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Buckeye Broadband vs. Hargray vs. Viasat Internet plan comparison


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Researched by
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Reviewed by
Bri FieldAssigning Editor
Updated 6/24/24

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Buckeye Broadband brand
Staff rating
3.3
Customer rating
3.6
(6)

  • Plans starting at $9.99
  • Download speeds up to 600MB
Hargray
Staff rating
3.7
Customer rating
3.5
(2)

  • Plans starting at $20.00
  • Download speeds up to 1000 Mbps
Viasat
Staff rating
2.2
Customer rating
3.7
(4)

  • Plans starting at $30.00
  • Download speeds up to 100 Mbps
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Buckeye Broadband brand
Staff rating
3.3

High-value starter plans during promotional periods

Buckeye Broadband offers a good internet experience for residents of the Toledo area. However, substantial price hikes, high prices on the faster plans, and a reputation for poor customer service make it tough to recommend for certain customers.

What we like

  • Low upfront costs
  • Competitive budget packages
What we dislike

  • Poor value on faster plans
  • Hefty early termination fees
Savings tip: Buckeye Broadband often has sign-up promotions for first-time customers. Call to ask a rep about current deals and discounts.
Check deals
Hargray
Staff rating
3.7

Solid, well-priced internet for most households

Hargray is a good buy for most families willing to commit to at least a year of service, but its steep setup costs and early termination fees mean canceling too soon will cost you big. Meanwhile, YouTube creators wanting high-performance fiber internet should move on.

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What we like

  • Great service
  • Low price for the speed
  • Low equipment rental costs
What we dislike

  • Steep early termination fees
  • Underutilized fiber network
  • High installation costs
Savings tip: Hargray often has sign-up promotions for first-time customers. Call to ask a rep about current deals and discounts.
Check deals
Viasat
Staff rating
2.2

Widely available satellite internet with speeds faster than HughesNet

Viasat (formerly also Exede internet) can’t keep up with cable or fiber, but it’s a relatively fast and widely available choice for satellite internet. Viasat offers more speed and data than HughesNet, but can't match Starlink for upload speed and latency.

What we like

  • Fast speeds for satellite
  • Variety of plans
  • Wide availability
What we dislike

  • High prices
  • Caps on high-speed data
Savings tip: Viasat often has sign-up promotions for first-time customers. Call to ask a rep about current deals and discounts.
Check deals
Buckeye Broadband brand
Value
2.5
Price hikes turn a decent deal into a bad one

Buckeye Broadband isn't a bad deal if you're looking at the introductory price. In fact, for the first six months of service, you can often get a better deal with Buckeye than with the major national players. However, while most providers will guarantee prices for a year or two, you'll see significant price hikes from Buckeye after only six months if you have one of their cable plans. Fiber plans are a bit better, with promotional prices that last 12 months.

In most cases, the month seven price hike will amount to an additional $20 per month on your bill. Then, once the regular rate is applied, it is often double the advertised promotional price. Most Buckeye plans don't have contracts, but you might be locked into these higher prices if you sign one to get a specific deal. We also don't like that the length of the promotional period isn't obvious unless you read the fine print.

Pricing details vary by location. Visit
Buckeye Broadband's website
or call 1-844-719-0029 to speak with a rep.
See pricing
Hargray
Value
2.5
For the average household, it’s a great deal

Overall, Hargray offers a lot of speed for the price, and all plans come with unlimited data, which made us do happy dances. For the best deal (AKA the lowest price-to-speed ratio), stick with one of Hargray’s slowest plans—which are fast enough for most households anyway. This company’s 100 and 200 Mbps plans come in at just 45% of what most plans in the US cost, while its 1 Gig plans cost around 85% of the national benchmark (1).

Higher-speed plans also come with another downside: while Hargray boasts a fiber network, people who upload a lot of video will lament its slow (for fiber) upload speeds. In short, Hargray’s a great deal for most people, but if top performance is important to you, save your happy dance for another provider.

Pricing details vary by location. Visit
Hargray's website
or call 1-877-427-4729 to speak with a rep.
See pricing
Viasat
Value
1.5
Better value than HughesNet

In remote areas where cable and fiber aren’t available, satellite internet may be your only option. Viasat offers a wide range of satellite internet plans, but only some of them offer good performance and value for your money compared to other satellite internet providers.

