How to Get Gigabit Internet

You can get gigabit internet with speeds of 940 Mbps or 1,000 Mbps (1 Gbps) from fiber and cable internet providers for around $60 to $80 a month. It’s great for big households and heavy internet users, ensuring a smooth connection for streaming, gaming, and working from home.

In some areas, you can also find multi-gigabit internet plans with speeds of 2,000 Mbps and faster. The fastest home fiber internet service you can get is 10,000 Mbps (10 Gbps). With cable, the fastest speed is 1,200 Mbps, but cable providers are likely to up their speeds in the coming years.

Gigabit internet is mostly available in large cities and towns—but can you get it where you live? And if so, do you even need it? We go into all the specifics in our gigabit guide below.

Jump to: Where can you find gigabit internet? | What is gigabit internet? | What are the best gigabit internet plans? | Gigabit upload speeds | How fast is gigabit Ethernet? | Gigabit internet and gaming | Additional resources

Where can you find gigabit internet or faster?

See disclaimers at bottom of page.

***Ratings from HighSpeedInternet.com’s annual customer satisfaction survey.

You can find gigabit internet speeds and faster from fiber and cable internet providers. They’re available mostly in densely populated cities and towns where the network can handle large amounts of bandwidth.

How much speed do you really need?

Gigabit internet is awesome because it’s so incredibly fast—but you can save money by going with a slower plan. Use our How Much Internet Speed Do I Need? Tool to see if you’re in need of gigabit speeds.

What is gigabit internet?

Gigabit internet is a cable or fiber connection with speeds of 940–1,000 megabits per second (Mbps). It’s called gigabit internet because 1,000 Mbps equals 1 gigabit per second (Gbps), which is a far shorter number to read and write.

However, multi-gig internet has speeds faster than 1,000 Mbps (1 Gbps). These plans are still commonly referred to as “gigabit internet” because multi-gig speeds are relatively new compared to the more common gigabit plans.

When it comes to home internet, Xfinity has the fastest cable internet plan with speeds up to 1.2 Gbps. It also has fiber internet service at 6 Gbps, but smaller, localized providers have plans that reach up to 10 Gbps. However, fiber availability is scarce compared to cable.

Speed standards taken from HighSpeedInternet.com’s How Much Internet Speed Do I Need? guide.

You most often find symmetrical gigabit speeds with fiber internet. Many cable providers can also get you gigabit download speeds, but their upload speeds will be a mere fraction of 1,000 Mbps—usually in the range of 20–50 Mbps. Fiber upload speeds are symmetrical, meaning they’re often just as fast as the download speeds.

Is gigabit internet worth the money?

Gigabit internet is well worth the money if everyone in your home spends a lot of time doing bandwidth-heavy tasks online.

A gigabit speed pretty much ensures that you’ll never have to worry about long load times, excessive buffering, and other bandwidth-related inconveniences. A connection that’s 1,000 Mbps or faster gives you ample speeds to support practically anything and leave plenty of capacity left over for whatever friends or family members might be using your internet for too.

However, if you live with only one or two other people and don’t have very pressing internet needs, then you can definitely save money by springing for a slower plan. Even an internet speed of just 100 Mbps will be enough for many users to stream videos, play online games, and Zoom.

Are fiber internet and gigabit internet the same?

No, technically fiber and gigabit internet are not the same. Fiber internet is a type of internet connection, while gigabit internet refers to the speed of the connection.

The terms “fiber internet” and “gigabit internet” are often conflated because most fiber-optic internet packages come in gigabit speeds—meaning anything of around 1,000 Mbps or faster. But some fiber internet providers offer slower speeds at a lower price in addition to gigabit packages. And many cable internet providers are also capable of providing gigabit download speeds.

What are the best gigabit internet plans?

Google Fiber’s 1 Gig plan is the best gigabit internet plan you can get. It comes at a reasonable price, with a flat fee of $70 per month that also covers equipment and installation. It gives you symmetrical speeds, so your upload speeds will be just as fast as your downloads. And it comes with unlimited data, so you can get the most out of your gigabit speeds without worrying about using too much data.

There are a bunch of other great gigabit plans out there, though, so don’t be worried if you can’t get Google Fiber in your area. We have more details in the table below.

Best gigabit internet plans

See disclaimers at bottom of page.

Most gigabit internet plans cost between $60 to $100 a month. If you’re lucky, you may be able to find a bargain price on a gigabit internet package from a provider like Astound Broadband. Generally, though, you should expect to pay more than usual for gigabit internet speeds.

Can you get gigabit upload speeds?

Yes, fiber internet providers can get you gigabit upload speeds.

