Internet providers in NYC, NY

About home internet in New York City

Updated on September 18, 2025

It’s no understatement to say that New York City is saturated in Wi-Fi. Across Manhattan alone, the vast majority of New Yorkers have at least three internet providers to choose from, and the rest of the five boroughs are also outfitted with multiple cable, fiber, and 5G home internet services. Spectrum is the most widely-available internet provider in the city, and its cable internet plans give you tons of speed and unlimited data at a reasonable price. But you can also find fiber-optic internet across wide swathes of the city, especially in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Though not available everywhere, Verizon’s Fios fiber packages get you the best internet you could ask for, with symmetrical speeds making remote work, streaming, and online gaming a breeze.

College students and lower-income households can find some great internet options at a low price. Astound has a large cable-internet footprint in the city, and it frequently offers generous deals and discounts to go with its budget-friendly plans. There’s also T-Mobile 5G Home Internet and Verizon 5G Home Internet—cutting-edge internet plans that come at cheap, flat rates and work great for small to mid-sized households. And of course, there are several local and regional internet providers that offer fast fiber speeds and excellent customer service.

What are the best home internet providers in New York City?

The best home internet providers in New York City are Verizon, Spectrum, and Astound.

Hands down, you can’t beat Verizon . Available across parts of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and other areas in the outer boroughs, Verizon’s Fios service delivers one of the fastest internet connections in the United States. The slowest plans start at 300Mbps, which is still a great speed for small households, and Verizon’s reasonable prices and extra perks (including unlimited data, no equipment fees, and regular promos) make its deals that much sweeter.
Spectrum is a cable internet provider, meaning it can’t deliver the impressive, symmetrical speeds of a fiber provider like Verizon or Optimum. But Spectrum is still an excellent pick if you need a fast and reliable connection for a decent price. The provider’s cable plans reach speeds up to 2,000Mbps, and prices start at around $30 per month. Even better, Spectrum has no data caps or annual contracts, so you get a straight deal and can cancel any time without paying extra fees.
If you’re looking for a plan that costs you under $50 a month, give Astound a try. Astound’s 300Mbps and 600Mbps plans cost you a mere $30 and $45 per month, respectively. Plus, Astound plans have no data caps and no contracts, and the provider routinely offers an array of promotions to benefit new customers. Before you sign up, consult our Best Internet Deals page to get coupon codes for waiving installation costs and other benefits.
Verizon 5G Home Internet and T-Mobile 5G Home Internet both hook you up with solid service at a budget price. Verizon and T-Mobile have both rolled out their respective 5G internet plans across parts of Manhattan and other boroughs, and while these budding wireless services aren’t quite as foolproof as cable or fiber internet, they’re still well worth considering. Whichever provider you go with, you get internet at a flat monthly rate, with no extra fees for installation or equipment. You get unlimited data and you don’t have to sign an annual contract, so you can cancel any time.

What is the fastest home internet provider in New York City?

Optimum is the fastest home internet provider in New York City. Its fiber internet plans offer download speeds up to 8,000Mbps. Optimum’s fiber internet plans aren’t as easy to find as its cable plans, which reach up to 1,000Mbps.

Verizon is the second fastest internet provider available in New York City. Its fiber-optic internet plans offer download speeds up to 2,300Mbps, although it’s more common to find Verizon Fios plans with 940Mbps downloads and 880Mbps uploads. Its fiber network is incredibly reliable, and its plans can deliver symmetrical upload and download speeds—which isn’t possible with cable providers.

Spectrum and Astound also deliver multi-gig download speeds. Spectrum’s plans top out at 2,000Mbps, while Astound hits downloads up to 1,200Mbps. These providers aren’t as fast as Verizon on our speed test, but they still deliver excellent service.

Fastest home internet providers in New York City

Max download speeds	Internet type	View plans
8,000Mbps (fiber only)	Cable, fiber	View Plans
2,048Mbps	Fiber	View Plans
1,200Mbps	Cable, fiber	View Plans
2,000Mbps ^{(wireless speeds may vary)}	Cable, fiber	View Plans

What’s a good internet speed?

