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Best Internet Providers in Orlando, Florida – CNET

Orlando is a sunny vacation city with several internet providers offering to get residents and visitors alike online. Cable titans Spectrum and Xfinity offer a variety of plans and speed tiers throughout the area, and a respectable percentage of the city is wired for fiber from providers like AT&T and CenturyLink too. On top of that, Verizon and T-Mobile offer cellular home internet services in Orlando over 5G airwaves, and coverage is on the rise.

Still, as in any part of the country, the best internet provider for anyone living in Orlando depends on what’s available at your specific address. You can enter your address into the tool on the right for a quick overview of the top options in your area, but keep reading for more details on what separates them, from plan pricing and speeds to equipment costs, data caps and other particulars from the fine print.

Best internet providers in Orlando for 2023

Let’s start with the best of the bunch, the providers we think you should turn to first in the hunt for a new home internet connection. Our picks are based on extensive research and a close comparison of the prices, plans, speeds, terms, technologies and availability of all of the major internet providers in Orlando.

Note: The prices, speeds and features detailed in the article text may differ from those listed in the product detail cards, representing providers’ national offerings. Your particular internet service options — including prices and speeds — depend on your address and may differ from those detailed here. Also, 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.

Price range $55 – $250 per month Speed range 300 – 5,000Mbps Connection Fiber Key Info Unlimited data, no contracts, equipment included

The first step to finding the best home internet service is to check whether fiber is available at your address. Fiber-optic home internet will typically offer the fastest upload and download speeds at the best value. In Orlando, your best odds for finding a fiber connection lie with AT&T. The company offers home internet service throughout the central Orlando area and surrounding regions, including Conway, Lockhart, Oak Ridge, Orlo Vista, Oviedo and Union Park. Most addresses within that footprint will only be serviceable for AT&T’s slower DSL plans, which aren’t anything worth getting excited about.

Availability: Scanning through addresses in the area, there is plenty of availability for AT&T Fiber in downtown-adjacent regions like College Park, Lake Como, Metro West, the Milk District, Park Lake/Highland and Thornton Park. However, availability was much harder to find in surrounding regions like Fern Park, Hiawassee and Meadow Woods. If it’s available at your address, the strong value, fast speeds and attractive terms of AT&T Fiber make it one of the most worthwhile home internet services in the US.

“AT&T Fiber is available to hundreds of thousands of locations across our current fiber footprint in the Orlando metro area,” a spokesperson said, adding that multi-gig speeds of 2 and 5 gigabits per second are on the rise within the footprint and currently available to nearly half of Orlando fiber customers. 

Plans and pricing: A significant percentage of AT&T’s customers in Orlando also have access to fiber plans starting at $55 per month.

Fees and service details: With no data caps, equipment fees or preset price increases after your first year, AT&T Fiber is a great option for broadband service.

Read our AT&T home internet review.

. . .

Price range $30- $70 per month Speed range 100 – 1,000Mbps Connection Cable Key Info Unlimited data, simple pricing, no contracts, modem included, free access to nationwide Wi-Fi hotspots

Just about everyone living in or near Orlando will have the option of Spectrum’s cable internet plans at their address — and, as home internet options go, it’s a pretty decent one.

Availability: One of two major cable providers offering internet service in Orlando (Comcast Xfinity is the other), Spectrum’s coverage map covers the entirety of the downtown area and surrounding regions like Apopka, Kissimmee and Oviedo.

Plans and pricing: Download speeds as high as 1,000Mbps are available for $90 per month during the first year, but the 300Mbps baseline plan is plenty fast and only costs $50 per month during year 1. The jump to $80 per month after 12 months is a tad steep, but it’s still superior to slower DSL and fixed wireless plans with a much higher cost per Mbps. That makes Spectrum’s cable plans an above-average backup for addresses where fiber isn’t an option yet.

Fees and service details: True, cable internet comes with slow upload speeds compared to fiber, but Spectrum’s plans ditch the data caps, which keeps things relatively straightforward as far as your bill is concerned.

Read our Spectrum Internet review.

. . .

Price range $50 per month ($30 for eligible mobile customers) Speed range 72 – 245Mbps Connection Fixed wireless Key Info Unlimited data, equipment included, no contracts, no additional fees

In addition to managing mobile devices, T-Mobile has a growing home internet business.

