Faulty reasoning signals

• Confirmation Bias - 0.7% (22 hits)
• Anchoring Bias - 1.3% (40 hits)
• Availability Heuristic - 4.2% (133 hits)
• Representativeness Heuristic - 2% (62 hits)
• Hindsight Bias - 0.7% (22 hits)
• Overconfidence Bias - 1.5% (46 hits)
• Framing Effect - 4.8% (153 hits)
• Loss Aversion - 1.1% (36 hits)
• Status Quo Bias - 1.3% (42 hits)
• Sunk Cost Effect - 0.5% (17 hits)
• Optimism Bias - 0.9% (28 hits)
• Pessimism Bias - 0%

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The Best ISPs in the US, Ranked

This summer marks 20 years since we first ranked the fastest ISPs in the pages of PC Magazine.

Our initial real-world testing involved more than 10,000 readers downloading a special utility called SurfSpeed.

The winner was the fiber-optic ISP Verizon Fios, which had a then-blazing top download speed of 293Kbps (0.293Mbps) across its 16-state network.

A lot has changed since then.

Not least of which is Fios's download speed, which in our latest tests is 1,055 times faster than it was in 2006.

Also, as you may have read, internet traffic is now more bot than human.

But there are still plenty of actual people using browsers and websites.

Several hundred thousand of them take our PCMag Speed Test each year to ensure they’re getting what they pay for.

Back in 2006, we focused solely on speed (throughput) and continued doing so until 2022.

Since then, we've ranked ISPs based not only on speed but also on reader opinions from our yearly ISP survey, the provider's coverage area, and by-the-megabit pricing (the latter two data points are provided by our data partner, BroadbandNow).

We combine everything into a single master metric, the PCMag Cumulative Broadband ISP Index.

(Read our methodology for details.)

Below, you'll find the best and fastest major ISPs in the US.

We break things down further by pitting the majors players against all ISPs—including much smaller providers that may only be in a single location—as well as by examining ISPs across different regions of the country.

If you're moving within the US or looking to change your service where you live (assuming you have options), the following rankings will give you the information you need to make a decision.

Meanwhile, you can help us with the next iteration of this story by taking our PCMag Speed Test.

(Note: The test is provided by Ookla, which was formerly owned by PCMag's parent company, Ziff Davis.)

How do you define a major ISP?

We have very specific criteria for this story: A major provider must have undergone at least 1,000 runs on our PCMag Speed Test in the last year, and it must have at least 1 million subscribers and coverage in at least four states.

While a couple of providers dropped off the list this year simply for failing to meet our 1,000-test threshold, continued market consolidation is also a factor.

Expect that to continue in the coming year.

For instance, Cox, as an ISP brand, is likely to disappear now that it’s been acquired by Charter, the owner of Spectrum.

The same could happen to Frontier, which is now owned by Verizon.

The list of major ISPs is dominated by household names, some of which offer multiple services.

For example, we include both Verizon Fios fiber and Verizon 5G Home Internet, its fixed wireless access (FWA) service that uses cellular towers.

T-Mobile, on the other hand, does not break out its various services, so we can’t tell whether the tests are for fiber, 5G FWA, or just phone customers using their data plans.

(The big three mobile carriers’ wireless options all appear in our major ISPs list, but we don’t include any coverage or pricing info for them, as it's not provided by our ISP data partner, BroadbandNow.

We’ll cover them in depth later this year in our look at the Best Mobile Networks.)

Almost three times as many people use fiber as cable connections now, according to OpenVault’s Broadband Insights Report.

You can’t beat it for speed, nor, in most cases, price.

Once the infrastructure is in place, fiber is truly the way to go, especially if performance is important to you.

Meanwhile, FWA is a decent option if you can’t get a wired connection—and it's a better solution than the outdated copper connections from DSL and dial-up.

And then there's another technology that scores incredibly well with PCMag readers: low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet.

SpaceX’s Starlink, the foremost LEO-based internet provider, tops our list of major ISPs this year for the second time.

(The first was in 2023.)

Starlink tops our cumulative ISP index by a tenth of a point, besting even fiber and cable providers.

The brand owes its win to a high user satisfaction rating and incredible coverage (after all, it's available essentially everywhere).

Even Starlink’s high pricing and relatively slow speeds don't drag it down much in our standings.

