Best Of The Internet 2018

[Cristoforo Kanoy]

Lastlyyou can try negotiating with your current internet provider to secure a lower rate on your broadband service. Or you can keep your eyes open for internet providers that offer cheap internet, broadband deals or other internet promotions each month.

The good news is it's now common to find gigabit plans offered by almost all major ISPs. As we often say, the fastest internet service for you will depend on your location and specific address. Xfinity and Optimum often extend the fastest plans available for residential homes, with a 10,000Mbps and an 8,000Mbps plan, respectively. Those aren't as widely available and may require a site survey to ensure serviceability.

In 2022, a Chattanooga, Tennessee, provider announced it was offering a 25Gbps plan. Although that's impressive, Ziply Fiber recently released a 50-gigabit plan. That's ridiculously fast, and though you probably don't need that much speed in your household, it's pretty cool nonetheless.

Since internet providers tend to operate in specific areas, the provider with the best Wi-Fi coverage will depend on where you live. Currently, T-Mobile Home Internet is available in 49 states and has 98% nationwide coverage.

In March, the FCC raised the minimum standard of \"broadband speeds\" to 100Mbps download and 20Mbps upload. Most providers now offer a gigabit plan, but most households won't need that much speed. According to a recent report from OpenVault, the average American household uses approximately 520Mbps download speeds (although nearly 33% of households get less than 200 to 400Mbps). Does that mean you'll need that much? Not necessarily. The internet speed you need will depend on how many people use the internet in your home and for what activities you need.

Most internet providers offer a self-installation option, where they'll mail you your home internet equipment after you sign up for service, and you'll set it up yourself on your own time. In most cases, the process is straightforward, with clear instructions on how to plug everything in correctly. In some cases, opting for self-installation can save you money, too.

All of that makes self-installation a great option for homes that don't require much labor to get a network up and running -- for instance, if you're setting up a cable internet modem and your home already has the necessary coaxial wiring running through your walls. Check with your provider when you sign up to see if it's an option for you, how much work it would entail, and how much money you could save off of the cost of letting the pros handle it.

Tier 1 internet providers have direct access to the network, letting them offer services directly to customers without relying on other providers. A few Tier 1 ISPs include AT&T, Verizon and CenturyLink, which all have extensive networks and complete control of their network and routing.

CNET considers speeds, pricing, customer service and overall value to recommend the best internet service providers across several categories. Our evaluation includes referencing a proprietary database built over years of reviewing internet services. We validate that against provider information by spot-checking local addresses for service availability. We also closely read providers' terms and conditions and, when needed, call ISPs to verify the details.

Despite our efforts to find the most recent and accurate information, our process has some limitations you should know about. Pricing and speed data are variable: Certain addresses may qualify for different service tiers, and monthly costs may vary, even within a city. The best way to identify your particular options is to plug your address into a provider's website.

Also, the prices, speed and other information listed above and in the provider cards below may differ from what we found in our research. The cards display the full range of a provider's pricing and speed across the US, according to our database of plan information provided directly by ISPs. At the same time, the plan charts display the offerings most common to most areas. The prices referenced within this article's text come from our research and include applicable discounts for setting up automatic payments each month -- a standard industry offering. Discounts and promotions might also be available for signing a term contract or bundling multiple services.

Our take - One of the metrics we like to compare value between ISPs is the average cost per megabit per second of download speed. A lower cost per Mbps is a good, rough indicator of value. With AT&T's fiber internet plans, the average cost per Mbps is just 10 cents, including your equipment rental.

T-Mobile Home Internet makes getting connectivity easy at a time when people are more online than ever. T-Mobile offers an all-in-one solution for effortless connection, ensuring you and your devices stay connected.

Our take - With most fiber providers, you'll find a better bang for your buck, but a cable connection is the next best thing if fiber isn't an option. Among all the providers offering cable internet service in the country, Spectrum is the one I'd be happiest to see available at my address.