Fiber is the only internet type that can deliver gigabit uploads. Cable providers can get you gigabit downloads, but uploading will be way slower—usually around 20–50 Mbps. Spectrum is the only exception with 500 Mbps uploads with its Gig plan in certain areas.

Internet users typically spend most of their time online downloading things (like with streaming, checking email, and downloading files), so you may not notice a difference. But good upload speeds will come in handy if you do a lot of upload-heavy activities, such as attending Zoom calls, hosting livestreams, or uploading files to Google Drive.

Activities that use upload speeds:

• Zoom calls and webinars
• Streaming on Twitch or Instagram Live
• Posting video to social media
• Uploading large files to Google Drive, iCloud, or other cloud servers

How do you know if you can get gigabit internet?

You can get gigabit internet if an internet provider with gigabit speeds operates in your area and if your equipment and Wi-Fi device support gigabit speeds.

Cable and fiber-optic internet providers both have gigabit internet plans available to a large number of customers. So if you can get either of those internet types in your area, chances are that you can get gigabit speeds.

Of course, you’ll also need equipment at home to deliver gigabit performance. Here’s what you’ll need:

• DOCSIS 3.0 modem or newer (for cable internet only)
• Router with a Gigabit Ethernet WAN port or faster.
• Router with Wi-Fi 6 for Gigabit wireless connectivity
• A computer with a Gigabit Ethernet port (or faster) or a USB 3 port (paired with a compatible adapter)
• Gigabit Ethernet (or faster) adapter for mobile devices (for wired connectivity)

The most important thing is to make sure you have a Wi-Fi 6 router or newer and a Wi-Fi 6 device or newer for wireless gigabit speeds.

Most recently manufactured computers, routers, and phones support Wi-Fi 6, so you should be good to go. If you have a device that was manufactured earlier than 2013, it’s probably for an upgrade to turn on the gigabit juice.

How fast is Gigabit Ethernet?

Gigabit Ethernet is fast enough to transfer data at a rate of up to 1,000 Mbps.

This Ethernet standard gives you fast speeds when you plug your device into a router’s Ethernet port. Home routers typically come with multiple Ethernet ports, which are also known as LAN (local area network) ports. Connecting your device to a router with an Ethernet cable gives you a faster and more direct internet connection.

Your sustained wired speeds will vary between 800 Mbps and 950 Mbps due to hardware and software overhead. But gigabit Ethernet is still the best way to go, since it’s much faster than the older Ethernet standard, called “Fast Ethernet,” which tops out at 100 Mbps.

Many modern routers allow you to link two Gigabit Ethernet ports together for a 2 Gbps multi-gig connection to a compatible device, like a modem or a NAS. Some newer routers even include a Multi-Gig Ethernet port for wired speeds up to 10 Gbps.

Gigabit internet and gaming

Online gaming doesn’t take up a whole lot of bandwidth, so you don’t necessarily need gigabit internet speeds to enjoy League of Legends, Overwatch, or other popular games. But you will want an internet connection with low latency when you’re gaming. In that case, a fiber internet plan is your best option, even if it’s not necessarily at gigabit speeds.

Latency, also known as ping rate, is the brief delay that happens when a signal goes from your device to the network and back—for example, when you click a button on your game controller or move your character with the joystick.

High latency creates lag, causing delays and other problems—especially when you’re playing fast-paced games like Call of Duty: Warzone. Fiber internet has the lowest ping rate out of all internet types, followed by cable internet. You can also reduce latency by getting a cable internet plan, closing out excess apps and browser tabs, or plugging your computer in directly to your router with an Ethernet cable.

Do you need gigabit internet? Here’s what the customers think

Not everyone is satisfied with their internet just because they have gigabit speeds. In fact, many customers are very happy with their service even when their speeds are much lower.

Those are conclusions that we gleaned from HighSpeedInternet.com’s annual customer satisfaction survey. In an analysis of 15 internet providers, multiple providers that offer extremely fast internet packages ended up getting the highest ratings for speed and overall satisfaction. However, there were also providers that got below-average ratings even though they advertise impressive, multigigabit speeds.

Customers in the survey also gave excellent ratings to providers that aren’t especially known for speedy service—namely T-Mobile 5G Home Internet, which offers a fixed wireless plan that delivers modest speeds between 72 Mbps and 245 Mbps.

The survey’s results suggest that having gigabit speeds is just one of multiple factors that determine a quality internet connection. You also want to pay attention to price, customer service, and reliability. In fact, plenty of customers are perfectly happy with a sub-gigabit internet plans because they cost less while still delivering a quality connection.

Disclaimer

Additional resources

• Fastest Internet Providers 2021
• Fastest Routers for Gigabit Internet
• Best Modems for Gigabit Internet
• Fiber Internet Providers
• Cable Internet Providers