Viasat Internet Speed Test

Viasat offers several satellite internet plans with varying download speeds, ranging from 25 Mbps up to 150 Mbps. Viasat's flagship package includes unlimited high-speed data with no data cap. It's ideal for heavy-data users who rely on the internet for school, work, health care, or entertainment (hello Netflix!).

Viasat is available almost everywhere in the US—which makes it a great choice for people living in small towns, outer suburbs, and rural areas with limited internet options. You don’t need to have your home connected to city infrastructure to get satellite internet—it’s beamed down from the sky. To find out if your internet plan is delivering the speeds promised, take the one-click speed test below.

Viasat internet speeds range from 25Mbps to 150Mbps. But it's important to remember that Viasat speeds, like all internet speeds, are advertised as "up to" for a reason. You average daily speed may be much less than the advertised speed. That's why we suggest getting around 100 Mbps when you can--even if your speed falls beneath that on any given day, you'll likely still have enough to enjoy yourself with.  

Viasat satellite internet speeds vary widely from one plan to another, but the biggest difference you’ll actually experience between plans is varying amounts of data. Check out how Viasat delivers data compared to Hughesnet's plans.

Some satellite plans give you a set amount of “priority data” each month, which is the way they prevent over-usage. Priority data is full-speed data—which you should be getting at the speed you’re paying for. But when you run out of your monthly allotment of priority data, your speeds could be slowed way down for the rest of the month. Speeds are often throttled down to 1–3 Mbps, which will make a big difference in your internet experience.

To avoid slowing, we recommend getting a package with ample data and then monitoring your data throughout the month. Viasat makes data monitoring fairly painless with the Viasat app.

In 2024, Viasat essentially got rid of its priority data caps to go full unlimited. While Viasat’s new plan is virtually unlimited, it does let customers know that if they go over the monthly, normal usage of data, which they claim as 850GB, then they will likely slow speeds down to save bandwidth.  The typical household never uses this much data in a month. This generous data allowance is the biggest reason we recommend Viasat for heavy internet users—because running out of data just really stinks, and we know how easy it is to run through data while streaming. Yes, Netflix, we’re looking at you again.

Compare the data on these similarly priced satellite internet plans. Viasat’s plans give you four to six times as much data as the top-tier Hughesnet internet plan delivers.

• What Is a Good Internet Speed?
• Viasat Satellite Internet Review
• Viasat vs. HughesNet

Are you wondering which Viasat internet plan would work best for your household? Remember to look at both speed and data—because running out of data has a big impact on satellite internet speed. Once your priority data is gone for the month, your speeds can be throttled down to 1 to 3 Mbps.

The more people and devices you have connected to the internet, the more data and speed you’ll need. Some households get by with lower data plans by avoiding streaming services and getting satellite TV.

Your house might not need as much speed or data as your photographer friend uses. But then again, you might need much more speed than you think. Households have varying internet speed requirements, based on how many devices are connected at the same time and what kind of activities people do. In the chart below, you can see how much speed typical households need based on their internet activities. Video streaming in HD calls for the most speed, while casual internet browsing requires slower speeds.

Video streaming (Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, etc.):

• 1–2 devices: SD (DVD quality): 10 Mbps | HD: 50 Mbps
• 3–4 devices: SD (DVD quality): 50 Mbps | HD: 100+ Mbps

Music streaming

• 1–2 devices: 5 Mbps
• 2–4 devices: 25 Mbps

Internet browsing

• 1–2 devices: 3–5 Mbps
• 2–4 devices: 10+ Mbps

Online gaming

• 1–2 devices: 25 Mbps
• 2–4 devices: 75+ Mbps

To get an idea of how much data your household uses per month, take a look at how much data typical internet activities use per hour.

Use the chart below to find out how much data you need each month.

• Pick a typical day and tally up how many hours of each activity are used.
• Then multiply that number by 30, and you have your average monthly data usage for your household.

The Viasat satellite internet speed test measures your speed and internet performance by three important factors.

1. Download speed: This is how fast data travels from the server to your computer. If you have a slow download speed, you’ll notice a long pause between clicking on a link and seeing the result displayed. The FCC defines high-speed broadband internet as a connection with at least 25 Mbps download speed and 3 Mbps upload speed.
2. Upload speed: This measures how quickly you can send data from your computer to the server. Anytime you send an email, upload a photo to social media, or participate in a video call, you’re uploading data. The faster your upload speed, the better.
3. Latency: this tells you how long it takes a ping to travel in a round trip from your computer to the server and back. Because satellite data travels all the way to satellites orbiting the Earth, satellite internet latency is usually pretty high. The lower the latency, the quicker your response time will be in fast paced online gaming. A good latency for gaming is less than 50 ms.

During the speed test, an empty file is sent from the server to your computer, and then back to the server. This measures your upload speed, download speed, and latency.

Internet speed can vary throughout the day. It’s typical for speeds to vary from minute to minute and slow down significantly during peak periods of usage (usually between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m.). To get a true indication of the speeds you’re getting with your Viasat plan, take the test several times during the day.