Securing your future internet service provider (ISP) does not have to be complicated. However, it is not always straightforward when confronted with a plethora of possibilities. If you live in an area with a lot of options, we’re here to help. The following are our top selections for the best internet service providers in the US.
Things To Consider Before Choosing the Best Internet Service Provider
We concentrated on the most widely available ISPs in the list below. The reality is that your United States region may not have any of these options, or it may have a smaller local ISP that offers a better rate. While our list is an excellent place to start, we also recommend visiting sites like highspeedinternet.com and ispprovidersinmyarea.com for a more in-depth look at local Internet service providers in your area.
If you come across solutions not included on this list, proceed to Google Search and browse for customer reviews. If you reside in a remote place, you may be forced to use fixed wireless internet, satellite, or mobile data.
1. Xfinity Internet Service Provider
With a presence in 41 states across the United States, there is a good chance that Comcast’s Xfinity service is available in your neighborhood. That’s certainly not a terrible thing – Xfinity offers internet speeds ranging from 15Mbps to 2Gbps for a monthly fee of as little as $29.99. The most reasonable option is 100Mbps for $29.99 per month, significantly less expensive than 50Mbps for $65. Additionally, Xfinity offers a variety of bundles to help offset specific prices.
Additionally, Xfinity customers are the only ones eligible to subscribe to Xfinity Mobile. Xfinity Mobile, which uses Verizon towers, offers unlimited talk, text, and data for $45 a month. If you prefer limited data plans, you may choose from 1GB, 3GB, or 10GB for $15, $30, or $60 per month, respectively.
Xfinity’s customer support has a reputation for being consistently mediocre. You may also have reservations about Comcast, which has routinely been named one of the worst companies in the United States over the years.
2. AT&T Internet Services Provider
AT&T, one of the country’s oldest telecommunications company, keeps things simple with two preliminary plans: Internet 100 and Internet 1000. Internet 100 and 1000, as its names imply, offer download speeds of up to 100Mbps and 1Gbps, respectively. The speedier plan utilizes fibre internet and does not have a data cap of 1TB.
Each plan begins at $45 for the first 12 months, allowing you to spend on faster speeds without incurring additional expenditures. Additionally, you can now receive a $100 AT&T Prepaid Mastercard when you order online with a plan that exceeds 25Mbps. AT&T also provides plans with speeds as low as 5Mbps for those on a budget. Additionally, the corporation offers dependable internet access to 15.7 million customers through its broadband service and 3.1 million customers through its fibre service.
AT&T’s internet plans typically include a 1TB usage cap. It’s likely more than your family would ever need in a month, but thanks to the current pandemic, you won’t have to worry about that. AT&T has announced that it will suspend data restrictions until at least the end of 2020.
Additionally, you may bundle your internet service with DirecTV, AT&T TV, or AT&T phone to save even more money on your internet. If you connect DirecTV or AT&T TV today, AT&T will also provide a $100 reward card as a bonus.
3. Charter Spectrum
Charter Spectrum keeps things simple by offering three internet-only subscriptions. When you bundle, the plan starts at $44.99 a month and includes a connection with speeds starting at 200Mbps, a modem, and no data caps. Increasing the speed to 400Mbps costs an additional $20 per month while increasing the speed to 940Mbps costs an additional $60 per month.
What’s terrific about Spectrum is that none of its plans has data caps. Additionally, it includes a complimentary modem and complimentary antivirus software to keep you protected. Spectrum users now have access to Spectrum Mobile. Spectrum Mobile, like Xfinity Mobile, uses Verizon towers and charges $45 per month for unlimited service. Alternatively, you can pay $14 for each gigabyte consumed.
Spectrum, on the other hand, does not have the most exemplary reputation for customer service. Additionally, as straightforward as having a single internet-only subscription is, it means Spectrum is exceptionally restrictive if you want better speeds without other features.
4. Frontier Communications Corp
Frontier Internet, adequately termed, is fearlessly delving into rural America. It provides consumers with DSL, cable, and fibre internet connections. It includes areas where there are often few good options.
Pricing begins at $27.99 per month for 6Mbps speeds and increases to $44.99 per month for maximum speeds of 45Mbps. It’s a viable alternative in rural areas, but you’ll undoubtedly prefer something faster if it’s accessible. Frontier does provide FiOS options in Texas, California, and Florida, although they are not widely available.
