Advantages and Benefits
The key benefits of choosing Viasat include:
1. Availability in rural areas: Due to satellite delivery, Viasat Internet can be accessed and installed at homes that are likely to be far from where cable or fiber optic lines are laid. For these reasons, Viasat is a go-to provider for owners of rural properties and cabins located in the wilderness.
2. Higher speeds than old satellite internet: It is important to note that the older satellite internet service was very, very slow. However, Viasat boasts that its internet service providers' download speed can go up to 100 Mbps, which is similar to cable internet. This shows that performance is still higher than that of the legacy satellite, which was previously known to be much more consistent.
3. Works anywhere with a view of the southern sky: What this means is that, as long as you have a line of sight to the southern sky using the satellite constellation owned by Viasat, you can have internet without local structures.
Drawbacks and Downsides
Viasat service does come with some significant downsides to factor into your decision:
1. Data caps can feel limiting for many families. All of the Viasat plans have somewhat limited data usage allowed per month. Even the mid-tier plan does not allow more than 75GB. Exceeding the limit results in significantly reduced speeds, which can barely provide an internet connection.
2. Real-world speeds often don't match advertised rates. Higher traffic in the evening implies that some users get a worse experience than what Viasat promises through its internet speed rates. The service also naturally limits video streaming, the rate of which is different for each plan.
3. Less reliable with severe weather disruptions: They caution that service can be completely lost during heavy rain and snow, although the latter is less likely since they now occur infrequently in many parts of the northern hemisphere. In contrast to most cable and fiber plans, the reliability of internet connections is lower during and after stormy nights.
4. Two-year contract required for new installs: Viasat has a two-year service agreement that customers are bound to agree to before they can access the company’s services. Therefore, if you are unhappy with your service, be it unreliability or slow connection speeds, you cannot escape Viasat for at least two years of cancellation.
Final Verdict: When it comes to Viasat being the best, yes, it is best only when used as the last resort.
With Viasat, people without better alternatives can be provided a reasonable internet connection; however, for most households, it can provide less value than cable or fiber optic internet. The arguably low data limits, slower than the promised rates, reliability problems, inability to change plans mid-cycle, and reasonably high monthly costs all coalesce to make Viasat much more of a something-better-than-nothing service instead of a highly preferred option. However, if the prospects are limited to no other way of getting residential broadband, Viasat at least provides some level of connectivity. If one prefers to relocate to a region with no other ISP and is willing to experiment, they should try it without risking anything.