Residents of Cleveland, Ohio, have several decent options when it comes to internet providers. Having trouble finding all the options and figuring out the right connection for your needs? Worry not; CNET’s broadband experts have got you covered. Spectrum is CNET’s choice for the best overall internet provider for Cleveland residents. We picked it as the best option after testing several ISPsthanks to its affordability and availability across the city.
Of course, Spectrum isn’t your only option for fast internet in Cleveland. Your options will depend on where you live in the Forest City. If you want the speediest connection in the city, AT&T Fiber offers speeds up to 5,000 megabits per second, making it the fastest internet provider in Cleveland. Unfortunately, AT&T Fiber doesn’t have very wide coverage in the area and is only available at a small portion of addresses in the area.
Cleveland residents also have other options, like 5G home internet (from Verizon and T-Mobile) and satellite internet from HughesNet, Viasat and Starlink. If you already have a mobile phone plan through Verizon or T-Mobile, you can get discounted prices on home internet that make these options fairly enticing. Plans start from as low as $35 a month. Otherwise, Spectrum offers the cheapest internet plan in Cleveland at $50 for 500Mbps. Some households may also be eligible for the $30-a-month 100Mbps plan.
Median download speeds sit around 300Mbps in Cleveland, and options are available from Spectrum and AT&T that exceed that. Plans that offer speeds around a gig are available to certain addresses from AT&T and Spectrum.
Fastest internet providers in Cleveland
Multi-gigabit plans from AT&T Fiber may be available in select areas of Cleveland, but availability is extremely limited. For most residents, the fastest plans tap out around a gig and are available from Spectrum and AT&T Fiber.
What are the fastest internet plans in Cleveland?
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Source: CNET analysis of provider data
What’s the final word on internet providers in Cleveland?
Cleveland’s internet options can be fairly confusing, because the same ISP will charge different prices based on address. Most providers hope you don’t notice, thinking you’ll be stuck with whatever options they give you. But the advent of 5G home internet service means that consumers now have some additional options, even if that just means additional leverage to better negotiate with your ISP. One thing is for sure, though: if you have access to fiber internet, we recommend going with that.
How CNET chose the best internet providers in Cleveland
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 Cleveland FAQs
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