Take our quiz to find out how much internet speed you need. Or use our internet speed test to test your current speeds.

0–5 Mbps

Works for:

Checking email
Streaming music on one device
Searching on Google

5–40 Mbps

Works for:

Streaming video on one device
Video calling with Skype or FaceTime
Online gaming for one player

40–100 Mbps

Works for:

Streaming HD video on a few devices
Multiplayer online gaming
Downloading large files

100–500 Mbps

Works for:

Streaming video in UHD on multiple screens
Downloading files quickly
Gaming online for multiple players

500–1,000+ Mbps

Works for:

Doing a lot of almost anything

Want an easy way to test and track your internet speed?

Download our free, easy-to-use speed test app for quick and reliable results.

What is the cheapest home internet provider in New York City?

Astound and Starry are the cheapest home internet providers in New York City. Both Astound and Starry offer plans for just $30 a month —both awesome deals considering the speeds you get on either plan.

Verizon 5G Home Internet and T-Mobile 5G Home Internet are two other great options for cheap internet in the city. While both providers technically charge more (literally by a penny) than Verizon Fios and Spectrum on baseline plans, you end up getting a much better deal because you don’t have to worry about extra fees for installation or equipment. You also get unlimited data and lots of promotions and deals.

But if you prefer fiber or cable, no worries, because Verizon Fios and Spectrum also have solid fiber-optic and cable plans at cheap prices. We recommend going for Verizon if either has fiber internet in your area, but all these providers can get you reliable performance even on the cheapest internet plans.

Optimum also has cheap prices, but Optimum imposes price hikes on all of its plans after a year of service. So while you’re getting a great discount upfront, you end up paying more in the long run.

Cheapest home internet plans in New York City

Plan	Price	Speed	View plans
Astound 300 Mbps Internet	$30/mo.^†	300Mbps	View Plans for Astound
Optimum 300 Mbps Internet	$35/mo.*	300Mbps	View Plans for Optimum
Verizon Fios 300 Mbps	$49.99/mo.^‡	300Mbps	View Plans for Verizon Home Internet
Spectrum Internet® Premier	$50/mo.^§ ^{for 1 year}	500Mbps ^{(wireless speeds may vary)}	View Plans for Spectrum
Verizon 5G Home	$50/mo.^║ ^{w/ AutoPay}	300Mbps	View Plans for Verizon Home Internet
T-Mobile Rely Internet	$50/mo.^†† ^{w/ AutoPay, plus taxes & fees.}	113–415Mbps	View Plans for T-Mobile Home Internet
Starry 100	$30/mo.^# ^{w/ Debit Discount}	100Mbps	View Plans for Starry Internet

Read disclaimers.

Free internet opportunities in NYC

Qualifying residents can enroll in Big Apple Connect for either Optimum or Spectrum internet service. New customers at participating NYCHA properties can order through Big Apple Connect services for a free cable plan up to 300 Mbps. Existing customers can have their monthly bill reduced to $0.

Home internet deals and promotions in New York City

Provider	Deal	View on provider's site
	Save $10 per month on YouTube TV for the first year with Verizon Veterans, teachers, and first responders can get Fios home internet from Verizon for just $45 per month Get one Verizon Perk free when you sign up for certain fixed wireless or fiber plans, worth up to $10 per month	Get the Deal
	Get a free iPhone 17 with certain triple play bundles from Optimum until Nov. 9 Get six months of free streaming services with certain TV and internet bundles from Optimum until Nov. 9 Earn up to $100 for every friend you refer to Optimum, and they'll get a $50 bill credit in return	Get the Deal
	Spectrum Internet^® customers get one line of Spectrum Mobile^® Unlimited for a year Get a Spectrum Internet® Premier or Gig plan free for 1 month	Get the Deal
	Get a $200 gift card and up to 50% off professional installation when you sign up for 1500Mbps speeds with Astound and use code GIG200 Get a free month of internet service and up to 50% off installation when you sign up for 300Mbps speeds with Astound and use code LIVEMORE Get a $100 service credit when you refer a friend to Astound Internet and earn up to $1,200 annually	Get the Deal
	Get a price lock guarantee for up to five years and unlimited data when you combine an unlimited mobile line with select internet speeds Get a gift card worth $125 when you refer a friend to Cox and earn up to $600 per year	Get the Deal
	Get $20 off per month for three months when you call in to sign up for Viasat internet Get free standard installation (with credit qualification) when you sign up for a qualifying home internet plan from Viasat	Get the Deal
	Try Starry Internet free for 30 days Get a free month of internet service when you refer a friend to Starry Internet Get a $5 debit discount on select plans when you sign up with a valid debit or prepaid card	Get the Deal

What fiber internet providers are available in New York City?

