Best Internet Service Provider 2023
Who is the best internet service provider in 2023? The answer is it primarily depends on three factors – speed, price and where you live. Competition is heating up with internet service providers (ISPs). What used to be mostly two options – Comcast Xfinity cable or CenturyLink Lumen DSL, has grown to half a dozen or more. See our blog on how to make your internet faster – Xfinity versus CenturyLink.
Cable, satellite, DSL, fiber, 5G and fixed wireless are now among the many Colorado Internet options in 2023. T Mobile and Verizon have inexpensive high speed 5G Home Internet in some Denver metro areas now. Google, Starry, LiveWire, WiFiHood, etc. have internet offerings in most urban areas. NextLight (Longmont), Connexion (Fort Collins), Pulse (Loveland) and Ting (Centennial & Colorado Springs) provide Fiber internet to their respective Colorado cities. Google Fiber is coming to Lakewood, Wheat Ridge and Westminster Colorado. Plus T Mobile just started offering 5G Home Internet in Northglenn and Pueblo, CO. Choices in rural areas are limited but are expanding with the support of the government broadband initiatives and projects like StarLink.
Who is the best internet service provider in my area?
The best way to check for the best ISP is by using the new Broadband Service Map for your address (see sample picture for Longmont, Colorado). Enter your address and you should see the best providers for your area including maximum download and upload speeds.
While Longmont residents have multiple options, the clear winner (and top 3 ISPs in the nation) is NextLight – the City of Longmont’s municipal fiber offering.
Within the FCC Broadband Map, if there is no internet service provider with download speeds of at least 100 MBPS available at your home, submit an “Availability Challenge”.
Congress approved a $43B initiative to bring broadband primarily to rural and underserved areas. This action will notify the FCC that your neighborhood might need development dollars to install fiber.
What internet speed do I need?
The great thing about more competition is faster speeds and better price. But be careful. It’s not all about speed. In fact, Xfinity (cable) is notorious for aggressively upselling more speed, even when more speed wasn’t requested or needed. ISPs spend millions of dollars on ads telling you why you need more speed. Why? Because they make more money every month when you buy a higher speed tier.
For our customers, the solution is getting better Wi-Fi throughout the whole-home. For example, most households do not notice the difference between 200 MBPS and 1000 MBPS (megabits per second) download speed if you have the right hardware.
With the right internal whole-home Wi-Fi network, you could cut your internet bill in half every month!
- In apartments, we often recommend speeds of 50-200 MBPS depending on usage for streaming, gaming and work.
- For most seniors, because there are few simultaneously internet connected devices, most only need 50-100 MBPS.
- For most family homes, we recommend a minimum internet speed of 50 MBPS. Homes with multiple members and more internet connected devices may need 100-300+ MBPS.
Compare internet service providers
Balancing price, speed, reliability and service quality is no easy task. Consequently, many of the customers we help find themselves bouncing between providers only to find they never really saved money in the process. Additional considerations for modem/gateway rental fees and data caps should be considered.
We typically recommend (in order from best to worst) – 1) Municipal Fiber, 2) Telco Fiber, 3) Cable, 4) Fixed Wireless, 5) 5G Fixed Wireless, 6) Low-Orbit Satellite, 7) Satellite, 8) DSL. If cable is the best option in your area, keep checking your area for new broadband alternatives.
To help you evaluate providers, consider these pros and cons of each provider.
| ISP Type | Price Range (monthly) | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Municipal Fiber | $40-$70 | – Gig Speeds – Reliable – No Data Caps – Symmetrical speeds – Money goes back to the community – Local Support | – Limited availability – Router rental fees |
| 2. Telco Fiber | $50-$65 | – Gig Speeds – Price for life – Reliable – No Data Caps – Symmetrical speeds | – Limited availability – Modem rental fees – It’s the telco company |
| 3. Cable* | $50-$100 | – Widespread availability – Proven technology – Variety of speed tiers – Gig+ available in some areas – May be packaged with a cell phone plan | – Data Caps – Deceptive sales practices – Equipment rental fees – No “Price for Life” – Asymmetrical speeds – Occasional service outages – It’s the cable company |
| 4/5. Fixed Wireless & 5G Fixed Wireless | $30-$50 | – Lower price – No monthly equipment rental fee – Save more money if bundled with cell phone plan | – Limited availability – Still in its early phase – Reliability is dependent on distance from towers – Device positioning in the home is not always optimal |
| 6. Low-orbit satellite | $110 | – Best option for rural areas – Decent speeds – It’s owned by Elon Musk | – Expensive – Limited availability – Still in its early phase – Provided Wi-Fi router is not powerful – Need to install antenna – It’s owned by Elon Musk |
| 7. Satellite | $45-$80 | – Only good for rural areas with no low-orbit satellite option | – Poor value – Contracts – Lower speeds – Data caps – Throttling – Influenced by the weather |
| 8. Telco DSL | $40-$55 | – Lower monthly rate – Price for life – Widespread availability | – Being phased out – Slow speeds – Interruptions – Not reliable – It’s the telco company |
Conclusion: best internet service provider in 2023
These resources should help you make the choice for the best internet provider for the best price. Instead of trying to make the determination for yourself, we help customers everyday:
- install and own their whole-home wi-fi network,
- get the most out of wi-fi 6,
- and maximize savings on internet across all factors.
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