Fiber Optic Web Suppliers – CNET

What’s the highest fiber web general?

In relation to fiber web, you’ll to find that costs, pace tiers and repair phrases range amongst suppliers. That’s why positive fiber ISPs upward thrust above the remaining. Out of the entire main suppliers, I to find AT&T Fiber to be the most productive fiber supplier general because of its number of high-speed plans, aggressive pricing, favorable provider phrases and huge availability.

AT&T Fiber is not the one respectable possibility for fiber web, on the other hand. You can to find my selections of the most productive fiber web suppliers underneath. Each and every of the highest web suppliers indexed underneath makes use of a fiber-to-the-home community, which all however promises the most productive connection high quality, pace and reliability. Moreover, those suppliers stand out for his or her outstanding pricing, availability, visitor pride and different components. We replace this listing periodically.

Best possible fiber web of 2023

AT&T Fiber

Best possible fiber web supplier general

Take a look at availability

Product main points

Value vary

$55 – $180 per thirty days

Velocity vary

300 – 5,000Mbps

Connection

Fiber

Key Data

Limitless knowledge, no contracts, apparatus incorporated

AT&T has the best availability of any fiber supplier, extending provider to greater than 16 million doable consumers throughout 21 states. The supplier additionally boasts one of the most lowest pricing on fiber web provider while you remember its new multigig tiers. 

At $180 a month for speeds as much as 5,000 megabits in step with 2d, AT&T’s Web 5000 plan boasts a 4-cents-per-Mbps price this is exhausting to cross up, however now not each family wishes that a lot pace. All plans, from the budget-friendly 300Mbps plan to multigig provider, include limitless knowledge and require no contract. 

The quick pace, somewhat low pricing and customer-friendly provider phrases have earned AT&T excessive visitor pride rankings lately. The American Buyer Pride Index gave AT&T Fiber an industry-leading ranking of 80 out of 100 for 2023.

Take a look at AT&T Fiber availability

CenturyLink

Best possible fiber web protection

Take a look at availability

Product main points

Value vary

$30 – $70 per thirty days

Velocity vary

200 – 940Mbps

Connection

Fiber

Key Data

Limitless knowledge, no contracts, apparatus incorporated with gigabit tier

Although AT&T Fiber and Verizon Fios are to be had to extra other folks, CenturyLink’s fiber community covers extra spaces, with fiber provider that spans an excellent 25 states. CenturyLink additionally operates essentially in suburban and rural spaces, bringing high-speed fiber connections to spaces that would possibly not another way have get right of entry to to them. 

Then again, other folks residing in CenturyLink fiber provider spaces handiest have two plan choices: 100 or 200Mbps beginning at $30 a month, or gigabit provider beginning at $70 a month. Whilst extra plan choices can be great, CenturyLink’s gigabit pace plan remains to be a sexy just right deal. At $70 a month for speeds as much as 940Mbps and no apparatus charges, CenturyLink is without doubt one of the least expensive fiber suppliers for gigabit provider.

Take a look at CenturyLink availability

Frontier Fiber

Best possible low cost fiber plan

Take a look at availability

Product main points

Value vary

$50 – $155 per thirty days

Velocity vary

500 – 5,000Mbps

Connection

Fiber

Key Data

Limitless knowledge, no contracts, no apparatus charge

Frontier Communications lately expanded its fiber web protection to 19 states after which rolled out a brand new multigig provider to all the footprint unexpectedly, turning into the primary main ISP to take action.

Frontier’s new multigig plans are priced competitively at $100 a month for speeds as much as 2,000Mbps and $155 per thirty days for the 5 Gig plan. Even supposing you are not looking for all that pace, the decrease tiers — 500Mbps beginning at $50 per thirty days and gig provider beginning at $70 per thirty days — are as just right a worth as you’ll be able to to find from any main supplier.

Frontier Fiber plans include limitless knowledge and require no contract. Not like many different suppliers, Frontier contains the apparatus price with the fee, so instead of taxes, Frontier plan pricing could be very a lot “what you spot is what you pay.” 

