re: Anyone here get suckered into Hughesnet, or know someone who did?

You should only consider satellite internet for redundancy if you're a business, or if you live so far out there are no other options. The problem isn't the cost or the data caps. The problem is that your internet connection has to travel back and forth from earth to the satellite creating a superslow connection. If you're streaming a movie it's probably fine, but if you're loading a site like TD where there are tons of images then it will seem like dial up because a request has to be made for each part of the page that loads and those requests are slowed down by having to travel through the atmosphere and back.