Best Internet Providers in Houston, Texas

What is the best internet provider in Houston?

The best internet service provider in Houston is AT&T Fiber, thanks to its symmetrical download and upload speeds and high customer satisfaction scores. However, not all Houston addresses can access AT&T Fiber, so Xfinity and Verizon 5G Home Internet are also quality options to consider if you're outside of AT&T's service area.

If you want the cheapest internet plans in Houston, there are some solid options, too. The cheapest ISP in Houston is Astound Broadband, offering a $20-a-month plan. Astound's service comes with a 300-megabit-per-second connection.

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 $245, $130 and $180, respectively.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

Other available internet providers in Houston

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.

• Astound Broadband: This cable internet provider, known regionally as Grande, offers some of Houston's most competitive starting rates. Its starting price of $20 a month for a 300Mbps plan comes out to an affordable 6 cents per Mbps. The rub is that Astound's price increases are some of the steepest in the industry.
• Brightspeed: You'll want to research this because, depending on your location, you may be dealing with mostly DSL coverage for the Houston area (which can be as low as 20Mbps), or if you're in the Kingwood area, you might see the company's much more compelling fiber product.
• Frontier Communications: Frontier has a scattered presence in the greater Houston area. You won't find it downtown, but you can get its DSL and fiber-optic service in the northeast outskirts of Baytown, Beach City, Cove and Crosby. You'll also find it in the southern portion of the metro area in League City and Sante Fe. If Frontier Fiber is available -- it features symmetrical plans of 200Mbps, 500Mbps, 1Gbps, 2Gbps, 5Gbps or 7Gbps speeds ranging from $30 to $300 per month for the first year -- it's a very appealing choice. If Frontier DSL is your only option, try other alternatives.
• Kinetic by Windstream: This DSL and fiber provider is available in just a few small pockets within the Houston city limits. Most of that availability is in the southern suburb of Sugar Land. You'll mostly deal with its DSL service rather than the faster fiber-optic plans.
• Optimum: First off, I can imagine you might be confused. Suddenlink is the provider you're probably familiar with in the Houston area. Its parent company, Altice USA, renamed it Optimum in 2022. In any case, Optimum service is scattered lightly throughout the metro area but has a heavier density north of the city in Conroe and Kingwood. This cable ISP is notable for its highly competitive starting rates, some of the most affordable in the area.
• Spectrum: Charter Communications' ISP has some of the more customer-friendly, straightforward terms you'll find for cable internet service. There are no contracts, no data caps and a free modem rental included in your monthly price, ranging from $50 to $70. It also includes free access to Wi-Fi hotspots across the country. Spectrum service is limited in the city center of Houston. You can find coverage north of the city, mainly in Magnolia, Spring, Tomball and The Woodlands. 
• Tachus: This local ISP, founded in 2018, is notable for its community presence and commitment to building 100% fiber-to-the-home networks within the greater Houston metropolitan area. It's now available to over 50,000 homes in Atascocita, Conroe, East Montgomery County, Kingwood, Magnolia, Oak Ridge County North and The Woodlands. There are five fiber plans, depending on what is available at your location, -- 300Mbps, 600Mbps, 1Gbps, 2.5Gbps and 5Gbps -- ranging from $65 to $180 a month, with no data caps and no contracts. A modem rental is included in the monthly price, but you'll need to provide your own router or rent one for as low as $6 per month.
• T-Mobile Home Internet: T-Mobile uses its 5G and 4G LTE networks to power its fixed wireless home internet product, which is available to over 50 million homes nationwide and approximately 55% of residents in the greater Houston area. Check your address on the T-Mobile site to see if you're serviceable since not all who have T-Mobile cell service at home are eligible for the home internet service. In any case, it's an intriguing offering that includes installation fees, taxes and equipment rental under its $55-a-month fee, with no data caps or contracts.

Cheap internet options in Houston

The average starting price for internet service in Houston is just over $46 a month, but a few providers offer plans cheaper than that.

Astound Broadband offers the lowest starting price in Houston. Astound Broadband's $20 plan grants download speeds up to 300Mbps and includes your equipment rental.

What's the cheapest internet plan in Houston?

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

How to find internet deals and promotions in Houston

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.

How fast is Houston broadband?

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. (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.)

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, Fort Worth 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, Garland, Irving, Lubbock, Laredo and Plano. Some small consolation: Houston finished well ahead of Dallas, which was in the bottom 3.

Some Houstonians may have access to the splashy 5Gbps plans from AT&T and Frontier which cost $245 and $130 per month, respectively, and even the 7Gbps plan from Frontier for $300 per month.

Fastest internet plans in Houston

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

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What’s a 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 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.

• 0 to 5Mbps allows you to tackle the basics: browsing the internet, sending and receiving email and streaming low-quality video.
• 5 to 40Mbps gives you higher-quality video streaming and videoconferencing.
• 40 to 100Mbps should give one user sufficient bandwidth to satisfy the demands of modern telecommuting, video streaming and online gaming. 
• 100 to 500Mbps allows one to two users to simultaneously engage in high-bandwidth activities like videoconferencing, streaming and online gaming. 
• 500 to 1,000Mbps allows three or more users to engage in high-bandwidth activities at the same time.

How CNET chose the best internet providers in Houston

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: 

• Does the provider offer access to reasonably fast internet speeds? 
• Do customers get decent value for what they're paying? 
• Are customers happy with their service? 

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.

What's the final word on Houston internet providers?

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. 

Best internet providers in Houston FAQs