Viasat Business Internet Review

Did you know that small businesses create two-thirds of new jobs and contribute 43.5 percent to the U.S. economy? Rural small businesses in the agriculture, mining, forestry, fishing, and tourism sectors are the driving force behind America’s rapid transformation. From feeding the nation to generating foreign reserves through exporting goods and services, these companies have carried the burden of our economy on their shoulders. 

When the stakes are so high, depriving remotely located small businesses of digital connectivity is criminal. Imagine the success and growth these companies can achieve once they are linked to high-speed broadband networks. 

Thankfully, Viasat Business Internet is the ultimate business aide for many out-of-town companies in rural America. 

Viasat Business Internet Overview

Viasat is one of the three satellite internet providers in the United States of America. It is the only satellite internet provider offering up to 150 Mbps of download speeds in all 50 states. Its main competitors are HughesNet and Starlink by SpaceX. But neither can HughesNet meet the superfast download speeds of Viasat nor can Starlink provide satellite internet coverage across the nation. 

Viasat Business Internet is transmitted with the help of four operational satellites located in the geostationary orbit. Their strategic placement allows them to provide satellite internet coverage over the eastern and western states, including Hawaii, Alaska, and most parts of Canada. 

But on the downside, it increases latency to 600 ms. Compared to that, Starlink satellites operate in the low earth orbit system and have 10 times less latency. The result is that the download speeds for Viasat Business Internet max out at 150 Mbps, whereas Starlink can deliver 220 Mbps of download speeds on its premium plans. 

Currently, Viasat offers its business customers an exciting range of metered and unlimited satellite internet plans. The Viasat Business Internet can be bundled with Viasat Business VoIP for professional and convenient cloud-based phone service.

Pros

• Available in all 50 states of the USA
• Available to 96 percent of the U.S. population
• Professional installation in 3-5 business days
• Ideal for businesses in rural and remote areas
• Up to 100 Mbps download speeds
• Option to choose between metered & unlimited plans
• Exclusive backup internet for Viasat Business Internet customers
• Allows you to keep a fixed IP address
• Bundle deals are available
• Round-the-clock, business-class tech support

Cons

• A 2-year contract is mandatory
• Both, metered and unlimited plans have data caps
• It needs a clear view of the southern sky
• Service is affected by heavy rain and snowfall
• It needs heavy equipment, such as a satellite dish
• An activation fee of $100 per connection is applicable 
• Equipment rental fee is $15 per month (additional)

Viasat Business Internet Plans & Pricing

The primary Viasat Business Internet plans are segregated into two categories: Unlimited Business Plans and Metered Internet for Business. The main difference between Business Unlimited and Business Metered plans is that unlimited plans have a soft high-speed data cap of 1,000 GB, whereas the latter has hard data caps that are mentioned straightforwardly with the plans. 

Metered Broadband Plans 

Viasat metered broadband plans are ideal for home-based businesses or family-run stores in rural communities. In most cases, a 50 GB to 300 GB data cap will be more than sufficient for commercial setups with low-to-moderate data usage. 

The metered broadband plans for Viasat Business Internet start at $69.99 per month and provide download speeds between 35 Mbps and 150 Mbps. You can purchase additional data in 5 GB, 10 GB, 30 GB, and 80 GB blocks for a starting price of $9.99. The good news is that the cost of adding more data to the plan reduces significantly as you opt for bigger blocks of data in a go. For example, an additional 5 GB of data costs $9.99, or $2 for every 1 GB. But if you purchase 80 GB of data, the accumulated cost comes up to $99.99, or $1.25 for each GB. 

Viasat Business Internet is a contract-based service. You will be required to sign a minimum 2-year contract. Canceling the service before the contract expiration date will result in a hefty early termination fee of $15 per month for each remaining month of the contract. 

You must also bear in mind that the monthly fee for Viasat Internet plans does not include the equipment rental. Every month you will have to pay an equipment rental fee of $15 on top of your internet bill. 

Unlimited Broadband Plans

Endless possibilities and boundless opportunities! You get that when you subscribe to unlimited broadband plans for Viasat Business Internet. The Business Unlimited plans are perfect for small-town businesses with continuous online activity such as logistics companies, law firms, retail stores, and motels/ inns. 