The best plans are Viasat’s Unlimited plans. Those with at least 25 Mbps of speed and 100 GB of high-speed data will give you the ability to do basic web browsing. Viasat’s most expensive plan, with 150 Mbps of download speed and 500 GB of high-speed data, is the best plan for larger households. It also gives you the most data for your dollar.

We wouldn’t recommend Viasat’s Liberty plans because the internet speed and data limits are far too restrictive. If you don’t mind sacrificing a bit of speed or data usage to save money, HughesNet’s 25 Mbps plans are less costly than Viasat’s equivalent plans. For a similar price, Starlink can achieve lower latency than Viasat, though Starlink is available only in limited locations and has customer service issues.

It's also important to think about price hikes. With Viasat, all plan prices go up after three months, in the range of $20–$100 depending on your plan. You can't get out of these increases because you'll have to sign a contract. It's a bummer, but we like that prices are guaranteed for two years starting in month four.

Pricing details vary by location. Visit
Viasat's website
or call 1-844-670-9142 to speak with a rep.
See pricing
Buckeye Broadband brand
Performance
4.5
Excellent performance across the board, plus symmetrical upload speeds

In terms of speed, Buckeye Broadband competes well. The company offers a range of speeds up to 1 gig, with a good spread of package tiers. There are two types of service—cable internet and fiber—and both offer speedy downloads. The fiber plans also come with symmetrical speeds, meaning the upload speed and download speed are equal—excellent for content creators and anyone else who uploads and shares lots of large files.

Additionally, Buckeye Broadband offers unlimited data. We're happy about this update since cable plans used to only come with 250 GB of data. For a modern household, that's not nearly enough--on average, people typically use around 536 GB of data per month (1). You could upgrade to unlimited data for $30 per month before, but we're happy to see it included from the get-go.

Available speeds vary by location. Call 1-844-719-0029 to speak with a Buckeye Broadband rep or
go to its website.
Hargray
Performance
4.5
Fast enough speeds for most, but we shed a tear for the unused potential

Hargray uses a fiber optic network, which is much more reliable than satellite or fixed wireless (like 5G) internet. Fiber is also capable of faster speeds (up to 5 Gigs for both download and upload) than any other kind of internet.

Unfortunately, Hargray isn’t using its fiber network to its fullest extent. Its fastest speed is only 1 gig, which most cable internet companies offer. It’s kinda bumming us out, like a straight-B student who could totally ace the class if only they’d apply themselves more. But the real bummer is that Hargray gives you only 20–50 Mbps for uploading, which is great but nowhere close to the symmetrical ideal that fiber can deliver. While most people will love how quickly they can upload a file to Google Drive or post to their Insta account, we think it’s a tragic underutilization of fiber technology. We know. #FirstWorldProblems.

Available speeds vary by location. Call 1-877-427-4729 to speak with a Hargray rep or
go to its website.
Viasat
Performance
2.0
Handles everything from browsing to streaming, but data limits will hold you back

Of the two main satellite internet providers in the US, Viasat offers faster speeds (up to 150 Mbps). Viasat delivers good enough performance for basic web browsing and some light video streaming, but even its most expensive plans limit the amount of high-speed data you can use before speeds are throttled.

Additionally, both HughesNet and Viasat have very high latency. This latency, the delay that happens when data is traveling from the satellite to your home, makes even a 150 Mbps connection feel slow. Starlink, a new satellite internet provider, uses satellites closer to the earth, so it is able to offer even faster speeds (up to 100Mbps) and much lower latency than Viasat. For now, Starlink isn’t available in as many locations and performance isn’t as consistent, but it has similar pricing to Viasat and could be a strong alternative for some.

In terms of real-world performance, Viasat slightly outperforms HughesNet in terms of upload speed and latency, according to data from Ookla. (1) Nevertheless, Viasat won’t ever be a better choice than a cable or fiber connection due to the inherent limitations of satellite internet. Viasat also suffers from outages, which can sometimes last days even when the sky is clear, according to user reports from Downdetector. (2)

Available speeds vary by location. Call 1-844-670-9142 to speak with a Viasat rep or
go to its website.
Buckeye Broadband brand
Equipment and installation
4.0
A fantastic installation process

Buckeye Broadband's equipment situation depends on whether you have cable or fiber.

