Best Satellite Internet Providers for November 2025 - Broadlink Data Services, LLC.
November 14, 2025
Our picks
Why we chose these providers
100 – 350 Mbps
Or call to learn more: (866) 671-3650
Best satellite internet for reliable speeds
$50 – $80 per month
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Although most of the nation has access to different kinds of internet connections, some areas can only access satellite internet. If you’re a part of a rural household, you may have some options, but satellite is often the most practical for remote areas. Fixed wireless internet hooks up your modem to satellites orbiting our planet, and you can access it yourself if you have a dish and an open view of the sky. This can be particularly helpful if wired services such as cable, DSL or fiber aren’t available at your address.
Fiber and cable internet will usually be the faster and more reliable options, but satellite internet helps bridge an important gap in internet access. Starlink, Hughesnet or Viasat are going to be the options available to most folks in rural settings. The question is: Which one will give you the right balance of price, performance and availability? With a recent CNET survey showing that 63% of US adults saw their internet bills increase last year, finding affordable and reliable connectivity is more important than ever, which is why we’ve done the work to find the best satellite providers for you.
We’ve carefully examined the available options, considering speeds, pricing, customer service and overall value to assemble your top internet options. Here’s a look at how the best satellite internet providers compare.
Please note that the plans below show each provider’s cheapest available tier. The max speed is the top advertised speed for that given plan, but it might not be available in your area. Overall, the best selection for you — and the most cost-effective plan — might be a different tier that provides a faster speed at a higher price but a better value. To better understand this value-based approach, check out CNET’s guide to examining the cost per Mbps.
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Source: CNET analysis of provider data.
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Speed range
100 – 350 Mbps
Price range
$80 – $120 per month
Or call to learn more: (866) 671-3650
Speed range
100 – 350 Mbps
Price range
$80 – $120 per month
Plan
Monthly price
Max speeds
Fees and service details
Residential Lite
$80
25-100Mbps download, 5-20Mbps uploads
Standard unlimited data, $349 upfront equipment fee and no contracts
Residential
$120
40-220Mbps downloads, 8-25Mbps uploads
Standard unlimited data, $349 upfront equipment fee and no contracts
Local Priority
$65
100-350Mbps downloads, 5-25Mbps uploads
Standard unlimited data (Priority plans start at 50GB), $1999 upfront equipment fee for Performance hardware ($349 for the standard Starlink) and no contracts
Global Priority
$250
100-350Mbps downloads, 8-25Mbps uploads
Standard unlimited data (Priority plans start at 50GB), $1999 upfront equipment fee for Performance hardware ($999 for the previous-generation Starlink Performance) and no contracts
Speed range
50-100 Mbps
Price range
$50 – $80 per month
Or call to learn more: (833) 347-4265
Speed range
50-100 Mbps
Price range
$50 – $80 per month
Plan
Monthly price
Max speeds
Fees and service details
Lite Plan
$40 ($50 after 12 months)
25Mbps download, 3Mbps upload
Unlimited data (100GB soft cap), $10 monthly equipment or $300 upfront and 2 year-contract
Select Plan
$50 ($75 after 12 months)
50Mbps download, 5Mbps upload
Unlimited data (100GB soft cap), $15 monthly equipment or $300 upfront and 2 year-contract
Elite Plan
$65 ($90 after 12 months)
100Mbps download, 5Mbps upload
Unlimited data (200GB soft cap), $15 monthly equipment or $300 upfront and 2-year contract
Fusion Plan
$95 ($120 after 12 months)
100Mbps download, 5Mbps upload
Unlimited data (200GB soft cap), $20 monthly equipment or $450 upfront and 2-year contract
Unlimited data (850GB soft cap), $15 monthly equipment or $250 upfront, and no contracts
How we test satellite internet providers
Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the latest smartphone, laptop, router or kitchen tool, it’s impractical to personally test every ISP in a given city. What’s our approach? We start by researching the pricing, availability and speed information, drawing on our own historical ISP data, the provider sites and mapping information from the Federal Communications Commission at FCC.gov.
It doesn’t end there: We go to the FCC’s website to check our data and ensure we consider every ISP that provides service in an area. We also input local addresses on provider websites to find specific options for residents. We look at sources, including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Power, to evaluate how happy customers are with an ISP’s service. As ISP plans and prices are subject to frequent changes, all information provided is accurate as of publication.
Once we have this localized information, we ask three main questions:
Does the provider offer access to reasonably fast internet speeds?
Do customers get decent value for what they’re paying?
Are customers happy with their service?
The answer to those questions is often layered and complex, but the providers who come closest to “yes” on all three are the ones we recommend.
To explore our process in more depth, visit our how we test ISPs page.
How to choose a satellite internet provider
Finding the right ISP for your household is not easy. This is especially true if you live in an underserved portion of the US. We recommend carefully considering your household’s activities so you can better determine the download and upload speeds necessary to meet your needs. With that knowledge, you can better tackle plan pricing that will fit your budget and broadband demands.
Stay tuned for the latest developments with Starlink as it continues to exceed expectations for satellite internet and outpaces the likes of Hughesnet and Viasat. In 2024, SpaceX rolled out the Starlink Mini, a satellite dish best suited for customers on the go. This product is an all-in-one mini satellite dish and router. Musk conducted a speed test that showed download speeds of up to 100Mbps and 11.5Mbps in uploads for the Starlink Mini, which is pretty fast for a mobile satellite internet connection. Reducing latency for customers nationwide has also been a big focus for Starlink, allowing for better videoconferencing, gaming and live streaming — tasks previously difficult with slower speeds from competing satellite internet providers.
