In January of this year, my wife and I packed up our city life and moved to my father’s ranch in Hyde County, North Carolina. I inherited the ranch when he passed away in 2020, and my wife, the then-fiancée, had always dreamt of moving here after we got married.
Since Hyde is a pretty remote area, therefore, the internet options are minimal. We only have satellite internet here.
Despite having all three satellite internet providers, Starlink, HughesNet, and Viasat, I chose Viasat. This blog is an honest review of my experience with them so far, and how I find Viasat among all the other internet providers in rural areas.
Why Did I Choose Viasat?
As I mentioned above, I had three options to choose from: StarLink, Hughesnet, and Viasat. I chose Viasat because Hughesnet binds you in contracts, and StarLink was pricier.
Plus, Karl from a neighboring ranch (10 miles away) also has a Viasat dish installed and had no complaints. So, I ended up choosing Viasat because it seemed to strike a perfect balance between price and other features, which I will discuss below.
How are Speed and Latency?
I chose the basic Viasat satellite internet plan, which provides speeds of more than 20Mbps and less than 200 Mbps. Before I subscribed, I knew that an internet speed within that range in satellite internet service was a dream and would be as rare as my healthcare insurance not robbing me.
So, as soon as I acknowledged that I won’t be getting my urban-fiber internet speeds at the ranch, I was at peace. On a good day, I got 30Mbps, but not getting the speeds as promised is a rite of passage for every satellite internet user.
So, usually I get a speed of 15Mbps with Viasat, which is enough for my fiancée’s and my remote jobs. She works as a graphic designer, while I am an accountant for a business firm in Ohio. So while she has multiple client calls every day, I have an occasional online meeting to attend. This is why Viasat’s speed works for both of us.
Now, as far as latency is concerned, it did disappoint. Since the distance between the satellite in space and the receiver dish is long, it has high latency. This means, too much lag in online calls as soon as we switch on the camera. So, prepare to be disappointed by the high latency.
Am I Bound by a Viasat Contract?
While Viasat does have contracts on some of its plans, the internet plan I got does not. The Viasat satellite internet plan is a month-to-month plan, which means the provider does not bind you to 12 or 24-month contracts.
Another good thing about this is that I will not have to pay an early termination fee if I decide to switch my internet provider. This means I can shift to DSL or cable internet as soon as they become available in my area.
What is up with Viasat EasyCare and Shield?
These are add-on services with the Viasat internet. Despite the extra monthly bill, both these services are very lucrative due to the accompanying discounts and offers.
EasyCare allows me to get exceptional customer service, on priority. This means I can get through the customer service before I finish my coffee. It also means free technician visits whenever the bad weather damages the dish and discounted dish relocation.
Moreover, Viasat Shields provides extra internet protection. I got it mainly because I work with sensitive company information, but it feels good to know my personal data is safe from hacking attempts and viruses.
How is the Installation?
For my tech-savvy pals out there, I have bad news.
Viasat does not allow self-installation. So that is a cost you have to bear, unfortunately. I did, too.
I thought I could install the kit myself and save up on a couple of hundred bucks, but my wife was of the opinion that our case was a non-standard installation. This means our under-eave mount was a tricky place to install the dish, which I could’ve easily mess up.
The Viasat technicians came in 3 days and were quick with the installation. They placed my receiver very smartly, angled in a way to ensure strong signal reception on sunny days.
Overall, the entire installation was done in under 2.5 hours, which I was super impressed with.
Viasat Review, Summed Up: Am I Happy with Viasat?
With a price that falls smack in the middle of both of its competitors, I’ve been enjoying quality service with a good value for money.
Even though setting up Viasat wasn’t cheap, I now enjoy internet with moderate speeds and great customer service. If I subtract the weather factor, Viasat has proved to be a great internet option in a rural setting.
I hope this review helps you decide which connection to get for your setting.