Best Rural Internet Providers for November 2024

Our picks Best rural internet providers T-Mobile Home Internet is arguably the best rural internet service provider , surpassing other wired and wireless rural internet providers. The ISP has high availability without the need for wires or a direct line of sight to the home, plus competitive pricing and customer-friendly service terms that include unlimited data and free equipment rental. Broadband service has never been widely available in rural areas, and the Federal Communication Commission's overdue ruling classifying a high-speed connection as at least 100 megabits per second down and 20Mbps up means broadband connections are even harder to find.

Wired services, especially those of the cable internet or fiber-optic variety, are scarce, so many in rural areas rely on wireless internet. Among popular rural internet options, Mediacom is the cheapest internet provider , with service starting at $15 a month for speeds up to 100Mbps. If you’re looking for speed, Ziply Fiber has the fastest multigigabit speeds of any ISP, rural or otherwise, with its 50,000Mbps plan.



Other rural internet providers, including CenturyLink , Kinetic and Rise Broadband , are also worth considering if they're available in your area . In locations where wired or fixed wireless connections aren’t available, satellite internet from Hughesnet and Viasat are an always an option, but you may get faster speeds and better overall value with Starlink . Which rural internet provider is best for your home? Check out CNET's picks for the best internet providers for November 2024 with high availability in rural areas, all chosen based on coverage, speeds, pricing, data caps and customer satisfaction.

Locating local internet providers Best rural internet of 2024 Our take - T-Mobile Home Internet has the greatest coverage of any non-satellite internet service provider, available to nearly 60% of US households, according to the FCC. While service isn’t the cheapest or the fastest of any rural internet provider, the unlimited data, free equipment and potential mobile bundle discount help boost the provider’s overall value. Actual speeds will vary by address, but T-Mobile advertises a range of 72 to 245Mbps and states that "25% of our customers see speeds below and 25% see speeds above" the range.

I can't say those speeds are particularly impressive, but they are faster than you can expect from DSL service -- and without the hassle of added fees, data caps and contracts. Our take - Aside from satellite internet providers and T-Mobile, CenturyLink has perhaps the greatest coverage area of any rural ISP, spanning suburban and rural areas across 16 states. CenturyLink, though a DSL service, can meet or beat the internet speeds of satellite internet in most service areas, and the $55-per-month service includes unlimited data and no contracts.

The speeds available will be based on your location, but you can expect a range between 30 to 100Mbps. There is, however, a $15 monthly fee if you choose to rent your Wi-Fi equipment, but this fee is skippable if you use your own. You can also purchase your equipment for $200 upfront, which might be a better option for long-term service.

Our take - Rise Broadband is a leading non-5G fixed wireless internet provider with service available in 16 states. Of those, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Texas and Utah have the greatest serviceability. At present, its fiber network is still very limited.

However, select areas might be serviceable for its faster fiber speed tiers, offering gigabit speeds. Similar to satellite internet, fixed wireless service from Rise Broadband requires no direct wires to the home, making it accessible to those in rural areas where cable, fiber-optic and even telephone lines don't reach. Where available, Rise Broadband would be my choice over satellite internet since the provider offers speeds up to 250Mbps, latency low enough to support online gaming and truly unlimited data options, all for a relatively low price compared with satellite.

Rise Broadband is also a great choice for Wi-Fi in rural areas as it offers additional equipment for increased coverage throughout your home. Moreover, the Premium Wi-Fi and Premium Mesh Wi-Fi service are available as add-ons to all internet plans. Our take - Like CenturyLink, Kinetic by Windstream also received a 6.

7/10 in our review, but the provider falls short of CenturyLink in total coverage area. That said, it's a practical choice for rural internet as the provider boasts some of the fastest DSL speeds of any rural ISP. Kinetic offers internet service in 18 states across the Midwest, South and Eastern US.

Although available primarily in rural and suburban areas, nearly a third of Windstream's network uses fiber technology. Where fiber service is available, Kinetic customers can get download and upload speeds up to 1,000Mbps or higher. These speeds make Kinetic ideal for streaming over wireless connections and online gaming -- activities that are often a challenge with rural internet service.

