What is the best internet provider in San Diego?
San Diego has everything from fiber to cable to 5G home internet, but sorting through all the speed tiers and promo deals can be overwhelming. We’ve compared prices, speeds and customer experiences across every major provider in the area to help you find the best internet options for your household. AT&T Fiber is CNET’s pick of the best internet service provider for most San Diego households. However, it isn’t available everywhere in America’s Finest City, but alternatives like Cox, Spectrum and T-Mobile are available.
If you’re on the lookout for cheap internet, T-Mobile Home Internet and Verizon 5G Home Internet offer affordable plans. Plus, both ISPs offer discounts to eligible mobile customers, which can drop your monthly bill by $10 to $25. If you want the fastest internet in town, you might want to look at AT&T Fiber’s 5-gigabit tier (5,000Mbps) for $245 monthly.
Best internet in San Diego, California, in 2024
San Diego internet providers compared
| Provider | Internet technology | Monthly price range | Speed range | Monthly equipment costs | Data cap | Contract | CNET review score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T Internet Air Read full review |
Fixed wireless | $60 | 75-225Mbps | None | None | None | 6.9 |
| AT&T Fiber Read full review |
Fiber | $55-$245 | 300-5,000Mbps | None | None | None | 7.4 |
| Cox Communications Read full review |
Cable | $30-$110 | 100-2,000Mbps | None | 1.25TB | None | 6.2 |
| Google Fiber Webpass Read full review |
Fixed wireless | $63-$70 | 1,000Mbps | None | None | 1 year for cheaper cost | 7.5 |
| Spectrum Read full review |
Cable | $50-$70 | 500-1,000Mbps | Modem free; $10 for router (optional) | None | None | 7.2 |
| Ting | Fiber | $89 | 2,000Mbps | $11-$18 (optional) | None | None | N/A |
| T-Mobile Home Internet Read full review |
Fixed wireless | $50-$70 ($35-$55 for eligible mobile customers) | 87-415Mbps | None | None | None | 7.4 |
| Verizon 5G Home Internet Read full review |
Fixed wireless | $50-$70 ($35-$45 with qualifying Verizon 5G mobile plans) | 50-250Mbps | None | None | None | 7.2 |
| Provider | Starting price | Max download speed | Monthly equipment fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cox ConnectAssist Read full review |
$30 | 100Mbps | None |
| Spectrum Internet Read full review |
$50 | 500Mbps | $10 (optional) |
| Verizon 5G Home Internet Read full review |
$50 ($35 for eligible phone customers) | 300Mbps | None |
| T-Mobile Home Internet Read full review |
$50 ($35 for eligible phone customers) | 245Mbps | None |
| AT&T Fiber 300 Read full review |
$55 | 300Mbps | None |
| Ting | $89 | 1,000Mbps | $11-$18 (optional) |
Show more (3 items)
Source: CNET analysis of provider data.
Internet providers in popular cities near San Diego
See all results for internet providers in California.
What’s a good internet speed?
Most internet connection plans can now handle basic productivity and communication tasks. If you’re looking for an internet plan that can accommodate videoconferencing, streaming video or gaming, you’ll have a better experience with a more robust connection. Here’s an overview of the recommended minimum download speeds for various applications, according to the FCC. Note that these are only guidelines and that internet speed, service and performance vary by connection type, provider and address.
For more information, refer to our guide on how much internet speed you really need.
- 0 to 5Mbps allows you to tackle the basics: browsing the internet, sending and receiving email, and streaming low-quality video.
- 5 to 40Mbps gives you higher-quality video streaming and videoconferencing.
- 40 to 100Mbps should give one user sufficient bandwidth to satisfy the demands of modern telecommuting, video streaming and online gaming.
- 100 to 500Mbps allows one to two users to simultaneously engage in high-bandwidth activities like videoconferencing, streaming and online gaming.
- 500 to 1,000Mbps allows three or more users to engage in high-bandwidth activities at the same time.
How CNET chose the best internet providers in San Diego
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 database of pricing, availability and speed information 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?
While the answers to those questions are often layered and complex, 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, though 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.
To explore our process in more depth, visit our how we test ISPs page.
What’s the final word on internet providers in San Diego?
AT&T Fiber’s most affordable plan gets you matching upload and download speeds of 300Mbps for $55 per month, which would be more than enough for most households. If you’re itching for gigabit speeds, you can go with the provider’s 1,000Mbps plan or one of its multi-gig plans of 2Gbps or 5Gbps. If fiber and cable aren’t available at your address, it’s worth checking to see if a cellular, fixed wireless connection from T-Mobile or Verizon might be available.
Internet providers in San Diego FAQ
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