How Much Does Satellite Internet Cost?

The average cost of a satellite internet plan in the US is about $110 per month. This is more than the average cost of a cable or fiber plan, which is about $50 per month.

But unlike cable or fiber internet, satellite internet plans are available everywhere in the country, and their prices are usually consistent from region to region (meanwhile cable and fiber plans vary from one town to the next).

There are three residential satellite internet providers in the US: Viasat, HughesNet, and Starlink. Viasat internet, on average, is about $27.00 more per month than HughesNet internet and has a worse customer service reception, but Viasat does have faster speeds and larger data caps a higher.

The average price of a Viasat plan after the promo period is $129.08, while the average price for HughesNet internet is $102.49. Starlink currently offers only one plan with limited availability for $99.00 per month.

The average download speed of a satellite internet plan is 31 Mbps. This may not seem that fast, but it’s actually pretty good (25 Mbps is considered broadband by the FCC). Unless you live with a lot of people who all stream at the same time, it should be plenty of speed for everyday tasks.

Also, keep in mind that this average speed is a little skewed by the fact that HughesNet’s plans max out at 25 Mbps. For context, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) considers a broadband connection to be 25 Mbps or higher, so you’ll be right on the line but still hanging with the broadband crew.

If you want more speed than that, Viasat offers plans up to 100 Mbps. You’ll just have to check speed availability in your area (and pay a little more) to get it.

Satellite internet plans usually cost more than their land-based counterparts, mostly because of the restrictions that naturally accompanies satellite technology. These include speed, data, and equipment like home satellite dishes and geostationary or low-earth orbit satellite infrastructure.

Internet packages are usually priced based on how much speed they offer. Faster packages cost more, especially with satellite internet providers. For example, Viasat internet prices its plans this way, and it makes choosing a package relatively easy. Need more speed? Just bump your plan up a tier, the max of which provides 300 Mbps.

Unlike Viasat, HughesNet's plan all offer the same download speeds: 25 Mbps for every plan. That's technically high-speed internet (according to the Federal Communications Commission), and should serve the average couple's needs. So HughesNet internet doesn't price its plans based on speed; instead, they're divvied up based on data cap size, which we’ll discuss more below.

How much internet speed you need really depends on two things:

• What are you using the internet for? Streaming HD video requires a lot more download speed than just browsing the web.
• How many people will be using the internet at the same time? If two people are streaming at once, you’ll need twice the bandwidth to avoid any performance issues.

For the most part, HughesNet bases its satellite internet prices on data cap sizes rather than speed. HughesNet offers only one 15Mbps plan; all of its other satellite-only plans are 25 Mbps. Each package tier then offers 15–200 GB of data, growing more expensive the higher the data cap you want. We recommend the 50 GB plan for low-internet users and 100 GB plan for Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ binge-watchers.

Viasat plans also have increasing data limits as the speed (and price) increases, but that’s not the main way the packages are advertised.

Both satellite internet providers technically offer unlimited data, but it's not as truly unlimited as it sounds. The data caps both internet services determine how much high-speed data you can use. After that, you may have unlimited data, but it's standard data instead of premium data. That just means you'll get super slow speeds after you exceed your plan's data limit.  

The average data cap for satellite internet plans is 60 GB. The highest data caps in the biz are 500 GB from Viasat and Starlink's undisclosed, but clearly very high, priority data on its residential plans. Read more on that in our Starlink Review.

Keep in mind that these limits are more like thresholds. When you reach them, you can still use your service, but your speed will be slowed to 1–3 Mbps (virtually unusable). But at least there are no overage fees.

The data amount you need largely depends on what you’re doing with your internet connection. If you only browse the web and check email occasionally, you can probably get by with a basic 30GB to 50GB plan.

But if you’re gaming or streaming at higher resolution, you’ll eat through that very quickly. Watching an hour of Netflix in HD can use up to 3GB of data, so more data is always better—especially if you stream a lot.

Both Viasat and HughesNet offer free installation if you meet certain requirements. For Viasat internet, you can get free installation if you’re a new customer. Just ask about the installation fee rebate program. Otherwise it’ll cost you $99.95 to install Viasat.

If you’re getting HughesNet internet, you're fortunate; HughesNet offers free professional installation for all its plans.

Starlink requires a hefty one-time $499.00 equipment fee. But the equipment is user-friendly enough that you can just install it yourself rather than wait on a professional.

Viasat charges $9.99 per month for equipment rentals, with the option to pay a lifetime equipment lease for $299.99. HughesNet charges $14.99 per month with a $449.99 purchase price. Starlink charges a mandatory $499.00 equipment fee—leasing it monthly isn't an option.

Paying upfront for equipment can save you money in the long run if you plan to stick with one service provider, but we recommend just sticking with the monthly lease if you’re not sure.

One major thing to keep in mind is that all Viasat packages go up in price after a three-month introductory period. The exact amount of the increase depends on which plan you select, but it can be anywhere from $20–$80 more per month.

HughesNet plans don’t have price increases: what you sign up for is what you’ll pay for the length of your two-year term. We can appreciate stability like that.

We rounded up the details on all the packages offered by HughesNet, Viasat, and Starlink. Pooling this data allowed us to determine the average available price, speed, and data cap for satellite internet. Since these plans are all offered nationwide, this gives us a fairly accurate picture of the actual averages.