Best Internet Providers in Arizona

Arizona has so much to offer: saguaro cactus, beautiful mountains, Route 66, the thriving metropolis of Phoenix, quirky Tucson, scenic Flagstaff and Dateland’s date milk Xi. However, great home networking options aren’t common. Fiber optic resources are scarce and most areas have few choices when it comes to Internet service providers.

What is the best internet provider in Arizona?

CNET Names Arizona’s Best Internet Provider as CenturyLink. For Arizona, availability is a big issue. Some providers only serve specific areas of the state. You’ll find Sparklight and Frontier to the east, Xfinity around Tucson, and Cox to the south. The required fiber optic connections are limited, leaving many residents with only DSL, cable or fixed wireless connections. Our picks for the best ISPs depend heavily on availability, as even the fastest residential providers in the Grand Canyon State typically achieve speeds of 940 megabits per second.

Limited fiber availability means your best option may be Cox Communications, Optimum, Xfinity, or a 5G home network from Verizon or T-Mobile. Rural households outside wired coverage may turn to local fixed wireless providers or satellite networks to get online.

Source: CNET analysis of provider profiles

When it comes to wired internet in rural Arizona, your best bet may be an older network such as CenturyLink’s DSL service, our pick for the top rural ISPs in the country. It has wider coverage than the company’s fiber offerings, but can still deliver speeds of up to 500 Mbps in some places. With plans priced at $55 per month, this is a good starting point for your search for rural internet. If that doesn’t work, consider fixed wireless or satellite as alternatives.

Arizona is dotted with small fixed wireless ISPs, some of which we’ve listed in the table above. Enter your address into the FCC National Broadband Map to see which services serve your area. Fixed wireless can sometimes be slow and expensive, but it’s better than no connection at all and can be more cost-effective than satellite. Fixed wireless speeds may vary based on location and distance. You need a clear line of sight to the tower. Plans vary widely from provider to provider, with some starting at 10 Mbps speeds, which doesn’t even qualify as broadband in the eyes of the FCC. Other services offer speeds of up to 150 Mbps in some areas, but the price can rise to well over $100 per month.

Some smaller providers are working to bring faster internet to underserved areas. AireBeam, for example, has been expanding its fiber network in Florence and Casa Grande, rolling out speeds of up to 2,000 Mbps in some areas. Its fixed wireless service covers rural areas of Pinal, Maricopa and Pima counties.

If DSL and fixed wireless don’t meet your needs, consider satellite networks from Starlink, Viasat or Hughesnet. You just need a clear view of the southern sky. Satellite equipment costs and monthly fees can be expensive, and speeds aren’t always great, so consider DSL or fixed wireless options first before switching to satellite.

Arizona Internet details at a glance

According to FCC regulations, all homes in Arizona have access to broadband speeds of at least 100 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream. That might sound a little slow in the age of fast fiber, but that’s how the FCC defines broadband. Looking closer, the FCC says that 84% of these homes have access to broadband through a wired network (such as cable, DSL, or fiber optics). The remaining households must rely on fixed wireless or satellite internet.

When we look at fibers, this number drops significantly. Only about 16% of Arizona homes have access to fiber with speeds of at least 250 Mbps. Looking at performance levels, we’re down to only 7%. Most of the scarce fiber can be found in larger metro areas like Phoenix and Tucson. Fast and affordable quantum fiber is our top choice at Phoenix, but availability is limited. If Arizonans had an internet wish list, the first spot would be “more fiber please.”

Internet outages in Arizona cities

It’s difficult to cover Arizona’s broadband options and give its cities the attention they deserve. That’s why we’ve also compiled a list of the best internet providers in cities across the United States, including Arizona. We handle details like network connection type, maximum speed, and cheapest provider. If you don’t see what you’re looking for below, please check back later as we’re working hard to add more cities every week.

Arizona Internet Speed

How does Internet service in Arizona compare to the rest of the United States? A recent Ookla ranking of U.S. states ranked Arizona at No. 32. The average download speed for fixed internet in the state is about 199Mbps. By comparison, No. 1 state Rhode Island had speeds of about 257 Mbps. Cox was recognized by Ookla for offering the fastest download speeds in Arizona, with a median of nearly 273 Mbps.

FCC data shows that nearly 87% of residential access speeds in Arizona are down by at least 250 Mbps. You’ll find this option available from most major fixed network providers, from Xfinity to Optimum, and from Cox to Quantum Fiber. If you sign up for a plan with at least 250 Mbps downstream speeds, you’ll be ahead of the pack nationwide. Ookla shows the median download speed across the United States is about 248 Mbps.

There are other ways to improve your online experience. You may be able to switch providers or sign up for a faster plan from your current ISP. Before you do this, follow the steps below to get faster Wi-Fi.

Arizona Internet Pricing

Choosing an internet plan is a balancing act between speed and budget. Most ISP plans start at about $50, but you can squeeze in for less by agreeing to a contract, accepting a slower speed tier, or getting lucky enough to score a promotional offer. Many promotional prices come with an expiration date. For example, if you live in the Payson area, Sparklight’s 300 Mbps plan is only $45 per month, but the price jumps to $65 after one year.

Home internet from T-Mobile or Verizon can be cheap if it works well where you are and you bundle the service with a qualifying cell phone plan. This brings the cost of Internet service down to $40 per month for T-Mobile and $35 per month for Verizon.

The lowest price isn’t always the best deal. CenturyLink’s Quantum Fiber 940 Mbps (including modem) costs $75, making it one of the more affordable gigabit fiber plans in the country. This is a good balance between price and speed.

Internet for low-income families in Arizona

Connect Arizona, a program led by the Arizona State Library, maintains a list of low-cost internet plans and services in the state. You can sort by connection type and search by location. For example, you’ll find Xfnity’s Internet Essentials Plus plan or Cox Communications’ ConnectAssist plan, both of which are the most affordable options for low-income families.

CNET How to Choose the Best Internet Provider in Arizona

Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the latest smartphone, laptop, router, or kitchen tool, it’s impractical to test every ISP in a given city. So what is our approach? We first looked at pricing, availability, and speed information, using our own historical ISP data, provider websites, and map information from the Federal Communications Commission’s FCC.gov.

It didn’t end there: We visited the FCC’s website to check our data and make sure we accounted for every ISP offering service in a certain area. We will also enter your local address on the provider website to find specific options for 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 at the time of 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 the plan with the lowest monthly fee, although we also consider factors like price increases, equipment costs, 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 sources like Ookla and FCC reports.

To explore our process in more depth, visit our How to Test ISPs page.

The future of broadband in Arizona

Arizona has room to grow when it comes to broadband speeds and options. Residents in some cities can look forward to fiber expansion. AT&T Fiber service tops many of our broadband recommendation lists, and in 2022 it announced an expansion to Mesa, which is expected to be up and running in 2023. Google Fiber opened a store in Mesa’s Westwood neighborhood in March and plans to move to Chandler. Wyyerd Fiber is building out its network in Gilbert.

These fiber-optic initiatives are good news for city dwellers, but Arizona is also working to improve connectivity in rural and underserved areas. The state expects to receive nearly $1 billion in federal investment through the Broadband Equitable Access and Deployment Initiative. BEAD aims to expand broadband access across the United States. Fiber optic growth and more (faster) rural options paint a positive picture for Arizona’s broadband future, but change can be slow.

Arizona Internet FAQs