Viasat vs. Cox Internet Providers Compared

Viasat delivers quality satellite internet with good range of prices and speeds

Viasat is one of three major U.S. satellite internet providers, the other two being HughesNet and Starlink [1]. The chief advantage of satellite internet is its wide availability. If you have an unobstructed view of the southern sky, you can get satellite internet access at your home. People in rural and remote areas have relied on satellite internet for decades. Satellite internet can also be a great backup plan for small businesses in the event of severe outages for cable or fiber internet. Satellite internet service does have some unique characteristics based on its technology. It will be more expensive than most other forms of internet service. Your internet connection with satellite will be slower than with cable or fiber. But with Viasat’s new satellite just launched and more new satellites on the way, you will get faster speeds than satellite has ever offered before. Viasat and HughesNet have dominated the U.S. satellite internet market for years. Starlink is a newcomer from Elon Musk’s SpaceX [2]. Though Starlink shows promise, it is still too new to have a trusted operational track record. There are long wait lists for Starlink in some areas [3]. Viasat, by contrast, will get your internet up and running in an average of 3-5 days. Viasat also offers unlimited standard data and high data allowances for high-speed data.

Viasat offers a variety of price points and speeds to fit your budget

Viasat offers higher speeds than its longtime competitor, HughesNet. While HughesNet only offers download speeds up to 100 Mbps, Viasat offers download speeds up to 150 Mbps in select areas. For the first-tier Viasat internet plan, you will pay an introductory price of about $99.99/month. These Viasat internet plan prices are slightly higher than HughesNet prices and cheaper than Starlink prices. You will get value for your money, because Viasat features unlimited allowances for monthly high-speed data. If you rely on using a lot of high-speed data, Viasat is the clear choice. Avid streamers or remote workers will benefit greatly from the simplicity of these plans. Be aware that like HughesNet, Viasat requires a two-year contract. If you cancel early, you will pay an early termination fee. You can get a no-contract plan for a non-refundable upfront payment which may work out to be more or less than a cancellation fee.

Be aware of price hikes and data overage for heavy-streaming households

Cox offers a first-tier plan at $50/month for 100 Mbps download speed. That’s about the same as many other providers ask for their first-tier plans. The good news is that Cox's first-tier price is the standard price, so it won’t go up automatically after a promotional period. Unfortunately, the higher speed plans do have steep price hikes after the first year’s promotional rate. And when those price increases kick in, you’ll be paying more per month, on average, than you would for the same speeds through Xfinity or Spectrum. In addition, there’s a monthly rental fee for the Cox modem/router, though you are allowed to buy your own compatible router if you wish. Another big question about Cox pricing will be how much data you use. Cox does have a data cap. The cap is high at 1.2 TB, so many households will never exceed it. But 14% of American households do exceed 1 TB of data usage per month, according to the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society [2]. And if you do exceed your cap, you will face overage charges [3] In other words, if you are a heavy data user, you may end up with a higher monthly bill. So be aware of these data caps as a factor in your pricing if you live in a household with multiple people who stream 4K or play real-time games online every day. If your internet activities don’t include lots of HD streaming, gaming, or large file uploads, or you only have one or two household members, you are unlikely to exceed your monthly data cap.

Viasat delivers fast, reliable internet with ever-improving technology

You’ll get a solid, reliable internet connection from Viasat. Keep in mind that the military uses satellite internet for their operations. That’s because satellite internet survives in circumstances when cable or fiber internet might be out for days or weeks. Satellite internet can’t be harmed by an earthly accident, a weather catastrophe, or an attack on wired infrastructure. So in that sense, satellite internet is more reliable than wired internet. That’s why Viasat offers special “backup internet” plans for small businesses to minimize service disruption from outages. It’s true that heavy rain or snow can sometimes cause “rain fade,” which is a weakening or interruption in the satellite internet signal. But rain fade is only temporary. The one caveat about your Viasat internet speed is that your maximum speed will vary depending on where you live. Your plan options can vary from 25 Mbps to 150 Mbps download speed. That’s a wide range, but your speed will be better than DSL in many instances. Upload speeds from Viasat will remain consistent for all plans but much lower than the maximum download speeds. This asymmetry in upload and download speeds is typical for satellite internet, but will still allow most normal activities on the internet.