The value you receive for your money varies significantly. The further you are from urban centers, the more difficult it is to constantly deliver and maintain a good connection. That appears to be one of Frontier’s primary flaws. Additionally, this is one of those instances where you’ll want to speak with your neighbors to ascertain their experience.
Additionally, Frontier does not enjoy the best reputation. The company ended up being one of the worst in the United States of America in 2018, with customer satisfaction ranking second-lowest among US Internet Service Providers in 2018.
5. Verizon
Verizon Fios is one of the first and most outstanding internet providers to bring fibre internet to your house. With three internet-only plans, Verizon Fios keeps things easy. The plans are priced at $39.99, $59.99, and $79.99 per month and provide speeds of up to 200, 400, and 940Mbps, respectively.
Additionally, the plans have some attractive perks. For a limited time only, all plans include a complimentary year of Disney Plus. Further, the 940Mbps plan consists of a complimentary router rental. Additionally, you can save up to $20 per month on a Verizon wireless plan.
Apart from its meager prices and high reliability, Fios is also well-known for its high customer satisfaction. Additionally, you can purchase multiple Fios bundles, albeit Fios TV ended 2018 with fewer subscribers than it began the year with.
Verizon Fios is highly adaptable, in addition to its competitive pricing and reliability. Its high-speed internet makes it an excellent alternative for business owners and their plans, and it also contains a variety of office-oriented calling and internet security features. Additionally, they provide corporate contracts that include 5G and exclusive deals on wireless phones. Therefore, if you operate a business, Verizon Fios may be the best option for you.
Where Fios has the most difficulty is with availability. Verizon’s DSL service is still available in some places without Fios. However, speeds are limited to 15Mbps. At that time, an alternative is preferable.
6. CenturyLink
CenturyLink is one of the most outstanding internet service providers on a budget. As with others, it largely relies on package bundling with a television subscription to give enticing deals. You are more than welcome to purchase internet-only plans with a maximum download speed of 1Gbps. Pricing begins at $49 per month for 100Mbps service and up to $65 per month for 940Mbps service. One advantage of the 100Mbps plan is that you can maintain your current rate for the duration of your plan.
CenturyLink’s service appears to be somewhat uneven and generally slower than competitors, depending on your location. Additionally, there is no guarantee that you will have access to its maximum speeds. For example, CenturyLink’s highest speed in my area is 60Mbps. Additionally, it receives negative headlines for its subpar customer service.
7. Cox Internet Services
Cox Internet’s internet-only plans are slightly more complicated than those offered by other providers, but only because they are more numerous. For $29.99 per month, you receive 10Mbps; for an additional $10, you get 50Mbps. Upgrade to 150Mbps for $59.99 per month or 500Mbps for an additional $20 per month. Finally, for $99.99, you can obtain 1Gbps speeds.
If you’re a company believer in no-contract internet, you might also be interested in Cox’s new StraightUp Internet service. It costs $50 per month for 25Mbps speeds but includes equipment rental, and you may quit at any time.
Although prices are competitive, availability is a concern – Cox Communications is available in only 18 states. Customer satisfaction is also a concern, with Cox positioned as one of the worst.
8. Optimum
Now controlled by telecom company Altice, Optimum delivers surprisingly reliable internet service, at least when it comes to speed. The base package costs $29.99 per month and delivers speeds up to 20Mbps, with an extra $15 offering you up to 200Mbps speeds. 300Mbps speeds are considerably more inexpensive at $39.99. Finally, $64.99 a month gives you speeds up to 400Mbps.
Optimum has also recently offered gigabit speeds that cost just $65 per month. For a minimal time, you can snag those gigabit speeds for $55 and pay the same amount for the life of your subscription. However, availability is severely limited. Unless you reside in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, or a tiny sliver of northeast Pennsylvania, Optimum won’t be available where you are.
9. Viasat
With Viasat, we now enter the world of satellite internet providers. Don’t expect poor connections of yore, though, with plans having peak speeds up to 100Mbps. Unfortunately, many locales indicate download speeds closer to 12Mbps. You also shouldn’t have an issue with availability as service is dependent on satellites and not on where you live.
