Our take – Providers like Xfinity, Spectrum, Cox and Optimum primarily stick to larger cities, but for those in much of America’s heartland, Mediacom becomes crucial in extending broadband availability to rural areas, particularly through the Midwest and South regions.
It’s the most widely available internet connection outside of satellite internet, covering 83% of US households and 97% of urban areas. As such, there’s a good chance that you have available cable internet access in your area. It’s not a bad option if you don’t want to shell out the big bucks for fiber optic internet but you want speeds consistently faster than 100Mbps.
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What is a coaxial cable?
A coaxial cable is a copper line surrounded by an insulated shield and protective plastic sheath (usually black) used to transmit television, internet and telephone signals. The cables can also be used to carry weak electrical currents, like those to power a satellite dish.
If you have cable TV or a satellite TV service with an HD or DVR box, the line that connects to the back of your box is likely a coaxial cable. With cable internet service, that same cable type plugs into your modem and sends internet data instead of TV signals.
Coaxial cables are capable of supporting higher bandwidth than DSL (which uses telephone lines), but they fall short of fiber-optic cables. Most cable internet providers can offer download speeds up to 1,000Mbps or slightly higher, although upload speeds are significantly slower, often 10 to 50Mbps. Fiber internet, on the other hand, can deliver multigigabit download and upload speeds of 10,000Mbps and higher.
How to choose the best cable internet provider
Cable internet providers operate in specific areas, often with little overlap of other cable internet providers, so choosing the best cable ISP starts with identifying the available providers in your area.
If you have the choice of two or more cable internet providers, you’ll want to compare those options the same as you would any other available ISPs. Here’s how to choose the best cable internet provider for your home:
Know what speeds you need. Identify the providers that offer those speeds or close.
Compare pricing. Be sure to take into account promotional rates, how long they last and how much your rate will increase after the promotional period ends.
Consider any bundle offers. Cable internet providers are often the best source for TV and internet bundles. If you’re interested in getting the two together, compare available speeds and channel packages to find the one that best fits your household’s speed and entertainment demands.
Understand the fine print. Whether it’s with standalone internet service or an internet and TV bundle, it’s important to be aware of any added fees, such as equipment rental fees, data caps and contract requirements.
It’s possible only one cable internet provider will be available at your address. In that case, you’ll want to compare speeds, pricing and service terms such as equipment fees and data caps to ISPs of other connection types like fiber or fixed wireless.
For more, check out our internet shopping guide for some tips and tricks to picking out a good home internet plan.
How CNET determined the best cable internet providers
Cable internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the latest smartphone, laptop, router or kitchen tool, it’s impractical to personally test every cable ISP. To evaluate the top providers, we start by researching the availability, pricing and speed information of the top providers, drawing on our own historical ISP data, the provider sites and mapping information from the Federal Communications Commission at FCC.gov.
We also input addresses on provider websites to find and compare specific options. We look at sources, including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Power, to evaluate how content customers are with an ISP’s service. ISP plans and prices are subject to frequent changes; all information provided is accurate as of publication.
To explore our process in more depth, visit our how we test ISPs page.
Best cable ISPs honorable mentions
These cable internet providers also offer decent pricing and speeds. If any are available in your area, they are also worth a look.
Optimum
Optimum is one of the largest cable ISPs in the US, covering much of the greater New York City area along with smaller markets in 21 states since parent company Altice rebranded Suddenlink under the Optimum brand. Pricing and service terms are comparable to most major cable internet providers, but pricing has gone up while customer satisfaction and upload speeds have gone down in recent years.
Sparklight
Formerly known as Cable One, Sparklight is another cable provider that largely serves rural and suburban areas. Plans and speeds will vary by market, but overall monthly prices in the first year range from $40 for 100Mbps to $75 for gig service, which is a bit higher than most ISPs. Plus, those rates are introductory so they’ll keep increasing year after year.
WideOpenWest
Another great source for cheap internet, WideOpenWest, or WOW, offers internet starting at $30 for speeds up to 300Mbps. Other WOW plans, up to gig service starting at $60 monthly, are competitively priced as well, but you may find a better value than its $95 1,200Mbps plan elsewhere.
Best cable ISPs recap
Cable internet boasts almost the same availability as DSL but can deliver much faster speeds and better connection quality, making it a top choice for broadband, especially in markets where fiber is unavailable. For the most part, cable ISPs have similar speeds and pricing, but those featured in our list of the best — Xfinity, Spectrum, Mediacom, Cox and WOW — stand out for their exceptional speeds, customer-friendly service terms and/or unique services.
What is the best coaxial cable for high-speed internet?
Cable internet is available to nearly twice the number of households as fiber optic and can support similar download speeds, but its advantages over fiber largely end there. Fiber internet has with faster upload speeds and better speed reliability than cable, often for a price lower than or equal to what you would pay for cable internet, depending on the available providers in your area.
Xfinity offers the fastest cable internet plan of any major internet provider with download speeds up to 2,000Mbps available in select areas. Xfinity also offers a 1,200Mbps plan throughout much of its service area, as does WideOpenWest.
Astound, a cable internet provider with service areas in Texas, New York City, Chicago and other major markets across the US, has maximum download speeds of up to 1,500Mbps.
Most other cable ISPs, including Spectrum, Cox, Mediacom and Optimum, top out at max download speeds of around 1,000Mbps.
How does cable and DSL internet compare?
A coaxial cable splitter allows you to connect multiple devices, such as a cable TV box and an internet modem, to the same line. If one is needed for your home networking, your cable ISP should provide one at the time of installation.
Why are cable internet upload speeds so slow?
Why do I only have one cable internet provider?
What cable internet deals are available to seniors?
Cable internet providers operate in specific locations, so the ISP near you will depend on your address. There are a few cable internet providers that are available in more areas than others. Xfinity boasts the largest availability, covering 36% of the US population. Spectrum is right behind Xfinity at 29%, followed by Cox (5%), Altice brand Optimum (5%), Mediacom (2.1%) and WideOpenWest (1.3%). There are also dozens of regional cable internet providers that operate in hyper-local markets for which your address could be serviceable.
