Fiber Optic Web Suppliers – CNET

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AT&T Fiber – Greatest fiber ISP total

  • Costs: $55 – $250 per thirty days
  • Speeds: 300 – 5,000Mbps
  • Key Information: Limitless knowledge, no contracts, tools included

Or name to study extra: (888) 249-1978

Frontier Fiber – Greatest low-cost fiber plan

  • Costs: $50 – $155 per thirty days
  • Speeds: 500 – 5,000Mbps
  • Key Information: Limitless knowledge, no contracts, no tools payment

Or name to study extra: (888) 962-8445

Verizon Fios – Greatest perks amongst fiber ISPs

  • Costs: $50 – $120 per thirty days
  • Speeds: 300 – 2,000Mbps
  • Key Information: Limitless knowledge, no contracts, free tools with gig service

Or name to study extra: (855) 786-3011

Google Fiber – Greatest for gig web

  • Costs: $70 – $100 per thirty days
  • Speeds: 1,000 – 2,000Mbps
  • Key Information: Limitless knowledge, no contracts, tools included

Or name to study extra: (877) 339-3106

Windstream Kinetic – Greatest rural fiber supplier

  • Costs: $40 – $70 per thirty days
  • Speeds: 100 – 1,000Mbps
  • Key Information: Limitless knowledge, no contracts

Name to Be taught Extra (844) 412-6784

Ziply Fiber – Quickest fiber web supplier

  • Costs: $40 – $300 per thirty days
  • Speeds: 100 – 10,000Mbps
  • Key Information: Limitless knowledge, no contracts, quick rural web connection

Or name to study extra: (877) 306-4879

What’s the greatest fiber web total?

The know-how your web supplier makes use of makes a distinction. If that know-how is fiber-optic, you possibly can relaxation assured you are getting the most effective in velocity and reliability. AT&T Fiber is an efficient instance of a fiber connection’s potential and is CNET’s decide for greatest fiber supplier total. AT&T Fiber has a broad fiber-optic community, an honest choice of high-speed plans, aggressive pricing, favorable service phrases and a number one buyer satisfaction document.

AT&T Fiber is not the one possibility for fiber web. You may discover my picks of the most effective fiber web suppliers under. Every of the greatest web suppliers makes use of a fiber-to-the-home community, which all however ensures the most effective connection high quality, velocity and reliability. Moreover, these suppliers stand out for his or her distinctive pricing, availability, buyer satisfaction and different components. We replace this listing periodically.

Greatest fiber web of 2024

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Velocity vary

300 – 5,000 Mbps

Worth vary

$55 – $250 per thirty days

Our take – AT&T has the best availability of any fiber supplier, extending service to greater than 16 million potential clients throughout 21 states. The supplier additionally boasts among the lowest pricing on fiber web service whenever you bear in mind its new multi-gig tiers. 

Or name to study extra: (888) 249-1978

Test with AT&T

Velocity vary

300 – 5,000 Mbps

Worth vary

$55 – $250 per thirty days

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Velocity vary

500 – 5,000 Mbps

Worth vary

$50 – $155 per thirty days

Our take – Frontier Communications lately expanded its fiber web protection to 19 states after which rolled out a brand new multi-gig service to all the footprint unexpectedly, turning into the primary main ISP to take action.

Or name to study extra: (888) 962-8445

Test with Frontier

Velocity vary

500 – 5,000 Mbps

Worth vary

$50 – $155 per thirty days

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Velocity vary

300 – 2,000 Mbps

Worth vary

$50 – $120 per thirty days

Our take – Verizon Fios is a detailed second to AT&T when it comes to velocity, pricing and repair phrases, however it lacks the identical breadth of protection. Though accessible to just about the identical variety of potential clients as AT&T Fiber, Verizon Fios primarily serves the mid-Atlantic and Northeast areas. 

Or name to study extra: (855) 786-3011

Test with Verizon

Velocity vary

300 – 2,000 Mbps

Worth vary

$50 – $120 per thirty days

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Velocity vary

1,000 – 2,000 Mbps

Worth vary

$70 – $100 per thirty days

Our take – Google Fiber remains to be round and resuming enlargement after a multiyear hiatus. The place accessible, Google Fiber gives fiber web service beginning at $70 a month and a 2Gbps plan beginning at $100 a month. Each include tools included at no further value, no knowledge caps and no contracts. 

