Optimum vs. Viasat Internet Providers Compared

Optimum features good speeds but poor customer satisfaction scores

Optimum is a major national cable internet provider. Most of Optimum’s 4.4 million subscribers receive cable internet service [7]. But the ISP is also adding some all-fiber connections in select markets--most prominently in the Northeast [8]. Optimum is the internet brand name of Altice USA, which rebranded the company formerly called Suddenlink into the Optimum brand in 2022 [1]. Altice/Optimum is the 6th-largest ISP in the nation [2]. Optimum seems to check off all the right boxes for many of its offerings. You will have no data caps and no required contracts with Optimum internet plans. You will also get free equipment rental included with your monthly plan price. And Optimum’s prices are good (at least while the promotions last). So why are Optimum’s national customer satisfaction scores so low? We’ll check into that as we give you an overview of what to expect from an Optimum internet connection.

Good initial prices followed by price hikes

Cable internet is the chief type of connection that Optimum provides its customers. Because of improvements to cable internet technology, you can get gigabit download speeds from many cable internet companies like Optimum. You just won’t get the same upload speeds from cable as you will from an all-fiber connection [3]. Whether you get the usual cable service or all-fiber, you will get good prices from Optimum, and, on select plans, those prices will be locked for 5 years (as of January 2026) [9]. Here’s an example. You’ll pay $40/month for Optimum’s first-tier plan, which is up to 300. That is a good price for these speeds. The catch is that after the promotional period ends, standard prices will apply, which will increase your bill. That may be why Optimum is seeing year-over-year declines in its cable customers [4]. The price hikes may be pushing people to other options at the end of their promotional period.

Viasat offers simplified pricing with promotional discounts for new customers Viasat restructured its residential pricing in March 2024 to create a more straightforward plan structure. The company now primarily offers two options: Viasat Unleashed and Viasat Essentials. Viasat Unleashed is the company's flagship residential plan, available to approximately 93% of customers. Pricing ranges from $69.99 to $119.99 per month depending on geographic location, with speeds up to 150 Mbps in select markets. This plan operates month-to-month with no contract required, allowing customers to cancel anytime without early termination fees. Unleashed includes unlimited high-speed data, though customers trending toward exceeding 850GB in a 30-day period may experience reduced priority during network congestion, resulting in slower speeds. Viasat Essentials serves as the budget-friendly alternative, offering speeds ranging from 12 to 50 Mbps at a promotional price of $39.99 per month. Unlike Unleashed, Essentials requires a 12-month contract commitment. Customers who cancel early pay a $15 early termination fee for each remaining month on the contract. New customer promotions: Viasat currently (as of December 2025) offers new residential customers $30 per month off their first three months of service, reducing Essentials pricing to as low as $39.99/month initially. Customers must mention this promotional offer when ordering to receive the discount. Data management: While Viasat markets its plans as "unlimited data," there are practical usage considerations. The company defines "typical usage" as trending not to exceed 850GB in any 30-day period. Customers who regularly exceed this threshold may have their connection deprioritized during times of network congestion, similar to how cellular carriers manage heavy data users. However, Viasat does not charge overage fees or completely throttle speeds—deprioritization only occurs when the network experiences congestion. Viasat offers "Free Zone" hours during off-peak times when data usage doesn't count toward monthly totals, allowing customers to schedule large downloads or updates strategically.

Cable and fiber both provide fast download speeds, but cable's upload speeds are slower

With hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) technology, Optimum gives its cable customers gigabit download speeds but much slower upload speeds. That’s typical for cable internet service. Optimum is comparable to other major cable internet providers such as Spectrum and Xfinity, offering upload speeds at a maximum of around 35-50 Mbps. Optimum differs from the cable internet competition because it is also launching into the all-fiber internet market. As of November 2025, Optimum has over 3 million fiber passings and continues to expand [10]. Fiber internet’s most striking advantage over cable internet is its symmetrical upload and download speeds. This is a game-changer for online gaming, videoconferencing, and large homes with multiple devices. When Altice merged Suddenlink into the Optimum brand, the company had two distinct “footprints” from where the former Optimum and Suddenlink coverage had existed. Suddenlink’s coverage area had been primarily in the South and West. Optimum was strong in the Northeast, and particularly in the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Now, the fiber buildout is fastest in that tristate area [1]. Your chances of getting fiber internet from Optimum is better if you live in the tri-state area.

