Best Internet Providers in Tampa, Florida

What’s the greatest web supplier in Tampa, Florida?

Frontier Fiber is CNET’s prime choose for one of the best web supplier in Tampa. We advocate it for many households within the space as a result of it presents stable speeds at cheap costs and has excessive buyer satisfaction scores. If you happen to’re outdoors the protection space of Frontier Fiber or want alternate options, you’ll be able to take into account wi-fi web from Verizon 5G Home Internet or T-Mobile Home Internet. The 2 wi-fi suppliers have stable choices and bundling with a cellular plan will get you additional reductions. One other stable different is Spectrum, which has widespread protection all through Tampa and presents good pricing. Take into account, nonetheless, that availability, speeds and month-to-month pricing will range based on your location, so what you may get would possibly differ from nationwide listings.

All accessible Tampa house web suppliers

The suppliers talked about above aren’t the one ones serving Tampa, however they’re those I might advocate probably the most. Right here’s a fast comparability of the sensible web choices accessible within the Tampa space.

Supply: CNET evaluation of supplier information.

Prime Tampa ISP honorable mentions

EarthLink: A reputation almost as previous as house web itself, EarthLink now presents service by piggybacking off of the networks of different suppliers and municipalities. In consequence, you’re more likely to pay a bit extra for service in comparison with different suppliers. Pricing and speeds range broadly by location, however all plans include a one-year contract.

Rapid Systems: Native fastened wi-fi supplier Fast Methods is an honest selection for web in rural central Florida, however pricing is excessive and speeds are low within the Tampa Bay space. You’ll need to try different web choices at your deal with earlier than choosing Fast Methods, as residential pricing in Hillsborough County begins at $79 per thirty days for max speeds of 10Mbps.

T-Mobile Home Internet: With speeds of 87-415Mbps beginning at $50 per thirty days ($40 for qualifying prospects), T-Cellular rivals Verizon concerning 5G home internet. Though T-Cellular doesn’t have the identical pace potential, it does boast better protection than Verizon, making it a superb selection for house web in suburban and rural areas outdoors of Tampa.

WideOpenWest: You gained’t discover WideOpenWest, aka WOW, in Tampa, however it’s accessible in a lot of the Tampa Bay space, together with Clearwater, East Lake, Oldsmar and St. Petersburg. The cable web supplier is a good selection for low-cost, high-speed web, with service beginning at $30 per thirty days for speeds as much as 300Mbps.

Satellite internet: HughesNet, Viasat and probably even Starlink can be found in Tampa, however there are many different cheaper, sooner choices within the space to keep away from having to accept satellite tv for pc web.

How a lot is web in Tampa?

The price of web in Tampa will depend on the supplier and plan you select. The most cost effective web plans in Tampa will run you $30 per thirty days plus taxes and costs except you qualify for a reduction with Verizon or T-Cellular.

Supply: CNET evaluation of supplier information.

Web choices for low-income households in Tampa

The monetary barrier for house web service in Tampa is a bit larger than in different components of Florida. Nonetheless, each Spectrum and Frontier Fiber supply plans that price $30 per thirty days, not less than for the primary 12 months.

The Spectrum Web Benefit plan comes with obtain speeds of as much as 100Mbps, beginning at $30 per thirty days. Whereas Frontier presents 200Mbps and 500Mbps speeds for $30 per thirty days.

How briskly is web in Tampa?

Based on the latest Ookla pace check information, the state of Florida ranked quantity 3 in Q4 2023 for quickest median obtain speeds within the US at round 238Mbps. (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the identical guardian firm as CNET, Ziff Davis.) Tampa got here in barely slower than the state, ranked fiftieth general amongst US cities with a median obtain pace of 232Mbps.

Spectrum clocked the quickest median pace in Tampa at 314Mbps.

Many components can have an effect on pace exams, resembling utilizing Wi-Fi and an web plan’s most speeds, however Tampa’s pace check outcomes are spectacular and a very good indicator of the speeds you could possibly expertise with Spectrum and Frontier. 

Supply: CNET evaluation of supplier information.

How CNET selected one of the best web suppliers in Tampa

Web service suppliers are quite a few and regional. Not like the most recent smartphone, laptop, router or kitchen tool, it is impractical to personally check each ISP in a given metropolis. What’s our strategy? We begin by researching the pricing, availability and pace data drawing on our personal historic ISP information, the supplier websites and mapping data from the Federal Communications Fee at FCC.gov.

It does not finish there: We go to the FCC’s web site to examine our information and guarantee we’re contemplating each ISP that gives service in an space. We additionally enter native addresses on supplier web sites to search out particular choices for residents. To guage how pleased prospects are with an ISP’s service, we take a look at sources together with the American Buyer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Energy. ISP plans and costs are topic to frequent modifications; all data supplied is correct as of the time of publication. 

As soon as we now have this localized data, we ask three fundamental questions: 

• Does the supplier supply entry to fairly quick web speeds? 
• Do prospects get first rate worth for what they’re paying? 
• Are prospects pleased with their service? 

The reply to these questions is usually layered and complicated, however the suppliers who come closest to “sure” on all three are those we advocate. 

To discover our course of in additional depth, go to our web page on how we test ISPs.

Tampa house web FAQs