According to Ookla’s H1 2025 speed test report, Starlink’s median download speed in the US hit 104.71Mbps, nearly double from 53.95Mbps in Q3 2022. Median upload speeds also increased to 14.84 Mbps, and latency improved to 45 ms. While only 17.4% of Starlink users nationwide hit the FCC’s minimum broadband standard of 100/20Mbps (primarily due to lower upload speeds), this still performs better other satellite providers combined, which deliver those speeds to just 15.75% of users. Ookla’s report shows that Starlink’s performance improvements are making it an increasingly practical broadband option. (Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.)
It should also be mentioned that further satellite internet competition will soon come from another multibillionaire, Jeff Bezos, as Amazon’s Project Kuiper plans to enter the field. While nowhere near Starlink yet, Project Kuiper’s first rocket launch took place in late April, and the service is expected to be available for residential use in the latter half of 2025.
Innovations from low-Earth-orbit satellites will be just one piece of the puzzle of better delivering the internet to the millions of households still unable to find a reliable broadband source. We’ll keep this post updated as your options (hopefully) improve.
Are there any alternative connection types besides satellite internet?
Yes. Many broadband connection options may offer faster (and possibly cheaper) service than satellite internet.
Cable
Cable internet provides connection through the same cables (often a hybrid fiber and copper line) that providers use to provide TV services. It’s more reliable than satellite internet and offers faster download speeds. Most of the time, cable internet is bundled with TV to lure consumers into buying higher-priced packages. Companies like Cox, Spectrum and Xfinity offer cable internet.
DSL
DSL, or digital subscriber line, uses telephone lines to connect users. Companies like AT&T, CenturyLink and Frontier offer DSL Internet. The good news is those copper lines are prevalent across the country. The not-so-good news is that download speeds typically fall short of what cable internet offers and usually fall short of FCC broadband standards. In some cases, your speeds might even be slower than satellite internet.
Fixed wireless/5G home internet
5G home internet and fixed wireless go hand-in-hand: 5G home internet services are fixed wireless internet services. Not all fixed wireless services are 5G home internet offerings. Are you confused yet? Fixed wireless service means the connection between your provider and your home is not wired. That fixed wireless connection can come via cellular networks (including 3G, 4G, 4G LTE and 5G) and by satellite. Fixed wireless networks tend to be slower and more laggy than wired connections. The promise of 5G home internet — from Starry, T-Mobile 5G Home Internet and Verizon 5G Home Internet — is speeds that compare favorably to cable connections.
Fiber
Fiber internet is the gold standard of the broadband world. Often referred to as “future proof,” fiber internet offers some of the fastest plans available and features symmetrical download and upload speeds. It’s more reliable than cable and is less prone to being affected by peak usage times or congestion. The only drawback is the expense and difficulty of creating a fiber network: rural customers are not likely to get fiber installed in their homes, as most fiber internet providers concentrate their efforts around major cities. Companies like AT&T, Google Fiber and Verizon Fios offer fiber-optic internet. To find out more about this connection, read our fiber connectivity explainer.
Mobile hotspots
Mobile hotspots also use cellular networks, similar to fixed wireless internet, but they are not “fixed.” You can use a hotspot at multiple locations and they aren’t dependent on your home address.
Despite the wide range of options available, each connection type varies in terms of availability, pricing and speeds. Make sure to research and compare the different options to ensure you choose the one that best meets your needs and budget.
Satellite internet FAQs
If you live in a remote or rural location, satellite internet may be your best (and possibly only) option for connection. It is the one type of broadband available to people in the rural areas of all 50 states, making it a solid option when other types of connectivity are unavailable.
It depends on your internet provider and your plan. Starlink boasts the fastest speeds out of Hughesnet and Viasat. However, even with speeds topping out at 350Mbps, it’s still no match to what cable or fiber offers. Fiber ISPs like Ziply Fiber and AT&T offer multi-gig plans that reach up to 10 and 5 gigabits, respectively. Most cable providers like Spectrum and Xfinity offer gigabit plans. At present, satellite connections don’t match those speeds. In addition, cable and fiber are far more reliable than satellite.
Technically, Hughesnet and Viasat do not. Each claims to offer “unlimited data” because neither charges overage fees, but each has a set data limit for its plans. If you hit that data limit before your monthly billing cycle ends, there won’t be monetary penalties, but you will experience much slower, throttled speeds for the remainder of that month. Your data may not be capped, but I would call that practice a limitation.
Starlink offers truly unlimited data to its standard users. That significant advantage over its competitors changed for some customers in April 2023 when Starlink introduced its own data cap for priority users. The limit is a sizable 2 terabytes of data per month (well above the data limits of Hughesnet and Viasat), but it’s still a significant change from unlimited data. You can access more data if you upgrade to the Mobile Priority plan, but that’s going to cost you anywhere between $250 and $5,000 a month.
Although both are satellite internet service providers, Telesat is a Canadian-owned company, and OneWeb is made for those in the UK. Telesat and OneWeb aren’t options for US residents.
With gaming, you’ll want a provider with lower latency. That means a shorter delay in your data getting to the game’s server and back — less lag. Hughesnet and Viasat admit their services are not great for gaming, but Starlink boasts of lower lag (due to the lower orbit of its satellites) and says gamers can successfully use its service. CNET’s own John Kim tried gaming using Starlink’s service and was pleasantly surprised.
