Viasat vs. Spectrum Internet Providers Compared

Viasat offers a variety of price points and speeds to fit your budget

Viasat offers much higher speeds than its longtime competitor, HughesNet. While HughesNet only offers download speeds up to 25 Mbps, Viasat offers download speeds up to 150 Mbps in select areas. For the first-tier Viasat internet plan at 12 Mbps download speed, you will pay an introductory price of about $50/month.. For the 25 Mbps download/3 Mbps upload plan, you will start with a $70/month charge. These Viasat internet plan prices are comparable to HughesNet prices and cheaper than Starlink prices. Viasat features many more plan options than HughesNet, and much higher allowances for monthly high-speed data. All Viasat plans come with unlimited standard data, so you don’t have to worry about overage charges. And where HughesNet will only grant you up to 200 GB of monthly high-speed data, Viasat has plans that go up to 500 GB/month. To give you a rough idea of how much data that is, you can watch about 500 hours of HD movie streaming with 500 GB. The highest data plans from both HughesNet and Viasat will cost you more, of course. The 200 GB plan from HughesNet is $150/month. The 500 GB plan from Viasat is $300/month. But as you can see from comparing those prices, Viasat’s top plan gives you more for your dollar. And if you just really need a lot of high-speed data, Viasat is the clear choice. Be aware that like HughesNet, Viasat requires a two-year contract. If you cancel early, you will pay an early termination fee. You can get a no-contract plan for a non-refundable upfront payment of $500. Viasat has also launched plans called “Liberty” plans, which have free, unlimited data from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. “Choice” plans are on the way with a slightly different pricing structure as well, deploying as the new satellite begins service. So Viasat customers will have no shortage of options. You can type in your zip code here at CompareInternet.com to see details of all the Viasat plans available to you. If you work from home, you have a great new option from Viasat. Viasat Office Hours is an optional service that allows you to use standard work-related applications from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time without consuming any of your High-Speed plan data. You will be able to use Google, Office 365, Adobe programs, Sharepoint, Zoom, MS Teams, and many other popular applications. Viasat Office Hours is currently available for an additional $40/month, and many employers may be willing to reimburse you for the plan given its exclusive business focus. Office Hours is a pricing offer unique to Viasat, and could be a game changer for remote workers.

Spectrum offers great initial deals, but bundling may be the best deal ever

Spectrum is a major player in internet service, with 30 million broadband subscribers [1]. Spectrum offers attractive promotional pricing, especially their first-tier internet plan at $49.99/month for up to 300 Mbps.

Spectrum offers unlimited data without caps

Spectrum offers a big price advantage because it has no hard data caps, unlike many other cable and DSL providers. If you’re a heavy-data-usage household (including remote workers, a real-time gamers and streaming binge-watchers), having no data caps may be crucial for your budget. If you’re living by yourself and you watch a movie once a week, the absence of data caps won’t matter as much. But for a larger household, having no data caps will offer you peace of mind and a more predictable bill without overage charges.

Spectrum One, the bundle deal of the year?

In late 2022, Spectrum introduced a new bundle deal called Spectrum One that may just change your mind about your preferred internet service provider [2]. If you are an existing Spectrum customer, Spectrum will bundle their Spectrum Mobile cell phone service with your internet and charge you only $29.99/month for a line with unlimited data. And what’s more, they will throw in a second household cell phone unlimited line for free. That’s right. You will get two cell phone plans for a year for $29.99/month. After a year, the second line will go to $29.99/month as well, which is still remarkable pricing when many of us have been paying $70/month for our cell phone plans. Here’s another little secret: Spectrum Mobile service is currently provided by Verizon networks. So, you will be getting major mobile power and coverage but saving over $100/month off the price of two typical cell phone plans. We’re betting that’s enough to send many of us to Spectrum.

Viasat delivers fast, reliable internet with ever-improving technology

Viasat recently launched the ViaSat-3 Americas satellite, which will increase bandwidth and speed for Viasat customers [4]. The Viasat fleet will continue to grow in 2023 and 2024, keeping Viasat at the head of the industry in geosynchronous satellite technology. You’ll get a solid, reliable internet connection from Viasat. Keep in mind that the military uses satellite internet for their operations. That’s because satellite internet survives in circumstances when cable or fiber internet might be out for days or weeks. Satellite internet can’t be harmed by an earthly accident, a weather catastrophe, or an attack on wired infrastructure. So in that sense, satellite internet is more reliable than wired internet. That’s why Viasat offers special “backup internet” plans for small businesses to minimize service disruption from outages. It’s true that heavy rain or snow can sometimes cause “rain fade,” which is a weakening or interruption in the satellite internet signal. But rain fade is only temporary. The one caveat about your Viasat internet speed is that your maximum speed will vary depending on where you live. Your plan options can vary from 12 Mbps to 150 Mbps download speed. That’s a wide range, but your speed may be better than DSL in many instances. Upload speeds from Viasat will remain consistent for all plans at about 3 Mbps.