Buckeye uses pretty standard Arris wireless gateways for its cable plans. Customers can rent one from the provider for $14 per month, which is in line with most other providers. You can also opt to bring your own equipment—the provider has a list of supported modems to choose from.

Fiber plans include free SmartNet routers powered by eero. However, after chatting with a customer service rep about unclear terms of service, we found out there is a $120 activation fee for any SmartNet services unless you sign a 12-month contract. Since you can keep your promotional price for the length of the contract, that's not a deal-breaker, but it is something to keep in mind.

As for installation, Buckeye doesn’t charge a fee for either installation or service activation with most plans. In the event you somehow land on a package that doesn’t waive the installation fee, it’s only $10, which is lower than most providers—it’s usually closer to $100 for a professional installation.

Equipment and installation options can vary widely depending on
Buckeye Broadband plans
available in your area.
View plans
Hargray
Equipment and installation
3.0
Low-cost equipment rentals, high-cost installation

Hargray’s equipment rental prices are super reasonable. You can rent a modem for just $4 per month, which makes the hassle of using your own gear a lot less appealing. Unless, of course, you’re a technophile who has a favorite modem (more power to you!). You can use most modems. Hargray’s Wi-Fi gear is also inexpensive, coming in at $10 per month. The price includes at least two extenders and free Wi-Fi setup to make sure your signal is dialed. That’s a sweet deal.

The rest of your internet installation will cost you, though. Professional installation costs around $100. Self-setup is technically free, but you have to cough up a $99 activation fee. The activation fee is refundable after your first year of service, but it still hurts, and you’ll probably forget you have a refund coming long before it hits your account anyway. Still, with self-setup, you’ll get to skip the dreaded installation appointment window, so it might still be worth it.

Equipment and installation options can vary widely depending on
Hargray plans
available in your area.
View plans
Viasat
Equipment and installation
2.5
Lease equipment for a fair price and get started quickly with professional installation

Getting a satellite internet connection up and running is more involved than a traditional wired connection. Viasat requires you to lease its equipment for $14.99 per month and have it installed professionally. The leasing and installation fees are about the same as HughesNet, and Viasat sometimes waives the $99 cost of installation for qualifying new customers. This is in contrast to Starlink, which requires you to pay several hundred dollars for its equipment upfront and install it yourself.

When you sign up for Viasat, you’ll usually get an appointment for installation within three to five days, and the process itself takes two to three hours. A technician will mount the dish where it can get the clearest view of the southern sky, either on your house or on a pole mount for $75 extra. Since the equipment is leased, when you cancel your service, you’ll be responsible for removing and returning the dish, transceiver, modem, cables, and any other hardware to Viasat.

Equipment and installation options can vary widely depending on
Viasat plans
available in your area.
View plans
Buckeye Broadband brand
Customer experience
2.5
A solid experience brought down by dodgy customer support—what else is new?

The combination of solid performance and minimal fees makes for a good overall experience with Buckeye. However, as with all internet providers, there are some issues. The first is that the prices increase substantially after the introductory period. This is normal internet provider stuff, but that doesn’t mean we have to like it.

The second issue is a general reputation for poor customer service. You’ll quickly find complaints online about communication difficulties and service reliability.

In our research, we thought some of the terms were pretty hard to find on the website, but it only took a few minutes to get in contact with a customer service rep via their online chat feature, and they were able to answer our questions.

Not everyone has a bad experience with Buckeye, but clearly, not everyone has a good experience, either, so just be aware of what you’re getting into.

Visit Buckeye Broadband's website
or call 1-844-719-0029 for more information on contracts and money-back guarantees.
Go to provider
Hargray
Customer experience
5.0
Inexpensive technician visits and top-notch premium service plan

Hargray has two levels of customer service (2), and they’re both pretty solid. The first is what you’d expect: you pay full price for all technician visits ($65) and the cost of any repairs, troubleshooting, or installation of new wires and jacks. Other than the cost of work done, there’s no additional charge for this service level.

If connection issues make you nervous or you want Hargray’s highest level of service, you might want to spring for Hargray’s Connected Home Plan for about $6 per month. With that, you’re covered for repairs of common equipment, like wiring, jacks, and splitters—whether the damage was caused by you or an act of God. For services that aren’t fully covered (like learning how to use your Hargray modem or troubleshooting your own router) you pay just $35 per visit.

