Is Satellite Internet a Good Option?

Satellite internet is a great option for rural internet—no landlines are required to deliver satellite internet service, and satellite beams can reach almost every address in the United States. If you have access to high-speed internet through cable, fiber or DSL, satellite internet may not be your first choice. Satellite internet is often more expensive than wired internet, so check with your local internet service providers (ISPs) prior to making your decision.

If you decide that satellite internet will be a good option for your home or business, you will need to get your internet service through one of two satellite ISPS, Viasat or HughesNet.

Is Viasat Satellite Internet a Good Option?

Viasat satellite internet offers an array of plans with download speeds up to 12 Mbps, 25 Mbps, 30 Mbps, 50 Mbps and 100 Mbps. Plan availability is determined by which Viasat satellite beams serve your area. Give us a call to find out which Viasat internet plans are available at your address.

All Viasat plans come with unlimited data, but each plan has a generous monthly data threshold ranging from 40 GB to 150 GB. Once Viasat customers reach their data thresholds, their internet traffic is prioritized behind traffic from customers who still have priority data available. If your data has been deprioritized, you should anticipate internet slowdowns during times of network congestion. When internet usage is lower, Viasat customers who have exceeded their data caps will likely not notice a significant difference. For the best experience with Viasat satellite internet, it is important to choose the plan with the speed and data threshold that suits the way you use the internet.

Is HughesNet Satellite Internet a Good Option?

HughesNet satellite internet plans all offer download speeds up to 25 Mbps—plans are differentiated by data caps. Plan availability is determined by the HughesNet satellite beams serving a specific location. Call today to learn which HughesNet satellite internet plans are available at your location and let us help you match an internet plan to the way you use the internet.

All HughesNet plans have monthly data caps ranging from 10 GB to 50 GB. Once you reach your data cap, you can expect to have slow internet service for the rest of the month. To help you conserve your priority data, HughesNet offers the Bonus Zone from 2 a.m. to 8 a.m. Data used during the Bonus Zone hours will not count against your monthly data allowance. The Bonus Zone is the time to download movies and other large files to save data. If you reach your data limit with a HughesNet plan, you can buy more data to carry you until the new month begins. For the best experience with HughesNet, be sure your style of internet usage matches the HughesNet internet plan you select.

Looking at HughesNet vs. Viasat Satellite Internet

HughesNet and Viasat both have strong points, particularly as rural internet service providers. As you look at HughesNet vs. Viasat, you will want to see what plans Viasat and HughesNet offer in your location.

If you want the highest internet speed possible, see if you can get Viasat’s Unlimited Platinum 100 plan with download speeds up to 100 Mbps and a 150 GB data threshold. If the Viasat Unlimited Platinum 100 plan is not available in your area, check on Viasat’s Unlimited Gold 50 with 50 Mbps downloads or Viasat’s Unlimited Gold 30 plan with 30 Mbps downloads. Gold plans come with data thresholds of 100 GB, significantly higher than any plan offered by HughesNet.

If you live in an area where Viasat plans have top download speeds of 12 Mbps or 25 Mbps, you will want to look closely at HughesNet. All HughesNet plans offer 25 Mbps. While Viasat data caps are exponentially more generous than HughesNet, you may find that HughesNet can deliver faster internet speeds to your home or business.

Is Satellite Internet a Good Option for Gaming?

Satellite internet works great for turn-based games, such as Boggle and Words with Friends. Because of the typical latency of satellite internet, HughesNet and Viasat are not the best option for fast-paced interactive games.