Best Unlimited Home Internet Companies Of 2024

• Google Fiber
• AT&T Internet
• Verizon Fios
• T-Mobile Home Internet
• Charter Spectrum

Determining which unlimited data home internet company and plan will work best for your needs is challenging. The sheer volume of companies and plans available can be hard to grasp and even harder to figure out what they’re all about. Consider the following factors to pare down your choices to a reasonable level when deciding on an internet provider.

Internet Speeds

Perhaps the most important consideration, even more than the data amount, is the speed of your internet connection. While speed is crucial for serious gamers, not having enough for online meetings or browsing is more than a little annoying for casual internet users.

Internet speeds for unlimited data plans generally range from 100 Mbps to 1000 Mbps, or 1 Gbps. However, there are outliers down to about 10 Mbps and up to around 8 Gbps. A good speed for most at-home work or meetings and extensive internet use is 300 Mbps. Consider a plan closer to 1 Gbps for serious gaming or simultaneous streaming on multiple devices.

Fiber vs. Cable

Cable is the most common way to transfer internet data from place to place. Generally, most people in the country live in places that cable internet can reach. However, other options exist, such as 5G, satellite and fiber optics, and each has benefits.

Fiber internet capability is only available in some places. Customers can enjoy faster download and upload speeds and massive streaming and gaming capacities where it’s available.

Deciding between fiber and cable usually comes down to speed. While fiber is slightly more costly than cable, speeds above 1 Gbps are common with the technology and service is more reliable. Cable connections can only achieve speeds up to around 1 Gbps but generally cost less and are readily available in far more places.

Rules and Restrictions

The definition of unlimited internet data is sometimes a gray area. When choosing an unlimited data internet provider, ensure the plan is truly unlimited unless you’re confident you won’t need more than advertised. While some providers insist their plans have no data caps, in reality, you may be able to use as much data as you like; however, your connection speed may slow after a certain amount of data is used.

Completely avoiding these plans isn’t necessary if you won’t exceed the invisible data cap. In fact, if choosing the option saves money, it may be worth the limitations. However, it’s better to make sure first for complete data freedom.

Discounts and Promotions

With the fierce competition for your business, promotional pricing, and discounts are quite common among internet providers. It’s possibly not the most important reason to choose one provider over another. However, if you’re deciding between two of them and one offers a discount, taking advantage of it can be a good thing.

Many internet providers offer first-time customer discounts or lower-cost promotional periods. Other telecommunications companies offer permanently lower monthly rates if you bundle your internet with other services they provide, such as cell phone or television packages.

While many households benefit significantly from having no data limits on their internet, the service isn’t necessary for everyone. Choose an unlimited data plan if one or more of the following factors apply.

High Data Needs

If you or your family go through large amounts of data, having an unlimited data plan can minimize costs and increase confidence that your speed will remain fast throughout the month. Serious online gaming or frequent large video downloading are both good excuses for an unlimited data plan.

Large Family

Large families tend to use a lot of data just because of volume. The number of devices in your household will undoubtedly increase the amount of data used. In addition to unlimited data, your family will likely benefit from higher download and upload speeds to handle multiple devices operating at any given time.

Avoid Worrying About Added Costs

Many internet service providers charge hefty fees for exceeding your data limit. Even if you’re only near your current data cap sometimes, having peace of mind knowing you’ll never run out of connectivity or owe extra fees due to overuse can be worth having an unlimited data plan.

Determining a hard number reflecting how much internet data the average household uses is next to impossible. Current estimates range from around 400 GB to almost 800 GB. The wide range is due to the numerous variables between families and usage habits and needs.

To determine the best unlimited internet company ranking, the Forbes Home Improvement editorial team analyzed 24 major providers, with each company’s star rating determined by evaluating a variety of metrics, including:

Customer Reviews (18%)

Overall customer reviews encompassed 18% of our ranking score for each company. Scores were based on information and reviews from the Better Business Bureau, Trustpilot, Consumer Affairs, Google Reviews and Facebook.

Customer Support (12%)

Customer support parameters such as live chat and phone service availability, as well as customer access to a knowledge base, community forum or blog information, made up our customer support scores.

Plans (32%)

Plan availability, prices, contract requirements, installation options, and discounts and promotions made up the largest percentage of our scoring.

Fiber, 5G and Speed (19%)

Type of available connections and estimated connection speeds in each plan made up 19% of our rating score.

State Availability (15%)

The number of states and availability within those states represented 15% of our ranking score for each company.

Editorial Judgment Points (4%)

We reserved a small portion of bonus points for companies with outstanding features or benefits that separated them from the crowd as determined by our expert reviewers.