Updated September 2026 · 14 compared

The best internet providers, ranked.

14 internet providers compared across 66 evidence-checked head-to-heads.

Every matchup is scored round by round on what matters most: availability & footprint, price — first year vs real cost, customer service & trust, speed & technology.

1AT&T Fiber7.4
2Google Fiber7.3
3Frontier Fiber7.0

At a glance

Best for customer service7.3

Best for availability6.4

T-Mobile Home Internet

See price

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Top 14 internet providers

Ranked by overall score

Top rated

AT&T Fiber

Best for: Household where AT&T Fiber is confirmed available

Pick AT&T Fiber if AT&T Fiber is available where you live — check your exact address first.

Availability & Footprint: ~28M passings
Price — First Year vs Real Cost: $80/mo (1 GIG), as low as $60 bundled
Customer Service & Trust: "Only one outage in 5-plus years"
Speed & Technology: Up to 5 Gbps up/down

Price-lock guarantee — no 12-month promo cliff
Bundling with wireless can push entry pricing to $35/mo
Fully symmetrical upload/download on every tier
Top tier reaches 5 Gbps in both directions

Some existing customers still saw a ~$5/mo increase despite the lock
2 Gig tier retired in June 2026, leaving a price/speed gap
Only reaches part of 21 states plus D.C. — most US addresses can't get it
Coverage is block-by-block even within 'Fiber states'

Best for customer service

Google Fiber

Best for: Household in one of GFiber's ~21 lit metro areas

Pick Google Fiber if GFiber is confirmed available at your exact address.

Availability & Footprint: ~21 metros, 605 zip codes
Price — First Year vs Real Cost: $70-150/mo flat
Customer Service & Trust: 3.2/5 Trustpilot, mixed but far better
Speed & Technology: Symmetrical every tier, up to 8 Gbps

Genuinely flat pricing, no promo-then-hike pattern
Router included free, no equipment rental
Fully symmetric at every tier, up to 8 Gbps
Wi-Fi 6E/7 router included free

Entry tier starts higher than Xfinity's cheapest promo price
Only ~21 metro areas nationwide
Coverage patchy even within a 'covered' city
Pending Astound Broadband merger creates ownership uncertainty

Frontier Fiber

Best for: Household outside a major metro core, hoping for any fiber option

Pick Frontier Fiber if Google Fiber isn't available at your address, but Frontier Fiber's larger footprint might be.

Availability & Footprint: 7.5-10M locations
Price — First Year vs Real Cost: $29.99-39.99/mo
Customer Service & Trust: Complaints persist, but Verizon backing now behind it
Speed & Technology: Symmetric up to 7,000 Mbps

Cheaper entry tier than Google Fiber
Multi-year price-lock avoids the promo-cliff pattern
Fully symmetric on every tier, up to 7 Gbps
Real customer reports of 100% reliability

Price-lock guarantee not offered in every market
Still a regional buildout, not nationwide
Reports of disputed $500 equipment-return charges
Trails peers like Cox in ACSI

Verizon Fios

Best for: Household in Fios's Northeast/Mid-Atlantic footprint

Pick Verizon Fios if Fios is sold at your address and you want the steadier, more predictable pricing.

Availability & Footprint: ~38M people, 8-10 states + D.C.
Price — First Year vs Real Cost: $59.99-$99.99/mo standard
Customer Service & Trust: "I've never had to call them for an issue"
Speed & Technology: Up to 2.3 Gbps up/down

Bundled wireless discount drops entry tier to $34.99/mo
Quoted rate is close to the long-term rate
Larger raw reach (~38M people)
Frontier acquisition is actively expanding the map

Higher headline price than Quantum's best promo
Still address-specific even within covered states
Top tier caps below Quantum Fiber's 8 Gig ceiling
Billing complaints in ~40-50% of negative reviews

Verizon 5G Home Internet

Best for: Renter who wants a simple, self-install setup

Pick Verizon 5G Home Internet if you want a simple, self-install setup with no installation risk.

