Best Internet Providers in Athens, Georgia
Our Experts
What is the best internet provider in Athens?
AT&T Fiber is the best internet provider in Athens, with the fastest speeds in the city, simple service terms and high customer satisfaction scores. It’s slightly more expensive than other internet service providers in Athens, but prices don’t automatically increase after a year or two, and you get significantly faster speeds.
If you want to pay the lowest price possible, Spectrum offers the cheapest internet in Athens, starting at just $30 per month. That said, prices increase significantly after a year or two, and renting a Wi-Fi router will add an extra $5 to your monthly bill. If you don’t want to worry about caveats like that, T-Mobile Home Internet offers a transparent alternative. Everything is included in its $50 monthly bill, and your price is locked in for as long as you stay a customer.
Our methodology
CNET considers speeds, pricing, customer service and overall value to recommend the best internet service in Athens across several categories. Our evaluation includes referencing a proprietary database built over years of reviewing internet services. We validate that against provider information by spot-checking local addresses for service availability. We also do a close read of providers' terms and conditions and, when needed, will call ISPs to verify the details.
Despite our efforts to find the most recent and accurate information, our process has some limitations you should know about. Pricing and speed data are variable: certain addresses may qualify for different service tiers and monthly costs may vary, even within a city. The best way to identify your options is to plug your address into a provider's website.
Also, the prices, speed and other information listed above and in the provider cards below may differ from what we found in our research. The cards display the full range of a provider's pricing and speed across the US, according to our database of plan information provided directly by ISPs. At the same time, the text is specific to what's available in Athens. The prices referenced within this article's text come from our research and include applicable discounts for setting up automatic payments each month -- a standard industry offering. Other discounts and promotions might also be available for things like signing a term contract or bundling with multiple services.
To learn more about how we review internet providers, visit our full methodology page.
Best internet in Athens, Georgia
AT&T Fiber
Best internet provider in Athens, GA
Our take - AT&T Fiber is almost always your best option when it's available at your address. Its fiber internet service offers symmetrical upload and download speeds, no built-in rate increases, and reasonable and straightforward pricing. That's why AT&T Fiber earned the highest score of any ISP in the American Customer Satisfaction Index's annual survey.
Spectrum
Cheapest internet in Athens, GA
Our take - If you can’t get AT&T Fiber at your address, Spectrum is a solid backup option. It’s available nearly everywhere in the city and generally delivers on the speeds it advertises -- Ookla speed test results named Spectrum the fastest US provider with median download speeds of 243Mbps. The main downsides are Spectrum’s low upload speeds and price increases in the second or third year.
T-Mobile Home Internet
Best fixed wireless internet in Athens, GA
Our take - If you don’t want to worry about price increases or hidden fees, T-Mobile Home Internet offers a refreshingly simple version of home internet. The fixed wireless provider only has one plan for $50 a month; everything you need is included in that price. It doesn’t have the same fast speeds as AT&T Fiber or Spectrum, but it provides enough bandwidth for most people. T-Mobile earned the highest rating of any non-fiber provider in the country from the ACSI.
Athens internet providers compared
| Provider | Internet technology | Monthly price range | Speed range | Monthly equipment costs | Data cap | Contract | CNET review score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
AT&T Fiber Read full review | Fiber | $55-$250 | 300-5,000Mbps | None | None | None | 7.4 |
|
AT&T Internet Read full review | DSL | $55 | Up to 140Mbps | None | 1.5TB on some plans | None | 7.4 |
|
Spectrum Read full review | Cable | $30-$90 | 100-1,000Mbps | $5 (optional) | None | None | 7.2 |
|
T-Mobile Home Internet Read full review | Fixed wireless | $50 ($30 with eligible mobile plans) | 72-245Mbps | None | None | None | 7.4 |
|
Verizon 5G Home Internet Read full review | Fixed wireless | $50-$70 ($35-$45 for eligible Verizon Wireless customers) | 50-1,000Mbps | None | None | None | 7.2 |
Source: CNET analysis of provider data.
Other available internet providers in Athens
- Satellite internet: Satellite is an option wherever you have a clear view of the southern sky, but it’s rarely your best option. HughesNet and Viasat are the traditional satellite ISPs, and both come with slow speeds, high monthly prices and stingy data caps. Starlink is an internet provider from SpaceX that uses low-earth orbit satellites to provide faster speeds, but you’ll have to buy the equipment upfront for $599.
- Verizon 5G Home Internet: Like T-Mobile Home Internet, Verizon offers fixed wireless internet in Athens. It’s only available to 15% of households, but it’s worth considering if you can get it. Speeds go up to 1,000Mbps, and you can pay a very low price when you bundle with a Verizon cellphone plan.
Cheap internet options in Athens
Athens residents have several good options for cheap internet. Spectrum offers the cheapest plan in the area by far at $30 a month, but the price jumps to $60 after two years. If you don’t want to worry about your bill going up, T-Mobile Home Internet locks in your price for as long as you remain a customer.
What’s the cheapest internet plan in Athens?
| Provider | Starting price | Max download speed | Monthly equipment fee |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Spectrum Internet 100 Read full review | $30 | 100Mbps | $5 (optional) |
|
Spectrum Internet Read full review | $50 | 300Mbps | $5 (optional) |
|
T-Mobile Home Internet Read full review | $50 ($30 with eligible mobile plans) | 245Mbps | None |
|
Verizon 5G Home Internet Read full review | $50 ($35 with eligible mobile plans) | 300Mbps | None |
Source: CNET analysis of provider data.
