If you’re stuck with an ISP that doesn’t just offer unlimited data, no questions asked, don’t hang your head just yet. You might be able to add data to your plan—or the overage fees may not be too exorbitant.
Here are some popular ISPs that offer data add-ons and how to get them.
CenturyLink offers unlimited data caps on all its internet plans, say goodbye to monthly overage fees.
- CenturyLink data cap: Unlimited
- CenturyLink overage fee: None
Cox's data cap is 1.25 TB for all of its internet plans. That’s great, but we still wish it were unlimited data.
- Cox data cap: 1.25 TB
- Cox data overage fee: $10.00 per 50 GB
If you find that much data isn’t enough to keep your home business running smoothly while your kiddos stream Paw Patrol every afternoon, you can pay $50 per month for unlimited data.
Interested in bundling with Cox Mobile? Bundles unlock free unlimited internet data plus multi-year price locks.
Hughesnet’s satellite internet plans all come with a data cap ranging from 100 GB to 200 GB, depending on which plan you choose. You won't lose your internet connection when you run out of data, but your speeds will slow, so it’s important to keep an eye on your data usage.
- Hughesnet data cap: 100–200
- Hughesnet data overage result: Slowed speeds of 1–3 Mbps
If you go over that data cap, your internet stays online, but your speeds will drop to 1 to 3 Mbps. That’s just a hair faster than dial-up. (Remember how mind-numbingly slow that was?)
If you do go over your data cap and don't want to deal with slower speeds, you can add data to your Hughesnet plan, or you can hop online during the Bonus Zone. The Hughesnet Bonus Zone gives you 50 GB of extra data to use between the hours of 2 a.m. to 8 a.m. (your local time).
Viasat advertises its satellite internet plans as “unlimited,” but each plan comes with a different data threshold that ranges from 35 to 1,000 GB of priority data.
- Viasat data cap: 35–1,000 GB
- Viasat data overage result: Speeds slowed to 1–5 Mbps during times of high traffic
You won’t be charged extra if you go over your Viasat data limit, but instead, your internet speeds could slow down during times of high traffic. And by slow, we mean anywhere between 1 to 5 Mbps. Viasat’s basically saying, “Hey, you had your turn in the fast lane. Now, let someone else take your spot.”
You can add more high-speed data to Viasat's plans if you don't want to deal with slower speeds for the rest of the month. We’ve got more info on this, plus how to track your data usage, in our Viasat data guide.