Spectrum internet will rise to unprecedented speeds in next few years with up to 10/6 Gbps

In 2023, Spectrum was named by Speedtest® as the fastest internet provider in the United States for providing the highest average speed to customers [3]. Most Spectrum customers currently have a maximum available download speed of 940 Mbps. But Spectrum’s hybrid fiber-cable technology is already supplying 2 GB speeds in some areas. Either way, HFC will give you faster, more reliable internet service than anything but fiber. Spectrum customers tend to report reliable, speedy performance these days. You don’t get glitching or freezing or network slowdowns in most cases. You’ll be well-equipped for gaming, videoconferencing, and HD streaming. On a personal note, I have been a Spectrum customer for three years, and my experience with their service has proven to be very smooth and reliable. But there’s even more innovation coming from Spectrum that will boost HFC performance to fiber-like speeds. If you sign up for Spectrum now, you’re going to get a major bandwidth boost in the next couple of years. Here’s the technical explanation with the specs. Spectrum’s upgrade to the DOCSIS 4.0 standard over the next three years will deliver a maximum 10 Gbps download/ 6 Gbps upload, which can rival any current fiber speeds. By 2025, 85% of Spectrum’s service footprint will have speeds of 5 Gbps download/1 Gbps upload [4]. Fiber has received some great press in the last few years. But hybrid fiber/cable networks like Spectrum’s may be about to have their day in the sun too.

Viasat equipment: buy upfront or take option of monthly rental fee

If you want to buy your Viasat dish and modem/router upfront, it will cost you $299. That will save you some money if you don’t have to pay the monthly rental fee of $13 for two years. For customers whose credit scores qualify, installation is free. But all others will pay a $100 installation fee.

Advanced WiFi and low equipment fees increase appeal for Spectrum

Spectrum will provide you with a free modem and either a Wave 2 router or an advanced, WiFi 6 compatible router [5]. The Charter Red-Dot Design award-winning router can support up to 200 devices simultaneously. User controls allow you to manage which devices are connected and when, and Security Shield automatically blocks online threats. You can even manage your router and your home wireless devices from the Spectrum app on your phone, with nocomplicated log-in or interface. The router will automatically switch channels to optimize your internet performance.

Spectrum offers low equipment fees

Spectrum equipment fees are standardized, very low, and easy to understand. Spectrum modems come free with your service, and Spectrum routers rent for $5/month. Simple, straightforward pricing, unlike the complicated equipment fee charts you have to read for other providers.

Spectrum installation fees

Spectrum’s installation fees are middle-of-the-road for the industry. Professional installation by a technician will cost you $59.99. You can self-install Spectrum too, with a $19.99 activation fee.

Viasat’s customer satisfaction average, but 24/7 customer support is strong

On many popular online review sites, Viasat tends to score slightly above average for customer satisfaction. When customers are not satisfied, their comments are often related to the innate differences of satellite technology. It’s true that satellite speeds cannot approach the speeds of cable or fiber. That’s why it’s not too surprising that Viasat has some customers online who are not happy that their speeds are not fast enough. But it’s hard to get a more objective read on overall customer satisfaction, because Viasat does not appear in the J.D. Power 2022 Survey of Residential Internet Service Customer Satisfaction. Viasat does provide extensive online and phone support, with live reps available 24/7 to help with any issues. The online resource library is clear and on target with common types of information that customers might need. Viasat also has a convenient online portal called My Viasat to manage any aspect of your service. My Viasat also works through an app that you can download on your smartphone. The EasyCare service may also be worth the $9/month you will pay to have all your service calls covered ($95), a dish relocation covered ($200), and premium customer support with the dedicated EasyCare line.

Spectrum Customer Service available 24/7

Spectrum provides customer service by phone or online chat 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Spectrum also provides an extensive online troubleshooting guide and how-to resource library. If you prefer in-person assistance, Spectrum supports brick-and-mortar stores across its coverage area. These physical locations can also be very handy when you want to exchange equipment. Your Spectrum plan will give you access to a helpful and comprehensive mobile app. The app allows you to check for outages, manage your account, and do almost anything you would do online or by phone. You can even manage your WiFi settings through the app.