Viasat Unlimited plans for businesses offer download speeds of up to 150 Mbps with a soft data cap of 1,000 GB. It means that after exceeding the typically anticipated data limit on your Business Unlimited plan, you will retain access to Viasat satellite internet, but experience speed reductions during network congestion until the next billing cycle. 

All the Viasat Business Internet plans, in the unlimited and metered categories, promise priority connection, persistent IPs, free & fast professional installations, and provision of free unlimited data during office hours (8 AM to 5 PM).  

Priority Connections

Your business will always be a priority for Viasat. Residential customers of Viasat will not be able to hog your dedicated bandwidths. Therefore, your connection will be protected from speed throttling during traffic congestion. 

Static IPs

You are allowed to set up three unchanged IP addresses on each Viasat Business Internet plan. Many websites and servers are region-specific. Internet users who try to access these web pages from outside the region are prevented from doing so. A persistent IP address for your employees’ devices ensures that they can connect to the network and access web pages while away from the office. 

Free Expert Installations

Viasat Business Internet can be installed within three to five working days. The free professional installation includes the delivery of cutting-edge equipment (satellite dish, internet modem, and wiring), technician’s visit, and labor of up to $500 in value. However, a $100 activation fee is required to initiate the service. Businesses that bundle Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Wi-Fi hotspots with their internet plans can have that installed too on the same visit. 

Unlimited Office Hours Data 

Viasat’s primary Business Internet plans, offering download speeds of between 35 Mbps and 150 Mbps, and a data limit of 300 GB and 500 GB, include unlimited data allowance during office hours. Between 8 AM to 5 PM, small businesses can use popular business applications without exhausting their monthly data limit. 

However, the Unlimited Office Hour Data feature does not support video streaming, online gaming, peer-to-peer networking, real-time entertainment, or any non-business-related activity. You can call Viasat at 877-412-0759 for more details on this perk. 

Viasat Business Low-Cost Internet 

Viasat has partnered with the Federal Communications Commission for the implementation of the Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase II program to offer affordable business internet plans in qualifying areas. With download speeds of up to 25 Mbps, upload speeds of 3 Mbps, and a high-speed data cap of 600 GB, Viasat Business’s low-cost internet plans are available at a starting price of $89.99 per month and include a free professional installation worth $500 (one-time charge). Like all the other Viasat Business Internet plans, the CAF II Connection 25 service requires a 2-year term contract.

Viasat Business Internet with Business VoIP

Running your business from the countryside has never been easier. You can be a generational farmer growing organic crops or tending cattle in Sandhills, Nebraska, and still have the privilege of selling your products in New York City. Viasat gives small business owners a dual-service package deal that includes Viasat Business Internet and Viasat Business Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) line. 

Viasat’s Business Internet subscribers can bundle a Viasat Business VoIP line for as low as $89.98 per month. The Viasat Business VoIP is a low-cost, reliable, and high-quality calling service that uses satellite internet to make and receive calls. 

Instead of paying high calling charges on your traditional landline phone, you can make unlimited calls at a fixed monthly rate via your satellite internet service. VoIP phones convert voice signals into digital signals. The compressed file is sent to the receiver over the Internet. At the receiver’s end, the digital data is converted to an audio message, and they can hear your voice loud and clear. 

The biggest advantage of using Viasat Business VoIP is that you can place or receive calls from any device (cellphone, desktop, desk phone, or laptop) without changing your business phone number. Therefore, allowing calling on the go.

The benefits of bundling your Viasat Business Internet with Business VoIP are as follows:

• Save up to $10 per month (for 6 months) on your phone bills 
• Authenticate your business with a fixed business phone number
• Optimize your business communication with three-way calling
• Add up to four Viasat Business VoIP lines on the same number and enjoy hassle-free call routing
• The voicemail feature includes automatic cloud-based backups 
• Unlimited calling between the USA and Canada at a flat monthly rate of $19.99
• Better reception than traditional cellular and calling services

At first glance, porting your number to Viasat Business VoIP may seem like an expensive addition to the operational costs of your business. However, in the long run, you will notice that its premium business features, such as call routing and automatic cloud backups, are essential for upscaling your customer and client support. With Viasat Business VoIP, you will have the confidence to run your remotely-located, small business as efficiently as a Silicon Valley tech company.

