Viasat Internet Review: High-speed Satellite Internet

Angelo Ilumba Senior Writer

Updated 01 March 2024

3 out of 5 overall

Broadband internet for rural areas

Available almost everywhere
High speeds for traditional satellite internet

View plans & pricing

In this Guide

Viasat Internet Plans
Viasat vs. Competitors
Recap: Is Viasat Wireless Right for You?
Viasat: Frequently Asked Questions

Viasat is a solid broadband internet option for people in areas not serviced by wired broadband such as cable or fiber, but the ISP isn’t ideal for people who have access to those connections. Satellite internet (despite advances led by a certain richest man in the world) isn't in a position to be a real alternative to faster, land-based broadband.

Still, those in rural areas can benefit greatly from Viasat internet. We'll review the internet provider to help you see if its satellite internet service is a good fit for your household.

Viasat	Viasat Viasat Essentials Satellite 50/5 Mbps Unlimited Data Contract (12 mths) Deal: New customers get a $300 Mastercard Reward Card $71.22/mo for 12 months. Contract required. for 12 months. Contract required. View Plan	$71.22/mo for 12 months. Contract required. for 12 months. Contract required.	View Plan
Viasat	Viasat Viasat Unleashed Satellite 50/10 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: New customers get a $300 Mastercard Reward Card $101.22/mo Available in select locations Available in select locations View Plan	$101.22/mo Available in select locations Available in select locations	View Plan

Is Viasat for you? Pros and cons

If you're in a rural area with no options for wired broadband, Viasat could be for you.

What we love

Available almost everywhere in the United States
Up to 100Mbps speeds

What could be improved

Expensive (plans and equipment)
High-speed data caps
High latency

70/100

View plans & prices

Viasat Internet Plans

The Viasat Unleashed Unlimited plan is its flagship no-contract offering. For the bulk of Viasat's customers, this is the one-and-only option, While other plans may be available for the small percentage that are not within the Unleashed range, we suggest looking into other internet options.

Depending on location, speeds on Unleashed can reach up to 150Mbps and prices will range from $99.99/month to $119.99/month. Installation prices can vary depending on credit. Those with qualifying credit scores may get free installation.

Data is unlimited on Unleashed; however, those users who trend to 850GB of usage in a month may see slower speeds during times of network congestion.

What we like: Availability

Viasat's one great strength is its availability—offering internet service pretty much anywhere. This is great for people in rural areas where cable and fiber do not reach. Viasat's satellite internet gives these customers access to broadband internet, which, as time goes by, seems to be more of a household necessity than a privilege—especially with things like working and studying from home.

What we like: High speeds (for satellite)

Before we go any further, let's say that we won’t include Starlink in this conversation as it's yet to go into full release. Viasat does offer some pretty competitive download speeds for its connection type. While it's not going to compare to the 1,000Mbps you can get from fiber and even some cable options, 150Mbps is still a respectable download speed. It’s also much faster than you can get with HughesNet (the other satellite internet provider), which tops out at 25Mbps.

With Viasat, you’ll be able to stream your favorite show on Netflix or Hulu with relative ease.

What could be improved: Latency

There isn't very much you can do regarding latency and satellite internet. Satellite is just never going to beat out wired land-based connections because the signal has to go all the way out to space and come back down. The only way to significantly reduce satellite internet latency is by sending thousands of satellites in low orbit around the planet (which is exactly what the richest man in the world and his company are doing).

Poor latency is really bad for gamers who rely on quick response times to be competitive in online matches. It is also not great for any sort of live streaming, whether it be for video calls or live TV watching.

Viasat vs. Competitors

For now, Viasat's most direct competitor is HughesNet. That will eventually change once Elon Musk's Starlink is in full operation. Let's take a look at how Viasat stacks up against HughesNet.

Viable vs. HughesNet

	Viasat	HughesNet
Availability
Speeds
Data limits
Price
	View Plan	View Plan

On paper, when it comes to the two current big players in satellite internet, Viasat is the clear winner. It has better speeds and higher data limits without charging significantly more than HughesNet charges for its plans.

Viasat vs. wired internet

Look, this isn't a fair fight, so we aren't going to get too deep into the weeds here by comparing Viasat to some of the major internet service providers in the country. Viasat is not ideal for anybody with access to wired broadband internet service, especially cable and fiber. By the way, we're not saying anything Viasat doesn't already know, since this info appears several times in its own marketing materials.

Ultimately, fiber and cable internet will get you faster and more reliable speeds. Plus, you get much better latency which is vital for gamers and people who take many virtual meetings. Any data limits are typically going to be so high you'll likely never exceed them. All this and the plans will be generally cheaper for fiber and cable. If not, they'll probably be around the same price, and you'll still be getting so much more for the money. As an alternative, consider Rise Broadband's rural fixed wireless internet which offers low-latency signals in rural areas..

Recap: Is Viasat Wireless Right for You?

If you live in a rural area without service from wired broadband internet providers, Viasat could be right for you simply because it is everywhere. On top of that, you'll get access to faster download speeds than you can from Viasat's top competitor.

On the other hand, Viasat is not a great option in areas where broadband wired internet is available because the costs are too high in comparison, data limits are too low, and speeds are too slow. Latency will always be an issue with satellite internet (Starlink is helping a little here).

Still, anybody who gets Viasat may need to accept it. Overall, we appreciate that Viasat gives people access to broadband who might not otherwise have it. However, we do think those prices could better reflect what you get for your dollar.

Viasat: Frequently Asked Questions

Is Viasat internet good?

As an option for people who don't have access to wired internet, Viasat is good. However, Viasat does not stack up directly with cable and fiber.

Is Viasat good for Netflix?

Yes, Viasat speeds are adequate for Netflix viewing. However, anybody wanting to stream live TV might have a poor experience due to the high latency.

Why is Viasat internet so slow?

Viasat isn't necessarily slow. Once it gets going, it can be pretty fast. However, it takes some time to get going. That signal has to travel all the way to space and come back. That's quite a lot of distance to cover.

Is Viasat really unlimited?

Yes, Viasat is technically unlimited. On its unlimited plans, you won’t experience roadblocks to using your Viasat internet data, nor will you be charged for any overages. The caveat is that Viasat imposes high-speed limits. When you exceed that limit, Viasat will slow your speeds to around 3Mbps.

Methodology

To rate Viasat's internet service, we took a close look at each of the ISP's plans and compared data limits, data speeds, and prices to other internet plans in the country. We looked closely at how Viasat compared to its main competitor and stacked up against cable and fiber internet connections. WhistleOut continuously monitors different ISPs and will update this review as necessary.

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Angelo Ilumba

Senior Writer

Angelo is a highly experienced writer for WhistleOut, specializing in unraveling the complexities of the mobile and tech world so that readers can easily understand what is relevant to them. Angelo has been featured on several publications such as MoneyTalksNews, Yahoo Finance, NPR and more.

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