Satellite technology provides reliable connectivity with inherent speed and latency limitations Viasat delivers internet service via geostationary satellites orbiting approximately 22,000 miles above Earth's equator. This technology ultimately determines both the advantages and limitations of the service. Speed performance: Viasat advertises speeds up to 150 Mbps on its Unleashed plans in select markets, representing a significant improvement over the company's legacy offerings. However, actual speeds vary considerably by location and network conditions. Real-world testing shows Viasat's average download speeds hover around 2.82 Mbps to 5 Mbps in many areas—far below advertised maximums.  Upload speeds remain asymmetrical and significantly slower than downloads across all Viasat plans, typically ranging from 3-5 Mbps. This asymmetry affects activities requiring substantial uploads, such as video conferencing, content creation, cloud backups, and sharing large files. Latency concerns: The most significant technical limitation of geostationary satellite internet is latency—the time delay for data to travel to the satellite and back. Viasat customers typically experience latency between 600-700 milliseconds. By comparison, cable and fiber connections deliver latency of 20-40 milliseconds. This high latency makes real-time applications challenging. Online gaming suffers from noticeable lag that puts satellite users at a disadvantage in competitive play. Video conferencing experiences delays that create awkward pauses in conversation. VoIP phone calls may have echo or timing issues. Websites and applications that require frequent back-and-forth communication feel sluggish compared to wired connections. Weather sensitivity: Satellite internet experiences "rain fade"—temporary signal degradation or complete interruption during heavy rain, snow, or thick cloud cover. This is a major limitation of the technology as precipitation absorbs and scatters the radio frequency signals traveling between the satellite dish and orbiting spacecraft. Service typically returns automatically once weather clears, but customers should expect periodic outages during severe weather events. Reliability advantages: Despite these limitations, satellite internet offers reliability benefits that terrestrial connections cannot match. The service continues functioning during disasters that damage ground-based infrastructure such as hurricanes, floods, or wildfires that destroy cable lines. This makes satellite internet valuable for emergency preparedness and explains why military and maritime operations rely on the technology.

No equipment rental fees, free installation with Optimum plans

Optimum will provide you with a WiFi 6E gateway as a part of your monthly plan fee, with no extra rental charge [9]. If you would rather use your own modem and router, Optimum will allow it. Just be sure to check for compatibility with their specs. Standard installation is free with most Optimum plans.

Professional installation required with lease or purchase equipment options Viasat requires professional installation—customers cannot self-install the satellite dish and modem equipment. A certified technician visits the property to mount the dish, align it precisely with Viasat's satellites, run cabling into the home, and connect the WiFi modem. Installation process: Standard installation typically costs $99.99 as a one-time fee, though Viasat frequently waives this charge during promotional periods. The actual installation cost varies based on results from a soft credit check and the complexity of the installation site. Customers with qualifying credit may receive free installation, while non-standard installations requiring additional labor or materials may incur charges exceeding $100. The installation appointment usually takes several hours. The technician must find an optimal location for the satellite dish that provides unobstructed southern sky view, securely mount the dish, run coaxial cable from the dish to the modem location inside the home, install the modem, and conduct signal testing to ensure proper alignment.  Equipment options: Viasat offers two payment structures for the required satellite dish and modem equipment. Customers can choose either a monthly lease at $15 per month or a one-time lifetime lease payment of $250. The lifetime lease option is basically prepayment for equipment use as long as the customer maintains Viasat service—it is not a purchase, and equipment must still be returned if service is canceled. Mathematically, the lifetime lease becomes cost-effective after approximately 17 months of service ($250 ÷ $15/month = 16.67 months). Customers planning to maintain Viasat service for multiple years save money with the upfront payment, while those uncertain about long-term commitment benefit from the monthly rental's flexibility. Equipment return requirements: When customers cancel Viasat service, they must return all company-owned equipment including the modem. However, the satellite dish itself typically remains mounted on the property—Viasat does not send technicians to remove dishes, and customers who want removal face a fee or must arrange removal themselves.  Failure to return the modem and other returnable equipment results in unreturned equipment fees added to the final bill. Viasat provides instructions and return shipping materials for equipment return. Dish relocation: Customers who move to a new address while maintaining Viasat service can have their dish relocated for a $200 fee. This requires a new technician visit to properly mount and align the dish at the new location. Alternatively, customers can cancel service at one address and establish new service at another address, though this involves separate installation processes and fees. Optional protection plans: Viasat offers EasyCare service plans that cover technical support, service calls, and equipment protection. Multiple EasyCare tiers provide different levels of coverage, with promotional offers including the first three months free for EasyCare and EasyCare+, or reduced rates for EasyCare Premium during the first three months.