Availability Review

Satellite internet services were created to provide broadband access in those parts of the country where the capabilities of terrestrial internet services fail. It may come as a surprise to some, but in today’s modern age, 10 percent of the USA is still waiting for internet connectivity. These blind spots are neither in the coverage areas of wired broadband connections (Cable, DSL, and fiber-optic internet) nor can they receive 4G or 5G coverage.  

But that has not stopped people from living and working in these areas. Such outlying communities count on satellite internet services for digital connectivity. 

The nationwide availability can be explained by how the satellite internet works. On the back end, your satellite internet provider sends out fiber internet signals into outer space. Viasat satellites intercept these digital signals and transmit them back to the Earth in the form of radio waves. Every customer has a satellite dish installed at an unblocked location (rooftop, terrace, or open ground). The dish captures the signals and sends them to an internet modem that is connected to the dish via cords. The modem converts the radio waves back into digital signals, and you get an internet connection on your devices either through Ethernet cables or Wi-Fi routers. 

Unlike terrestrial internet services, satellite internet does not depend on wired or wireless infrastructure. Viasat Business Internet can be delivered to your doorstep without an expansive cable network or sparsely erected LTE towers.  

At the moment, Viasat Business Internet is available in all 50 states of the USA, and nearly 96 percent of the U.S. population can access the service. 

Customer Service Review

Viasat Business Internet is an award-winning service and is highly popular among small business communities in rural America. In 2022 alone, Viasat was the proud recipient of seventeen awards. Among its many accolades, Viasat has been recognized for being the “2023 Innovator of the Year”, one of the “Top 10 Hottest Satellite Companies” and a saving grace for over 80,000 Ukrainian refugees in Slovakia who were in dire need of no-cost internet connectivity to stay in touch with their loved ones. 

Viasat’s Business Internet is the trusted choice for high-speed and reliable broadband connection for thousands of businesses across the USA. Its high-profile business customers include aviation companies, the U.S. military, federal departments, and space exploration facilities. 

Viasat provides round-the-clock, on-call tech support to its business customers. The on-ground technicians work tirelessly to troubleshoot problems and restore service within a day or two. Apart from this, Viasat Business Internet subscribers can log into their online portals for account management and bill payments. 

Best Alternatives to Viasat Business Internet 

Viasat Business Internet may only be a backup broadband partner for many businesses around the country.  In times of power outages and internet blackouts, Viasat keeps the operations rolling. However, the unrestricted connection and network reliability come at a high monthly cost. In such cases, entrepreneurs turn to alternate business internet providers, especially if they are lucky enough to have cabled networks and fixed wireless internet.   

The top five business internet providers in the USA are listed in the table below:

We compared the top five business internet providers based on their countrywide availability, actual download speeds, monthly fees, and service reliability. Our results indicate that Spectrum Business Internet is the best business internet provider in the country. 

Instead of relying on the limited fiber-optic internet infrastructure, Spectrum uses a dual-transmission system using fiber-optic and coaxial cables. A unified pathway is formed to carry high-frequency data signals over long distances. As a result, more than 32 million Spectrum internet customers can receive gigabit speeds in 41 states. 

AT&T Business promises speeds up to 1 Tbps to its premium business customers, but the supremely fast download speeds come at an exorbitant price of $500 per month. Compared to that, Spectrum Business Internet customers only pay $164.99 per month for gigabit speeds. 

EarthLink Business Internet has coverage in 48 states of the USA, but its 5 Gbps internet speeds are only available in a selected few areas and cost $189.95 per month.

Conclusion

Several small-scale businesses in rural America are exploring the power of business digitization. Operating from places where resources like skilled labor and high-end facilities are hard to come by, these companies frequently rely on outsourcing for quality controls. 

Viasat Business Internet has become the technological powerhouse for remotely operating, small businesses in the USA. Its wide-scale availability, low starting cost, and superfast download speeds have made it the ideal business internet provider for many enterprises.