Verizon and Optimum are the two major fiber internet providers in New York City. Regional providers Flume Internet and Hotwire Communications also offer fiber internet on select plans.

We always recommend fiber internet as the best type of internet you can get—with fast speeds, a super reliable connection, and symmetrical uploads, you simply can’t beat it.

Fiber internet providers in New York City

Verizon — Fiber speeds up to 2,300Mbps
Optimum — Fiber speeds up to 8,000Mbps
Flume Internet — Fiber speeds up to 1,000Mbps
Hotwire Communications — Fiber speeds up to 1,000Mbps

NYC home internet provider availability map

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Internet provider stores in NYC

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Featured customer reviews from NYC

“I called the hotline concerning our billing statement and I received the BEST costumer service!”

—Katie F.

“Service is excellent, never have had a service interruption unless for power failure over the 4-5 years we have had them.”

—Stephen E.

“Optimum provides adequate internet for the home. They are awesome in the amount of hotspots available to subscribers. This is great as to avoid using data.”

—Robyn P.

“Spectrum over-promises, under-performs, and under-delivers.”

—Happy G.

“Internet speeds are frustratingly inconsistent. The variance is between one hundred Mbs and one point zero Mbs. Periods between four PM and eleven PM are particularly problematic.”

—James K.

“If I were able to find another internet service provider, I would do so. We are paying for 100mb/second, but only receive intermittent service, usually at 20mb/sec when it actually is available.”

—R.D.

Methodology

HighSpeedInternet.com compares internet providers within cities and metro areas to give customers the most relevant insights into their internet options. When comparing providers, we consider the following:

Provider coverage areas
Advertised speeds
Real-world speeds (speed test data)
Customer feedback
Other relevant localized data

We source localized coverage data displayed on our coverage maps from the FCC coverage database, which is updated every six months. For the most current summary of providers in your area, we recommend you use our zip code search tool, which offers the most recent coverage data straight from internet service providers (ISPs).

Our city overviews compare advertised provider speeds. We may also include real-world speed data gathered from millions of annual speed test results. To process our speed test data, we first filter out outliers and providers with low test counts. We then calculate speed averages with every ISP subject to the same parameters.

We gather ISP customer feedback data from our comprehensive annual surveys and direct customer feedback submitted to HighSpeedInternet.com. Unless stated otherwise, average ratings are calculated nationally.

Disclaimers

* w/Auto Pay & Paperless Bill w/unlimited mobile plans. Terms apply. Not available in all areas.

† Regional price differences may apply. 24 Month Internet Pricing. No contract required. Equipment priced separately. Includes $5 discount for 12 months w/ ebill & autopay. Experienced speeds may vary. New residential customers only.

‡ w/ Auto Pay. Available in select areas.

§ Limited time offer; subject to change; valid to qualified residential customers who have not subscribed to any services within the previous 30 days and who have no outstanding obligation to Charter.

║ w/ Auto Pay. Available in select areas.

** w/ Auto Pay and select 5G mobile plans. Available in select areas.

†† w/ Auto Pay. Regulatory fees included in monthly price for qualified accounts. See full terms.

# Available in select areas only. Price per month with Auto Pay & without select 5G mobile plans. Fios plan prices include taxes & fees.

Internet providers in NYC, NY

About home internet in New York City

What are the best home internet providers in New York City?

What is the fastest home internet provider in New York City?

Fastest home internet providers in New York City

What’s a good internet speed?

Want an easy way to test and track your internet speed?

What is the cheapest home internet provider in New York City?