What is the best internet provider in Walla Walla, Washington?
Ziply Fiber is CNET’s top pick of the best internet service provider in Walla Walla. Plans begin at a low $20 monthly, which is among the cheapest you can get nationwide. While the pricing of all the plans increases by $25 after the first year, they still offer an excellent value. For those with the need for speed, Ziply even offers blazing speeds up to 50,000Mbps, which is one of the reasons why Ookla’s latest data puts the median download speed in Walla Walla at a solid 280Mbps. (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.)
Unfortunately, around two-thirds of Walla Walla households can’t access Ziply’s network. In these areas, Spectrum is the next best choice, offering the widest coverage across Walla Walla. Starting rates of $30 monthly are attractive, though they increase considerably after the promotional period ends.
For those looking for a fixed price, T-Mobile Home Internet is the best fixed wireless internet provider in the area. Your monthly rate won’t automatically jump after 12 months, and current T-Mobile mobile customers can get additional discounts through bundling.
Walla Walla internet providers, such as Spectrum and Ziply Fiber, may offer lower introductory pricing or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Others, including T-Mobile Home Internet, run the same standard pricing year-round.
For a more extensive list of promos, check out our guide on the best internet deals.
Fastest internet plans in Walla Walla
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Source: CNET analysis of provider data.
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 Federal Communications Commission. Note that these are only guidelines and that internet speed, service and performance vary by connection type, provider and address.
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 Walla Walla
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. 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.
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 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?
The answer to those questions is often layered and complex, but the providers who 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.
To explore our process in more depth, visit our how we test ISPs page.
Internet providers in Walla Walla FAQs
What is the best internet service provider in Walla Walla?
Yes, fiber internet is available to 43% of Walla Walla households, according to FCC data. Ziply Fiber is the primary fiber provider in the city, but PocketiNet also has some fiber availability in the city.
What is the cheapest internet provider in Walla Walla?
Ziply Fiber offers the fastest internet plan in Walla Walla, with upload and download speeds up to 50,000Mbps.