Availability: Speeds will typically be lower than you’d get with Verizon since T-Mobile relies more on previous-gen 4G/LTE airwaves to make up the backbone of its home internet footprint — but that also means that T-Mobile is available at more addresses.

Plans and pricing: Service is available at a flat rate of $50 per month, but speeds will vary based on the strength of the cellular signal at your address.

Fees and service details: The other thing to know about T-Mobile is that the carrier is currently making an aggressive push for new customers — if you bundle a phone plan with home internet, you can get exclusive deals. Even better, T-Mobile now guarantees that your monthly bill won’t increase as long as you keep service. On top of that, if you have a qualifying Magenta Max mobile plan with T-Mobile, you can also knock $20 off your home internet bill, bringing the monthly cost down to just $30. All that makes it tempting to try T-Mobile if your other internet options leave much to be desired.

Read our T-Mobile home internet review.

. . .

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

If you want to bring your home internet bill down as low as possible, your best bet might be Comcast’s Xfinity home internet service.

Availability: Comcast offers Xfinity cable internet plans in select neighborhoods outside central Orlando, including Alafaya, Flamingo, Lockhart, Narcoossee and Union Park. Faster plans with download speeds as high as 1.2Gbps should be available to most, if not all, Xfinity customers in the Orlando area. They might be worth considering if you lack other options for a high-speed connection — though you aren’t likely eligible for upload speeds any faster than 35Mbps. Even so, Xfinity is a respectable option, especially if you’re trying to bring your home internet bill down below $50 per month.

Plans and pricing: While entry-level plans from other area providers like AT&T, Spectrum and CenturyLink start at about $50 per month, Xfinity offers internet service starting at $30 per month, albeit with underwhelming speeds of 75Mbps down and 10Mbps up.

Fees and service details: You’ll need to contend with a 1.2TB data cap and a price increase after the first year. However, it’s still the best deal on a baseline internet plan from any major provider in the area, and additional discounts may be available for bundling in other services like TV or home security.

Read our Xfinity Internet review.

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Overview of internet providers in Orlando

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Source: CNET analysis of provider data

Other available Orlando internet providers

CenturyLink: DSL internet service from CenturyLink is an option throughout much of the regions surrounding Orlando to the north, west and south, but availability is scarce in the city. Service costs a flat $50 per month with no data caps or preset price increases, which are pretty appealing by home internet standards. But speeds will vary from address to address; in most parts of the coverage map, they won’t exceed double digits. And unless you have your own equipment, you’ll also need to spend $15 monthly to rent the gateway device that brings your home online.

Quantum Fiber: With speeds that typically won’t surpass double digits, CenturyLink’s DSL plans are pretty ho-hum as far as home internet is concerned — but CenturyLink’s parent company, Lumen Technologies, also offers fiber internet service in the Orlando area, and that’s where things get interesting. 

Branded as Quantum Fiber, the service offers matching upload and download speeds of 500Mbps for $50 per month, equipment rental included. A faster gigabit plan with download speeds of 940Mbps is also available at some addresses for $75 monthly. Those plans don’t come with data caps or prescheduled price increases after one year, making them an excellent option — if they’re available at your address.

Satellite internet: Satellite internet from HughesNet or Viasat is available pretty much anywhere. Still, you shouldn’t expect fast speeds or low latency, given that your traffic literally needs to go to space and back. You shouldn’t expect value, either — satellite internet often comes with steep equipment costs, tight data caps, and long-term service contracts. 

With HughesNet, your download speeds won’t get any higher than 50Mbps, and the cheapest plan with just 15GB of data costs $50 per month after the first six months, plus $15 per month for equipment (or $450 upfront). Speeds of up to 150Mbps are an option with Viasat, but you’ll need to pay an eye-popping $350 monthly after three months of promo pricing to hit them. All plans from both providers come with a two-year service contract.

Your other option is Starlink, the satellite internet service from SpaceX and Elon Musk. It doesn’t come with data caps like HughesNet and Viasat plans do, and the speeds will likely be a bit higher than either of those competitors. But the upfront equipment cost of $599 and monthly rate of $110 are each tough pills to swallow, and you may need to spend some time on a waitlist before you’ll be able to actually start service.

Verizon 5G Home Internet: Verizon is putting more of a focus on 5G with its service, which means that the range of potential speeds at your address is notably higher than you’ll see from T-Mobile. However, that also means that fewer addresses will have the right kind of signal strength to even be eligible for service. If you’re planning on going the 5G route, Verizon’s potential for faster speeds means that it’s still worth checking to see if it’s available at your address, especially for existing Verizon mobile subscribers, who may be able to sign up for home internet service for $35-$45.