Our take - Hughesnet recently introduced a new set of internet plans with increased speeds of 50 to 100Mbps and monthly priority data limits of 100 to 200GB. That’s a big jump from previous offerings (25Mbps and 15 to 100GB of data) but without a significantly big jump in pricing. It’s still satellite internet, which can mean high latency and the potential for inclement weather to disrupt your signal, but Hughesnet has a solution for that, as well.

Hughesnet Fusion plans, available in select areas, combine satellite internet with fixed wireless technology to shorten the distance data has to travel. By making use of local fixed wireless towers, Hughesnet Fusion plans create a more reliable connection and can lower latency enough to support online gaming. Our take - As a cable provider, Mediacom can deliver much faster and more reliable speeds than DSL, satellite or fixed wireless service, but its service reach is more limited.

Mediacom is available to just over 2% of US residents, with service areas across much of the Midwest and South, as well as parts of California and Delaware. Mediacom is one of the best cheap internet providers for rural areas, with service starting at just $15 per month for speeds up to 100Mbps. The cheapest Mediacom plan comes with only 400GB of data -- going over that limit can lead to a $10 charge to your bill.

More data is available with higher-tiered plans -- up to 2 terabytes. Mediacom may offer fully unlimited internet service for select markets. Pricing goes up on all Mediacom plans after the first year and settles close to the industry average for cable internet providers.

Still, starting prices of $15 to $60 per month aren't bad, especially for a rural internet connection. Our take - A relative satellite newcomer, Elon Musk's Starlink promises to boost satellite internet speeds while reducing latency thanks to a massive constellation of low-orbit satellites. For a satellite internet service, speeds aren't bad (25 to 220Mbps), and the unlimited data and low latency is a nice bonus, but initial and ongoing costs are high.

The entry-level plan is priced at $120 a month, plus equipment will cost upwards of $349. Our take - Ziply Fiber offers multi-gigabit internet speeds of 2Gbps, 5Gbps, 10Gbps and now 50Gbps available in select (and rural) areas throughout the Northwest. The fastest Ziply plan may be more speed than you need and more than you want to pay at $900 per month, but other Ziply plans present a bit more affordability without sacrificing too much on speed.

Ziply's entry-level plan, for example, starts at just $20 per month for symmetrical upload and download speeds of up to 100Mbps. The 300Mbps speed tier starts at $40 per month. All plans come with unlimited data and no contract requirements.

Ziply has an impressive fiber network, but only about half of Ziply service areas are eligible for fiber service, according to the FCC. All others will rely on a DSL network which, like most DSL services, presents one plan option for the fastest speeds available. In the case of Ziply Internet's DSL service, that plan starts at $75 per month for speeds up to 115Mbps.

Best rural internet providers overview There's a lot to consider when evaluating rural internet options. To help you sort it all, here's a rural internet comparison chart with significant plan and pricing details, including speeds, data caps and contract requirements. Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

Top rural ISP honorable mentions These providers are also popular choices for internet service in rural areas but lack the speed, value or customer satisfaction marks to have made our list of the best. Fixed wireless and satellite internet are most common in rural and suburban areas, because providers can cover a large area with a single antenna tower, or with a constellation of satellites -- and without needing to run cable to each home address. How to improve your rural internet speeds Life can be slower in rural America, as can the internet speeds.

Here are some ways to help boost your home internet speeds in rural areas. How we chose the best rural internet providers Availability is an important consideration for CNET when evaluating home internet providers, but it plays an even larger role when it comes to rural areas where practical broadband options are fewer. Using the most recent FCC data, I determined which providers, wired and wireless had the largest coverage areas, particularly in regions with low population densities.

I then compared the speeds, pricing and service details of each to determine which providers may serve as the best option for residents of rural areas. For more information about our review process, see our guide to how CNET reviews internet providers . Rural internet FAQs What are my options for internet in a rural area? Satellite internet from Hughesnet, Starlink or Viasat is almost always going to be an option because of the wireless delivery, but satellite comes with a few downsides, not least of which is the high pricing.

