Best Internet Providers for 2025

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Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

How to choose the best internet service provider for your home 

Finding the right ISP for your household isn’t easy. This is especially true if you live in a rural or underserved portion of the US. We recommend carefully considering your household’s activities so you can better determine the download and upload speeds necessary to meet your needs. With that knowledge, you can better tackle plan pricing that will fit your budget and broadband demands.

For more comprehensive tips on finding the top internet plan for your household, check out CNET’s 10 tips to help you get the most out of your internet service.

Download and upload speeds

For most of us, our internet use mainly focuses on our download speeds. Your download speed determines how easily you can stream the latest hit Netflix show or how fast you can load our favorite Amazon shopping page. The slower your download speeds, the longer it takes to do tasks on the internet. For example, Netflix suggests 15Mbps or higher to watch programming in ultra HD (to take full advantage of that 4K TV you bought). 

As for uploads, most of us couldn’t care less about our upload speeds before the pandemic. Once we started excessively video chatting with friends and family, taking Zoom calls with business colleagues and sending files and homework to our bosses and teachers, we discovered its importance too.

Considering what types of activities dominate your household will affect what level of download speed you’ll need. Do you work remotely from home? Are you living in a household full of kids with their own devices? Have you recently downsized and are an empty nester? Take stock of how many devices are in your home and what kind of internet users you have. You can refer to our internet speed guide for a quick explainer on how to determine what speeds you may need.

Plan pricing

At first glance, you might think it’s easy to spot good plan pricing. The cheaper the monthly fee, the better the price, right? Maybe. Because internet providers are not the most transparent (a Consumer Reports broadband study noted that customers found internet bills to be “extremely confusing”), one low monthly rate might not equal the next. 

Keep an eye out for promo rates that expire quickly. Most enticing, low starting prices won’t last, and you may end up paying more for low speeds in the long term. Also, look for hidden fees and/or pricing traps that may add to your monthly expenses. For example, some providers don’t include equipment rentals in their monthly rates. That could add another $5 to $15 to your monthly bill. 

Lastly, one good way to determine value is by examining the cost per Mbps. You might find a 75Mbps plan for $20 monthly from one provider and a 250Mbps plan for $30 monthly from another. Before you sign up for that $20 plan, consider that the cost per Mbps is just under 27 cents. The 250Mbps plan, on the other hand, chimes in at 12 cents per Mbps, so it’s a better value — more than 50% cheaper per Mbps — and you get more than three times the download speed.

Customer satisfaction

Just as you might search the internet for recommendations on a good local restaurant, it can be helpful to research customers’ experiences with an ISP before you sign up. CNET has found it helpful to lean on the annual ISP surveys from the American Customer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Power, but there are many resources available. Learning about constant network interruptions, a negligent help desk or frequent billing mistakes can be valuable info for choosing (or avoiding) certain providers.

Internet connection types

There are six major types of internet available: fiber, cable, 5G, fixed wireless, DSL and satellite. Each of these internet technologies provides different quirks and benefits. Our CNET experts share their experiences with each internet connection type to better illustrate some of the differences.

For a thorough breakdown of each, check out CNET’s guide on internet connection types. 

Fiber

Fiber internet is the gold standard if you can get it. It’s often called “future-proof,” meaning that it offers some of the fastest plans available and features symmetrical download and upload speeds. It’s more reliable than cable and is less prone to outages or network congestion. AT&T, Google and Verizon are among the major players that offer fiber-optic internet, but unfortunately, fiber internet is one of the least available internet connection types in the country. To learn whether this connection is right for your household, read our explainer on fiber internet.

Cable

Cable internet supplies your internet connection through the same cables (often a hybrid fiber and copper line) that providers use for TV services. It’s more reliable than satellite internet and offers faster download speeds. Often, cable internet is bundled with TV to get consumers to buy higher-priced packages to get a deal on internet service. Companies like Cox, Spectrum and Xfinity offer cable internet for competitive prices.

5G home internet/Fixed wireless 

5G home internet and fixed wireless go hand-in-hand: 5G home internet services are fixed wireless internet services. Not all fixed wireless services are 5G home internet offerings. Fixed wireless service means the connection between your provider and home is not wired. That fixed wireless connection can come via cellular networks or satellite. Fixed wireless networks tend to be slower and more laggy than wired connections. You’re also subject to network congestion and speed throttling during peak usage hours. The promise of 5G home internet from companies like Starry, T-Mobile and Verizon is speeds that match up favorably to cable connections. Is it there yet? Not quite, but my CNET colleague is optimistic about 5G home internet’s potential.

DSL

DSL, or digital subscriber line, uses telephone lines to provide internet connectivity to users. Companies like AT&T, CenturyLink and Frontier offer DSL internet. The good news is those copper lines are prevalent across the country. The not-so-good news is that download speeds fall short of what cable internet can offer. In some cases, your speeds might even be slower than satellite internet.

Satellite

Satellite internet is the one broadband connection type currently available to people in the rural areas of all 50 states. As a solid alternative for those without access to DSL, cable or fiber internet, satellite internet links a modem in your home to a satellite in space, sending the internet back to Earth. Typically, satellite internet features slower speeds — though Starlink has certainly disrupted expectations for satellite internet and raised the bar way up. Note that like 5G home internet and other fixed wireless offerings, satellite internet is subject to network congestion and speed throttling.

How CNET chose the best internet providers 

Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the latest smartphone, laptop, router or kitchen tool, it’s impractical to personally test every internet service provider in a given city. What’s our approach? For starters, we tap into a proprietary pricing, availability and speed database that draws from our own historical ISP data, partner data and mapping information from the Federal Communications Commission at FCC.gov. 

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

The answers to those questions are often layered and complex, but the providers that come closest to “yes” on all three are the ones we recommend. When selecting the cheapest internet service, we look for the plans with the lowest monthly fee, although we also factor in things like price increases, equipment fees and contracts. Choosing the fastest internet service is relatively straightforward. We look at advertised upload and download speeds and consider real-world speed data from sources like Ookla and FCC reports. (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.)

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

What’s the final word on the best internet providers?

Finding the right ISP is easier said than done, especially if you live in a rural part of the country with limited options for getting online. Fiber internet is almost always the best internet connection type, but we recognize that many Americans don’t currently have access to fiber internet.

Some providers we listed might not be the perfect fit for your situation. Often, the best provider is simply the one available at your address. We recommend carefully considering your household’s activities so you can better determine your broadband demands. 

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