Question from Carl F.: I live in rural Georgia but I also own a second home (a cabin) in the Missouri Ozarks. Both homes have a HughesNet satellite antenna installed.
I spend most of my time in Georgia but I head to the Ozarks for a couple of weeks several times a year.
My question is can I just take my HughesNet modem with me when I go to Missouri and plug it into that dish?
My cabin is in a pretty isolated area and satellite Internet is the only viable broadband option I have out there. There isn’t even a cellular signal available or I’d just get myself a hotspot box.
Anyway, it seems to me I should be able to just plug the modem into either satellite dish and have it work. Or am I missing something?
I’d just take the modem with me next time and give it a try but I’m afraid it might mess something up.
Rick’s answer: I hate to be the bearer of bad news Carl, but unfortunately the short answer to your question is no. I’m afraid you won’t be able to just hook up the same modem in either home and have it work with one HughesNet account.
You wouldn’t damage anything by connecting your modem to the other dish, but it wouldn’t do you any good. I won’t go into the technical details here, but your modem is “tied” to your specific geographic area.
HughesNet would gladly switch your service from your Georgia home to the Missouri location if you asked them to, but they would charge you a pretty hefty fee that you’d have to pay all over again in two weeks to have the service switched back to Georgia.
Of course there are other satellite Internet companies and resellers out there, some of which provide mobile Internet services. The problem is they tend to be a lot more expensive than what you’d pay for two separate HughesNet accounts.
Bottom line: My recommendation is to simply sign up for a second HugesNet account for your Missouri cabin and get a second modem because that’s the most affordable option by far.
Bonus tip: This post offers several tips for enjoying a faster Internet experience.
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