Best Internet Providers in San Jose, California

What is the best internet provider in San Jose?

unlimited is the best internet provider in san josethanks to its wide coverage in cities, competitive introductory pricing and fast speeds. Xfinity offers plans up to 2,000Mbps. Prices may increase during the second or third year of your plan, but even with the increase, Xfinity still offers solid value.

AT&T Fiberalthough less widely available in San Jose, offers faster plans than Xfinity and doesn’t automatically increase in price after the promotional period. For smaller homes with lower speed needs, T-Mobile Home Internet Two simple plans are available, including everything, for $50 or $70 per month. sonic fiber Providing the fastest internet in San Jose, Speeds up to 10,000Mbps.

The Best Internet in San Jose in 2024

Source: CNET analysis of provider profiles

Other available internet providers in San Jose

• Ethernet: Etheric offers fixed wireless Internet in San Jose starting at $79 per month with speeds of 100Mbps. Unless your only other option is satellite internet, you can safely eliminate Ethereum’s competition – there are several other providers offering faster speeds at lower prices.
• Ridge Wireless: Like Etheric, Ridge Wireless should only be considered a last resort in San Jose. It’s prohibitively expensive — plans start at $100 a month for just 20Mbps — and fixed wireless internet isn’t as reliable as cable or fiber. The lowest 100Mbps plan costs $150 per month.
• satellite network: You can get satellite internet at almost every address in the country, but it’s rarely your best option. Husnet and Viasat Data is low, speeds are slow and prices are high. Starlink Improves the speed and latency issues that satellite internet is known for, but you have to buy an antenna for $349 to get started.
• sonic fiber: If Sonic had a wider range of applications, it would be our top pick. Its single plan costs $50 per month and offers speeds of 10,000Mbps, which is unheard of in the online world. By comparison, AT&T charges five times as much for half the speed. Unfortunately, less than a quarter of households in San Jose have access to it. (The FCC data doesn’t list exact availability figures because Sonic doesn’t rank among the city’s 10 most popular providers.)
• Verizon 5G Home Internet: Like T-Mobile, Verizon uses its 5G cellular network to provide high-speed Internet in San Jose. Its application is not widespread. Currently, only 33% of households have access to Verizon. But if you’re a Verizon Wireless customer, it might be especially attractive — bundling it with a cellphone plan can save you $15 to $25 on a home Internet plan.

Cheap internet options in San Jose

San Jose offers a variety of affordable internet plans, with Xfinity starting at just $20 per month. Xfinity prices will increase after the promotional period ends, but most plans don’t increase until year three. If you don’t want to worry about rising bills, T-Mobile will lock in your prices as long as you remain a customer.

Source: CNET analysis of provider profiles

How to Find Online Deals and Promotions in San Jose

San Jose’s best online deals and top promotions depend on the discounts available during that time. Most offers are short-lived, but we’re often on the lookout for the latest deals.

San Jose internet providers (such as Xfinity) may offer lower promotional prices or streaming add-ons for a limited time. However, many companies, including AT&T Fiber and Sonic Fiber, use the same standard pricing year-round.

For a more extensive list of promotions, check out our guide Best Internet Deals.

How fast is San Jose broadband?

How many are there in San Jose? Multi-show network plan If you are looking for super fast speeds. according to Ookla speed test dataSan Jose’s median internet speed ranks 30th among the 100 most populous cities in the United States, leading Auckland, Fresno, san francisco and sacramento. (Disclosure: Ookla and CNET are owned by the same parent company, Ziff Davis.)

Source: CNET analysis of provider profiles

What is a good internet speed?

Most Internet connection plans can now handle basic productivity and communication tasks. If you’re looking for a network plan that can accommodate video conferencing, streaming video, or gaming, you’ll get a better experience with a stronger connection. The following outlines the recommended minimum download speeds for various applications, According to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. Please note that these are guidelines only – Internet speeds, service and performance vary based on connection type, provider and address.

For more information, see our guide How much internet speed do you really need?.

• 0 to 5Mbps lets you handle the basics—browse the Internet, send and receive email, and stream low-quality video.
• 5 to 40Mbps provides you with higher quality video streaming and video conferencing.
• 40 to 100Mbps should provide enough bandwidth for one user to meet the needs of modern remote working, video streaming, and online gaming.
• 100 to 500Mbps allows one or two users to participate in high-bandwidth activities such as video conferencing, streaming media, and online gaming at the same time.
• 500 to 1,000Mbps allows three or more users to simultaneously participate in high-bandwidth activities such as video conferencing, streaming media, and online gaming.

CNET How to choose the best internet provider in San Jose

Internet service providers are numerous and regional. different from the latest smartphone, laptop, router or kitchen toolsit is impractical to personally test every ISP in a given city. So what is our approach? First, we leverage a proprietary pricing, availability, and speed database drawn from our own historical ISP data, partner data, and map information from the Federal Communications Commission’s FCC.gov.

This guide leverages an in-house AI tool called RAMP, trained by our writers, and uses our database to generate content about specific ISPs that our writers can use to identify and present our opinions on Guide selection. Check CNET’s AI policy Learn more about how our team uses (and doesn’t use) artificial intelligence tools.

Since our database is not exhaustive, we head to the FCC website to check the primary data ourselves and make sure we account for every ISP that provides service in a certain area. Plans and prices also vary by location, so we entered local addresses on provider websites to find specific options available to residents. We evaluate customer satisfaction with ISP services by looking at sources such as the US Customer Satisfaction Index and JD Power. ISP plans and prices may change frequently; all information provided is accurate as of our fact-checking prior to publication.

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

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

While the answers to these questions are often layered and complex, we recommend the providers who come closest to a “yes” on these three questions. When choosing the cheapest internet service, we look for plans with the lowest monthly fees, although we also consider factors like price increases, equipment fees, 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 the following sources: Okla and Federal Communications Commission Report.

To explore our process in more depth, you can visit our How we test ISPs Page.

What’s the final decision on San Jose Internet providers?

San Jose residents face an embarrassment of riches when it comes to choosing internet plans. Xfinity was voted the best internet provider by us for its broad coverage across the city, wide range of plan options, and high customer satisfaction. AT&T Fiber isn’t widely available, but if you can get it, its fast, symmetrical speeds and simple pricing are unbeatable. T-Mobile Home Internet is an affordable option for smaller homes that don’t need a lot of horsepower, and the price never goes up.

San Jose Internet Provider FAQs