Or name to study extra: (877) 339-3106

Test with Google

Velocity vary

1,000 – 2,000 Mbps

Worth vary

$70 – $100 per thirty days

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Velocity vary

100 – 1,000 Mbps

Worth vary

$40 – $70 per thirty days

Our take – One drawback of fiber web is that it is sometimes solely accessible in choose neighborhoods of bigger cities. When you’re residing within the suburbs or a rural space, then your greatest probability to get fiber web is probably going Kinetic by Windstream. Roughly a 3rd of Windstream’s community — which spans rural and suburban areas throughout 18 states — is fiber optic.

Name to Be taught Extra (844) 412-6784

Velocity vary

100 – 1,000 Mbps

Worth vary

$40 – $70 per thirty days

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Velocity vary

100 – 10,000 Mbps

Worth vary

$40 – $300 per thirty days

Our take – Ziply Fiber lately rolled out a ridiculously quick 50-gig plan throughout its total Northwest footprint in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington, successfully making it the quickest web supplier nationwide.

Or name to study extra: (877) 306-4879

Test with Ziply

Velocity vary

100 – 10,000 Mbps

Worth vary

$40 – $300 per thirty days

Why go for fiber web?

Your web speeds, reliability and total expertise do not rely solely on the web supplier you select. The know-how it makes use of to run service to your house makes a giant distinction as effectively.

If I might advocate any web connection sort above all the remaining, that’d be fiber. My fiber web speeds, add and obtain, are quick and constant, even throughout peak utilization instances or inclement climate. The usual month-to-month charge of fiber web providers, whereas not the least expensive service amongst web suppliers in my space, remains to be an ideal worth contemplating the speeds I get.

What to think about when looking for fiber web

Fiber web is the most effective sort of service for many properties, however there’s extra to picking a supplier and plan than the connection sort. Listed below are some suggestions to remember when looking for fiber web service.

Availability. You will not discover fiber web to be accessible in almost as many properties as cable, DSL, satellite tv for pc and even 5G web. In truth, solely round 40% of US households are wired for fiber-optic web. Availability is scarce in suburban and rural areas and might differ from one neighborhood to the subsequent in most cities. It is doable fiber web is simply not accessible at your house or the tackle you are shifting to.

Speeds. Fiber web has the quickest add and obtain velocity potential of any sort of web. Most of the high suppliers supply velocity tiers as much as 2,000Mbps (2Gbps), 5Gbps and better. Whereas the blazing-fast speeds are tempting, they’re prone to be extra velocity than your house wants. Take a look at our information to discovering the fitting web velocity for assist deciding on a fiber plan that greatest meets your wants.

Worth. When you’re on the lookout for low cost web, fiber might not be your best choice. It is true that fiber web plans are sometimes the most effective worth, however you might discover cheaper choices from cable or 5G suppliers.

Just a few fiber suppliers supply plans with beginning costs as little as $30 per thirty days, however you are extra prone to pay at the very least $50 per thirty days for fiber web. Cable web suppliers together with Cox, Mediacom, Xfinity and others have lower-priced plans in lots of areas. If you’re a T-Cell Magenta Max or Verizon wi-fi buyer, you possibly can get 5G house web for the discounted worth of $25 to $35 per thirty days.

Bundles. Few fiber suppliers supply a TV service, that means you might not be capable of bundle web and TV along with the identical supplier should you select a fiber web service. Within the days of streaming and cord-cutting, that might not be a deal-breaker for you, however it’s one thing to remember when looking for each providers.

How we consider fiber web suppliers

Testing an web supplier the identical means CNET exams different services is, at greatest, impractical. As an alternative, we depend on in depth analysis of every supplier to develop our evaluations and proposals.

When evaluating fiber web suppliers, availability, speeds and total worth are on the heart of our evaluations. We additionally look at added charges, knowledge caps, contract necessities, buyer satisfaction stories and different components that might have an effect on your high quality of service or buyer expertise.

