Best Internet Providers in Salinas, California

What is the best internet provider in Salinas, California?

Residents of this California city don’t have much choice when it comes to fiber optic internet providers. Although there may be more in the future, there are currently AT&T Fiber Optic is the best internet provider in Salinas. It’s the only fiber optic provider in town, meaning it’s the only one with symmetrical upload and download speeds. Plans start at $55 per month for 300 Mbps and go up to $245 for 5,000 Mbps. The only drawback is availability: Data from the Federal Communications Commission shows that only one in five homes in the city has access to fiber optic.

If you are looking for the lowest prices, Xfinity is the cheapest internet provider in Salinas. Plans start at an incredibly low $20 per month, but that’s somewhat misleading: Prices increase significantly after a year or two on all plans. Wireless internet from T-Mobile and Verizon is also available in parts of Salinas, but does not offer the same top speeds as Xfinity or AT&T Fiber, and is more susceptible to network congestion.

Best internet in Salinas, California

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

How to find internet deals and promotions in Salinas?

The best internet deals and top promotions in Salinas depend on what discounts are available at a given time. Most offers are short-lived, but we regularly review the latest offers.

Salinas internet providers, such as Xfinity and Verizon 5G Home Internet, may offer lower introductory prices or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Others, including AT&T Fiber, have the same standard prices year-round.

For a more comprehensive list of promos, 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 FCC. 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, and 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 online 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 Salinas

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

It doesn’t stop there: we go to the FCC’s website to check our data and make sure we’re taking into account every ISP that provides service in an 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 selecting the cheapest internet service, we look at the subscriptions with the lowest monthly amount, but we also take into account things such as price increases, equipment costs and contracts. Choosing the fastest internet service is relatively easy. We look at advertised upload and download speeds and take into account real-world speed data from sources such as Ookla And FCC reports. (Disclosure: 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 internet providers in Salinas