2016 Satellite Internet Providers Review

2016 has been a busy year for satellite internet providers. Many companies have renewed plans offered for consumers.
This review covers top 4 providers offering best deals on the market today.
Hover the bars on the chart below for more information.

Starting 2016, Exede launched new option with download speeds up to 25 Mb per second. This is a real achievement, 10Mbps ahead of closest competitors. This option is called 'Boost 25' and it can be added to any plan for extra $10 per month. Currently available to state of Florida and West Coast, soon to be available nationwide.

High download speed is important but even more important is Data Allowance each company and plan is offering. Each company has a policy to limit or slow down your internet connection once you exceed your data. HughesNet and dishNet will shut down your service under basic plans until next billing cycle comes and data counter resets. More expensive plans of HughesNet and dishNet, and any plan from Exede and Wildblue will slow you down but your service will continue to work.

Among the rest Exede and HughesNet are competing the most. Hughes offers 50 Gb of data at night time hours (2am - 8am). This is great for downloading a movie or large file. Exede, on the other hand give much more data upfront and gives you 'Liberty Pass' to stay online after all monthly data is used at good download speeds 1-5 Mbps.

Exede

Monthly Price

$59⁹⁹–$149⁹⁹

Download Speed

12–25 Mbps

Upload Speed

3 Mbps

Anytime Data

10–150 GB

Bonus Data

Unlimited/Slower speeds

Read full review

Wildblue

Monthly Price

$59⁹⁹–$149⁹⁹

Download Speed

12 Mbps

Upload Speed

3 Mbps

Anytime Data

10–30 GB

Bonus Data

Unlimited/Slower speeds

Hughes Net

Monthly Price

$49⁹⁹–$89⁹⁹

Download Speed

5-15 Mbps

Upload Speed

1-2 Mbps

Anytime Data

5–50 GB

Bonus Data

50 GB (2am - 8am)

Read full review

Dish Network

Monthly Price

$49⁹⁹–$79⁹⁹

Download Speed

5-10 Mbps

Upload Speed

1 Mbps

Anytime Data

10–60 GB

Bonus Data

none for basic plan,
Unlimited/Slower speeds

Exede Plans and features

Exede options

HughesNet Gen4 Plans and features

HughesNet options

dishNET Plans and features

Data

Data allowance is the most important examination you need to be aware of. What use will your service make if you can't use it or it runs at dialup speeds? Do the math and evaluate your monthly internet usage and choose plan wisely. Full length movie downloads (e.g. NetFlix), video steaming, torrents and other P2P sharing programs, web cams, backup services will eat up data fast. How much do you need is up to you. Anytime data currently available range from 5 Gb to 150 Gb. If you used to 'city' internet connection with DSL or cable provider, even 150 Gb per month does not sound like much (5 Gb per day). Good thing is if Bonus data is available. That is when all Anytime data is used, you're still online but at slower speeds. As a last resort, we may purchase more anytime data if really needed.

Speed

All current plans offer good speeds, starting at 5 Mbps for download and 1 Mbps for upload. Picking a faster plan may not make your experience noticeably much better but may add other important values, like data allowance. Every provider has an acceleration technology on the ground gateways to help you eliminate latency effect and make pages load faster. If you like to enjoy fast paced online games where response time is critical, satellite internet connection is definitely not best for it.

Price

The price range for satellite internet has come down very close to affordable level and comparative to DSL and cable. Many providers offer promotional prices and combined with other services offered (phone, satellite TV), you may save significantly over the contract term.