"I look at Starlink now as the backup generator of the internet," says Carl Lepper, senior director of technology, media, and telecom intelligence at JD Power.

He relates a story from one of his company's presidents who experienced a major outage during an ice storm.

That executive went to a big box store and picked up a Starlink kit, which he could power with his electric generator.

"He found it was the easiest thing to set up," Lepper says.

"Within half an hour, he was up and running and had internet again."

Satellite isn’t for everyone, though.

In fact, we’re quick to say it in our own Starlink review, calling it "an exceptional option for people who can't get broadband."

(Approximately one in three Americans doesn't have access to home broadband—currently defined as 100Mbps download speed and 20Mbps upload speed, according to the Benton Institute.)

That's why we're giving an award to a major, non-satellite ISP: Spectrum.

Spectrum doesn’t lead in any of our metrics, but it earns the Best Major ISP win thanks to a cumulative score higher than any other terrestrial major broadband provider.

Spectrum covers 28.6% of the country, according to BroadbandNow’s data; the only cable-first or fiber provider that covers more is Xfinity (32.4%).

Lepper says that Spectrum has "been working heavily on product mix and what they’re offering."

He adds that the provider is "dropping cable in a lot of places that they didn’t have it before."

Spectrum comes in second among major ISPs for speed.

The fastest is a different cable-first operator.

Even with a median upload speed that's only 11% of its median download speed, Optimum Fiber manages a PCMag Speed Index score that’s a tick ahead of the rest.

(Optimum is one of the few providers that currently breaks out its different service types in our tests.)

Astound Broadband and Verizon Fios also score above 300 in our Speed Index.

Fios, it should be noted, displays symmetrical speeds, meaning its download and upload throughput are nearly identical.

That’s something to consider if you’ve got a lot of uploading to do.

The Best Overall ISPs To be included in our coverage of all US-based ISPs, a provider must have at least 100 speed tests in the last year.

That's not a huge number, but there are fewer providers as the consolidation discussed above continues.

Two years ago, this list had 100 ISPs.

Last year it dropped to 79.

This year, there are 73.

Last year’s top overall ISP winner, Pulse, the tiny ISP serving Loveland, Colo., drops to third place this year.

In 2026, as in 2023, the winner is Starlink.

It scored a very high 9.2 for satisfaction in our Readers' Choice survey earlier this year and consistently scores high for coverage, thanks to its satellite ISP status.

As above, we're giving a best ISP award to a non-satellite option: Ezee Fiber, a relative newcomer headquartered in Houston and available in six states.

Ezee Fiber earned a high Readers’ Choice rating (9.4 out of 10) and boasts great pricing (its top-tier service offers 8Gbps for $119 per month) and top speed scores.

It was the fastest provider in our most recent look at The Best Gaming ISPs.

About a year ago, Ezee Fiber announced a $400 million expansion of its network in the Chicago area.

"Sounds like [Ezee Fiber] is trying to build like crazy," says Lepper.

He speculates that it could get bought up by a larger player.

The business strategy these days, he says, is "Get big enough to get bought."

On this list, Ezee Fiber, Pulse, and GFiber all score just ahead of our major ISP winner, Spectrum.

Other standouts in the Top 10 include our Readers’ Choice winner, NextLight, the ISP for Longmont, Colo., which earned an incredible 9.7 for satisfaction.

Though not listed among the Top 10 ISPs overall, Sonic—for the fifth year in a row—is our fastest ISP nationwide, the only one achieving a PCMag Speed Index over 900.

Its median down/up speeds hover around 940Mbps, up from last year's 907.

Until recently, Sonic was available only in California; now, as you’ll see below, it's also offered in parts of Dallas.

Our best ISP winner, Ezee Fiber, places third for speed, behind Sonic and GoNetspeed (the latter of which T-Mobile is purchasing in 2027).

New to the Top 10 list this year are Firefly Fiber (an electric cooperative utility in Virginia) and Vyve Broadband (scheduled to be sold in full to Cable One, the owner of Sparklight).

Vyve Broadband is the only ISP in the Top 10 fastest without symmetrical speeds—yet it has the second-best download median after Sonic.

That’s thanks to its ongoing transition to a hybrid infrastructure in which fiber is the main conduit, but coax cable handles the last mile.