Availability & Footprint: 50 states
Price — First Year vs Real Cost: $35-50/mo
Customer Service & Trust: #2 ranked
Speed & Technology: 138-167 Mbps median

3-year price lock, no equipment fee
No autopay dependency for the advertised rate
No trench or cable run needed
Sold in all 50 states

Losing the mobile-bundle discount adds $15/mo instantly
Base-tier upload only 5-20 Mbps
Speed depends on tower congestion
Per-tower sign-up caps can deny or revoke access

Best for price

Frontier

Best for: Household where Frontier Fiber is confirmed available

Pick Frontier if Frontier Fiber is confirmed available at your address.

Availability & Footprint: 7.5-10M fiber locations
Price — First Year vs Real Cost: $30-75/mo, locked
Customer Service & Trust: Strong fiber reviews, billing complaints
Speed & Technology: Symmetrical up to 7 Gbps

Genuine multi-year price-for-life guarantee
No annual contract required
Fully symmetrical upload/download at every tier
Tiers scale up to 7 Gbps

DSL customers don't get the same price-lock protection
Fiber footprint far smaller than Xfinity's cable footprint
Many legacy customers still stuck on slow DSL
Billing/cancellation disputes reported, including $500 equipment charges

Best for availability

T-Mobile Home Internet

Best for: Renter or first-time internet shopper who wants simple, predictable pricing

Pick T-Mobile Home Internet if you want simple, no-contract pricing with a real multi-year rate guarantee.

Availability & Footprint: 50+ million households eligible
Price — First Year vs Real Cost: $35-50/mo
Customer Service & Trust: 85% satisfaction
Speed & Technology: 354 Mbps cap (Rely, new customers)

No promo cliff — 5-year price guarantee on base rate
Included gateway, no rental fee
No annual contract, no early termination fee
No data cap on any plan

$35 rate requires an active T-Mobile voice line
~$370 non-return fee if gateway isn't sent back
New 354 Mbps hard cap on entry plan (June 2026)
Upload maxes around 40 Mbps on every tier

Spectrum

Best for: Heavy streamers who never want to think about a data cap

Pick Spectrum if you want the lowest first-year price with zero data cap to worry about.

Availability & Footprint: ~41 states
Price — First Year vs Real Cost: $30/mo promo
Customer Service & Trust: 1.2/5 Trustpilot, 85% one-star
Speed & Technology: 10-35 Mbps upload (today)

Cheaper entry price than Cox at every comparable tier
Smallest dollar jump on the entry tier
Zero data cap on every plan
Free equipment on the Gig tier

Standard rate isn't capped or guaranteed long-term
$7-10/mo router fee on lower tiers
Doesn't compete head-to-head with Cox in most territory anyway
Upload upgrade isn't live everywhere yet

Cox

Best for: Households wanting the fastest upload speed available today

Pick Cox if Cox is your only regional cable option and you can manage the 1.25TB cap.

Availability & Footprint: ~18-19 states
Price — First Year vs Real Cost: $49.99/mo promo
Customer Service & Trust: Long holds, but real bundle praise too
Speed & Technology: ~100 Mbps upload

60-month price-lock offer on 2 Gig Extra in some markets
First-time overage in 12 months usually forgiven
Cox Mobile bundle removes the cap for free
Very dense coverage within its own regional footprint

Pricier entry tier than Spectrum
Commonly cited $15-25/mo jumps once promos end
1.25TB cap with real overage fees
Equipment rental jumps to $13-15/mo after 24 months

Xfinity

Best for: Household outside Quantum's small footprint

Pick Xfinity if Quantum Fiber isn't available at your address — it's a no across most of the country.

