Satellite internet is an excellent choice for broadband services if you don’t deal with wires and cables. It is a wireless connection that only requires a dish antenna outside for sending and receiving signals and a modem/router inside for understanding and relaying them. A signal is sent from our device through the antenna to a satellite orbiting the Earth in outer space. Since there is a lot of traveling involved in the process, satellite internet has a high latency rate. This makes satellite one of the slower options in comparison to cable or fiber-optic networks.
Regardless of that, the satellite may be your only choice for reliable high-speed internet if you are residing at a rural location. There are no infrastructures that can deploy the relevant cables or wires to remote locations at the moment. Satellite is nothing short of a miracle in such a situation. There are no other satellite internet service providers except for HughesNet and Viasat. Both these ISPs offer variable internet plans with different download speeds. You can find more details about HughesNet services by clicking at https://www.localcabledeals.com/hughesnet.
Let’s look at their individual services and plans.
HughesNet
With the recent launch of HughesNet Gen5 technology for the year 2021, now all its customer can get amazing, reliable internet services at affordable rates. The same download speed is offered with all of their internet plans, that is, 25 Mbps and an upload speed of 3 Mbps. They offer great coverage throughout the United States, gives internet access to millions of citizens around the country.
Here is a list of their offered plans with prices and terms:
| Internet Plan | Cost per month | Download speed | Data limit |
| 10 GB | $59.99 | 25 Mbps | 10 GB |
| 20 GB | $69.99 | 25 Mbps | 20 GB |
| 30 GB | $99.99 | 25 Mbps | 30 GB |
| 50 GB | $149.99 | 25 Mbps | 50 GB |
The standard plan starts at $59.99 with a 10 GB of data limit and the contract is set for two years. There are no mid-contract/term hikes in the price so you will get consistent service for two years without unwanted charges. In case the 10 GB limit looks small or too low, they offer a free Bonus Zone to all their customers. You can now vail 50 GB of additional data without paying a single dime. This makes HughesNet an excellent choice for the internet.
Moreover, there are no hard data limits. These are called data guidelines or soft data caps. If you by any chance exceed your service limit within one billing month, HughesNet will not cancel/or terminate your services. You will keep receiving internet albeit, at reduced download rates, that is 1 to 3 Mbps.
To save data and to help you in saving some GBs to last you through the entire month, HughesNet offers their Video Data Saver service. Your videos will automatically be downgraded to Standard Definition or SSD. Or, you can do that on your own by watching videos of lower quality.
HughesNet allows its customers to add data to their present plan at any point during the term. In case you had guests over and used up all your listed service data, you can buy data tokens to continue using high-speed internet.
You will need to bear the equipment fee but HughesNet is now offering a free modem/router with every new internet connection for a limited time. They have also included free standard installation with all of their internet plans.
Viasat
Viasat offers great speeds with high data caps. Their offered speed goes up to 100 Mbps and the available data limit is up to 300 GB. The only problem is that all their plans experience a three-month price hike which makes it a little tough to handle especially if you aren’t aware of their terms.
Here are the plans with their prices that are offered by Viasat:
| Internet Plan | Cost per month | Download speed | Data limit | Coat at 3months |
| Liberty 12 | $30 | 12 Mbps | 12 GB | $50 |
| Liberty 25 | $50 | 12 Mbps | 25 GB | $75 |
| Liberty 50 | $75 | 12 Mbps | 50 GB | $100 |
| Unlimited Bronze 12 | $50 | 12 Mbps | 80 GB | $70 |
| Unlimited Silver 25 | $70 | 25 Mbps | 120 GB | $100 |
| Unlimited Gold 30 | $100 | 30 Mbps | 100 GB | $150 |
| Unlimited Gold 50 | $100 | 50 Mbps | 200 GB | $150 |
| Unlimited Silver 12 | $100 | 12 Mbps | 45 GB | $150 |
| Unlimited Gold 12 | $150 | 12 Mbps | 65 GB | $200 |
| Unlimited Platinum 100 | $150 | 100 Mbps | 300 GB | $200 |
Where HughesNet only offers four simple plans, Viasat offers more variability in terms of packages. They are a little confusing and we surely wish they weren’t. However, a strong reliable connection covers up a lot of tiny mistakes and confusions that a company makes. We do not appreciate the price after increment or the fact that there is a price hike at all. Although their great services make up for all of it.
Viasat also offers soft data caps. While some of their plans are called unlimited, there still some data guidelines that you have to follow. In case you exceed your service data limit, your internet will become slow. The reduced speed will be anywhere between 1 and 5 Mbps.
Viasat with its higher-end plans is great for users who have bigger internet needs. For a family of more than four, Viasat’s Unlimited Platinum 100 plan is the best out there. After the price hike, per month will come at $200 but you will be getting 300 GB of high-speed internet. You can connect multiple devices simultaneously without worrying about the speed getting throttled.
Both these Internet Service Providers offer valuable broadband services to rural areas. They both are providing quality and reliability with 24/7 customer service.