Viasat’s download speeds soar past HughesNet with a max of 100 Mbps, and so do its data caps (up to 300 GB a month). On the other hand, Viasat’s prices also top out at $200 a month after your three-month promotional price ends, but that price gets you some of the fastest download speeds and largest data caps available to satellite internet. As for HughesNet, its download speeds max out at 25 Mbps, and you’ll pay up to $159.99 a month depending on how much data you want (up to 75 GB a month). If you’re still undecided on whether Viasat or HughesNet is best, we’ve compared prices, download speeds, data caps, and more for these two satellite internet providers. That said, Viasat’s prices may be higher, but its 100 Mbps download speeds are the fastest satellite internet can provide. And when you look at the price Viasat charges for those top-end speeds, it ends up cheaper per Mbps than HughesNet. But before we compare Viasat versus HughesNet prices, let’s get the lay of the land. Also, Viasat’s prices are nowhere near as straightforward as HughesNet’s prices. (Seriously, solving a Rubik’s cube is easier than puzzling out why certain Viasat plans are priced the way they are.) If you ask us, Avril Lavigne secretly wrote the song “Complicated” about Viasat. And those prices get even more complicated when you throw in Viasat’s three-month price hike.
More data or faster download speeds: Viasat offers more value. Lower prices, slower speeds, and less data: HughesNet offers more value.
Because HughesNet offers only 25 Mbps speeds and data up to 75 GB, it can be tricky to compare it to Viasat, which has speeds and data caps all over the place. So let’s compare two similar HughesNet and Viasat plans to see which one is the better deal. Let’s look at HughesNet’s most expensive plan, 75 GB, and compare it to a similar Viasat plan first. If you take the HughesNet 75 GB plan with 25 Mbps download speeds and 75 GB of data and compare it to the Viasat Unlimited Silver 25 plan with 25 Mbps and 120 GB of data, here’s how everything compares at face value. A quick look at the math tells us that, over two years, we’d pay the following amounts for the HughesNet 75 GB plan and the Viasat Unlimited Silver 25 plan:
HughesNet 75 GB: $159.99 x 24 months = $3,839.76 Viasat Unlimited Silver 25: ($70 x 3 months) + ($100 x 21 months) = $2,310
So Viasat’s Unlimited Silver 25 plan is almost $1,600 cheaper than HughesNet’s 75 GB plan over the two-year contract, even with the three-month price hike factored in. Plus, you get 45 more GB of data per month with Viasat. Not bad. Now let’s compare a cheaper HughesNet plan to a similar Viasat plan. How about the HughesNet 15 GB plan versus the Visast Liberty 25 plan?
HughesNet 15 GB: $64.99 x 24 months = $1,559.76 Viasat Liberty 25: ($50 x 3 months) + ($75 x 21 months) = $1,725
View Viasat Plans | Read Viasat ReviewView HughesNet Plans | Read HughesNet Review Compared to any other type of internet, those max download speeds are slow. Sure, 25 Mbps is all right if it’s just you doing a little emailing and a little Facebook browsing. But share your internet with even just one more person, try to do a little video streaming with your Roku, or get some work done from home, and 25 Mbps (or speeds below that) just won’t cut it.
Videoconferencing VPNs Online gaming
That’s not to say that you can’t do these things with satellite internet. But you’ll likely lag or gobble up your monthly data allowance. We’ve got more info on how to stream with satellite internet as well as some tips to optimize your satellite internet speeds and how to deal with data caps that should help you avoid some of those heartaches and headaches. Hopefully. Compared to the terabyte (1,000 GB) or even unlimited data caps you get with most DSL, cable, and fiber internet plans, both satellite ISP’s data caps are a huge letdown. You may be wondering if this data cap business is a mistake, at least where Viasat is concerned. Unfortunately, even though it advertises many of its internet plans as “unlimited,” Viasat still has data caps on every single one of its plans. If you go over that Viasat unlimited plan data cap, it slows your internet speeds to anywhere between 1 to 5 Mbps during times when lots of people are using the internet. That’s a slow crawl at best. Here’s a quick look at the major differences between HughesNet and Viasat data caps: Things get a little complicated when it comes to satellite internet data caps, so we recommend diving into our Viasat data guide and HughesNet data guide if you want all the juicy details. View Viasat Plans | Read Viasat ReviewView HughesNet Plans | Read HughesNet Review While both ISPs were lumped into the “All Others” category of the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) report,5 you only need to turn to the internet to find dozens of customer complaints about Viasat and HughesNet. Gerald from Florissant, Colorado, described his confusing and unhelpful experience with HughesNet customer service: “I had an (appointment) to install HughesNet in my new home this afternoon, and when I called to confirm, they said my account was canceled and was sent a refund, and I had to start over. No one told me why, just that it was canceled.”6 And a user on HighSpeedInternet.com didn’t have anything better to say about their experience with Viasat’s customer service: “We have had four to five scheduled visits to repair a box issue (we aren’t getting internet service). (Viasat has) never shown up, and they don’t call until after they miss the appointment (each time).”7 But you have to ask for it, so get on the phone with Viasat if bad weather or other issues leave you without internet for more than a couple days. Sherry from Lake Butler, Florida, had nothing but praise for her HughesNet service representative: “Was having trouble with my internet, when I called to figure it out the rep did (an) excellent job trying to get it figured out! He went through everything on his end that he could and helped me check everything on my end. It took a little while but had my internet back up and running. Thank You.”9 Our advice? If you have to call Viasat or HughesNet customer service, we recommend checking our customer service guide for tips before you pick up the phone. View Viasat Plans | Read Viasat ReviewView HughesNet Plans | Read HughesNet Review
Price: Tie. Major points to HughesNet for consistent pricing across your whole contract and lower prices in general. Of course, HughesNet’s low prices come with slow speeds and less data than Viasat, so if you’re after faster download speeds and higher data caps, Viasat is the better buy. Speed and data: Viasat. Viasat offers faster speeds up to 100 Mbps and bigger data caps of up to 300 GB. HughesNet’s speeds are the same 25 Mbps for all its plans, and it comes with a max of only 75 GB of data. Customer service: Neither. Both Viasat and HughesNet have some serious work to do when it comes to customer service, just like every other ISP.
That said, it’s always a good idea to check for other best rural wired and wireless internet options in your area. An easy way to do this is to enter your zip code in our tool below. We’ll show you all the internet providers in your area, including their prices, download speeds, and more. But if you’re more concerned about your bill and don’t use your internet often, HughesNet’s lower prices for its 15 GB and 30 GB plans are cheaper than Viasat. While Viasat offers the fastest max speeds (100 Mbps) and most data (300 GB) of the two satellite internet providers that are most widely available, HughesNet does offer cheaper plans with slower speeds and less data that may appeal to you if you prefer to be offline more than online. And Starlink is still building out its satellite service, meaning we have yet to see its full potential. In that case, we’d recommend Viasat if you share your internet with others, like family, or consider yourself a digital nomad. And HughesNet is an okay choice if you don’t use the internet a lot and would rather save some money. But if you have DSL internet, fixed wireless, or even a hotspot device, these may be better internet options for your rural location. We cover each of these connection types in our rural internet guide.