Years of solid operations equip Cox with reliable infrastructure

As the fifth-largest ISP in the United States, Cox has a thirty-year record of delivering internet access to customers. This means that when you order internet service, it will work as it should the vast majority of the time. Cox home internet serves metro areas in 19 states [1]. Cox uses hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) technology, like its major competitors Xfinity and Spectrum. Ordinarily, your internet service will be carried by fiber-optic lines along the main arteries until it gets within about a mile of your house. Somewhere near that point, the network will switch to copper coaxial cable. This structure is called Fiber-to-the-Node (FTTN). It is faster than an all-copper network, but not as fast as all-fiber, which is also known as Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH). Cox does offer a small percentage of all-fiber connections and is building out more, but for the moment, you are most likely to get HFC, i.e., cable internet service [4]. Download speeds with Cox’s cable internet will go as high as 1000 Mbps in some areas, and upload speeds will top out around 100 Mbps. Though this upload speed is far below the symmetrical high speeds of an all-fiber connection, Cox cable internet still provides plenty of speed for most households. Cox uses data caps of 1.2 TB/month on its plans. This allowance will provide plenty of data for most households. But if you have a large household and you all do unusually heavy streaming or gaming to go over 1 TB, you may incur up to a maximum of $100 in overage charges [3]. You can get Cox plans with unlimited data, but only by paying more each month for an unlimited plan.

Viasat equipment: buy upfront or take option of monthly rental fee

If you want to buy your Viasat dish and modem/router upfront, it will cost you around $300. That will save you some money if you don’t have to pay the monthly rental fee for two years (currently around $15). For customers whose credit scores qualify, installation is free. Others may pay a $100 installation fee.

Cox offers optional self-installation, charges equipment rental fee

When you order Cox internet service, you will be able to select either professional installation or self-installation. Self-installation will save you about $100, as long as you’re willing to deal with instructions for connection and activation. If you want to use a Cox-supplied modem/router, you will get their Panoramic Wi-Fi gateway. Higher-tier plans will receive a Wi-Fi 6 gateway, while the lower tier of plans will have a more typical Wi-Fi 5 compatible device. All customers will pay a $13/month rental fee for the equipment in addition to their monthly plan fee. However, Cox will forego the fee if you use your own compatible modem/router, which may make it cheaper in the long run for you to buy one rather than renting.

Viasat’s customer satisfaction average, but 24/7 customer support is strong

On many popular online review sites, Viasat tends to score slightly above average for customer satisfaction. When customers are not satisfied, their comments are often related to the innate differences of satellite technology. It’s true that satellite speeds cannot approach the speeds of cable or fiber. But satellite is often the only technology that can reach rural or remote areas. That’s why it’s not too surprising that Viasat has some customers online who are not happy that their speeds are not fast enough. But it’s hard to get a more objective read on overall customer satisfaction, because Viasat does not appear in the J.D. Power Survey of Residential Internet Service Customer Satisfaction. Viasat does provide extensive online and phone support, with live reps available 24/7 to help with any issues. The online resource library is clear and on target with common types of information that customers might need. Viasat also has a convenient online portal called My Viasat to manage any aspect of your service. My Viasat also works through an app that you can download on your smartphone. Their optional EasyCare service may also be worth the low monthly fee you will pay to have all your service calls covered ($95), a dish relocation covered ($200), and premium customer support with the dedicated EasyCare line.

Cox customer service ranks below average on national surveys

Cox gets a resounding “meh” for customer service on recognized national surveys of customer satisfaction such as the J.D. Power survey [5]. Cox ranks below average in each region where it provides service. In an industry not known for good customer service, it’s hard to split hairs about exactly what the rankings mean. Even some of the best ISPs occasionally get their share of negativity when you look up review compilation maps [6]. But because J.D. Power is widely regarded as one of the more objective rating systems, we’re going to give Cox 3 stars for customer service.