesn’t waste bandwidth or interfere with your own or others’ transmissions. This means a better online experience for everyone. And, most important in properly pointing the antenna is minimizing the cross-pol or interfering signal.

Defining Inroute and Outroute Communications

Let’s define what is meant by inroute and outroute transmissions:

• Inroute transmission - This is everything transmitted by your VSAT, to the HughesNet NOC. It is characterized by Co-Pol and Cross-pol.
• Outroute transmission - This is everything received by your VSAT, from the HughesNet NOC. Outroute performance is characterized by Signal Quality.

Defining Polarization

The HughesNet VSAT antenna transmits and receives signals in two linear polarizations: horizontal and vertical, as shown in the figure, above.

The first thing to keep in mind when talking about linear polarization, is that the electric field's orientation describes the polarization. The electric field radiates off of, and is in the same plane, as the "radiating antenna" in the transmitter. The magnetic field is induced by, and is perpendicular to, the electric field. Also, remember that the antennas on the satellite are oriented with respect to the earth at it's meridian or line of longitude. So vertical for the satellite may be skewed from our point of view. These points also hold true for the LNB, only the inroute signal excites the "pickup antenna" in the LNB.

When we adjust the skew or polarization, the little radiator assumes the polarization that we set.

The transmit cross-polarization component can interfere or “disturb” the receiving co-polarization signal, and vice versa. These disturbances need to be kept to a minimum, by proper pointing of the dish. Every antenna has some parasitic cross-polarization. The goal is to have a cross-pol component that is as small, as possible.

Circular polarization is also shown, but is not used for HughesNet Ku-band services and will not be discussed further. Satellite TV and HughesNet Ka-band services use circular polarization. Ka-band services are spot-beamed and cannot be relocated without help from the HughesNet Network Operations Center (NOC).

Pointing the Antenna and Fine-tuning

After each move, the antenna is redeployed , by first making sure that the mast for the dish is plumb, with respect to gravity. Then, the skew, azimuth, and elevation are set on the antenna assembly, per the values provided by the HughesNet modem or DSSatTool.

After locating the satellite, the azimuth and elevation are then adjusted, with the help of an electronic pointing device, such as a OPI meter or a Birdog meter, to achieve the strongest possible received signal. If your mast is plumb AND you have optimized your receive signal, you are likely to also have an optimized co-pol signal and a minimized cross-pol.

Customer Contact Information

HughesNet Support Options

HughesNet offers several options for help. The first place to start is with the self-service support web page. From this page you can access help files, the knowledge base, many quick links for commonly asked questions, or an online chat session.

There is also a phone number to call for technical, non-technical, and billing issues.

HughesNet Satellites

HughesNet uses several different satellites and frequently changes the satellite and/or transponder assignment for new users. This is done for load balancing , which is an attempt to equally distribute users across the different transponders leased by HughesNet. Because satellites provide shared bandwidth , it is important to not assign too many users to the same transponder, or very poor performance and low speeds will result.

Some satellite assignments have exception states, or states in the lower 48 which aren’t within the coverage area for that satellite. When such a satellite is the current assignment, there will be a second satellite assigned to anyone in one of the exception states. For example, Satellite 99 W or G16 has a coverage hole in parts of Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma. Anyone in those states who becomes a HughesNet subscriber when 99 W is the current assignment will be assigned to a different satellite.

There are also sometimes different assignments for the larger .98 dishes, for new DW6000s and/or used equipment.

Appendix A has a complete listing of satellites used by both HughesNet and StarBand.

Networking and HughesNet Support

With the HughesNet DW6000, DW7000, and HN7000S modems, you can directly connect a wireless router. However, HughesNet will not provide any support for networking issues. All that will be supported is a directly connected PC. If you need to call technical support, you may be asked to connect your PC directly to the modem.

Online User Groups

There are many online user groups available. There are four, which are especially good sources of information for mobile two-way satellite users. The following user groups are discussed further in Chapter 3, Troubleshooting and Help Information :

• The MobileInternetSatellite.com user forums
• The RV2WaySat Yahoo group
• DatastormUsers.com user forums and satellite utilities

Information about RF energy

The HughesNet antenna sends requests to the Internet and receives the requested content, via a Ku-band satellite in geostationary orbit approximately 22,300 miles above the equator. The antenna uses a low-power microwave signal, to send and receive. The satellite communicates with the HughesNet NOC, which is directly connected to the Internet.

HughesNet Fair Access Policy (FAP)

The HughesNet Satellite system is based on a shared bandwidth system. This means that all of its users share the bandwidth that is available. HughesNet has enacted a Fair Access Policy (FAP) to ensure an equitable sharing of this bandwidth.