Best Internet Providers in San Francisco

What is the best internet provider in San Francisco?

Sonic is the best Internet service provider in San Francisco, according to CNET’s broadband experts. This ISP offers plans with speeds up to 10,000 Mbps with no data caps for just $50 per month. If that doesn’t convince you, there are other options. Verizon 5G Home Internet, AT&T Fiber And Xfinity have strong coverage throughout the region, so if Sonic isn’t available where you live, consider these three providers.

Looking for a cheaper plan? Take a look at Amazing broadband. Its cheapest plan costs $30 for 300 Mbps, and the high-end 1,500 Mbps plan costs $85 (although it’s currently discounted to $60 per month).

If you are looking to get the fastest internet speeds in the city, Sonic’s 10,000 Mbps plan costs just $50 per month. Its service also bucks the trend of ever-increasing Internet costs. This is important given that a recent CNET survey found that 63% of U.S. adults paying for home Internet saw their prices increased by an average of $195 last year.

If keeping costs low is your main priority, look into AT&T Fiber and Xfinity plans. AT&T has multi-gigabit plans reaching up to 5,000 Mbps, and Xfinity has a 2,000 Mbps plan available for $100.

Source: CNET analysis of supplier data.

Other Internet Providers Available in San Francisco

Amazing broadband: Also known as Wave, Astound Broadband is a cable internet option available throughout San Francisco. Download speeds start at 300 Mbps and reach 1,500 Mbps. Astound offers great values ​​on the surface, but all plans offer download speeds of no more than 50 Mbps, which falls short of fiber optic internet standards. Nevertheless, the price offers good value for money by megabits per second.

Etheric Networks: Etheric has an extensive fixed wireless coverage map, with service covering the entire Bay Area and extending as far south as Salinas. Etheric Networks offers residential Internet service via a wireless connection to the company’s wired infrastructure. You’ll need to schedule a free site survey at your home to see if Etheric is even an option at your address, and while the company doesn’t publish its prices online, a 2021 Etheric blog post explaining why the service costs more than Comcast gives a good indication that it’s on the expensive side.

GFiber Webpass: None of the Bay Area metros are GFiber cities. For that, you’ll need to head south to Orange County. San Francisco and Oakland are home to many buildings equipped with GFiber Webpass. This fixed wireless service uses antennas to send a high-speed signal to multi-unit buildings like apartment complexes. Speeds of up to one gigabit are possible at select addresses for a flat rate of $70 per month or $63 for an annual plan.

Monkeybrains: Monkeybrains is a local fixed wireless Internet service provider operating in San Francisco since 1998. When you sign up, the company will install an antenna on the roof of your building and run an Ethernet cable through your house – plug in a router, and voila, Internet access. Your speeds will depend on the strength of the signal at your address, and you shouldn’t expect anything extremely fast: advertised speeds vary between 20 and 50 Mbps. At a flat rate of $35 per month, Monkeybrains might be worth a call if nothing else is available.

Raw Bandwidth Communications: Raw Bandwidth uses a mix of Internet technologies to bring businesses and residential addresses online and even offers private line service with speeds up to gigabit. Residential service is available in much of San Francisco and the surrounding area, but most homes on this coverage map will have to make do with DSL or even dial-up service, making it an outdated option for Bay Area residents. Speeds will not exceed 100 Mbps under the best circumstances and will likely be much lower. Still, with no data caps or scheduled price increases, Raw Bandwidth could be suitable for homes requiring basic connectivity to check emails and browse easily.

Unwired: Unwired is another local fixed wireless Internet provider that offers advertising services to residents, business owners, and people on the go. The service starts at $55 per month but can go up to $175 per month. Unwired’s plans aren’t really much value. Still, if you’re on the go or looking for temporary internet service, Unwired might be for you.

Satellite Internet: Satellite Internet from Hughesnet Or Viasat is available just about everywhere. Still, you shouldn’t expect fast speeds, low latency, or low value, as satellite internet often comes with high equipment costs, strict data limits, and long-term service contracts. Star linkthe satellite internet service from SpaceX and Elon Musk, is your third option. It doesn’t offer the same universal availability as Hughesnet or Viasat and costs $120 per month, plus $349 for equipment.

T-Mobile Home Internet: For $50 to $70 per month, T-Mobile can connect eligible addresses to the Internet on the same wireless airwaves used for mobile connections, including 5G airwaves. The service offers better overall uptime than Verizon since it also relies on 4G/LTE airwaves, but that also means average speeds are slower, with downloads ranging from 87 to 415 Mbps and uploads ranging from 14 to 55 Mbps. There are no data caps or contracts with T-Mobile, so it’s an attractive option for rural customers in the coverage map without access to faster fiber or cable plans.

