T-Mobile vs. Viasat: Which Internet Provider Is Best for You?

Compare T-Mobile and Viasat head-to-head

T-Mobile and Viasat both provide wireless internet; however, there are important differences between satellite and cellular connections. Although the two providers have a considerable overlap in speeds, T-Mobile plans will always have much lower latency than Viasat plans.

Viasat offers a lot more speed than other satellite providers, but it comes at a cost. The cheapest Viasat plans are considerably slower than T-Mobile. Viasat’s fastest plans can keep up with T-Mobile’s speeds, and even pass them in some areas, but these plans are also much more expensive. T-Mobile also doesn’t have data caps or long-term contracts, which are two big factors when choosing an internet provider.

Pros and cons: T-Mobile vs. Viasat

Jump to: Plans and pricing | Extra fees | Customer ratings | Internet types | Data caps | Contracts | Installation | Availability

Jump to:

• Plans and pricing
• Extra fees
• Customer ratings
• Internet types
• Data caps
• Contracts
• Installation
• Availability

Plans and pricing: T-Mobile vs. Viasat

T-Mobile plans and pricing

T-Mobile’s 5G Home Internet plan is a solid choice, especially in rural areas. It even contends with some wired plans like DSL, giving you good value in terms of speed versus cost. T-Mobile also has unlimited data, which is rare among wireless providers.

Although T-Mobile’s 5G network can reach high speeds, the highest speeds are not available across the entire T-Mobile coverage area. Remote areas where people rely on wireless connections will have lower speeds compared to customers in larger cities. T-Mobile provides the fastest 5G speeds in urban areas, but these areas are also more likely to have access to cable and fiber connections, which reach much higher speeds.

Viasat plans and pricing

When signing up for a Viasat plan, you should consider the speed you need and the amount of data you think you’ll use in a month. Savvy readers may have already noticed that, while faster plans are generally more expensive, it’s the data allotment that impacts Viasat’s pricing the most. Those price jumps on higher data caps are especially discouraging compared to T-Mobile’s unlimited data.

Extra fees: T-Mobile vs. Viasat

T-Mobile doesn’t have extra fees on top of its monthly bill, which is great. T-Mobile customers do have to self-install their equipment, but they make this a fairly easy process, even for those who have never done it before. The T-Mobile app will walk you through the process from start to finish.

Viasat comes with free professional installation, which is really nice. Its monthly equipment rental fees are really low. Though unfortunately for Viasat, low doesn’t beat free.

Customer ratings: T-Mobile vs. Viasat

T-Mobile was the highest ranked among nationwide providers in our annual customer satisfaction survey, blowing the competition out of the water in overall satisfaction. T-Mobile has been putting a lot of work into its pivot into home internet, and all that effort seems to be paying off.

We didn’t receive enough responses from Viasat customers to include it in our nationwide rankings; however, those who did respond gave low scores when compared to other providers. Since there were so few responses, these results should be taken with a grain of salt, but it does paint a stark contrast between the two providers.

Internet types: T-Mobile vs. Viasat

T-Mobile provides 5G home internet, which is a new and promising wireless internet technology. 5G uses cellular technology, and it’s a great way to deliver wireless home internet due to its high top speeds. These speeds, however, are not available across T-Mobile’s entire nationwide footprint.

In sparsely populated areas further from urban centers, 5G providers use different bands of radio frequencies to increase the number of households they can reach. This results in a wide range of advertised speeds with customers in rural areas getting slower speeds and those in urban areas with more 5G infrastructure getting higher speeds.

Data caps: T-Mobile vs. Viasat

T-Mobile has no data caps, and we think that’s great. Most Viasat plans do have caps, though it does offer a few unlimited plans. While this is a nice addition to Viasat’s long list of plans, there are a few things to keep in mind when looking at these plans. First, they all have a speed of 12Mbps, which is slower than what the FCC considers broadband internet.

Second, these plans differ considerably in price. The biggest factor in this pricing is location, as it’s much easier for Viasat to manage network traffic in areas where it has fewer customers, therefore it incentivizes these areas to sign up for unlimited data plans. This is good news for those in remote rural areas, who generally get the short end of the internet stick, but it does make these plans less viable in other areas.

Contracts: T-Mobile vs. Viasat

T-Mobile requires no long-term contracts, which is yet another great feature of this plan. Viasat plans require a two-year service contract. This is definitely on the long end of internet contracts, but it is pretty standard for satellite providers.

Installation: T-Mobile vs. Viasat

T-Mobile doesn’t offer professional installation, opting for free self-installation instead. T-Mobile equipment is designed to be easy to set up. T-Mobile provides an app to walk you through the process, so you don’t need an expert to get through the installation.

Viasat provides free professional installation. This is good because it involves mounting a satellite dish on your home, which is not a safe job for those without experience. The dish also has to be properly aligned to the satellite to get a good signal, so it’s ideal that Viasat will take care of that for new customers.

Availability: T-Mobile vs. Viasat

T-Mobile and Viasat are widely available nationwide, but satellite providers like Viasat can reach basically any home that has an unobstructed view of the sky. Not even cellular networks can match this kind of availability. This is why satellite internet is so essential, despite its many shortcomings.

Final call: T-Mobile vs. Viasat

In almost any situation, T-Mobile is the clear choice over Viasat. It’s cheaper than even the cheapest Viasat plan, and offers unlimited data to all its customers. T-Mobile also has lower latency and its top speeds are higher than the fastest Viasat plans.

The one caveat is that T-Mobile’s speeds get slower the further away from 5G infrastructure you get. That means that if you live in a very remote area and need the absolute fastest internet service available, Viasat might be the better, though very expensive, choice for you.

Methodology

Our HighSpeedInternet.com editorial team bases our analyses on customer input from our annual customer satisfaction survey, results from our speed test tool, and proprietary internet provider data on speeds and pricing. To strengthen our research, we look closely at provider contracts to get hard-to-find information on price hikes, data caps, and extra fees, and we keep tabs on the latest news reports and online reviews. When applicable, we also rely on our personal experiences testing these services.

More about T-Mobile and Viasat

• Best Rural Internet Providers
• How Fast Is 5G Home Internet?
• What Is C-Band 5G and Why Does It Matter?
• Viasat Buys Inmarsat and Its Plans for a LEO Constellation
• Viasat Internet Review