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Which internet service provider in Los Angeles is the best?
AT&T Fiber is CNET’s choice for the top internet service provider in Los Angeles. For the majority of Los Angeles homes, it’s an excellent broadband option thanks to symmetrical speeds, unlimited data, and the absence of term contracts or equipment leasing costs. Since AT&T Fiber isn’t yet 100% available throughout the city, locals may have to rely on more generally available providers like Spectrum.
If you’re searching for inexpensive internet service, Starry has a 30Mbps no-contract plan available for $15 per month. With a 5,000Mbps subscription, AT&T Fiber and Frontier are tied for the fastest internet in Los Angeles.
internet service providers in Los Angeles compared
Internet technology providerMonthly cost rangeRange of speedsEquipment expenses each monthData cap Contract review rating on CNET
Verizon
View the complete reviewFiber/DSL$10–$225~5,000 MbpsNot oneAll plans under 100Mbps get 1.5TB.7.4 Cox None
View the complete reviewConnectivity$150–$500 at 100–2,000 Mbps$13 is an optional amount.1.25 terabytesNot necessary, but necessary to get the best promotional pricing6.2 Frontier
View the complete reviewFiber/DSL$50 to $155 ($10 off certain plans)9–5,000 MbpsNone 0 0 0 6 Spectrum
View the complete reviewConnectivity$20-$90~30-1,000 MHzNone At all None 7.2 Starry
View the complete reviewFixed-rate wireless$30–$80~30–1,000 MbpsSeven T-Mobile Home Internet providers
View the complete reviewFixed-rate wireless$60 (or $40 for qualified mobile users)72-245 MbpsNone at all7.4 5G Home Internet from Verizon
Other Los Angeles internet service providers
Cox: Despite being one of the largest cable internet providers in the nation, Cox is very modest in the Los Angeles metro region. Only the Palos Verdes Peninsula has access to it. Plans with a 100Mbps download start at $50 per month and go up to $150 per month for a 2-gigabit option.
Frontier: In the Los Angeles market, Frontier is a significant player. In fact, with an average download speed of almost 296 Mbps, Frontier is the fastest provider in the area, according to the most recent data from Ookla. The region, which includes parts of Santa Monica, the San Fernando Valley, Beverly Hills, Long Beach, and western Los Angeles, is covered by its DSL and fiber-optic service. As with our advice regarding AT&T, look for other options if Frontier’s DSL service is the only one available at your address. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better choice if Frontier Fiber was accessible. Frontier Fiber offers options for 500Mbps up to 5Gbps symmetrical speeds starting at $50-$155 per month.
Race Communications: Similar to Cox, Race Communications’s share of the Los Angeles market is rather tiny. Mostly in Santa Monica, Playa Vista, and Marina del Rey. It’s a fully fiber-optic service, in contrast to Cox and every other provider on our list. There are two plan options: gig service for a relatively reasonable $60 per month, or 25Mbps for $25 per month.
Sonic Telecom: The primary focus of this Internet service provider is serving the Bay Area. In a few areas of Los Angeles, including Beverly Hills, Glendale, Inglewood, Pasadena, and West Hollywood, residents can get Sonic service. Despite its reputation for developing 100% fiber networks, Sonic mostly offers outdated DSL in the Los Angeles market, and the majority of its fiber service currently makes use of AT&T’s fiber network.
T-Mobile Home Internet: With an average download speed of 72-245 Mbps, T-Mobile’s fixed wireless home internet service connects users to the internet via its 5G and 4G LTE networks. Its simplicity is appealing: all services, taxes, installation costs, and equipment are included in the $60 monthly payment. Contracts are not necessary, and there are no data caps. While it is technically available throughout in the Los Angeles metropolitan region, you have to enter your address on the T-Mobile website to find out if you qualify for service.
Verizon 5G Home Internet: This is a fixed wireless home internet service, just as T-Mobile. Verizon relies more on its Ultra Wideband 5G technology than T-Mobile does, which accounts for the latter company’s lower average download rates of about 300 Mbps. It also has an all-inclusive price that divides the cost into two categories and includes taxes, equipment, and installation fees: $50 per month for a price-lock guarantee good for two years, or $70 per month for a price-lock good for three years plus further benefits.
