Best Internet Providers in Tallahassee, Florida

The capital of Florida does not have the largest selection of internet providers, but it makes up for that in quality. With over 50,000 students attend school in Tallahasseegood connectivity is necessary, and CNET’s top pick is Xfinity.

The ISP has a wide range of plans, starting at an affordable $35 per month for 150 Mbps and going up to a blistering 1200 megabits per second. That means there is something for everyone. But if you need even faster internet, Metronet is the right place for you. T-Mobile Home Internet is our other choice for a go-to ISP, which can be a good choice for students who are already T-Mobile mobile customers and want to save money by adding an Internet plan.

CNET examines customer service, speed, pricing and overall value before recommending the best broadband in your area. Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about the ISPs available in Tallahassee, including the cheapest and fastest providers in this Florida city.

Best Internet Service Providers in Tally

Our top three picks for the best ISPs in Tallahassee are fairly neck-and-neck, as all three have unique strengths and weaknesses. All prices on this page reflect the discounts available for setting up paperless billing. If you decide not to go with automatic monthly payments, your price will be higher.

Remark: The prices, speeds and features described in the article text may differ from the prices, speeds and features stated on the product detail cards, which represent the providers’ national offerings. Your specific Internet service options (including prices and speeds) depend on your address and may differ from those described here.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data

All available residential internet providers in Tallahassee

Tallahassee has a wide range of internet connection options, whether you’re looking for cable, fiber optic, DSL and more. While we’ve picked out our favorite ISPs, Florida’s capital offers even more connectivity options.

• CenturyLink: CenturyLink is widely available in Tallahassee, although you’ll usually find DSL instead of fiber. DSL plans start at $55 per month for 10-100 Mbps, while fiber plans (which will be called Quantum Fiber in some areas) go from $50 to $75 for speeds of 500 Mbps or 940 Mbps.
• Satellite internet: Tallahassee residents have satellite options through a few providers. HughesNet offers 50Mbps plans for $50 and a 100Mbps plan discounted to $65 per month with 100-200GB of data. Viasat offers speeds between 25-100 Mbps and unlimited data for $99 per month. Elon Musk’s Starlink has also started expanding to Tallahassee, offering plans starting at $120 with no contracts and speeds from 100 to 250 Mbps.

Pricing information for home internet service in Tallahassee

The average starting price in Tallahassee is about $54, although most ISPs in the city offer lower starting prices. However, Starlink’s high starting price drives up the overall average starting price.

Cheap internet options in the Tallahassee metro area

Xfinity offers the cheapest overall plan at $20 for a 150 Mbps plan. However, these are not necessarily the best costs per Mbps. T-Mobile’s home internet subscription pays 20 cents per Mbps if you get the fastest download speed. Xfinity and Metronet both cost about 40 cents per Mbps for their cheapest plans.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data

Fastest Internet Providers in Tallahassee

While Tallahassee does offer some fiber providers, there aren’t many high-speed options in the city. Tallahassee is not in the top 100 cities in the country for internet speed, and speed testing puts the average download at just under 266 Mbps. Florida as a whole has one average download speed of 292Mbps.

Metronet, Xfinity and CenturyLink/Quantum Fiber all offer gigabit plans in Tallahassee. As for multigigabit plans, only Metronet and Xfinity offer that in the area. However, if you’re looking for fiber plans with symmetrical upload and download speeds, Metronet is your best bet: the ISP offers plans up to 5,000 Mbps for $110 per month.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data

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

There are some really good ISP options in Tallahassee, so it depends on where you live and what your needs are as to what your best option is. Metronet’s fiber plans are great, but they aren’t available to more than half the people in Tallahassee. However, Xfinity is widely available and has budget-friendly options starting at just $20 per month. And for rural customers who rely on satellites, there’s plenty to choose from.

How CNET chose the best Internet providers in Tallahassee

Internet 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. So what is our approach? We’ll start by researching the price, availability, and speed information using our own historical ISP data, carrier sites, and Federal Communications Commission mapping information at FCC.gov.

But it doesn’t end there. We go to the FCC’s website to check our records and make sure we’re considering every ISP that provides service in a given area. We also enter local addresses on provider websites to find specific options for residents. To assess how satisfied customers are with an ISP’s service, we look to sources such as the American Customer Satisfaction Index and JD Power. ISP plans and prices are subject to frequent changes; all information provided is accurate at the time of publication.

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

• Does the provider offer access to reasonably high internet speeds?
• Do customers get a good price for what they pay?
• Are customers satisfied with their service?

Although the answers to these questions are often layered and complex, we recommend the providers who come closest to ‘yes’ to all three questions.

Visit our How We Test ISPs page to explore our process in more depth.

Frequently asked questions about internet providers in Tallahassee