Availability & Footprint: 60M+ homes passed
Price — First Year vs Real Cost: $35 → $135/mo
Customer Service & Trust: 1.2/5 Trustpilot — call-center complaints
Speed & Technology: 5-100 Mbps upload

Optional 5-year rate-lock covers the base price
Top Gigabit x2 tier hits 2,000 Mbps download
Largest cable footprint in the US
Dense coverage across most major metros

Promo-to-standard jump often $20-40/mo
Most tiers upload only 5-20 Mbps
Doesn't compete directly with other cable ISPs in the same territory
1.2TB data cap still active in many markets

Optimum Fiber

Best for: Gamer or streaming household in a fully-upgraded Optimum Fiber zone

Pick Optimum Fiber if Optimum Fiber is confirmed at your specific address (not just Optimum cable) and you want top-end 8 Gig speed.

Availability & Footprint: ~2.9M fiber homes passed
Price — First Year vs Real Cost: $50-$90/mo promo, real bills often $150-290
Customer Service & Trust: ~1,000+ open complaints, ~3% resolved
Speed & Technology: Up to 8,000 Mbps symmetric

Promo rates as low as $50/mo for 2 Gig fiber
8 Gig top tier, fully symmetric — four times Fios's top speed
2 Gig fiber tier matches Fios's top tier at a lower promo price
Aggressive fiber buildout underway, targeting 30% penetration by end of 2026

Modem rental up to $14/mo plus a separate network access fee
Multiple 2026 reports of bills reaching $150-290/mo after the promo ends
Top 8 Gig speeds limited to fully upgraded fiber neighborhoods
Only ~2.9M homes passed with true fiber today

Quantum Fiber

Best for: Household needing the absolute highest ceiling speed

Pick Quantum Fiber if Quantum Fiber is your only real fiber option where you live.

Availability & Footprint: ~11.3M people, 17 states
Price — First Year vs Real Cost: $45-75/mo
Customer Service & Trust: Installation damage reported
Speed & Technology: 1,000-8,000 Mbps symmetrical

Lowest advertised entry price of the two on the 1 Gig tier
Included 360 Wi-Fi gateway plus up to 4 mesh pods
Genuinely different footprint than Fios — an option where Fios doesn't reach
Fully symmetrical on every tier up to 8 Gbps

Cheapest rate is autopay/paperless-dependent
Standard rate can run up to $30/mo higher than the promo
Smaller total reach
Coverage varies block by block within lit cities

Optimum

Best for: Household whose exact address already has Optimum Fiber lit

Pick Optimum if your specific address already has true Optimum Fiber lit.

Availability & Footprint: ~21 states
Price — First Year vs Real Cost: $30 advertised, often $70-90 real
Customer Service & Trust: 1,000+ complaints, ~3% resolved
Speed & Technology: ~780 Mbps real (cable) / 8,000 Mbps (fiber)

No data cap on any plan, so no overage surprise
No data cap on any residential plan
Symmetric fiber up to 8,000 Mbps where available
Targeting 65% multi-gig footprint by 2028

Undisclosed network-access fee ($7-10/mo) on top of advertised price
Multiple 2026 reports of bills reaching $150-290/mo
Cancellation process reported to take up to an hour
Modem rental up to $14/mo plus $5 Wi-Fi add-on

CenturyLink

Best for: Rural household with no cable buildout at all

Pick CenturyLink if you're in a rural area where CenturyLink is genuinely the only wired option.

Availability & Footprint: ~37 states via legacy copper
Price — First Year vs Real Cost: $55/mo flat (DSL)
Customer Service & Trust: 1.1/5 Trustpilot, weeks-long outages
Speed & Technology: Real-world 5-25 Mbps on DSL

No promotional cliff on the DSL tier — flat rate from day one
Small fiber tiers (500-940 Mbps symmetrical) exist where lit
No data cap on any current plan
Genuinely month-to-month with no early termination fee

'Price for Life' guarantee has a documented history of not holding on other tiers
94% of footprint is DSL-only, advertised up to 140 Mbps but often 5-25 Mbps real-world
Reviewers report phantom late fees and disputed equipment-return charges up to $150+
94% of that footprint delivers DSL speeds only, not fiber

