Best Internet Providers in Columbia, Missouri

What is the best internet provider in Colombia?

You are given many options for choosing internet service providers in Columbia, Missouri. But we recommend Brightspeed as the best internet provider overall. It offers the best combination of speed, price and availability. The fiber optic internet provider achieves upload and download speeds of up to 940 megabits per second and no data limits or contracts are required.

Socket Fiber is the fastest internet provider in Columbia, with internet speeds up to 1,000 Mbps. It’s significantly more expensive than Brightspeed, but the local provider has received rave reviews from Columbia residents for its speed and reliability.

If you’re looking for the lowest prices, Mediacom offers the cheapest internet in Columbia, with plans starting at $20 per month for download speeds up to 250 Mbps. That plan increases to $50 per month in the second year, but it’s still the cheapest plan in the city even after the price increase.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

How to Find Internet Deals and Promotions in Columbia

Columbia’s best internet deals and top promotions depend on what discounts are available during a given period. Most offers are short-lived, but we regularly review the latest offers.

Columbia Internet providers such as Mediacom may offer lower introductory prices or streaming add-ons for a limited time. However, many, including Brightspeed, Socket and T-Mobile, charge the same standard prices all year round.

For a more comprehensive list of promotions, check out our guide to the best internet deals.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

What is a good internet speed?

Most internet plans can now handle basic productivity and communication tasks. If you’re looking for an internet plan that’s suitable for video conferencing, video streaming, or gaming, you’ll have a better experience with a more robust connection. Here you will find an overview of the recommended minimum download speeds for different applications, according to the Federal Communications Commission. Please note that these are guidelines only and internet speed, service and performance will vary by connection type, provider and address.

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

• With 0 to 5 Mbps you can handle the basics: surfing the web, sending and receiving email, streaming low-quality video.
• 5 to 40 Mbps gives you higher quality video streaming and video conferencing.
• 40 to 100 Mbps should give one person enough bandwidth to meet the demands of modern telecommuting, video streaming and online gaming.
• With 100 to 500 Mbps, one to two people can simultaneously participate in high-bandwidth activities such as video conferencing, streaming and gaming.
• With 500 to 1,000 Mbps, three or more people can perform high-bandwidth activities simultaneously.

How CNET chose the best Internet providers in Columbia

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 start by researching the price, availability and speed information based on our own historical ISP data, the providers’ sites and map information from FCC.gov.

But it doesn’t end there. We use the FCC’s website to verify our records and ensure that we are considering every ISP that provides service in a particular area. We also enter local addresses on provider websites to find specific options for residents. We look to sources, including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and JD Power, to evaluate how satisfied customers are with an ISP’s service. 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:

1. Does the provider offer access to reasonably high internet speeds?
2. Do customers get a good price for what they pay?
3. 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. When it comes to selecting the cheapest internet service, we look for the plans with the lowest monthly payment, but we also take into account things like price increases, equipment costs and contracts. Choosing the fastest internet service is relatively easy. We look at advertised upload and download speeds and also consider real-world speed data from sources such as Ookla And FCC reports. (Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.)

Visit our page on how we test ISPs to explore our process in more depth.

Frequently Asked Questions About Columbia Internet Providers