Article updated on April 19, 2024 at 6:00 AM PDT
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CNET's pick for the best internet service provider in Houston is AT&T Fiber, thanks to its symmetrical download and upload speeds and high customer satisfaction scores. AT&T Fiber isn't available to everyone in H-Town, so Xfinity and Verizon 5G Home Internet are quality options, too.
If you're hunting for the lowest prices around or the fastest speeds available, we also have those top choices. The cheapest ISP in Houston is tied between Xfinity and Astound Broadband, both offering $20-a-month plans. You may be better off choosing Astound's service, which comes with a 300-megabit-per-second connection compared to Xfinity's 150Mbps.
AT&T Fiber, Frontier Fiber and local internet provider Tachus Fiber offer the fastest internet speed in Houston. Each provider boasts 5 gigabits of symmetrical speed, costing $225, $155 and $180 respectively.
CNET considers speeds, pricing, customer service and overall value to recommend the best internet service in Houston 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 do a close read of providers' terms and conditions and, when needed, will 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 text is specific to what's available in Houston. 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.
To learn more about how we review internet providers, visit our full methodology page.
Our take - Longtime Houston residents are probably well aware that while AT&T internet services are prevalent in the area, availability for AT&T Fiber remains somewhat limited. The company's DSL infrastructure is so outdated that AT&T publicly announced its goal of cutting its copper coverage in half by 2025. Fortunately, some customers may have access to AT&T's fixed wireless option, which offers up to 225Mbps in certain areas.
Availability Scan through the addresses in the area, and you'll find pockets of fiber availability throughout various Houston neighborhoods, including Hyde Park, Jacinto City, Northside Village, South Houston and Spring Branch.
Plans and pricing You're in great shape if you can access AT&T Fiber. It offers five plans: 300Mbps, 500Mbps, 1,000Mbps, 2,000Mbps and 5,000Mbps. Prices range from $55 to $225 per month.
Fees and service details All five AT&T Fiber plans feature symmetrical upload and download speeds, no data caps, no term agreements and no equipment rental fees.
Our take - Comcast's broadband service is ubiquitous in the Houston metro area, which can be helpful if you're moving within the city and want to transfer your service rather than go through the rigmarole of setting up with a new provider. On top of that, Xfinity has earned high customer satisfaction marks in recent reports from J.D. Power and the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
Availability According to the Federal Communications Commission's National Broadband Map, approximately 95% of Houston residents can access Xfinity's home internet service.
Plans and pricing Another bonus with Xfinity service is that you get several plan options. You can buy an affordable 150Mbps plan for $20 per month or splurge for speed and grab the Gigabit X2 option featuring 2,000Mbps for $120 per month. You've also got a few different plan options between those two to try to best fit your budget and home broadband demands.
Fees and service details All that said, a few things might give you pause. First, as a cable internet provider, Xfinity can't match the symmetrical speeds of fiber ISPs in the area, with upload speeds ranging from 10 to 200Mbps. Also, in contrast to most other providers in the Bayou City, Xfinity imposes a data cap on its customers; it's set at a reasonable 1.2TB. That might be a limiting factor for larger households and those with heavy internet users and multiple connected devices.
Our take - Verizon has been pushing its 5G internet service, making some big noise when it unveiled its C-band frequency rollout for its Ultra Wideband network. It's part of the company's aim to provide a national broadband option beyond the limits of its highly regarded fiber service, Verizon Fios, which is limited to folks in the Northeast.
Availability While you'll find plenty of Ultra Wideband availability on Verizon's 5G coverage map, customers will still need to check their address on the Verizon site to confirm if the 5G Home Internet service is available to them. According to the FCC, approximately 38% of Houston residents will have access to Verizon 5G Home Internet.
Plans and pricing There are two plans offered with this service. Verizon 5G Home Internet is $50 per month for download speeds of 50-300Mbps, and Verizon 5G Home Plus Internet is $70 per month for download speeds of 85-1,000Mbps. Customers can bump that monthly price down by $15 to $25 with qualifying 5G mobile plans.
Fees and service details Customers will find an appealingly flexible service with no contracts, no extra fees and plenty of perks, including a potential $500 credit toward early termination fees (for those switching out of a contract), price guarantees and a 30-day satisfaction guarantee.
Source: CNET analysis of provider data.
Beyond the three picks above, several other broadband choices exist in the Houston metro area. Some can be found only in small pockets of the city, while others are mainly located in the city suburbs. There are some compelling choices here, even though they're not as widely available.
The average starting price for internet service in Houston is just over $46 a month, but a few providers offer plans cheaper than that.
