Xfinity – Best availability among internet providers in Florida
- Prices: $20 – $300 per month
- Speeds: 75 – 6,000Mbps
- Key Info: Data caps on some plans, lots of plan options, solid customer satisfaction numbers
CenturyLink – Best rural internet provider in Florida
- Prices: $30 – $70 per month
- Speeds: 200 – 940Mbps
- Key Info: Unlimited data, no contracts, equipment included with gigabit tier
No fiber? No problem. Cable provider Xfinity covers large areas of the state. DSL specialist Frontier competes in the Tampa area and cable ISP Spectrum has a big presence across the middle of Florida. Rural areas with few other options can look to DSL, satellite or fixed wireless internet providers. The goal is to find a reliable internet provider that’s fast enough to handle your streaming, gaming or remote work needs.
CNET examines customer service, speed, pricing and overall value before recommending the best broadband in your area. If you’re already settled in your favorite Florida city, or if you’re moving in for the first time and shopping for internet, check out our detailed guides for Miami, Orlando and Pensacola. Read on for the big picture on Florida internet service providers. We’ll show you the major players as well as the other providers competing for your attention.
Best internet options in Florida
Our choices for the best ISPs in Florida earned their places thanks to speeds, pricing, availability or some combination of all those features. Your options will vary depending on where you live, but the following providers are the ones to look out for and prioritize when you’re shopping for internet service. All prices listed on this page reflect available discounts for setting up paperless billing. If you decide not to go with automatic monthly payments, your price will be higher.
Note: The prices, speeds and features detailed in the article text may differ from those listed in the product detail cards, which represent providers’ national offerings. Your particular internet service options — including prices and speeds — depend on your address and may differ from those detailed here.
Price range $55 – $180 per month Speed range 300 – 5,000Mbps Connection Fiber Key Info Unlimited data, no contracts, equipment included
What makes fiber so alluring? It’s fast up and down. It’s reliable. And if you go with AT&T Fiber, your bills will be straightforward and predictable since the company promises no price hike after the first year.
Availability: AT&T Fiber (not to be confused with the outdated AT&T Internet DSL service) doesn’t cover all of Florida, but you’ll find it concentrated along the eastern coastline from Jacksonville down to Miami. Residents of the Pensacola area can also get on board.
Plans and pricing: On a national level, AT&T offers one of the most affordable entry-level fiber plans at $55 a month for 300Mbps service. That’s an option that should catch the eye of budget buyers. Some areas of Florida can access a 5,000Mbps plan for a much heftier price of $180 a month. However, I recommend checking into a sweet-spot plan, like 1,000Mbps service for $80 a month. That’s fast, but it won’t stress your pocketbook. You can expect upload speeds that are as fast as the downloads.
Fees and service details: AT&T Fiber’s simple plans are a nice bonus. Equipment is included. There are no data caps or contracts.
Price range $20 – $300 per month Speed range 75 – 6,000Mbps Connection Cable Key Info Data caps on some plans, lots of plan options, solid customer satisfaction numbers
Coverage. Coverage. Coverage. Comcast’s cable service Xfinity is all over Florida. According to the FCC’s National Broadband Map, it reaches nearly half the residences in the state.
Availability: Throw a dart at a map of Florida and chances are good you’ll land in a spot serviced by Xfinity. The cable provider covers large parts of the state with a focus on metro areas, including Panama City, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Orlando and Palm Beach.
Plans and pricing: Xfinity plans require a bit of scrutiny. You’ll need to compare pricing based on contract terms, speed and equipment fees. A budget option is Xfinity’s 75Mbps plan for $30 a month, but consider getting in at the 200Mbps tier for $35. On the faster end, check out the 1,200Mbps tier for $80 a month with a two-year contract.
Fees and service details: Some plans include equipment, and some don’t. You can provide your own gear or rent for $15 per month. If you’re an intense internet user who eats up data like Doritos, then beware of the 1.2TB data cap. You can pay to get around that by adding an xFi Complete Gateway (for $25 a month) to your plan. The biggest headache with Xfinity is that plan prices usually jump after the first year or two. Get ready to negotiate for a better deal or switch to a competitor at that time.
Price range $50 – $70 per month (50% off for eligible 5G mobile customers) Speed range 85 – 1,000Mbps Connection Fixed wireless Key Info Unlimited data, no contracts, free equipment, 50% discount for qualifying Verizon mobile customers
Verizon and T-Mobile are locked in close combat to be the top dog among fixed wireless internet providers. Either one can be a solid alternative to cable or DSL. Verizon delivers some decent top speeds and offers plans as low as $25 a month when bundled with an eligible phone plan. Here’s what you need to know about 5G home internet.
Availability: Verizon’s own map shows Florida awash in a patchwork of dark red, indicating coverage of its latest 5G Ultra Wideband network. You’ll find the widest coverage in the big metro areas of the peninsula with less reach along the panhandle. One of the biggest challenges with Verizon 5G Home Internet is finding an open slot. So even if you’re in a well-covered area, there may not be availability at your particular address.