Our take - Pickings can be frustratingly slim when shopping for an internet plan in a rural area because most of the best internet infrastructure in the country is centralized in population-dense cities and the suburban neighborhoods surrounding them. If you live outside a region like that, your home probably isn't wired for fiber or cable. Instead, you'll have to make do with slower, less reliable and more expensive technologies, and you'll likely have fewer options to choose from too.

Verizon lands near the top of the American Customer Satisfaction Index's rankings of internet providers year after year, and it's been one of the strongest finishers with J.D. Power for multiple years running, too.

Our take - WideOpenWest -- or WOW -- is a relatively small provider that offers services in nine states. It earns the exclamation point it likes to stick at the end of its branding by offering cable internet plans at some of the best prices you'll find anywhere in the US. That includes an entry-level 300Mbps plan that starts at $30 per month and a high-speed gigabit plan at $60 monthly. That's a stellar cost per Mbps of just 6 cents, which is unheard of in the cable category. For an extra $5 a month, WOW offers price-lock to your chosen plan to protect against sudden price increases.

Our take - CenturyLink offers DSL internet plans across 16 states, but roughly half of the coverage map also has access to its sibling company's fiber plans, branded as Quantum Fiber. The plans themselves are a great deal -- $50 a month for matching upload and download speeds of 500Mbps (10 cents per Mbps), or $75 a month for a gigabit plan with matching speeds of 940Mbps (just under 8 cents per Mbps, which is an even better value than you'll get with AT&T for its fiber gigabit plan). There are no data caps or contracts with those plans, and those prices don't arbitrarily go up after a year.

Our take - Comcast is the biggest name in cable, and the company offers its Xfinity internet service to over 100 million people in the US -- more than a third of the country. Subscribers will find a great variety of plans and packages to choose from, including download speeds of up to 2,000Mbps that are available across the majority of the sprawling coverage map (or, if you're lucky, plans with multi-gig speeds of up to 10Gbps that are available at a small percentage of addresses). In addition, Xfinity consistently earns above-average customer satisfaction scores, too.

Our take - It's been over a decade since Google first announced that it would bring fiber internet service to select regions across the country -- and it's been an interesting ride ever since. After initially rolling out across 11 metro areas, Google struggled to build the service beyond that. It paused its efforts in 2016, leaving disappointment across dozens of cities where the company had teased prospects for future fiber expansions.

Our take - Satellite internet is typically slow, laggy and temperamental in inclement weather, so I'd explore other options if you've got them. That's the issue; too many of us don't have other options, and satellite internet from established names like Viasat and Hughesnet are available just about everywhere.

CBS Essentials is created independently of the CBS News editorial staff. We may receive commissions from some links to products on this page. Promotions are subject to availability and retailer terms.

Let's face facts: The internet isn't a luxury. It's a staple. We stream our favorite shows, jump on Zoom calls, work remotely, and game with friends across continents. The digital dependence is real. With that in mind, how do you determine which services are the real deal?

We've analyzed and compared some of the biggest names in the broadband arena, ensuring that you get the most bang for your buck (and time). The criteria? Speed, reliability, security, and of course, user satisfaction. It's also important to keep in mind that not every internet provider will be available for every user, and in fact the list of options will vary depending on location. For instance, Comcast is unavailable in some markets, as is Optimum, while companies like AT&T and Verizon have slightly larger footprints that include a larger customer base.

We get it. Figuring out what all this means when you just want to hop online an browse YouTube can be confusing and annoying. But it doesn't have to be. There are plenty of choices, and though some will be restricted to certain areas, there are enough to shop around and find the best ISP that ticks all your important boxes.

Verizon is a well-known provider that has phone service as well as Fios internet. It's also the best and most convenient internet service provider we've found lately. Fios is a fiber-optic network that offers high-speed internet. It serves up impressive speeds that should suit just about any user, depending on their budget. Interestingly, Verizon also offers a feature called Speed Match, which means both upload and download speeds are equally fast. This feature is especially great for gamers and anyone who regularly needs to move large files back and forth.

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