The remainder of the Top 10 are all pure-fiber players.

The Best ISPs by US Region There are four major regions defined by the US Census Bureau (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West), which then break down into nine divisions nationwide.

You can see which broadband provider dominates each area on the map: Below, we delve further into each division to show you the best and fastest ISP in each area.

Note that some bars in the charts below may appear incomplete; that means we don't have any data or scores for that ISP in that category.

Northeast States The New England states, stretching from Connecticut to Maine, remain strongholds for Verizon Fios.

It won there last year as both the best and fastest ISP and does so again in 2026.

Note that this is Fios-specific; Verizon's 5G fixed wireless didn’t make the list above, and its wireless data services on phones are at the bottom.

Fios wins here because of reasonable pricing and high satisfaction numbers, but especially because of that fiber speed.

"From a customer experience point of view," Lepper says, "Fios has been incredibly consistent and a good product."

Frontier, prominent in Connecticut, ranks second in cumulative score and fifth in speed.

Frontier is tops in New England for pricing, with a 7-gig service tier that costs $109.99 per month.

Even though Frontier was acquired by Verizon, it still operates separately.

Last year, Verizon Fios was the best in the Middle Atlantic, and it is again this year.

Optimum Fiber was the fastest in 2025, but this year that title goes to GoNetspeed.

Fios takes the crown thanks to great pricing and a decent reader satisfaction rating.

It has the best coverage among ISPs in the region, according to BroadbandNow’s data.

That's likely because Fios covers more homes in metro areas, rather than across a broader geographic area.

No ISP in the region comes close to GoNetspeed's astounding median down/up speeds.

It’s one of only two ISPs to achieve a Speed Index in the four-digit range (the other is Sonic’s new install in the West South Central states).

GoNetspeed's upload speed is faster than its downloads, a phenomenon you only see with fiber-optic connections.

(Details are below in the full data table.)

Greenlight Networks in upstate New York and parts of Pennsylvania—another brand T-Mobile is snapping up—has the region’s best pricing.

Its top-tier service is 8 gigs for $150 per month.

Midwest States Spectrum was the best ISP in the East North Central states for the last two years, but for 2026, the award goes to Starlink.

SpaceX's ISP has an unbeatable cumulative score here, thanks to great coverage and reader satisfaction.

Though it has higher speeds and better pricing, Spectrum comes in second.

The 100% fiber network of MetroNet—now part of T-Mobile—is once again the fastest ISP in the area.

Last year, its Speed Index was around 500; it’s now up to 768.8, a phenomenal increase.

The best pricing in the region is from Brightspeed Fiber, which offers an 8-gig top-tier service for $119.99 (less if you use autopay).

Moving west, we have more major changes.

GFiber, which won in the West North Central region last year, didn’t receive enough responses to appear in this year's results.

Rather, Spectrum wins as the best ISP, thanks mainly to its pricing and reader satisfaction.

Spectrum’s scores for speed, coverage, and satisfaction are mid to fair, but when added up, it outperforms other cable companies like Cox and Xfinity, as well as all the fast fiber options.

The fastest ISP here last year was Allo Fiber, and it came close this time but cedes the title to IdeaTek in Kansas, a scrappy fiber-to-the-home ISP that started as a computer repair business run by high school friends.

The best price in this region goes to Xtream Powered by Mediacom, which offers a 2-gig plan for $70 per month with a three-year price lock, though some municipalities can get 5-gig service for $95.

Southern States Starlink easily earns the best ISP win in the states stretching from Maryland to Florida (and including the District of Columbia).

GFiber is this year's second-best in the South Atlantic region.

It has superior speed and leads slightly in price and satisfaction, but it can't compete with SpaceX’s satellites, which cover the entire nation.

This year’s fastest is Virginia-based Firefly Fiber, a full-fiber-only provider in 13 counties in the state.

It's an eight-year-old subsidiary of the Central Virginia Electric Cooperative.

If you want value, turn to Verizon’s Frontier, which has a 7-gig service for $109.99 per month, a price that works out to 1.57 cents per Mbps, the third-best price anywhere in the nation (behind Sonic and Brightspeed Fiber).

Last year, Spectrum won for best ISP and Sparklight for fastest in the four states that make up the East South Central region.

Spectrum wins best here again, for the third time.

