Find the Best Internet Providers in Your Area

Fiber is the only type of internet technology that can offer equal upload and download speeds. Fiber-optic cables use light to transmit data, which is much faster than the electrical signals used by other types of internet connections. Additionally, fiber-optic cables are less susceptible to interference, which means that they can consistently deliver high speeds.

Unfortunately, the construction cost of a fiber-optic internet network is 20 percent to 50 percent higher than that of a DSL and coaxial cable network. Due to this, the fiber internet coverage in the USA is limited to 43 percent of the total habited area. AT&T Fiber is the largest fiber internet provider in the country with 16.81 percent of the market share.

The 5 best fiber internet providers in the USA can distribute up to 10 Gigs of symmetrical internet speeds for an average monthly price of $63.78 per month.

Coaxial cable is the most available source of wired internet in the USA. As of 2023, approximately 90% of U.S. households have access to cable internet. This means that over 194 million households in the United States can get cable internet service. The bi-layer insulation inside a coaxial cable prevents data loss during long-distance transmissions.

The best cable internet providers in the USA can distribute up to 2 Gig of download speed for a starting price of $25 per month. Unlike fiber connections, the analog signals inside a coaxial cable cannot travel faster than 50 Mbps on the upstream channel. For this reason, prominent cable internet providers use a combination of fiber-optic and coaxial cables to upgrade upload and download speeds up to multigigabit in populous urban centers.

Xfinity by Comcast Corporation is the nation’s biggest cable internet provider. It alone dominates 39.8 percent of the U.S. cable internet market share.

Fixed wireless internet, often referred to as the “last mile” technology, is the newest form of broadband access in the USA. Through the transmission of mid, wide, and ultrawideband radio frequencies, it bridges the connectivity gap in the rural and remote areas of the country. The coverage area of fixed wireless internet continues to expand across the USA. At the moment, 80 percent of the U.S. population can subscribe to fixed wireless home internet plans.

Best fixed wireless internet providers can offer up to 1,000 Mbps of download speeds for a starting price of $35 per month. Some popular fixed wireless internet providers, like AT&T and EarthLink, cap users' monthly data usage while others, like Verizon 5G and T-Mobile, offer unlimited data throughout the month.

Here are the 5 best fixed wireless internet providers in the United States that are successfully influencing millions of Americans to adopt a cordless life.

Digital subscriber line (DSL), a new and improved version of the old-school dial-up connections, is the second most widely available form of wired broadband in the country. Around 85 percent of Americans can purchase a DSL internet plan for basic to moderate digital connectivity. DSL internet uses existing telephone lines to deliver up to 100 Mbps of download speed to individual homes and businesses. While DSL internet is lauded for its wide-scale availability and affordability, the slow speeds and frequent network congestion make it unsuitable for data-intensive activities (e.g., HD streaming, online gaming, and video calling).

The nation’s best DSL internet providers can distribute download speeds faster than 100 Mbps in rural, suburban, and urban areas for a median monthly price of $45.83. In the last few years, there has been an uptick in the discontinuation of slow-speed DSL internet service in favor of lightning-fast fiber internet. But as renowned internet providers, like AT&T, say goodbye to DSL, CenturyLink’s 36-state telephone access line system proves that DSL internet is an affordable solution for nationwide broadband connectivity.

The satellite internet’s extraterrestrial nature makes it capable of promising internet access throughout the country. It uses a fleet of geosynchronous satellites to transmit data signals, in the form of radio frequencies, directly to subscribers’ homes.

The most famous tagline for satellite internet is that it “finds you where everything earthly fails you”. Satellites deploy signals using spot beam technology to ensure that internet data reaches you even in the most remote parts of the USA. E.g., Viasat sends 1 terabyte of data to Earth via 2000 beams. On average, 16 beams can serve up to 2000 customers.

Geostationary satellite internet providers, like Viasat and HughesNet, send data signals from satellites that are located 22,236 miles away from the Earth. The long-distance affects internet speed and latency. Compared to that, Starlink positions its satellites in low-earth orbit. Being closer to Earth, it can guarantee download speeds of up to 300 Mbps with latency as low as 25 milliseconds. Together, the 3 best satellite internet providers in the USA can offer 100 percent broadband coverage for an average monthly price of $103.