2 days Ago By Trey Paul
Satellite internet is a reasonably reliable internet connection option for rural or less urbanized areas. It may come with slower speeds than cable and fiber internet providers, but it doesn’t rely on underground wiring like other connection types, which makes it accessible to more locations. On the flip side, bad weather can cause outages or spotty connections to a greater degree than other modes of broadband.
If you live in a remote or rural location, satellite internet may be your best (and possibly only) option for connection. It is the one type of broadband available to people in the rural areas of all 50 states, making it a solid option when other types of connectivity are unavailable. The price of satellite internet can fluctuate based on your location.
If you're in an area where providers are still developing, the price might be higher for connectivity. For Hughesnet, Viasat and Starlink, prices range from $50 to $2,150. In some cases, like Starlink, the monthly price can also vary based on whether you're in a high-demand or low-demand area.
We recommend inputting your address on various providers' websites to determine which will offer you the best value at your location. It depends on your internet provider and your plan. Starlink boasts the fastest speeds out of Hughesnet and Viasat.
However, even with speeds topping out at 220Mbps, it's still no match to what cable or fiber offers. Fiber ISPs like Ziply Fiber and AT&T offer multi-gig plans that reach up to 10 and 5 gigabits, respectively. Most cable providers like Spectrum and Xfinity offer gigabit plans.
At present, satellite connections don't match those speeds. In addition, cable and fiber are far more reliable than satellite. Potentially, yes.
If you're a current user of Starlink internet service, you're experiencing a broadband connection with higher maximum download and upload speeds than Viasat (220Mbps/25Mbps compared with 150Mbps/3Mbps). Starlink also has lower latency than Viasat (25 to 60ms versus 450 to 700ms), making gaming and other online activities that require fast response times much more feasible on Starlink than Viasat. Latency is expected to be lower in the near future as the company aims to reduce latency to a stable 20ms.
Starlink also removed its waitlist throughout the country, as shown in its coverage map . Potential customers can now access their products without waiting several months to receive their orders. Pricing will depend on your chosen plan and address, but Viasat is cheaper than Starlink.
Viasat customers can expect to pay anywhere between $100 to $150 monthly versus $140 to $1,500 (Priority) and $150 to $5,000 (Mobile) at Starlink. Suppose you're in a rural or underserved area with few options for internet connectivity. In that case, Viasat can get you connected and may be a cheaper alternative, whereas Starlink could be an option down the road.
Technically, Hughesnet and Viasat do not. Each claims to offer "unlimited data" because neither charges overage fees, but each has a set data limit for its plans. If you hit that data limit before your monthly billing cycle ends, there won't be monetary penalties, but you will experience much slower, throttled speeds for the remainder of that month.
Your data may not be capped, but I would call that practice a limitation. Starlink offers truly unlimited data to its standard users. That significant advantage over its competitors changed for some customers in April 2023 when Starlink introduced its own data cap for priority users.
The limit is a sizable 2 terabytes of data per month (well above the data limits of Hughesnet and Viasat), but it's still a significant change from unlimited data. You can access more data if you upgrade to the Mobile Priority plan, but that's going to cost you anywhere between $250 and $5,000 a month. Yes.
Starlink customers can expect download speeds from 5Mbps to 220Mbps. CNET's John Kim tested the service and experienced average download speeds of around 78Mbps; Ookla clocked its median download speed in early 2023 at 65Mbps. (Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis) Hughesnet, which relies on satellites in a much higher orbit than Starlink uses -- which means data takes a little longer to travel back and forth -- offers plans with maximum download speeds of 100Mbps.
That's not as fast as Viasat's unleashed plan with speeds of up to 150Mbps, but both are no match for Starlink. Although both are satellite internet service providers, Telesat is a Canadian-owned company, and OneWeb is made for those in the UK. Telesat and OneWeb aren't options for US residents.
Since streaming videos requires more bandwidth, the best satellite internet for streaming must have a high enough download speed to support the action. We recommend Starlink for streaming since the maximum download speeds are higher than Hughesnet and Viasat’s. With gaming, you'll want a provider with lower latency .
That means a shorter delay in your data getting to the game's server and back -- less lag. Hughesnet and Viasat admit their services are not great for gaming, but Starlink boasts of lower lag (due to the lower orbit of its satellites) and says gamers can successfully use its service. CNET's own John Kim tried gaming using Starlink's service and was pleasantly surprised.
Regular weather, like sunny, cloudy or rainy skies, shouldn’t impact your internet. Heavy thunderstorms or snow may cause interference with your signal and cause slower speeds or a temporary loss of connection. Even if the weather is fine at your location, it might not be where the satellite is located.
Your internet service should return to normal as soon as the weather passes. To learn more, read our guide on how to weather-proof your internet ..