Its hybrid fiber-coaxial network also offers the best cost in the region; Spectrum’s top-tier service is a 2-gig plan that costs $70 per month during promotional periods.

(Otherwise, it's double the price.)

The fastest is C Spire, an ISP that went all-in on gigabit internet service back in 2013.

Its 602.7 Speed Index is high enough to place it in the Top 10 nationally for speed (see above).

It has the second-best pricing in the region.

GFiber’s presence in Texas helped it win best ISP in this region last year.

This year, it ranks number three, behind Starlink—which offers superior coverage, great reader satisfaction, and decent price rankings—and Ezee Fiber.

Ezee has amazing speeds, but it's not the fastest in the region.

That honor goes to Sonic, which has expanded beyond its home state of California, setting up shop in Dallas in May.

(Note that it doesn't appear in the chart above because speed is the only measure we have for Sonic in the region.)

Sonic in Dallas offers almost perfectly symmetrical download and upload throughput of 1.116Gbps, earning it a PCMag Speed Index score of 1,116.8.

That's the highest of the year for any ISP in any region—even higher than Sonic's in its home state.

The best pricing in the region goes to Frontier, a Verizon Company, with its 7-gig service at $109.99 per month.

GFiber, Ezee Fiber (each with an 8-gig service tier), and Bluepeak (topping out at 5 gigs) are all close behind.

Western States GFiber took the award in the Mountain states for three consecutive years, but this time it doesn’t qualify for inclusion, as we didn’t receive enough tests in the area.

While Starlink came close to winning, it’s Pulse, the fiber utility of Loveland, Colo., that takes the best ISP crown.

It’s not the top scorer in any category, but it comes very close with a 9.0 index on both speed and price, and is second only to Nextlight for reader satisfaction.

The fastest ISP in these states is the fiber-powered Vyve Broadband, headquartered in Oklahoma.

It serves 16 states total, including three in this region (Idaho, Colorado, and Wyoming).

It displaces last year’s fastest, Bluepeak, which didn’t qualify in the region this year, but does show up on our overall ISPs list as the fifth-fastest in the nation, just ahead of Vyve itself.

As noted above, Vyve is scheduled to become part of Cable One’s Sparklight.

The best value in the Mountain region comes from a telecom player that sold off its sister wireless assets (UScellular) to become a purely fiber-centric internet provider: TDS Telecom.

Its 8-gig fiber-based tier costs $199.99 per month, though the price may vary depending on deals.

TDS misses out on the Top 10 mostly due to limited coverage and a lack of reader satisfaction data.

On the West Coast, Starlink wins as the best ISP, its fourth regional win in that category.

Meanwhile, Sonic is the fastest, with a 938.6 PCMag Speed Index, earning it a 10.0 rating for speed in our chart.

It's also the most cost-effective ISP in the Pacific states—indeed, in the entire US—if you’re willing to pay for its top-tier service, which costs less than half a cent per Mbps.

Sonic is one of only a handful of US-based ISPs that offer 10 gigs for residential service.

Alaska and Hawaii are classified as Pacific states by the Census Bureau.

However, Alaska doesn't have a single ISP with enough tests in the last year to be included.

Hawaii, meanwhile, has numbers for Spectrum and Hawaiian Telcom.

Of the two, Spectrum is the state's best ISP, based on superior speed, better coverage, and its Readers’ Choice satisfaction score.

Hawaiian Telcom, however, offers a slightly better price for its top-tier service (3 gigs at $100 per month for the first 3 years).

The Best ISPs for 2026: Full Results Here are the complete tables for all the charts above, including the ISPs beyond the Top 10 in each location.

Access each table using the arrows or the dropdown menu at the top; click the top cell for each column to reorder the rows (click again to reorder in the other direction).

You can also search for keywords or numbers.

Speeds are based on 283,965 PCMag Speed Test results from US-based ISP users received between May 31, 2025, and June 3, 2026.

For more, read our methodology.

Price is based on the fastest plan for each ISP; speed tier pricing and coverage percentages are as reported by BroadbandNow.

A blank cell indicates we don't have any data or scores for that ISP in that category.

ISPs are to be compared with each other within each table; the index ratings are not comparable with those of other tables.

Click the speed test below to be included in our next full report on The Best ISPs (including The Best Gaming ISPs).