ISPs: Reviews

Updated March 2009

Compare All

Best ISP

*Est. $50 to $145 per month Compare Prices

While not available in all areas, Verizon's FiOS fiber-optic network gets the highest customer satisfaction, reliability and speed scores in major surveys. For $50 per month, download speeds are rated at 10 Mbps, compared… with 3 Mbps to 6 Mbps speeds of most cable and DSL. Verizon's upstream speeds, which determine how quickly you can send e-mail, photo and video files, are far faster as well. The upshot is that if FiOS is available in your area, it's easily the best Internet service provider. A faster 20 Mbps plan (*est. $60 per month) and even a 30 Mbps plan (*est. $145 per month) are also available, and you can save money by bundling Internet service with phone and/or TV.

See more photos, specs, and reviews

expand

collapse

Expert & User Review Sources:

J.D. Power & Associates: J.D. Power and Associates polls 17,000 people to rate customer satisfaction of broadband Internet providers by region. Verizon ...

PC World: PC World surveys 6,463 readers to measure customer satisfaction about ISPs. There are eight specific categories plus overall ...

PCMag.com: More than 40,000 people used an applet to help PC Magazine measure ISP speeds, and Verizon's FiOS network is easily the fastest. ...

ConsumerReports.org: There's good general advice on the free main page, but the ratings are behind a subscribers-only wall. Verizon is the only ...

Computerworld.com: Computerworld surveys 1,163 people and Verizon FiOS wins by a wide margin, with customers liking its reliability, speed and ...

PCMag.com: PC Magazine's readers rate ISPs according to many categories (fees, speed, reliability, customer service, etc). If it is ...

BroadbandReports.com: More than 1,100 user reviews give Verizon FiOS a very high average score (it received a Gold award), especially on connection and ...

Where to buy:

See All Stores

Check availability for Verizon FiOS

Fastest cable Internet service

Cablevision Optimum Online

*Est. $30 to $40 per month Compare Prices

Though only available in some areas on the East Coast, Cablevision's Optimum Online service has blazingly fast speed of up to 30 Mbps for a modest price. Connection reliability and customer service are also above average,… according to PC World. If Optimum Online isn't available in your area, Cox Cable is a well-recommended alternative that's more widely available, and other cable companies such as Wow!, Insight and Bright House get top ratings in certain geographic areas. (See our Full Report.)

See more photos, specs, and reviews

expand

collapse

Expert & User Review Sources:

J. D. Power and Associates: J.D. Power and Associates polls 17,000 people to rate customer satisfaction of broadband Internet providers by region. In the ...

PC World: Based on a survey of nearly 6,500 readers, Cablevision takes first place here, too, with above-average ratings for connection ...

PCMag.com: Cablevision takes first place among cable ISPs in yet another big subscriber survey -- this one based on only about 6,000 users, ...

PCMag.com: More than 40,000 readers responded to PC Magazine's online survey to measure ISP speeds. Cablevision's Optimum Online is the ...

ConsumerReports.org: Based on ratings from over 34,000 readers of Consumer Reports, Cablevision Optimum Online is ranked here in comparison with 11 ...

BroadbandReports.com: This chart changes weekly, with Cablevision Optimum Online not listed at the time of this report. In late 2007, however, about ...

Epinions.com: More than 160 user reviews give Cablevision Optimum Online a relatively high average rating (four out of a possible five stars), ...

Where to buy:

See All Stores

Budget DSL

AT&T Basic DSL

*Est. $20 to $35 per month Compare Prices

Reviews say cable is faster than most DSL service, but if you want broadband but don't want to pay $40 or more per month, AT&T Basic DSL is a good compromise. It isn't nearly as fast as cable or fiber optic, but at about… 768 Kbps, this basic DSL service is 15 times faster than a dial-up connection. AT&T in the South (formerly BellSouth) gets somewhat better ratings than the AT&T Yahoo! version, but prices and features are the same. If you want more speed, AT&T DSL also offers other speed options, up to 6 Mbps (*est. $35 per month).

See more photos, specs, and reviews

expand

collapse

Expert & User Review Sources:

J. D. Power and Associates: J.D. Power and Associates polls 17,000 people to rate customer satisfaction of broadband Internet providers by region. AT&T ...

PCMag.com: AT&T South, formerly BellSouth, earns a top rating among DSL providers based on a survey of about 6,000 broadband users that ...

PC World: Based on a survey of nearly 6,500 readers, PC World magazine ranks AT&T Yahoo! second among DSL providers, outperforming ...

PCMag.com: More than 40,000 people used an applet to help PC Magazine measure the speed of their Internet connection. AT&T Yahoo! ranks ...

ConsumerReports.org: AT&T and two ISPs now merged into it -- BellSouth and SBC Yahoo! -- are ranked separately in this older review, compared with ...

Computerworld.com: Based on a smaller survey of 1,163 readers of Computerworld, AT&T ranks below average, and fares especially badly when it comes ...

BroadbandReports.com: About 5,500 user reviews give various AT&T regional DSL services high average scores (Silver awards). They get a B in most ...

Where to buy:

See All Stores

Dial-up ISP

Juno

Free up to 10 hours per month Compare Prices

If your needs amount to occasionally checking your e-mail or a little Web surfing, reviews recommend Juno as the best low-cost dial-up ISP. The first 10 hours a month are free (though you have to put up with ads). If you… use more hours than that you'll be charged $10 per month. The other main drawback is that phone support, normally free from ISPs, costs $1.95 per minute. NetZero offers similar terms and features and provides good speed for a dial-up ISP, but one survey ranks it lower than Juno for connection reliability.

See more photos, specs, and reviews

expand

collapse

Expert & User Review Sources:

J. D. Power and Associates: J.D. Power and Associates polls 17,000 people to rate customer satisfaction of dial-up Internet providers. United Online, owner ...

ConsumerReports.org: Editors offer some good general advice on the free page of this report, but the ratings are only available to subscribers. Juno ...

Viewpoints.com: Ten users review Juno at this independent review site, with about 60 percent quite satisfied. Complaints focus on the software, ...

PCMag.com: More than 40,000 people participate in this survey of ISP speed and service. While NetZero is the fastest of the three dial-ups ...

Epinions.com: About 600 people review NetZero here, giving it a mediocre average score, but most of the reviews are several years old. The ...

Where to buy:

See All Stores