Take a look at Frontier Fiber availability

Google Fiber

Best possible fiber web gig plans

Take a look at availability

Product main points

Value vary

$70 – $100 per thirty days

Velocity vary

1,000 – 2,000Mbps

Connection

Fiber

Key Data

Limitless knowledge, no contracts, apparatus incorporated

Google Fiber remains to be round and resuming growth after a multiyear hiatus. The place to be had, Google Fiber gives fiber web provider beginning at $70 a month and a 2Gbps plan beginning at $100 a month. Each include apparatus incorporated at no further price, no knowledge caps and no contracts. 

There is additionally the newly offered 5 gig and eight gig plans for $125 and $150 per thirty days, respectively. Availability is recently restricted, however a Google Fiber spokesperson showed with CNET that the supplier objectives to increase the plans to all provider spaces later this yr.

Take a look at Google Fiber availability

Verizon Fios

Best possible signup bonuses

Take a look at availability

Product main points

Value vary

$50 – $120 per thirty days

Velocity vary

300 – 2,000Mbps

Connection

Fiber

Key Data

Limitless knowledge, no contracts, loose apparatus with gig provider

Verizon Fios is a detailed 2d to AT&T relating to pace, pricing and repair phrases, but it surely lacks the similar breadth of protection. Although to be had to just about the similar selection of doable consumers as AT&T Fiber, Verizon Fios essentially serves the mid-Atlantic and Northeast areas. 

The ones fortunate sufficient to are living in a Verizon Fios provider house will most likely to find the fiber web provider is difficult to overcome, particularly for the ones searching for a low cost connection. Beginning at simply $50 a month, the lowest-price Fios web plan comes with obtain and add speeds of as much as 300Mbps. The following pace tier may be a good price — $70 a month for as much as 500Mbps — however at $90 per thirty days, gigabit provider is priced the similar or a slightly upper than you’ll be able to to find with different fiber suppliers. 

Whichever Fios plan you join, be expecting some attractive extras together with your order, like loose streaming subscriptions, electronics, reward playing cards or different promotional gives.

Take a look at Verizon Fios availability

Windstream Kinetic

Best possible for fiber in rural spaces

Take a look at availability

Product main points

Value vary

$40 – $70 per thirty days

Velocity vary

100 – 1,000Mbps

Connection

Fiber

Key Data

Limitless knowledge, no contracts

One downside of fiber web is that it is in most cases handiest to be had in make a choice neighborhoods of bigger towns. In case you are residing within the suburbs or a rural house, then your highest likelihood to get fiber web is most likely Kinetic via Windstream. More or less a 3rd of Windstream’s community — which spans rural and suburban spaces throughout 18 states — is fiber optic.

Windstream is without doubt one of the highest rural web suppliers, bringing high-speed connections to puts most likely underserved via cable or via different fiber web suppliers. The ones in a Kinetic provider house can even recognize the low pricing — $37 a month for speeds of as much as 200Mbps the place to be had, and gigabit provider for handiest $67 a month — along side limitless knowledge and no contract necessities.

Take a look at Kinetic Web availability

Ziply Fiber

Quickest fiber web supplier

Take a look at availability

Product main points

Value vary

$40 – $300 per thirty days

Velocity vary

100 – 10,000Mbps

Connection

Fiber

Key Data

Limitless knowledge, no contracts, rapid rural web connection

Ziply Fiber lately rolled out a 10Gbps plan, successfully making it the quickest main ISP throughout its Northwest footprint in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington — if now not the quickest supplier national. 

As streaming, on-line gaming and far flung running and studying have develop into extra not unusual, sooner web speeds are in excessive call for. Nonetheless, 10Gbps is greater than the common family will want. For everybody else, Ziply Fiber gives a spread of different pace tiers from 100 to five,000Mbps.

Learn our Ziply Fiber overview.

Take a look at Ziply Fiber availability

Why go for fiber web?

Your web speeds, reliability and general revel in do not rely only on the web supplier you select. The generation it makes use of to run provider to your own home makes a large distinction as properly.

If I may just counsel any web connection sort above the entire leisure, that’d be fiber. My fiber web speeds, add and obtain, are rapid and constant, even all over top utilization occasions or inclement climate. The usual per thirty days price of fiber web products and services, whilst now not the least expensive provider amongst web suppliers in my house, remains to be an ideal price bearing in mind the speeds I am getting.

What to imagine when searching for fiber web

Fiber web is the most productive form of provider for many properties, however there may be extra to picking a supplier and plan than the relationship sort. Listed below are some pointers to remember when searching for fiber web provider.