Cheap Internet Options in San Francisco

If you’re trying to keep your internet bill as low as possible, you won’t need to spend more than $50 per month with one of San Francisco’s major providers. Astound Broadband’s $30 per month plan for 300 Mbps speed is the cheapest option in the area.

What is the cheapest internet plan in San Francisco?

Source: CNET analysis of supplier data.

How to Find Internet Deals and Promotions in San Francisco

The best Internet deals and promotions in San Francisco depend on the discounts available at any given time. Most deals are short-term, but we frequently check for the latest deals.

San Francisco internet providers, such as Sonic, Xfinity and Astound Broadband, may offer lower introductory prices or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Others, including AT&T and Verizon, charge the same standard rates year-round.

For a more complete list of promotions, see our guide on best internet deals.

How fast is broadband in San Francisco?

Although several fiber and cable providers cover the Bay Area, San Francisco’s internet speeds are relatively slow. The city has a median download speed of 266 Mbps on Ookla’s speed test, which lags behind. Los Angeles And Sacramentowith median download speeds of up to 307 Mbps and 305 Mbps respectively. (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, the same parent company as CNET.)

If you’re looking for above-average speed in SF, you have plenty of options and ISPs to choose from. Sonic offers the fastest connection in San Francisco, offering speeds of up to 10 Gbps in select areas for $50 per month. If you can’t get Sonic to your address, AT&T Fiber, Xfinity and Astound Broadband also offer Gigabit and multi-gigabit plans.

Fastest Internet Plans in San Francisco

Source: anal yse CNET of supplier data.

What is good internet speed?

Most Internet connection plans can now handle basic productivity and communication tasks. If you’re looking for an internet plan that can accommodate video conferencing, video streaming, or gaming, you’ll have a better experience with a more robust connection. Here’s a look at the minimum recommended download speeds for various apps, according to the FCC. Note that these are guidelines only and Internet speed, service and performance vary depending on connection type, provider and address.

• 0 to 5 Mbps gets you through the essentials: browsing the Internet, sending and receiving emails, and streaming low-quality video.
• 5 to 40 Mbps gives you higher quality video streaming and video conferencing.
• 40 to 100 Mbps should give a user enough bandwidth to satisfy the demands of modern teleworking, video streaming, and online gaming.
• 100 to 500 Mbps allows one or two users to participate in high-bandwidth activities like video conferencing, streaming, and online gaming simultaneously.
• 500 to 1000 Mbps allows three or more users to participate in high-bandwidth activities like video conferencing, streaming, and gaming.

For more information, see our guide on how much internet speed you really need.

How CNET Chose the Best Internet Service Providers in San Francisco

Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the last smart phone, laptop, router Or kitchen toolit is not practical to personally test every ISP in a given city. What is our approach? We start by researching pricing, availability, and speed information, relying on our own historical ISP data, provider sites, and Federal Communications Commission map information on FCC.gov.

It doesn’t stop there: we use the FCC website to verify our data and make sure we’re accounting for all ISPs that provide service in an area. We also enter local addresses on provider websites to find specific options for residents. We look at sources including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and JD Power to gauge how satisfied customers are with an ISP’s service. ISP plans and prices are subject to frequent change; All information provided is accurate at the time of publication.

Once we have this localized information, we ask three main questions:

1. Does the provider offer access to reasonably fast internet speeds?
2. Are customers getting decent value for what they pay?
3. Are customers satisfied with their service?

The answers to these questions are often multiple and complex, but the providers who come closest to “yes” in all three areas are the ones we recommend. When selecting the cheapest internet service, we look for the plans with the lowest monthly fees, although we also consider things like price increases, equipment fees, and contracts. Choosing the fastest Internet service is relatively simple. We review advertised download and upload speeds and take into account actual speed data from sources like Ookla and FCC reports.

To explore our process in more depth, visit our how we test ISPs page.

What’s the final word on Internet Service Providers in San Francisco?

If your home is wired with fiber, you’re in good shape. In addition to fast speeds, fiber Internet offers some of the best value in broadband, with costs per Mbps that are typically much lower than what you’ll get with cable, fixed wireless, DSL, or satellite. Sonic’s service costs a flat fee of $50 per month and gives you the best possible speeds at your address, making it a huge value for homes with cabling capable of reaching 10Gbps. Meanwhile, AT&T is being more flexible with its fiber service, allowing users to pay less for lower speeds. If fiber isn’t available at your address, sticking with a cable provider like Xfinity or Astound Broadband is your next best option.