That said, consider Viasat if there’s nothing else around you. Every plan includes a comically low data cap, which de-prioritizes your data if you surpass a specific utilization level each month. Also, plans are pricey, with costs increasing up after three months. For example, the Unlimited Platinum 100 plan with speeds up to 100Mbps costs $150 per month for the first three months and $200 per month after that. If you’re a night owl, data utilized between three o’clock to six in the morning doesn’t count against your Priority Data, so that’s a bonus for sure, folks.
10. Mediacom
Mediacom is the final option on our list of the finest internet service providers. Plans begin at $39.99 for 60Mbps and increase in price accordingly. By increasing the price by $10, you can have 100Mbps speeds, and by adding another $10, you can obtain 200Mbps speeds. Above that, each tier costs an additional $10 per month to upgrade to 500Mbps or 1Gbps.
As with Viasat, the majority of the cost is for availability. Mediacom offers speeds up to ten times faster than DSL and is the only provider to offer DOCSIS 3.0 connectivity. Additionally, it promises that you can game online with minimal lag, which is preferable to severe lag. Additionally, you can bundle and save when you add a television package or a home phone line.
Which internet connection is the fastest?
The fastest type of internet is fibre-optic. Fiber internet providers ranked highest in our speed comparisons across the United States. Cable internet also performed well when it came to the fastest internet service providers in the United States. Both fibre internet and cable internet offer download speeds of up to (and occasionally above) 1,000 megabits per second (1 Gbps).
Apart from cable and fibre, there are other additional types of internet connections, and each type has a different effect on your speeds:
Fiber is currently the fastest internet connection accessible, with rates of up to 10,000 megabits per second in some regions. It utilizes bundled fiber-optic glass threads to transmit light signals that are quick and reliable across great distances. Fiber is unaffected by the speed difficulties that plague earlier internet connections.
Cable internet transmits data using buried copper coaxial cables and electrical impulses. While cable is capable of gigabit internet speeds, it has less bandwidth than fibre. This might result in network congestion if a region has an excessive number of internet users online at the same time.
The term “DSL” refers to the internet via a “digital subscriber line.” It delivers internet via landline phone lines, enabling significantly higher speeds than dial-up. On the other hand, DSL is less reliable than cable or fibre because it uses antiquated telephone infrastructure. Its maximum download rates are around 100 Mbps.
Satellite internet connects your home to a satellite circling the planet and to the provider via wireless signals. While this technology can now reach rates of up to 100 Mbps, it has far higher latency than other forms of the internet because all of your data must travel thousands of miles. Additionally, satellite communications can be disrupted by inclement weather.
Fixed wireless internet is quite similar to satellite internet, except it is mediated by radio tower transmitters rather than a satellite. The fundamental drawback to fixed wireless is that it requires line-of-sight to send signals. Most fixed-wireless carriers now offer limited speeds, frequently not reaching over 100 Mbps. But the technology has a lot of promise to produce speeds that could match fibre, especially with the emergence of 5G.
Cellular connections, often known as mobile or wireless, connect your mobile devices to the internet via cell towers. This varies from other forms of the internet because it’s not a one-to-one connection. Every mobile device linked to a cell tower shares the same capacity, substantially impair speeds if the network gets overloaded.
Facts Based Best Internet Service Providers in the US
We took data from more than 3.6 million speed tests completed by users with our speed test tool between July 1, 2020, and July 1, 2021. We selected the internet providers with the quickest average upload and download speeds and ping rates (latency) in the US.
We ranked the internet providers based on download speed since that’s the speed internet customers depend on the most. It’sIt’s also the paramount speed that internet companies rely on when advertising their speeds and quality of service.
When it comes to download and upload speed, the higher the speed, the better. For latency, however, lower numbers suggest faster response times and a smoother connection overall. Latency (also known as the ping rate) is the delay that occurs when a signal is transferred from a device to a network or vice versa. It’sIt’s measured in milliseconds, and higher latency rates lead to glitchy video and audio performance in streaming and online gaming.
All the information provided in this article is based on averages across various plans and regions provided by the different internet service providers, so your experience might not match our results precisely. It’sIt’s entirely feasible for you to get service from one of the fastest internet providers and still have slower internet speeds. It’sIt’s also feasible to receive quicker service from one of the slower internet providers.
Check out: Why upload speed is considered important sometimes?