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Exactly a week from today, I had an installer out who upgraded my hardware from a DW4000 to  the HN7000S. I had my DW4000 for about 4 years, with little problems. I had a signal strength between 75-85 and experienced only small periods of outage during extreme weather. When the installer initially plugged in my modem (DW7000s), he wasn't able to receive a signal. After 30 minutes of unplugging/plugging in the HN7000S, he was finally able to receive a signal of 40. He insisted on replacing the transmitter/receiving, even though it wouldn't fit on my dish. He then drilled two holes to 'fix' the alignment problem. The installer then attempted to fine point the dish, finally being satisfied with a signal of 45. Out the door he went.

Everything seemed fine at first, but the second day with the new hardware, I noticed my signal would fluctuate with perfect weather conditions. With a signal of 45, this leaves little room for fluctuation - if you want service. After a good 4-5 hours with support, I finally got someone intelligent enough to change transponders. It took another 24 hours to actually have that done, as the first person I spoke with only submitted a request, while the individual I spoke with this time actually made the change himself.

With the transponder change, I'm usually able to maintain a signal of 50-60, however my signal is in the 45-50 range right now. Now, before bad weather even gets near my area, my service dies completely, for several hours. Even after the storm has passed, it takes another good 6 hours to recover. The strange part is, last night during extreme weather, I happened to notice 5 lights lit up on the modem. I checked my signal, and had a 75, which eventually spiked up to 81. The internet was extremely speed, even though we had horrible storms outside. How can this be explained?

When the modem is operating correctly, my service does seem more speedy, but I would much rather have efficiency. The installer lied to my face on several occasions, but I'm not really worried about that. He also took my old hardware, so I'm out of luck on switching back.
Can someone please explain this strange behavior, or post suggestions. If you need any information, I would be happy to supply it. Thanks!

The first thing you need to do is call the company that installed your new stuff, and file a formal complaint to have them come back and replace your dish and transmitter.  When that installer drilled holes to "fix" the alignment, he completely ruined your outdoor equipment.  He should not have done that.