Best Internet Providers in North Carolina

CNET’s pick for the best internet provider in North Carolina is Spectrum. The birthplace of flight offers speeds of up to 8,000 Mbps. CNET’s list of the best internet providers in North Caroline helps you choose the fastest, most affordable options for your needs.

What are the best internet providers in North Carolina?

Whether you’re gaming, watching movies and TV shows, or getting some work done, North Carolina has some of the fastest internet speeds in the country. While fiber options from AT&T and Google are mostly limited to Charlotte and The Triangle, North Carolina residents can get access to many types of internet connections. Due to its wide availability throughout the state, fast speeds, and simple pricing, we prefer Spectrum Ranked Best Internet Provider in North CarolinaOptions depend on where you live, but fortunately everyone in the state can get online, although sometimes it’s via satellite internet.

Best Internet Options in North Carolina

Source: CNET analysis of carrier data

Broadband in North Carolina at a glance

According to a study by the University of North Carolina, approximately 96% of North Carolina residents have access to download speeds of 100 Mbps and upload speeds of 20 Mbps. state dataAdditionally, North Carolina ranks seventh out of the 50 states and Washington, DC, for the fastest median download speeds, according to the speed testing company. Ookla. The median download speed in the Tar Heel State is around 262 Mbps, thanks in part to the reliably fast Google Fiber, and Raleigh even tops the list of cities with the fastest internet, with median download speeds of around 331 Mbps. North Carolina has a whopping five cities in the top 30 of Ookla’s ranking of the top 100 cities by fastest internet speeds, with Raleigh coming in at No. 1, Durham at 7, Charlotte at 21, Winston-Salem at No. 22, and Greensboro at No. 45. So yes, the Tar Heel State has fast internet, thanks in large part to fiber optic internet from AT&T and Google. A little over 48% has access on a fiber optic internet connection, but mainly in Charlotte and The Triangle.

Internet Distribution by City in North Carolina

It’s hard to cover an entire state’s broadband options and give individual cities the attention they deserve. That’s why we’re also compiling lists of the best internet providers in cities across the U.S., including North Carolina. We’ll tackle details like internet connection types, top speeds, and cheapest providers. Check back later if you don’t see the city you’re looking for below. We’re working to add more locations every week.

Internet prices in North Carolina

The starting price of internet service in North Carolina depends on where you live, but if you go by most of the state’s available ISPs, you can expect to pay around $50 to get online. If you’re an existing customer on certain T-Mobile plans and have access to its 5G internet offering, you can get that service for $40 a month.

How CNET Chose the Best Internet Providers in North Carolina

Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the latest smartphone, laptop, router, or kitchen utensil, it’s impractical to personally test every ISP in a given city. So how do we approach this? We start by examining pricing, availability, and speed information, drawing on our own historical ISP data, the providers’ websites, and mapping information from the Federal Communications Commission on FCC.gov.

And it doesn’t stop there: We go to the FCC website to check our data and make sure we account for every ISP that offers service in an area. We also enter local addresses into carrier websites to find specific options for residents. We look at sources including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Power to evaluate how satisfied customers are with an ISP’s service. ISP plans and pricing are subject to frequent change; all information provided is accurate at the time of publication.

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

1. Does the provider offer access to reasonably fast internet speeds?
2. Do customers get value for their money?
3. Are customers satisfied with their service?

While the answers to these questions are often layered and complex, the providers that come closest to “yes” to all three questions are the ones we recommend. When selecting the cheapest internet service, we look for the plans with the lowest monthly fees, though we also consider things like price increases, equipment costs, and contracts. Choosing the fastest internet service is relatively simple. We look at advertised upload and download speeds, and consider real-world speed data from sources like Ookla And FCC Reports.

If you would like to take a more detailed look at our process, please visit our How We Test ISPs page.

Future of Broadband in North Carolina

The federal government granted the North Carolina permit in late June $1.5 billion for expansion high-speed internet access throughout the state. The Department of Information Technology, Division of Broadband and Digital Equity “will [Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment] funding to connect high-cost areas, remaining unserved and underserved locations, and community settings without fiber access,” the five-year plan of the state design. The government also plans to boost digital literacy and make internet access more affordable.

Frequently Asked Questions About Internet in North Carolina