HughesNet vs. AT&T Internet Review 2023

AT&T’s DSL internet offers the best value while HughesNet prices might devour your budget.

If you just look at prices, it’s pretty clear that AT&T’s DSL internet service is your cheapest option. It rings up at $55 a month for 140 Mbps download speeds, while HughesNet and AT&T Fixed Wireless prices charge $25 per month for 25 Mbps.

That said, HughesNet satellite internet is more likely to service your area. Since satellite internet doesn’t need cables run underground or along your phone line, it can more easily serve even the most remote locations. And as far as satellite internet goes, HughesNet is likely to be more budget-friendly than other options.

Let’s take a quick peek at how HughesNet prices and plans pan out:

Our biggest issue with HughesNet is its low data caps—not to mention slow download speeds of 15–50 Mbps (and you'll have to pay for the most expensive Fusion plan to get 50 Mbps). Sure, 15–25 Mbps can support a single person or small family that doesn’t use the internet much.

But if you need to work from home or have a child enrolled in distance learning, those 15–25 Mbps speeds are going to be painful. As is that data cap. You can add data to your HughesNet plan, but it’ll cost you more on top of HughesNet’s already high prices. (Or you can stay up late and use its Bonus Zone data.)

So you can see why AT&T DSL internet is our first choice. Its price is much easier to swallow, it comes with unlimited data, and your speeds can go up to 140 Mbps. 

The one caveat is that your AT&T DSL internet speeds might not get close to that 140 Mbps sweet spot. We’ve seen AT&T Internet plans advertising speeds of 6 Mbps. Now that speed makes for some painful web browsing.

If AT&T offers only speeds less than 25 Mbps in your area, it’s worth your time to give HughesNet a seriously hard look. Or you can check if AT&T Fixed Wireless serves your area.

AT&T says its Fixed Wireless plan gets you at least 10 Mbps speeds, and the average speed is about 25 Mbps. So again, you’re at the mercy of Lady Luck when it comes to your download speed. (But honestly, you need some luck to get any internet provider’s advertised download speed.)

While AT&T Fixed Wireless doesn’t have very impressive download speeds, it does offer 350 GB of data each month. That’s miles beyond your initial data handout from HughesNet, and you can also add more data to your AT&T Fixed Wireless plan.

Not to mention that AT&T Fixed Wireless prices get you more for your money than pretty much all of HughesNet’s plans when it comes to data. And your equipment price is included in that monthly bill—HughesNet charges $14.99 a month to rent its satellite dish receiver.

Also, both AT&T DSL and Fixed Wireless come with no contract, while HughesNet requires you to lock-in on a 2-year contract. Talk about a ball-and-chain commitment.

AT&T Fixed Wireless uses an antenna attached to your home or another building on your property to send your internet signal back and forth from a fixed wireless hub located on a nearby tower.

You do need a clear line of sight from your antenna to the tower to maintain a fixed wireless signal, but since the tower is a lot closer to your home than a satellite hovering in Earth’s orbit, you’ll experience a lot less lag. Learn more in our fixed wireless internet guide.

Technically, HughesNet satellite internet is available anywhere in the US. You just need a clear view of the southern sky. Of course, sometimes the satellites fill up and can’t take on any new subscribers, so your best bet is to give a HughesNet sales rep a call to be sure there’s an open spot for you.

AT&T Internet is available in 21 different states, mostly in the Midwest and Southern US.

AT&T Fixed Wireless is available in 18 of those states as well:

View HughesNet Plans | Read the HughesNet Internet Review

View AT&T DSL Plans | View AT&T Fixed Wireless Plans | Read the AT&T Internet Review

If you’re lucky enough to get max speeds, AT&T DSL internet is faster than HughesNet.

If you can get close to the max speed of 140 Mbps, AT&T DSL internet gets you the fastest download speeds. But like we mentioned before, you might see only max speeds of 6 Mbps, 25 Mbps, or somewhere in between with AT&T DSL internet. It really depends on your location.

HughesNet’s satellite internet plans come with 15–50 Mbps speeds, which is enough to let you browse Facebook, stream a few shows in SD (or maybe HD), and … that’s about it. The same story goes for AT&T Fixed Wireless internet, which says you’ll get anywhere from 10 to 25 Mbps download speeds.