Xfinity and Astound Broadband offer the lowest starting price in Houston. Xfinity's Connect plan (150Mbps) has a promo price of $20 for the first two years and then $67 a month after that. It's also widely available throughout the Houston metro area and the Bayou City burbs. Astound Broadband's $20 plan grants download speeds up to 300Mbps, which is double the speed of Xfinity's Connect plan and includes your equipment rental.
Source: CNET analysis of provider data.
The best internet deals and top promotions in Houston depend on what discounts are available during a given time. Most deals are short-lived, but we look frequently for the latest offers.
Houston internet providers, such as Xfinity, Astound Broadband, Spectrum and Optimum, may offer lower introductory pricing or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Many, including AT&T, Frontier and Verizon, run the same standard pricing year-round.
For a more extensive list of promos, check out our guide on the best internet deals.
Houston, we have a problem. Although it's one of the top five most populated metros in the US, H-Town couldn't crack the top 50 on Ookla's list of the country's fastest cities for broadband.
Per the speed-testing site's most recent reporting, Houston managed to clock in at only No. 58. By contrast, its fellow Lone Star State cities of Austin, Corpus Christi, El Paso and San Antonio all placed in the top 15. Other Texas towns that placed higher on the speed chart -- adding insult to injury -- include Arlington, Fort Worth, Garland, Irving, Lubbock and Plano. Some small consolation: Houston finished well ahead of Dallas, which was in the bottom 5.
Some Houstonians may have access to the splashy 5Gbps plans from AT&T and Frontier which cost $225 and $130 per month, respectively.
Source: CNET analysis of provider data.
See all results for internet providers in Texas.
Most internet connection plans can now handle basic productivity and communication tasks. If you're looking for an internet plan that can accommodate videoconferencing, streaming video or gaming, you'll have a better experience with a more robust connection. Here's an overview of the recommended minimum download speeds for various applications, according to the FCC. Note that these are only guidelines and that internet speed, service and performance vary by connection type, provider and address.
For more information, refer to our guide on how much internet speed you really need.
Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the latest smartphone, laptop, router or kitchen tool, it’s impractical to personally test every ISP in a given city. What’s our approach? We start by researching the pricing, availability and speed information, drawing on our own historical ISP data, the provider sites and mapping information from the Federal Communications Commission at FCC.gov.
It doesn't end there: We go to the FCC's website to check our data and ensure we consider every ISP that provides service in an area. We also input local addresses on provider websites to find specific options for residents. We look at sources, including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Power, to evaluate how happy customers are with an ISP's service. ISP plans and prices are subject to frequent changes; all information provided is accurate as of publication.
Once we have this localized information, we ask three main questions:
While the answer to those questions is often layered and complex, the providers who come closest to “yes” on all three are the ones we recommend. When selecting the cheapest internet service, we look for the plans with the lowest monthly fee, although we also factor in things like price increases, equipment fees and contracts. Choosing the fastest internet service is relatively straightforward. We look at advertised upload and download speeds and consider real-world speed data from sources like Ookla and FCC reports.
To explore our process in more depth, visit our how we test ISPs page.
Houston offers several high-speed internet choices. You can get hooked up with home internet from fast fiber options, including AT&T, Frontier and local internet service provider Tachus. You could hop online via cable connections from Optimum and Spectrum. You could join the 5G home internet movement by trying Verizon 5G Home Internet or T-Mobile Home Internet.
Comcast's cable internet offering of Xfinity has Houston covered with the most extensive availability across the metro area. As we say in our CNET home internet reviews, a fiber internet connection outperforms cable almost every time. If you can access a fiber provider in the area -- including AT&T Fiber, Consolidated Communications, Frontier Fiber or Tachus -- don't hesitate to sign on the virtual dotted line.
Which internet service provider has the most coverage in Houston?
More than a dozen different ISPs are in the greater Houston metro, including satellite internet providers like Hughesnet, Starlink and Viasat (all three are available to 100% of the area, according to the FCC). Besides those satellite providers, Xfinity covers the most extensive area. You can find Comcast's cable service as far as Conroe to the north, East Bernard to the west, Baytown to the east, and Freeport and Galveston to the south.
Is fiber internet available in Houston?
Yes. You can find fiber internet throughout H-Town. Houston's top fiber internet providers include AT&T Fiber, Frontier Fiber and Tachus Fiber. It should also be noted that a small percentage of Xfinity locations are also eligible for fiber service, but it first requires a site survey to ascertain if the address is serviceable.
What internet provider has the fastest speeds in Houston?
Rack Server The fastest internet speed you can currently get in Houston is 5Gbps (5,000Mbps), provided by AT&T Fiber, Frontier Fiber and Tachus Fiber. Per Ookla's latest findings, the provider with the fastest average download speeds in Houston is AT&T, with a median download speed of approximately 257Mbps.