Other wireless internet options for rural areas include fixed wireless service from providers such as Rise Broadband and AT&T and 5G home internet . Currently, T-Mobile offers the greatest 5G coverage in rural areas with max speeds of 72 to 245Mbps starting at $50 a month. DSL is another popular internet option in rural areas, but speeds can vary significantly by location and provider.

For the fastest rural DSL speeds, look to ISPs CenturyLink and Kinetic. Cable internet is will likely be your best option for speed variety and connection reliability, but availability is limited in rural areas. Why aren't there more rural internet options? Installation and operation costs are the main factors preventing ISPs from expanding their networks into rural or suburban markets with low population density.

Satellite and fixed wireless services are common in rural areas because providers can broadcast internet signals over a large area without having to run physical cables to each address. DSL service is also common since the technology largely makes use of existing phone lines, which are readily available in many rural areas. Coaxial (traditional "cable") and fiber-optic lines are less accessible in rural areas as the cost of installing lines is often much more than the provider will get in return.

This means major cable internet providers like Cox, Spectrum and Xfinity, as well as fiber providers such as AT&T, Google Fiber and Verizon, are less inclined to expand service into rural areas. What internet connection type is best for rural areas? Wired connection types, such as DSL (copper), cable and fiber-optic internet, typically offer faster speeds and better reliability than wireless, although 5G wireless home internet could prove to be a better option than DSL. Although fiber-optic internet is difficult to come by, especially in rural areas, cable internet is available to 82% of US households, according to the FCC , and is capable of download speeds of 250Mbps or higher in nearly all service areas.

In rural areas where wired connections are unavailable, fixed wireless or 5G home internet are the top choices. You'll likely get faster speeds, more data (possibly unlimited) and lower latency with fixed wireless or 5G compared with satellite internet. As a last resort, satellite internet is available virtually everywhere.

Prices are high for the speeds you get, and data restrictions can make it difficult to use your internet for streaming, but it's an option for rural internet if no others are available. Who has the fastest rural internet? Ziply Fiber is the fastest rural internet provider with maximum download speeds of up to 50,000Mbps (50Gbps) available in rural parts of Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. Ziply Fiber also offers a 5Gbps and 1Gbps plan.

Aside from Ziply Fiber, the fastest rural internet providers include Kinetic, Rise Broadband and Mediacom, all of which offer maximum download speeds of around 1Gbps. Is rural internet fast enough for streaming? Speeds of up to 10Mbps, which are available to nearly all US households, will support light streaming activity such as streaming in standard definition on a single device. Faster speeds, such as CenturyLink's 100Mbps plan or Mediacom's 100Mbps plan, will support streaming in higher resolution and on more devices.

The primary issue with streaming in rural areas isn't speed but data. Streaming typically consumes more data than anything else we use the internet for, so you'll want to look for a rural internet option with a high data cap or unlimited data if you typically do a lot of streaming. Try to avoid satellite internet and its strict data limits that, once exceeded, may result in restricted or reduced speeds that cannot support streaming.

Is Viasat or Hughesnet better for rural areas? Viasat has faster maximum speeds -- over 150Mbps in select areas compared with Hughesnet's maximum of 100Mbps -- and possibly higher data allowances, but Hughesnet is cheaper and likely to be the better value. The choice between Hughesnet and Viasat comes down to whether Viasat's higher price is worth the potentially faster speeds and higher data allowance. For more details, check out our Hughesnet versus Viasat comparison .

Will internet service in rural areas get any better? It's doubtful that cable or fiber providers will significantly expand into rural areas unless a driving force like population growth or development occurs, but emerging 5G and satellite technologies could help close the digital divide in the coming years. While AT&T , T-Mobile and Verizon are actively deploying 5G service across the US, Elon Musk and his satellite service Starlink are ramping up to completely disrupt the satellite internet market. Stay tuned for updates regarding these technologies and others that could impact your home internet service -- rural or otherwise.

When will 5G be available in rural areas? T-Mobile is already available to approximately 60% of US households, according to the most recent FCC data . Not all addresses within T-Mobile's service areas are eligible for 5G service yet, but the provider's rapid expansion, along with that of Verizon and now AT&T , shows promise that 5G home internet could be available in more rural areas in the near future..