But like we always point out, those are advertised speeds. And even if AT&T says your address can get 140 Mbps download speeds, you may not see those speeds on a daily basis. That’s because a lot of different factors can slow down your internet speed—including your router.

Sometimes, though, internet speed is out of your control. So to get an idea of how well (or not so well) these ISPs actually deliver on internet speed, we took a look at several hundred thousand speed test results in our fastest ISPs report. Here’s how HughesNet and AT&T internet speeds fared.

These speed scores don’t take into account AT&T’s fixed wireless internet, but they do include AT&T Fiber. And AT&T’s fiber internet plans likely boosted its score, since fiber internet tends to be faster than DSL and satellite.

Still, the results are telling. HughesNet speeds aren’t all that zippy. (Though it did score better than the alternative satellite internet provider, Viasat.) And AT&T speeds will probably keep your appetite for the latest internet memes and Netflix originals satiated.

AT&T notes that its Fixed Wireless internet doesn’t support services like Zoom, gaming, or peer-to-peer because your IP address isn’t static. Users even reported issues logging into secure sites, like website admin panels and even bank accounts.

One potential workaround for this issue is to use a VPN—Windscribe is a free VPN that other AT&T Fixed Wireless customers recommended if you need a dedicated IP address.

Yet again, AT&T DSL internet is the best choice—it offers unlimited data on its 140 Mbps plan. HughesNet offers 15 to 200 GB, and AT&T Fixed Wireless offers 350 GB.

You can add more data to your HughesNet or AT&T Fixed Wireless plan. But it’ll cost you. Here’s a quick look at data token costs for these two services:

• HughesNet data tokens: You can buy 3 to 25 GB of extra data that costs $9 to $75 extra. Data tokens don’t expire—hooray!
• HughesNet Bonus Zone data: You get 50 GB of extra data to use each month between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. your time.
• AT&T Fixed Wireless data add ons: You’ll pay $10 per 50 GB of extra data, up to a maximum of $200 (or 1 TB) of data each month. Sadly, this data expires each month.

View HughesNet Plans | Read the HughesNet Internet Review

View AT&T DSL Plans | View AT&T Fixed Wireless Plans | Read the AT&T Internet Review

AT&T earned high marks for speed and reliability, while HughesNet customers are satisfied with delivering the speeds it promises.

AT&T was ranked the fourth-best among all ISPs in customer satisfaction scores in HighSpeedInternet.com’s latest ratings. Customers were more satisfied with AT&T Internet when it came to speed, reliability, and customer service.

In the ratings, HughesNet was compared to Viasat, its only satellite internet competitor. Customers gave higher praise to HughesNet for its straightforward pricing, more consistent speeds, and fewer outages.

If you do experience an outage or other issue with either ISP, keep in mind these tips for dealing with customer service. (Seriously, they’ve saved our butts a few times.)

View HughesNet Plans | Read the HughesNet Internet Review

View AT&T DSL Plans | View AT&T Fixed Wireless Plans | Read the AT&T Internet Review

AT&T DSL internet is clearly your best bet here. But if your choices come down to AT&T Fixed Wireless or HughesNet, we’re leaning toward AT&T Fixed Wireless thanks to its baked-in equipment costs, larger data cap, and lower price.

• Price: AT&T Internet. AT&T’s DSL internet comes at the cheapest monthly price, and it offers the best speeds and data. There’s never been a clearer winner. AT&T Fixed Wireless is our second choice thanks to no equipment fees and lower prices than HughesNet.
• Internet speed: AT&T Internet. If you can get AT&T DSL internet with speeds of at least 25 Mbps, you’re sitting pretty. HughesNet and AT&T Fixed Wireless cap out at around 25 Mbps each (apart from HughesNet's $175 Fusion 50 Mbps plan), which isn’t enough speed for any serious internet users or families.
• Data caps: AT&T Internet. AT&T DSL internet comes with unlimited data—and you don’t pay extra to get it. AT&T Fixed Wireless is the runner-up here with 350 GB of data each month and a chance to pay for more in $10 increments. HughesNet offers data tokens that cost up to $75 extra, which is a bummer since its plans don’t come with much data to begin with.
• Customer service: Both AT&T and HughesNet score in the middle of the pack for customer satisfaction.