Staff rating

3.5

Customer rating

4.0

(513)

Plans starting at $29.99

Download speeds up to 1 Gbps

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Staff rating

2.2

Customer rating

3.7

(4)

Plans starting at $30.00

Download speeds up to 100 Mbps

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Staff rating

3.5

Fast internet at reasonable prices

Spectrum offers speedy, reasonably priced cable internet service, and a strong budget plan. We wish there were fewer fees attached, though.

What we like

Simple plan selection
No contracts
No data cap

What we dislike

Pricey gig plan
Lots of small fees
Price increase after 12 months

See full review

Savings tip: Spectrum often has sign-up promotions for first-time customers. Call to ask a rep about current deals and discounts.

Check deals

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

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Savings tip: Viasat often has sign-up promotions for first-time customers. Call to ask a rep about current deals and discounts.

Check deals

Value

3.0

Straightforward internet plans with budget-friendly pricing

Spectrum service offers a solid value—particularly at the lowest tier. There are only three plans to choose from, which could either be a plus or minus depending on your perspective. In this case, we feel it’s a good thing: the plans are straightforward and easy to understand.

The lowest-tier plan offers speeds up to 300 Mbps (wireless speeds may vary) at a decent price, according to government benchmarks (1). That's just $0.17 per megabit per second, with speeds that blow any DSL plan out of the water. The other two internet plans are less exciting, but still reasonably priced for the first year. After 12 months, your price could be up by $20 or more.

Pricing details vary by location. Visit

Spectrum's website

or call 1-866-460-1117 to speak with a rep.

See pricing

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

Performance

4.0

Reliable internet with speeds up to 1 Gbps

Spectrum offers speedy performance overall, with packages up to 1,000 Mbps available (wireless speeds may vary). The lower tiers are more exciting—almost every provider has a gig plan these days, but Spectrum’s lowest plan has speeds up to 300 Mbps, which is still excellent for all but the heaviest users. Additionally, there are no data caps on any of the plans, so you can use as much bandwidth as you like.

Speed is only half the equation, though—even the fastest connection is useless if it doesn’t work when you need it. Luckily, Spectrum is on par with its closest cable competitors here. It offers faster-than-advertised speeds most of the time, according to the US Federal Communications Commission (2), and earned the top spot for median speeds from Speedtest.net (3). Spectrum’s latency scores were a little higher than competitors Xfinity and Cox, but at just 25 ms, you’re still within the playability range for most online games.

Available speeds vary by location. Call 1-866-460-1117 to speak with a Spectrum rep or

go to its website.

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.

Equipment and Installation

4.5

You can rent a router or use your own, and there’s a fee for self-installation

Spectrum’s equipment setup is a bit different than most—at least when it comes to fees. There is no charge for the modem, but there is a $5 monthly fee for the wireless router (waived on the gig plan). What this means is that Spectrum gives you a separate modem and router, instead of a combined gateway. It also means you can opt to bring your own wireless router if you prefer. Customers can also add Wi-Fi extenders, called Pods, for $3 each per month. If you use the Spectrum router, you can use the company's highly rated smartphone app to manage settings and parental controls.

Installation is straightforward and affordable. If you need a pro to come out, you can opt for a professional installation for $59.99. If you can handle the installation yourself, the self-install kit is about $25. We’d prefer free self-installation, but it isn’t the highest self-install fee we’ve seen, so we’ll take what we can get.

Equipment and installation options can vary widely depending on

Spectrum plans

available in your area.

View plans

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

Customer Experience

2.5

Watch out for hefty fees and price hikes down the road

We’ll just come right out and say it: Spectrum has a lot of fees. While you may never see most of them, it’s worth noting that they’re there. Here’s a sample:

$5 to pay over the phone(?!)
$5 reconnection fee
$19.99 to upgrade equipment when switching to the Internet Gig plan

These aren’t going to be on every bill, and you may never see most of them. However, when you do, it makes for a poor experience.

When you add second-year price hikes in the range of $20+, things aren't looking good for Spectrum customers. However, Spectrum customers seem to be about as satisfied with customer service as customers with competitors Cox and CenturyLink, and it's only slightly worse than average. (4)

If Spectrum is the only cable provider in your area and your home isn't wired for fiber internet, we recommend the service. Just set a calendar reminder to contact customer service in a year and see if you can negotiate the price down!

Visit Spectrum's website

or call 1-866-460-1117 for more information on contracts and money-back guarantees.

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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

Made up your mind?

Find out what providers are available near you.

Spectrum

4.0

(513)

5 Star

34%

4 Star

41%

3 Star

20%

2 Star

1 Star

Andrewfrom Newark, NY

Spectrum Customer for 1+ years

Reviewed on: 6-17-2022

My internet goes out all the time whenever I first go to use it when returning home from anywhere.

Theresafrom Merriam, KS

Spectrum Customer for Less than a year

Reviewed on: 6-17-2022

My choice was limited due to my location. Not very pleased that I got my first bill less than a week after activation. And due in less than three after activation.

Nathaliafrom Sherman Oaks, CA

Spectrum Customer for 1+ years

Reviewed on: 6-17-2022

The connection is good and fast overall. It disconnects sometimes out of nowhere, so I wish it was more stable.

Jpfrom Evansville, IN

Spectrum Customer for 8+ years

Reviewed on: 6-17-2022

Thank you all right we have a limited opportunities in this

Viasat

3.7

(4)

5 Star

50%

4 Star

25%

3 Star

2 Star

1 Star

25%

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.

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.

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

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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