Los Angeles cheap internet alternatives
In Los Angeles, the average monthly beginning price for internet access is about $41. In case you’re searching for the most economical internet plans in your region, there are several choices that are less expensive than the mean price. Starry Connect is the least expensive package; it costs $15 per month and provides up to 30 Mbps of speed.
How to locate promos and discounts online in Los Angeles
What discounts are offered at that moment determines which Los Angeles promotions and internet offers are the greatest. The majority of sales are fleeting, but we always search for the best prices.
For a restricted period, internet service providers in Los Angeles, like Spectrum and Cox, might provide cheaper initial rates or streaming add-ons. Many have year-round normal pricing, such as AT&T and Starry Internet.
See our guide on the top online deals for a longer range of promotions.
How quickly is broadband in Los Angeles?
Not one of the top 50 quickest US cities is Los Angeles. The fact that 100% fiber connections are still less common in the city than cable and DSL connections is a major contributing factor. Significant initiatives by Frontier (whose 2- and 5-gigabit plans are now available for all places suitable for its fiber services) and AT&T (making its Internet 2000 and Internet 5000 plans more widely available) could help raise those metrics.
Access points in well-known cities close to Los Angeles
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View all of the California internet service provider results.
How fast should my internet be?
Nowadays, the majority of internet connection packages can manage simple productivity and communication duties. An internet package that supports gaming, streaming videos, and video conferences will work better for you if it has a stronger connection. Below is a summary of the Federal Communication Commission’s suggested minimum download speeds for different uses. Remember that internet performance, speed, and service differ depending on the type of connection, provider, and address; these are merely recommendations.
See our guide on how much internet speed you actually need for more details.
You can handle the essentials with 0 to 5Mbps, including email sending and receiving, internet surfing, and low-quality video streaming.
You can do better video streaming and videoconferencing with speeds between 5 and 40 Mbps.
One user should have enough bandwidth to meet the needs of contemporary online gaming, video streaming, and telecommuting at 40 to 100 Mbps.
One to two people can do high-bandwidth activities, such as streaming, online gaming, and videoconferencing, at the same time with speeds of 100 to 500 Mbps.
Three or more users can participate in high-bandwidth activities simultaneously at 500 to 1,000 Mbps.
How CNET selected Los Angeles’ top internet service providers
There are several local and national providers of internet services. Unlike the newest laptop, router, smartphone, or kitchen gadget, it is not feasible to personally test each and every ISP in a city. How do we go about this? We begin by investigating the costs, accessibility, and speed details using provider websites, our own historical ISP data, and mapping data from the Federal Communications Commission at FCC.gov.
Not satisfied? We visit the FCC website to verify our information and make sure we have taken into account all local ISPs. In order to locate particular possibilities for residents, we also enter local addresses on provider websites. To assess how satisfied consumers are with an ISP’s service, we consult a number of sources, such as J.D. Power and the American Customer Satisfaction Index. Prices and plans for ISPs can vary frequently. As at the time of writing, all information has been verified.
After obtaining this localized data, we pose the following three key queries:
Is access to adequately fast internet speeds provided by the provider?
Do consumers receive a good deal for their money?
Are clients satisfied with their offerings?
The providers who get the closest to “yes” on all three are the ones we suggest, even though the answers to those questions are frequently nuanced and complex. Although we also take into account things like contracts, equipment costs, and price increases, we search for the plans with the lowest monthly rate when choosing the cheapest internet service. Selecting the quickest internet provider is not that difficult. In addition to taking into account real-world speed data from sources like Ookla and FCC reports, we examine advertised upload and download speeds.
Go to our how we test ISPs page to learn more about our methodology.
What’s the last word on Los Angeles internet service providers?
When it comes to reliable and widely available internet service in Los Angeles, Spectrum is hard to match. The fastest fiber plans, which include symmetrical upload and download speeds, are shared by AT&T and Frontier. In general, the City of Angels will undergo change over the next few years as service providers like Frontier and AT&T transition from their aging DSL lines—which are still widely used in the region—to their expanding fiber networks. In LA, cable internet remains dominant, but fiber is the way of the future.