How to find internet deals and promotions in Athens
The best internet deals and the top promotions in Athens depend on what discounts are available then. Most deals are short-lived, but we look frequently for the latest offers.
Athens internet providers, such as Spectrum, may offer lower introductory pricing or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Others, however, including T-Mobile Home Internet, run the same standard pricing year-round.
For a more extensive list of promotions, check out our guide to the best internet deals.
How fast is Athens broadband?
Five internet plans in Athens offer gig speeds (download speeds above 1,000Mbps). That’s fewer than Atlanta (10 gig-speed plans) but the same as Augusta and Greenville.
Fastest internet plans in Athens
| Provider | Starting price | Max download speed | Max upload speed | Data cap | Connection type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
AT&T Internet 5000 Read full review | $250 | 5,000Mbps | 5,000Mbps | None | Fiber |
|
AT&T Internet 2000 Read full review | $150 | 2,000Mbps | 2,000Mbps | None | Fiber |
|
AT&T Internet 1000 Read full review | $80 | 1,000Mbps | 1,000Mbps | None | Fiber |
|
Spectrum Internet Gig Read full review | $90 | 1,000Mbps | 35Mbps | None | Cable |
|
Verizon 5G Home Plus Internet Read full review | $70 ($45 with qualifying Verizon 5G mobile plans) | 1,000Mbps | 75Mbps | None | Fixed wireless |
Source: CNET analysis of provider data.
What’s a good internet speed?
Most internet connection plans can now handle basic productivity and communication tasks. If you're looking for an internet plan that can accommodate videoconferencing, streaming video or gaming, you'll have a better experience with a more robust connection. Here's an overview of the recommended minimum download speeds for various applications, according to the FCC. Note that these are only guidelines -- and that internet speed, service and performance vary by connection type, provider and address.
For more information, refer to our guide on how much internet speed you really need.
- 0 to 5Mbps allows you to tackle the basics -- browsing the internet, sending and receiving email, streaming low-quality video.
- 5 to 40Mbps gives you higher-quality video streaming and videoconferencing.
- 40 to 100Mbps should give one person sufficient bandwidth to satisfy the demands of modern telecommuting, video streaming and online gaming.
- 100 to 500Mbps allows one to two people to simultaneously engage in high-bandwidth activities like videoconferencing, streaming and online gaming.
- 500 to 1,000Mbps allows three or more people to engage in high-bandwidth activities at the same time.
How CNET chose the best internet providers in Athens
Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the latest smartphone, laptop, router or kitchen tool, it's impractical to personally test every internet service provider in a given city. So what's our approach? For starters, we tap into a proprietary pricing, availability and speed database that draws from our own historical ISP data, partner data and mapping information from the Federal Communications Commission at FCC.gov.
This guide leverages an in-house artificial intelligence tool called RAMP, which is trained on our own writing and uses our database to generate content about specific internet service providers that our writers can use in determining and presenting our picks for a given guide. Check CNET’s AI policy for more information about how our teams use (and don’t use) AI tools.
Because our database is not exhaustive, we go to the FCC's website to check the primary data for ourselves and make sure we're considering every ISP that provides service in an area. Plans and prices also vary by location, so we input local addresses on provider websites to find the specific options available to residents. We look at sources, including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Power, to evaluate how happy customers are with an ISP's service. ISP plans and prices are subject to frequent changes; all information provided is accurate as of our pre-publication fact-check.
Once we have this localized information, we ask three main questions:
- Does the provider offer access to reasonably fast internet speeds?
- Do customers get decent value for what they're paying?
- Are customers happy with their service?
While the answer to those questions is often layered and complex, the providers who come closest to “yes” on all three are the ones we recommend. When selecting the cheapest internet service, we look for the plans with the lowest monthly fee, though we also factor in things like price increases, equipment fees and contracts. Choosing the fastest internet service is relatively straightforward. 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, you can visit our how we test ISPs page.
What’s the final word on internet providers in Athens?
No matter where you live in Athens, you should have access to a few good internet providers. AT&T Fiber is the best of the bunch, and it’s not particularly close. It has the fastest speeds and the highest customer satisfaction scores of any provider in the area, and you won’t have to worry about price increases, data caps or equipment fees. Spectrum is a solid backup option, but its upload speeds are much lower, and prices increase dramatically in the second or third year. If you don’t want to worry about your bill going up, T-Mobile Home Internet’s main selling point is its simplicity: it costs $50 a month, comes with a price-lock guarantee and includes all equipment.
Internet providers in Athens FAQs
What is the best internet service provider in Athens?
AT&T Fiber is the best internet service provider in Athens, with symmetrical upload and download speeds of up to 5,000 Mbps and no data caps or contracts.
Is fiber internet available in Athens?
Yes, fiber internet is available to 29% of households in Athens through AT&T Fiber.
Who is the cheapest internet provider in Athens?
Spectrum is the cheapest internet provider in Athens, with plans starting at $30 a month for 100Mbps download speeds. That said, the price increases to $60 after two years.
Which internet provider in Athens offers the fastest plan?
AT&T Fiber offers the fastest plan with download and upload speeds up to 5,000 Mbps for $250 monthly.
Home Internet Guides
- Sometimes a provider is available in your Zip code, but not at your exact address
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