Optimum customer satisfaction: the big question mark

With so many seemingly good points to its service and pricing, why has Optimum’s customer satisfaction scored significantly below average according to J.D. Power? [6] A sampling of online user reviews suggests two major complaints. The first is outages and failure of technical response. The second is a more general dissatisfaction with the phone system: being transferred to different departments and receiving contradictory responses from different phone reps when trying to resolve billing issues. Because this is a fairly even distribution of complaints, it’s likely that Optimum is not responding quickly enough to customer concerns, whether they are technical or billing-related. We can’t know the reason for this dysfunction. Often, these kinds of responsiveness issues happen when companies are understaffed or have high staff turnover in their customer service. But until Optimum improves its ratings, we have to give it only 3 stars for customer satisfaction.  

Mixed customer experiences reflect satellite internet's technological constraints Viasat does not appear in major national customer satisfaction surveys like J.D. Power, but multiple independent sources provide insight into customer experiences. The ratings paint a picture of divided opinions—satisfaction strongly correlates with customers' expectations and alternative options. The American Customer Satisfaction Index rates Viasat within the "All Others" category at 64 out of 100 [15]. For context, the best internet service providers score 73 out of 100, while the worst score 55 out of 100. Viasat's positioning below the industry average of 70 indicates systemic challenges, though it avoids falling into the bottom tier of ISP performance. What customers praise: Positive reviews consistently highlight several strengths. Customers in rural areas express appreciation for having internet access at all—many note that Viasat represents their only option for broadband speed. Installation technicians receive frequent compliments for professionalism, friendliness, and thoroughness during setup appointments. The service maintains reliability except during severe weather, and customers value 24/7 customer support availability for troubleshooting issues. Some customers report satisfactory speeds for their needs, particularly those with modest usage focused on email, web browsing, and occasional streaming. Long-time subscribers who remember the limitations of dial-up internet or earlier satellite services view Viasat's current speeds as substantial improvements. Common complaints: Negative reviews cluster around predictable issues inherent to satellite technology. Speeds frequently fall far short of advertised maximums, with customers reporting actual performance in the single-digit megabit range despite paying for plans marketed at 100-150 Mbps [16]. High latency makes online gaming frustrating or impossible, creates awkward delays in video calls, and causes general sluggishness when browsing websites. Data usage tracking generates significant frustration. Customers report reaching their soft 850GB cap quickly—sometimes within days—despite limited usage patterns. The company's data usage measurements don't always align with customer understanding of their activities, leading to disputes about whether deprioritization is justified. This issue particularly affects households with multiple users, gaming consoles, or 4K streaming habits. Billing problems appear frequently in customer feedback. Reviewers report being charged after cancellation, experiencing unexpected price increases, receiving conflicting information from different customer service representatives, and struggling to obtain refunds or credits [17]. Multiple customers describe discovering they had been charged for years after supposedly canceling service—a serious red flag regarding the company's billing and cancellation procedures [18]. The equipment return policy creates frustration, particularly the expectation that customers remove roof-mounted satellite dishes themselves or pay additional fees for removal. Elderly customers and those with mobility limitations find this requirement unreasonable and potentially dangerous. Weather interruptions: As expected with satellite technology, heavy rain or snow causes temporary service disruptions. While customers understand this limitation, the practical impact—losing internet during storms when they might most need it for weather updates or emergency communication—generates overall dissatisfaction. Customer service quality: Experiences with Viasat's support team vary widely. Some customers praise quick resolution times and helpful representatives, while others report long hold times, representatives who cannot resolve issues, and internal communication breakdowns where different departments provide conflicting information. Ultimately, customer satisfaction needs to be understood within the context that satellite internet serves areas lacking better alternatives. Customers with access to cable, fiber, or even quality 5G fixed wireless service generally choose those options over satellite. Viasat's customer base includes many people who reluctantly accept satellite's limitations because no other broadband option exists in their area. Compared to its direct satellite competitors, Viasat positions between HughesNet (generally viewed as slower and more restrictive) and Starlink (faster speeds and lower latency, but higher equipment costs). For rural customers evaluating satellite options, Viasat offers a middle ground with better performance than legacy satellite providers, more affordable equipment than Starlink, but technological limitations that prevent it from competing with terrestrial broadband.