John Coletti/Getty Images

What are the cheapest internet plans in Orlando?

In most cases, home internet starts at about $50 per month in Orlando, although some residents within Xfinity’s footprint will be able to sign up for internet service at $20 per month, which is the most affordable starting rate in the city. Here’s a look at how all of the top providers’ most affordable plans compare:

Cheapest internet plans in Orlando

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Source: CNET analysis of provider data

Among the fiber providers, you should count yourself lucky if either AT&T Fiber or Quantum Fiber are available at your address, because each offers a low-cost plan with attractive speeds, no data caps, and no price increases after the first year (500Mbps up and down for $50 per month with Quantum, 300Mbps up and down for $55 per month from AT&T). You’ll need to tack on an extra monthly fee for the modem and router rental with Quantum, but still, both options are great picks for fast home internet at a value.

As for the rest, you’ll want to keep an eye on your monthly rate after year 1, as most of those entry-level plans see a price increase after the first year. Kudos to CenturyLink, which doesn’t enforce a price increase at all — its plans can’t compete with faster cable or fiber offerings, but the straightforward pricing is still a definite perk and one that puts it ahead of AT&T as far as DSL value goes.

Another thing to remember is that qualifying low-income households can apply for the Affordable Connectivity Program, a government-funded internet subsidy that knocks $30 off your monthly bill. Some providers, including Xfinity, offer low-income plans for $30 or less, so that subsidy could bring your bill down to zero. You can read more about the Affordable Connectivity Program on CNET and check the links below for provider-specific advice on signing up.

How fast is broadband in Orlando?

Among US metro regions, the Orlando area ranks in at 54th as far as median internet speeds go, with an average household download speed of 213Mbps as per the speed-testing site Ookla. That’s just an average, though — how fast can things get in an ideal scenario?

Pretty darned fast, actually. Multiple providers in the Orlando area now claim to offer multi-gigabit speeds at select addresses with the right fiber wiring. They aren’t widespread yet, but here’s how those speeds stack up against the fastest plans from all of the top providers in the area:

Fastest internet plans in Orlando

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Source: CNET analysis of provider data

As you can see, AT&T Fiber jumps right off that chart, with upload and download speeds as high as 5,000 megabits per second. AT&T says its multi-gig plans are currently available to roughly half of the hundreds of thousands of Orlando homes already wired for fiber. Speeds like those don’t come cheap, as you’ll need to pony up $250 each month for them, but that’s hardly a surprise given that this is one of the fastest home internet plans in the country we’re talking about here.

As for Comcast, the company offers 10-gig Xfinity speeds at select homes wired for fiber. How select? The company doesn’t share customer metrics, but the percentage of fiber-eligible homes in its footprint was pegged at 4% in the most recent FCC data from June 2021, so the odds seem very slim that your home will be eligible. Even if it is, you’ll need to pay $300 per month for service, complete with a site inspection and a two-year contract. 

At the wide majority of Xfinity homes, though, the fastest plan available will come with downloads of 1,200Mbps and uploads of 35Mbps for $85 per month during the first year and $112 per month after that. Still fast — but still cable.

How CNET chose the best internet providers in Orlando

Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the latest smartphone, laptop, router or kitchen tool, it’s impractical to personally test every ISP in a given city. So what’s our approach? We start by researching the pricing, availability and speed information drawing on our own historical ISP data, the provider sites and mapping information from the Federal Communications Commission at FCC.gov.

But it doesn’t end there. We go to the FCC’s website to check our data and ensure we’re considering every ISP that provides service in an area. We also input local addresses on provider websites to find specific options for residents. To evaluate how happy customers are with an ISP’s service, we look at sources including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Power. ISP plans and prices are subject to frequent changes; all information provided is accurate as of the time of publication. 

Once we have this localized information, we ask three main questions: 

  • Does the provider offer access to reasonably fast internet speeds? 
  • Do customers get decent value for what they’re paying? 
  • Are customers happy with their service? 

While the answer to those questions is often layered and complex, the providers who come closest to “yes” on all three are the ones we recommend. 

To explore our process in more depth, visit our how we test ISPs page.

Internet providers in Orlando FAQs

How fast is home internet in Orlando?

Is fiber internet better than cable internet?

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