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1AT&T FiberScore 7.4	~28M passings	$80/mo (1 GIG), as low as $60 bundled	"Only one outage in 5-plus years"	Up to 5 Gbps up/down	No data cap	79/100 (ACSI)	11–0	100 %	73 %
2Google FiberScore 7.3	~21 metros, 605 zip codes	$70-150/mo flat	3.2/5 Trustpilot, mixed but far better	Symmetrical every tier, up to 8 Gbps	$0 equipment fee	Highest ACSI score of any ISP: 82/100	10–1	91 %	73 %
3Frontier FiberScore 7.0	7.5-10M locations	$29.99-39.99/mo	Complaints persist, but Verizon backing now behind it	Symmetric up to 7,000 Mbps	No cap, but $500 equipment-fee disputes reported	"100% reliable" for 8 months	2–2	50 %	58 %
4Verizon FiosScore 6.8	~38M people, 8-10 states + D.C.	$59.99-$99.99/mo standard	"I've never had to call them for an issue"	Up to 2.3 Gbps up/down	No data cap	78/100 (ACSI)	7–3–1	70 %	56 %
5Verizon 5G Home InternetScore 6.7	50 states	$35-50/mo	#2 ranked	138-167 Mbps median	$0 equipment fee	79/100	7–3–1	70 %	62 %
6FrontierScore 6.6	7.5-10M fiber locations	$30-75/mo, locked	Strong fiber reviews, billing complaints	Symmetrical up to 7 Gbps	No cap, but billing complaints	'Rock solid' fiber reliability	6–1	86 %	57 %
7T-Mobile Home InternetScore 6.4	50+ million households eligible	$35-50/mo	85% satisfaction	354 Mbps cap (Rely, new customers)	$0 gateway rental, ~$370 non-return fee	78/100 ACSI, congestion still dips speed	5–4–2	56 %	59 %
8SpectrumScore 6.0	~41 states	$30/mo promo	1.2/5 Trustpilot, 85% one-star	10-35 Mbps upload (today)	No data cap	68/100	6–5	55 %	50 %
9CoxScore 5.6	~18-19 states	$49.99/mo promo	Long holds, but real bundle praise too	~100 Mbps upload	1.25TB/mo cap	72/100	4–7	36 %	47 %
10XfinityScore 5.3	60M+ homes passed	$35 → $135/mo	1.2/5 Trustpilot — call-center complaints	5-100 Mbps upload	1.2 TB cap	67/100 ACSI	3–8	27 %	33 %
11Optimum FiberScore 5.3	~2.9M fiber homes passed	$50-$90/mo promo, real bills often $150-290	~1,000+ open complaints, ~3% resolved	Up to 8,000 Mbps symmetric	Free self-install via app	74/100 ACSI, well ahead of Optimum cable's 63	1–4	20 %	30 %
12Quantum FiberScore 5.3	~11.3M people, 17 states	$45-75/mo	Installation damage reported	1,000-8,000 Mbps symmetrical	$0 equipment rental	Outages reported despite fast tech	1–10	9 %	33 %
13OptimumScore 4.4	~21 states	$30 advertised, often $70-90 real	1,000+ complaints, ~3% resolved	~780 Mbps real (cable) / 8,000 Mbps (fiber)	$14/mo modem + ~$100 install	63/100 cable, 74/100 fiber	1–5	17 %	28 %
14CenturyLinkScore 3.8	~37 states via legacy copper	$55/mo flat (DSL)	1.1/5 Trustpilot, weeks-long outages	Real-world 5-25 Mbps on DSL	No data cap, no ETF	67/100 ACSI	0–11	0 %	20 %

Popular head-to-heads

66 round-by-round comparisons — here are the top-ranked match-ups

AT&T Fiber vs Google Fiber→

AT&T Fiber vs Frontier Fiber→

Frontier Fiber vs Google Fiber→

AT&T Fiber vs Verizon Fios→

Verizon Fios vs Google Fiber→

AT&T Fiber vs Verizon 5G Home Internet→

Google Fiber vs Verizon 5G Home Internet→

AT&T Fiber vs T-Mobile Home Internet→

Verizon Fios vs Verizon 5G Home Internet→

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How these are scored: our ranking method. We may earn a commission from links on this page — disclosure.