The Fair Access Policy (FAP)

1 Download Threshold is the volume in megabytes of data that can be downloaded continuously before the Fair Access Policy may restrict the download speed.
2 Recovery Rate is the rate in kilobits per second at which a service plan recovers the Download Threshold.

If all you do online is browse websites & check your email, you'll likely never hit the FAP. Most web pages don't containg a great deal of data. So, even if you're looking at page after page of content .. or spending the better part of a day shopping on eBay .. you just won't take in anything near the limits of even the smallest subscription package. You'll stay well below the FAP barrier & will be able to browse consistantly at high-speed.

Popular file sharing programs like LimeWire, BitTornado, BearShare, BitTorrent, and the like, are types of programs that can bring HughesNet users quickly to their package FAP limit. If you're into downloading full length movies, large quantities of music files, full software applications (games, productivity software, etc.) then you'll likely meet up with the FAP ... and it won't take long. Depending on your download speed, and your service plan, you'll find yourself under FAP restrictions within an hour or so of heavy high-speed downloading. Video websites such as YouTube also eat up it's share of bandwidth. You can certainly watch some YouTube type videos
without a problem .. but if you plan on spending a couple hours viewing, then you'll likely hit the F.A.P. penalty.

Yes. It doesn't matter which company you subscribe to for your HughesNet service, all data is still routed through and regulated by Hughes. As such, the FAP limits are the same for everyone.

Although advertised as an always-on "high-speed" broadband internet connection, HughesNet does have some limitations with regards
to how much data you're allowed to upload & download at "high-speed". Going over these limits will severely restrict the speed of your
satellite system to somewhere near dial-up speeds. As such, it's important to know about the system Hughes uses to regulate these
upload and download limits. Hughes calls this system their "Fair Access Policy" (or F.A.P. for short). Below are the details on the F.A.P.
, and a general explanation of how it all works with the different service packages.

To ensure fair Internet access for all HughesNet™ subscribers, HUGHES® maintains a Fair Access Policy (FAP). This policy establishes an equitable balance in Internet access for HughesNet subscribers. Hughes assigns a download threshold to each service plan that limits the amount of data that may be downloaded during a typical day. A small percentage of subscribers who exceed this limit will experience a temporary reduction of speed.

Explanation:
The Fair Access Policy is straightforward. Based on an analysis of customer usage data, Hughes has established a download threshold for each of the HughesNet service plans that is well above the typical usage rates. Subscribers who exceed that threshold will experience reduced download speeds for approximately 24 hours.

During this recovery period, the HughesNet service may still be used, but speeds will be slower. Web browsing, for example, will be significantly slower than subscribers’ normal browsing experience. Subscribers will return to normal download speeds after the recovery period as long as they minimize their bandwidth-intensive activities. If they continue these activities during this recovery period, reduced download speeds may continue beyond 24 hours.

In mid-April of 2007 Hughes made a big change in the way the F.A.P. is handled. Previously, the 'penaly' for going over the upload /
download limit of your subscribed package was that you had to wait for your recovery rate

from typically between as little as 1-hour, to as much as 6-8 hours. The new F.A.P. has a more flat-rate penalty. Rather than factoring
in your recovery rate to get you back to high speed service, the F.A.P. penalty is now a flat 24-hour period. Simply put, if you upload/
download an amount of data greater than the limit of your subscribed service package, your speeds will drop greatly for the next 24 hrs.

According to Hughes, the new F.A.P. will see a "change" in the recovery rate system. While they do still seem to be using some sort
of recovery bucket, the exact amounts have not yet been published by Hughes. Independent testing by users seem to show recovery
rates of at or about the same as they have previously been.

If you hit the F.A.P. limit, your speeds are cut back for 24-hours from the time the penalty starts. It's not calculated by calendar days,
but rather by 24 hours from when you went over your subscribed package limits.

While your actual upload / download speeds will be slightly above dial-up (56kbps), it will likely seem even slower due to the latency
inherent to satellite based internet. As such, it's in your best interest to stay away from hitting the F.A.P. limit.

Transferring an amount of data (whether uploading, downloading, or a combination of the two) that exceeds the limit of your
subscription package, within a relatively short time period. (I.E.: For "Home" users going over 200MB.) The exact time period is
governed by calculating your download threshold (I.E.: "Home" users at 200MB) in relation to your recovery rate.

The best way to test a partictular game you like to play is to make a note of the time, and then run the game for an hour. Later,
go to the Hughes Customer Care page and check your usage. Add your upload and download amounts together and you'll know
about how much data your game uses. Online game sites like "pogo" don't generally use much data. Expect somewhere around 5 or
so megs total per hour. MMORPG games use a great deal more. Expect data usage of around 16+ Megs per hour. Again, it's
best to test your individual application yourself, so as to be sure to stay away from F.A.P. restrictions.