Viasat Voice is a service you can order as a stand-alone service or as a bundle with Viasat Satellite Internet access at your home provided you choose from among the Viasat plan options that have broadband speeds. These should be available in most locations including most rural and remote areas. With Viasat Voice your phone signal will travel over the internet and the signal speed must meet minimum broadband levels to successfully translate the call data into a phone signal. The FCC defines broadband as an internet connection with download speeds of up to 25 megabits per second (or Mbps) and upload speeds of up to 3 Mbps. You will not be offered Voice with the Bronze package because speeds are up to 12 Mbps download but all the other Viasat plans qualify as broadband so choose the Silver, Gold, or Platinum plan if you want to add Viasat Voice.

Viasat Voice uses Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to send and receive phone calls over your internet connection. It converts your voice into a digital signal that travels over the Internet. You will connect your phone, even a traditional land line phone, into the same Viasat Wi-Fi Gateway Modem that receives the satellite internet signal. Viasat Voice lets your call anyone with a phone whether local, long distance, mobile and even in Canada. You get unlimited local and long-distance calls within the United States and Canda.

What’s also great is that your Viasat Voice calls won’t count toward your monthly high-speed data allowance if you also use Viasat Satellite Internet for your internet access. Viasat offers incentives to bundle phone and internet.

As for reliability, whenever there is an internet signal interruption or outage your voice calls will be disrupted if you are using VoIP technology. These can occur with bad weather near you or near a Viasat ground station in a different part of the country. When you do not have internet, you also won’t have phone other than your cellular phone. This won’t be a constant headache but it is something to bear in mind. Most people today have cell phones and find that the cellular networks are generally very reliable for phone calls. However, getting VoIP will resolve some other common problems. It is hard today to get a new land line installed using anything other than VoIP. If you live in an area experiencing fast growth the underground phone lines can be disrupted by construction. There is also an annoying problem of being given a phone number that’s been recycled and you’re now getting the former owner’s calls.

It’s not recommended to use a cordless phone in this setup because cordless phone signals can interact with many other devices in your home.

While you can forward your Viasat Voice calls to your mobile phone and vice-versa? Yes. Should you connect your cell phone to your home Wi-Fi settings? Use care here. For standard phone calls on your phone, you do not need an internet signal. Your cellular carrier handles those calls. If you do decide to steam content to your cell phone by connecting to your home Wi-Fi, just be aware, you’re using internet data, and you may be also dipping into cellular data limits with your carrier. It depends on the details of your phone plan.

A few common issues if you are bundling internet and voice include dead air or no dial tone, and for this you want to make sure your cables are connected and the WAN LED light on the Voice Adapter is on and amber-colored. Your yellow ethernet cable should be securely connected between your Viasat modem and the WAN port on the Voice Adapter. Make sure the modem is connected so the LED light from the top is lit and solid. Make sure your Voice Adaptor is on and the power light is green. If this does not resolve the issue, reboot your Voice Adaptor by unplugging the power cord, waiting a few seconds, and reconnecting. This will also allow newer software to download in case yours is out of date. Some people reject all software updates because they find them annoying or suspicious but understand that these updates also include the latest security patches. Internet security waits for no one.