Viasat Military: No Discount, and a $15-a-Month ETF Orders Can Erase

Viasat has no military discount for home internet. Its help center, plan pages, and residential Customer Agreement (version 9.22, dated October 8, 2026) say nothing about service members, and the company’s defense contracts have no bearing on a household bill (all read October 10, 2026). What Viasat does have is a 24-month term on its Essentials plan, a per-month termination fee, and leased gear on your roof that costs real money if it does not come back. Orders change all three.

Viasat’s agreement against § 3956

Section 3956 lets a servicemember end internet, phone, TV, gym, and home security contracts signed before the orders, once those orders relocate the member for 90 days or more to a place the contract does not support. The general walk-through is in the phone, cable, and internet guide. Here is how Viasat’s own paper lines up, checked October 10, 2026:

Two rows deserve a second look. Viasat bills in advance, and its agreement promises no partial refund “unless otherwise required by applicable law.” The federal refund rule does not require one for the month you are in, because § 3956(f) excludes “the remainder of the monthly or similar billing period in which the termination occurs.” So choose a disconnect date at the end of a cycle. The equipment row is the other trap, covered below.

The termination fee, worked out

Viasat’s FAQ (read October 10, 2026) gives its own example: cancel after 10 months of a 24-month contract and you owe $15 for each of the 14 months left, or $210. The same formula at other points in the term:

• 22 months left: 22 × $15 = $330.
• 14 months left: 14 × $15 = $210, Viasat’s example.
• 4 months left: 4 × $15 = $60.
• The ceiling, a full 24 months: $360.

On qualifying orders, each of those becomes $0. The statute still leaves you owing any tax or other obligation that is “due and unpaid or unperformed” when the contract ends, such as the month you are in and the equipment return.

Unleashed and Unleashed Max carry no term. Viasat’s plans page lists them at $69.99 and $109.99 a month for the first 12 months, then $99.99 and $179.99, plus a $15 monthly equipment lease on every plan. On those plans the fee is not the problem. The gear and the paperwork are.

One trap sits on page one of the agreement. Its Minimum Service Commitment terms say a plan change or location change that needs new equipment or a technician visit starts a fresh 24-month Renewal Service Term “unless a different term is stated for your plan.” A member who upgraded a dish a year ago may be further from the end of a term than they think. Check your account before you assume the fee is small.

Notice: why email and chat will not work

Section 4.3 of the agreement says Viasat “does not accept notices of termination or suspension via e-mail or chat” and asks you to allow up to five business days to process a written request. Section 3956(a)(3) allows written or electronic notice delivered “in accordance with industry standards,” along with a copy of the orders and the date service should stop.

The safe route satisfies both. Mail a signed letter with the orders to the address printed on page one of the agreement: Viasat, Inc., 349 Inverness Drive South, Englewood, CO 80112, Attention: Customer Care. Send it with tracking. Then call 855-463-9333, the number under Disconnecting or Cancelling on Viasat’s moving page, to confirm the disconnect date and order the return kit. The letter generator drafts the notice, and the termination letter template shows what to attach.

The 10-day equipment squeeze

Viasat’s Lease Addendum gives you 30 days after termination to return gear, but first you must call within seven days to get a Leased Equipment Recovery Kit. Its return guide says the kit can take up to seven business days to arrive and that Viasat will not accept equipment shipped without one. On a § 3956 cancellation the statute’s clock is 10 days from disconnection, so order the kit before the disconnect date, not after.

Unreturned or damaged equipment fees from the Lease Addendum, checked October 10, 2026:

Return the modem, its power cord, and the TRIA from the dish. Leave the dish and brackets. A household on new ViaSat-3 gear that ships out without returning anything is looking at $500, more than the $360 ceiling on the termination fee.

Moving Viasat to a new duty station

If you want Viasat at the next house, its moving article says to call a week ahead, pay any balance at the old address, and expect a new account number and a new dish installed by a technician. Under the agreement’s Minimum Service Commitment terms, that change can start a new 24-month term on a plan that has one. The installer brings new equipment, and the old set still goes back through a recovery kit.

Orders overseas are the plain case for § 3956: Section 1.1 of the agreement says the service is available at locations within the United States. A stateside PCS to an address Viasat can also serve is less clear, because the service may follow you; ask Viasat in writing before you count on the fee waiver. The same orders usually let you break an apartment lease, and Starlink’s rules, for comparison, are on the Starlink military page.

Cancel Viasat on military orders

1. Confirm the orders qualify: 90 days or more, to a place your Viasat contract does not reach, issued after you signed up. The eligibility checker covers who counts, including Guard and Reserve members.
2. Log in to My Viasat and note your plan, start date, and billing date. Count the months left if you are on Essentials.
3. Mail a signed notice with your orders and a disconnect date at the end of a billing cycle to Viasat, Inc., 349 Inverness Drive South, Englewood, CO 80112, Attention: Customer Care. Cite 50 U.S.C. § 3956(e)(1) and ask for written confirmation that no termination fee applies.
4. Call 855-463-9333 the same week to confirm the date and order the Leased Equipment Recovery Kit.
5. Pack the modem, power cord, and TRIA in the kit and ship it within 10 days of disconnection. Keep the UPS tracking number.
6. Check the final statement for a termination fee or equipment charge. If you plan to come back, enter the last day of your relocation in the deadline checker: § 3956(e)(2) bars a reinstatement charge during the 90-day period that begins on that day.

For everything else on the pre-move list, see the PCS money moves.

The law behind this: 50 U.S.C. § 3956

Termination of certain consumer contracts: internet access, mobile, landline, TV, gym, and home security: read the statute , or read § 3956 in plain English, with its enforcement record .