Visit Hargray's website
or call 1-877-427-4729 for more information on contracts and money-back guarantees.
Go to provider
Viasat
Customer experience
3.0
Decent customer experience, even without paying extra for premium support

Viasat customer service has a dedicated phone number, responsive online chat, and troubleshooting FAQs on its website for all its customers. This is similar to HughesNet’s customer support, and it surpasses Starlink’s lackluster customer service.

Viasat’s best customer service is reserved for those who pay an additional $8.99 per month for EasyCare. EasyCare gives you access to a priority support phone number, free service calls to your address, and discounted annual dish location adjustment. Viasat has additional offerings, including Viasat Voice (VoIP phone service), Viasat Shield (security software), and DISH (satellite TV)–but you won’t save much by bundling.

Visit Viasat's website
or call 1-844-670-9142 for more information on contracts and money-back guarantees.
Go to provider
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Buckeye Broadband
3.6
(6)
5 Star
17%
4 Star
33%
3 Star
50%
2 Star
0%
1 Star
0%
B
Brittneyfrom Toledo, OH
Buckeye Broadband Customer for 4+ years
Reviewed on: 6-24-2022
Good, fast internet
T
Terrencefrom Perrysburg, OH
Buckeye Broadband Customer for 4+ years
Reviewed on: 6-22-2022
they are reliable the speed could be better the wifi does not seem to work like it should thats my big hang up
R
Rebeccafrom Toledo, OH
Buckeye Broadband Customer for 8+ years
Reviewed on: 6-17-2022
They're extremely over-priced. As soon as I move somewhere that I have a choice in providers, I will be dumping them.
W
Whitneyfrom Montgomery, AL
Buckeye Broadband Customer for 1+ years
Reviewed on: 6-17-2022
They try to help u as much as they can.With whatever you need help to guide you.
Hargray
3.5
(2)
5 Star
0%
4 Star
50%
3 Star
50%
2 Star
0%
1 Star
0%
B
Brian Hillfrom Newark, NJ
Hargray Customer for 1+ years
Reviewed on: 11-14-2022
I have been with them for a good few years. They have been professional and have done good work. My internet is the fastest it has ever been.
E
Earlfrom Danielson, CT
Hargray Customer for 8+ years
Reviewed on: 8-29-2022
They are always there when i want to use them but the price is a bit too high
Viasat
3.7
(4)
5 Star
50%
4 Star
25%
3 Star
0%
2 Star
0%
1 Star
25%
E
Elisabethfrom Stockton , CA
Viasat Customer for 1+ years
Reviewed on: 5-7-2023
We've used Via sat for a few years and it's been nice. We have signal issues every once and a while but there really aren't very many options in the area we live. We are outside of town.
T
Terrifrom Knapp Creek, NY
Viasat Customer for 1+ years
Reviewed on: 4-20-2023
Viasat is one of the only providers I can get because we live away from town. We like it and it does what we need. We added a heater to the dish to help melt snow in winter and that has been a good thing.
H
Heribertofrom Newburgh, NY
Viasat Customer for 4+ years
Reviewed on: 3-7-2023
We live just outside of where we can high speed internet and we thought we were going to not be happy with satellite internet. It's been really good for what we do with it. We are older and don't use it as much as some people do I'm sure, but I would recommend it if you can't get one of the big cable brands
J
Jamesfrom Decatur, IN
Viasat Customer for 4+ years
Reviewed on: 8-29-2022
I live in a rural area, and find my internet satisfactory. It is expense when you compare it to urban areas nearby, when you compare it to speed and reliability.
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Endnotes and sources
1. "Broadband Insights Report (OVBI)," OpenVault. Accessed 17 October 2022.
Endnotes and sources
1. “2022 Urban Rate Survey – Fixed Broadband Service,” FCC. Accessed 12 December 2022.2. "Connected Home Plan," Hargray. Accessed 12 December 2022
Endnotes and sources
1. “Starlink Hits 100+ Mbps Download Speed in 15 Countries During Q4 2021,” Ookla. Accessed 6 June 2022.2. “Viasat current problems and outages,” Downdetector. Accessed 6 June 2022.