Availability. You will not to find fiber web to be to be had in just about as many houses as cable, DSL, satellite tv for pc and even 5G web. In reality, handiest round 38% of US families are stressed for fiber-optic web. Availability is scarce in suburban and rural spaces, and will range from one group to the following in maximum towns. It is conceivable fiber web will not be to be had at your own home or the cope with you might be shifting to.

Speeds. Fiber web has the quickest add and obtain pace doable of any form of web. Most of the best suppliers be offering pace tiers as much as 2,000Mbps (2Gbps), 5Gbps and better. Whilst the blazing rapid speeds are tempting, they are more likely to be extra pace than your own home wishes. Take a look at our information to discovering the correct web pace for lend a hand settling on a fiber plan that highest meets your wishes.

Value. In case you are searching for reasonable web, fiber is probably not your best choice. It is true that fiber web plans are regularly the most productive price, however chances are you’ll to find less expensive choices from cable or 5G suppliers.

A couple of fiber suppliers be offering plans with beginning costs as little as $30 per thirty days, however you might be much more likely to pay no less than $50 per thirty days for fiber web. Cable web suppliers together with Cox, Mediacom, Xfinity and others have lower-priced plans in lots of spaces. In case you are a T-Cell Magenta Max or Verizon wi-fi visitor, it’s worthwhile to get 5G domestic web for the discounted fee of $25 to $35 per thirty days.

Bundles. Few fiber suppliers be offering a TV provider, that means you would possibly not be capable to package web and TV in conjunction with the similar supplier if you select a fiber web provider. Within the days of streaming and cord-cutting, that is probably not a deal-breaker for you, however it is one thing to remember when searching for each products and services.

How we review fiber web suppliers

Trying out an web supplier the similar approach CNET checks different services is, at highest, impractical. As a substitute, we depend on in depth analysis of every supplier to expand our critiques and proposals.

When evaluating fiber web suppliers, availability, speeds and general price are on the heart of our critiques. We additionally read about added charges, knowledge caps, contract necessities, visitor pride reviews and different components that might impact your high quality of provider or visitor revel in.

We confer with the Federal Communications Fee at FCC.gov for availability knowledge and the kind of community a supplier makes use of. We then analysis a supplier’s speeds, pricing and repair phrases via numerous channels such because the supplier’s web site and our personal historic knowledge. When conceivable, we touch the supplier at once to verify pricing and pace main points.

After all, to expand a extra well-rounded standpoint of the supplier, we imagine visitor pride reviews from the American Buyer Pride Index and J.D. Energy, in addition to visitor critiques and court cases from resources such because the Higher Industry Bureau, downdetector.com or even Reddit.

Sooner than writing our critiques and compiling highest lists, we analysis the rest and the entirety the standard consumer would need to know previous to signing up for domestic web provider. Learn our piece on how we overview web suppliers to be informed extra about our overview procedure.

Fiber web honorable mentions

• EarthLink: EarthLink uses the fiber networks put in via different suppliers or municipal fiber-optic networks, this means that to be had speeds and repair high quality can range extensively from one area to the following. In make a choice spaces, EarthLink gives fiber provider with speeds of as much as 1 gigabit for round $100 a month.
• Optimal: Optimal is essentially a cable web supplier, but it surely does have a rising fiber community, in particular within the better NYC house. Roughly 1.6 million families are to be had for fiber provider within the house. Fiber plans are priced the similar as Optimal’s cable web provider.
• Xfinity: Comcast Xfinity’s fiber provider may be rather restricted in availability and gives an excellent max pace of as much as 6,000Mbps. The catch? The plan comes with an similarly jaw-dropping fee of $300 a month.

Best possible fiber web suppliers recap

If fiber web provider is to be had to your house, it is most certainly value getting, particularly if any of the suppliers indexed above is an possibility. AT&T is perfect to counsel due to its excessive availability, low prices and favorable provider phrases, however Verizon Fios is a detailed 2d with low pricing, excessive visitor pride and numerous perks for signing up. Google Fiber, Frontier Fiber, Windstream, CenturyLink and Ziply Fiber spherical out the listing of superb choices whilst suppliers like EarthLink, Optimal and others are value a glance, too, if to be had to your house.

Fiber web FAQs