We check with the Federal Communications Fee at FCC.gov for ISP availability knowledge and the kind of community a supplier makes use of. We then analysis a supplier’s speeds, pricing and repair phrases by way of quite a lot of channels such because the supplier’s web site and our personal historic knowledge. When doable, we contact the supplier straight to verify pricing and velocity particulars.

Lastly, to develop a extra well-rounded perspective of the supplier, we contemplate buyer satisfaction stories from the American Buyer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Energy, in addition to buyer evaluations and complaints from sources such because the Higher Enterprise Bureau, downdetector.com and even Reddit.

Earlier than writing our evaluations and compiling greatest lists, we analysis something and all the things the standard shopper would need to know previous to signing up for house web service. Learn our piece on how we overview web suppliers to study extra about our overview course of.

Fiber web honorable mentions

  • EarthLink: EarthLink makes use of the fiber networks put in by different suppliers or municipal fiber-optic networks, which implies accessible speeds and repair high quality can differ extensively from one area to the subsequent. In choose areas, EarthLink gives fiber service with speeds of as much as 1 gigabit for round $100 a month.
  • Optimum: Optimum is primarily a cable web supplier, however it does have a rising fiber community, notably within the better NYC space. Roughly 2.7 million households can be found for fiber service within the space.
  • Xfinity: Comcast Xfinity’s fiber service can also be considerably restricted in availability and gives a formidable max velocity of as much as 6,000Mbps. The catch? The plan comes with an equally jaw-dropping worth of $300 a month.

Greatest fiber web suppliers recap

If fiber web service is offered in your space, it is in all probability price getting, particularly if any of the suppliers listed above is an possibility. AT&T is best to advocate due to its excessive availability, low prices and favorable service phrases, however Verizon Fios is a detailed second with low pricing, excessive buyer satisfaction and plenty of perks for signing up. Google Fiber, Frontier Fiber, Windstream, CenturyLink and Ziply Fiber spherical out the listing of excellent choices whereas suppliers like EarthLink, Optimum and others are price a glance, too, if accessible in your space.

Close up of fiber optic cables Close up of fiber optic cables

Andrew Brookes/Getty Pictures

Fiber web FAQs

Fiber-optic web sends web alerts through skinny glass wires both straight to the house, aka FTTH, or to a node simply outdoors the house, aka FTTN. The know-how permits greater bandwidth and sooner knowledge transmission than every other connection sort and has the distinctive functionality of delivering symmetrical or near-symmetrical obtain and add speeds. Fiber web makes use of a special sort of modem than DSL or the DOCSIS tools used for cable. In truth, fiber technically does not use a modem in any respect, however an optical community terminal that performs the identical operate.

What’s the quickest fiber web?

Ziply Fiber has the quickest velocity tier of any main fiber web supplier with most speeds of fifty,000Mbps, or 50Gbps. Many different fiber suppliers high out at 5Gbps, 2Gbps or 1Gbps.

Is fiber web definitely worth the cash?

Beginning costs for fiber web plans sometimes vary from $30 to $50 a month, with gigabit service starting from $60 to $80 a month. Whereas there are cheaper plans accessible with cable or 5G web service in choose areas, fiber service is prone to include higher velocity and connection high quality for the value.

Is fiber the most effective web connection sort?

Sure. Fiber-optic web gives speeds and reliability that different web connection varieties merely can not, and you will get it for across the similar month-to-month worth as cable web or DSL service. The one downside is availability: Fiber-optic service is just accessible to about 36% of US residents, in line with the Federal Communications Fee.

Will 5G change fiber-optic web?

Unlikely. Whereas the potential of 5G house web is promising, it does not presently supply the velocity or reliability that comes with a fiber-optic connection. That stated, the wi-fi supply methodology and quickly increasing availability make 5G house web a viable different to fiber web in areas the place fiber connections aren’t but accessible.

When will fiber be accessible close to me?

If fiber hasn’t reached your tackle but, I am sorry to say you may simply need to be affected person, as suppliers are actively increasing their fiber networks throughout the US. You are extra prone to see fiber come to your neighborhood should you dwell in a metropolis or densely populated space, however suppliers like Windstream and CenturyLink present that fiber entry in suburban and rural areas can also be obtainable.



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