Plans and pricing: Regular plans start at $50 per month for typical download speeds of 85-300Mbps. In some parts of the country, customers can pull down up to 1,000Mbps, but that’s the exception and not the rule overall. For an even better deal, bundle with an eligible phone plan to get your home internet for 50% off. That’s a bargain for Verizon customers.
Fees and service details: There are no contracts and no data caps, and equipment is provided. Fixed wireless is the kind of service you can try out with very little commitment. Speeds can vary quite a bit depending on your location, but you won’t know until you try.
Price range $30 – $70 per month Speed range 200 – 940Mbps Connection Fiber Key Info Unlimited data, no contracts, equipment included with gigabit tier
There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to rural internet. Very remote homes may need to go with satellite internet, while others may be in a good spot for fixed wireless from T-Mobile or a regional provider like Rapid Systems. On the wired side, CenturyLink DSL reaches into some parts of Florida that other ISPs don’t. Also look for coverage from Kinetic by Windstream, another DSL ISP that reaches some rural areas.
Availability: CenturyLink covers some broader metro areas in Florida, including Orlando, Tallahassee, The Villages and around Cape Coral. If you live on the outskirts of one of the communities connected by CenturyLink, then you may be able to get service.
Plans and pricing: While CenturyLink DSL can reach speeds up to 100Mbps, you may only be able to pull down double digits at your address. For example, I found CenturyLink available in an area near Wauchula, but only with a top speed of 15Mbps. Your mileage may vary, but what will be the same is the $50-a-month price tag.
Fees and service details: Good news is CenturyLink offers unlimited data with no annual contract. A modem lease will cost you an additional $15 a month or you can buy it outright for $200 or provide your own compatible equipment.
Price range $50 – $150 per month Speed range 25Mbps Connection Satellite Key Info No hard data cap, nationwide availability
Rural residents, this one’s also for you. Satellite internet goes where DSL, cable, fiber and fixed wireless don’t. If that’s you, then consider HughesNet for an affordable alternative. It’s in competition with Viasat and Starlink, but pricing bumps it onto our best list for ISPs in Florida.
Availability: If you’ve got an open view of the southern sky, then you’ve got HughesNet as an option.
Plans and pricing: Satellite internet won’t knock your socks off with speed, but this is about getting you online when you have few options. HughesNet speeds max out at 25Mbps for downloads and 3Mbps for upload speeds. The amount you pay is based on how much data you’ll use. Plans start at $50 a month for 30GB of data on up to $125 a month for 100GB.
Fees and service details: Be sure to budget for equipment. You can buy it straight up for $450, or rent for $15 a month. There’s a two-year contract and watch out for price hikes after the first half year. HughesNet won’t cut you off if you exceed your data allowance, but it may throttle your speeds down to a crawl.
Rural internet options in Florida
Show more (2 items)
Source: CNET analysis of provider data
Satellite internet is good to go almost anywhere, even in remote locations, but you may have other options for your rural home. Chances are you won’t have the luxury of a fiber connection, and even cable can be hard to come by. When it comes to wired internet, your best bet may be DSL from ISPs like AT&T Internet or CenturyLink, our choice for best rural internet provider in the US overall. DSL speeds won’t give you whiplash, but they’re likely to be faster and cheaper than some other alternatives.
Fixed wireless is one solution for reaching homes that aren’t connected to wired internet. You can check if T-Mobile Home Internet (which has been expanding its reach in rural areas) or Verizon 5G Home Internet happens to service your address. Keep an eye out for smaller, regional providers. Rapid Systems, for example, provides fixed wireless to 11 counties in Florida and services parts of Valrico and Bradenton with plans starting at $79 a month. Open Broadband, a company focused on underserved areas across the southeastern US, covers several Florida counties with a straightforward $60 plan for speeds up to 200Mbps.
Florida will soon have more rural internet options thanks to government investments and grants. In June, Comcast announced plans to expand its Xfinity 10G network to 25 rural areas in the state.
Head to the FCC National Broadband Map and look up your address to get an idea of which ISPs service your location. You may discover a local provider you weren’t aware of. And if all else fails, there’s always satellite internet from Starlink, Viasat or HughesNet, with HughesNet being our recommendation based on affordability. Here’s our comparison of the best satellite internet providers.
Florida broadband coverage at a glance
The FCC has some fairly low standards for what counts as broadband. The connection has to have download speeds of at least 25Mbps and upload speeds of at least 3Mbps. Florida’s data from 2021 found 87.2% of households in the state have access to broadband internet, but some counties fare better than others. Clay County, part of the Jacksonville metro area, hit nearly 94% access while Hamilton County on the north edge of the state was only at 67%. If you look at Florida’s data going back to 2017, there’s been a steady upward tick in broadband availability across the state.
Fiber internet, lauded for its reliability and upload speeds as well as fast downloads, is still a precious commodity on a state-wide level. FCC data shows only about 35% of residences can get connected with fiber speeds up to 250Mbps, and just 31% can get a gig or faster. The places with the best fiber coverage are concentrated around the big metro areas of Tampa, Jacksonville and Miami. That’s something to consider if you’re planning a move to Florida and need fiber for work or gaming. AT&T Fiber is a major ISP player in Florida, but look for Frontier Fiber in the Tampa area.
Does Florida have fiber internet?
