Life away from the big city certainly has its advantages, but one potential drawback is the limited options for fast, reliable internet service. Wired connections, like the one you get with CenturyLink — our pick for best rural internet provider overall — are harder to come by, but will likely be your best option if it’s available.
CenturyLink’s DSL network covers suburban and rural areas across 16 states and is capable of delivering speeds as fast or faster than satellite internet without the data caps, contracts or high latency that come with satellite service. Other wired rural ISPs such as Kinetic by Windstream, Mediacom and Ziply Fiber are great choices for a high-speed, low-cost broadband connection in rural areas, as well.
In areas without access to fiber, cable or phone lines, a wireless internet service — such as fixed wireless internet from Rise Broadband or 5G home internet from T-Mobile — may be your best option. There is always satellite internet from HughesNet or Viasat if no other more practical broadband services are available in your area.
So which rural internet provider is best for your home? Here are my picks for the best internet providers that are most likely to be available in rural areas, all of which were chosen based on factors including coverage, speeds, pricing, data caps and customer satisfaction.
Locating local internet providers Our take – Aside from satellite internet providers and T-Mobile, CenturyLink has arguably the greatest coverage area of any ISP, largely spanning suburban and rural areas across 16 states. Most of that coverage comes from its DSL network, which means many rural residents within CenturyLink service areas will likely only be eligible for DSL service.
The good news is that many DSL customers will be able to get broadband speeds or higher (download speeds up to 25Mbps and upload speeds of 3Mbps), while some may be eligible for maximum download speeds of 60, 80 or 100Mbps. CenturyLink can meet or beat the internet speeds of satellite internet in most service areas, and service comes with a lower starting price ($50 per month), unlimited data and no contracts.
Our take – Rise Broadband is a leading fixed wireless internet provider with service available in 16 states. Of those, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Texas and Utah have the greatest serviceability. Similar to satellite internet, fixed wireless service from Rise Broadband requires no direct wires to the home, making it accessible to those in rural areas where cable, fiber-optic and even telephone lines do not reach.
Where available, Rise Broadband would be my choice over satellite internet since the provider offers speeds up to 50Mbps, latency low enough to support online gaming, and truly unlimited data options, all for a relatively low price compared to satellite. Rise Broadband is also a great choice for Wi-Fi in rural areas, with Premium Wi-Fi and Premium Mesh Wi-Fi service available as add-ons to all internet plans.
Our take – The arrival of 5G is exciting news for your phone, but the technology could also improve home internet connectivity, especially if you’re in a rural area. So far, T-Mobile has the greatest 5G availability, with coverage reaching 30 million homes across 40 states. Around a third of those homes are in rural areas, according to T-Mobile.
If your address is eligible for T-Mobile 5G home internet, you’ll have one plan option: $50 a month for the fastest speeds available. The plan also comes with no data caps or contracts, and equipment is included at no additional cost Actual speeds will vary by address, but will probably fall between the (recently-increased) range of 72-245Mbps. I can’t say those speeds are particularly impressive, but they are faster than you can expect from satellite service and come without the hassle of data caps and contracts.
Another thing of note on speeds, T-Mobile home internet service may occasionally fall back to 4G LTE service, which means speeds can further dip and vary.
Our take – Like CenturyLink, Kinetic by Windstream also received a 6.7/10 in our review, but the provider falls short of CenturyLink in total coverage area. That said, it’s an excellent choice for rural internet as the provider has some of the fastest DSL speeds and one of the greatest fiber network percentages of any rural ISP.
Kinetic offers internet service in 18 states across the Midwest, South and Eastern US. Although available primarily in rural and suburban areas, nearly a third of Windstream’s network uses fiber technology. Where fiber service is available, Kinetic customers can get download and upload speeds ranging from 25 up to 1,000Mbps. These speeds make Kinetic ideal for streaming over wireless connections and online gaming — activities that are often a challenge with rural internet service.
Service areas not eligible for fiber will have to settle for DSL, but Kinetic’s DSL network is faster than most. Many serviceable households will have access to broadband speeds or higher, while other households can get download speeds of at least up to 100Mbps. Regardless of the connection type available, Kinetic is a great choice for unlimited rural internet service, as all plans come with no data caps or contracts.
Our take – If you’re stuck with satellite internet and want the fastest speeds you can get, look to Viasat. Many rural residents can get speeds up to 30Mbps, 50Mbps or 100MBps depending on the location. The main drawback, other than being satellite internet, is that the higher speed potential comes at a price. Viasat is one of the most expensive rural broadband providers you’ll find, with service starting at $70 per month for speeds as low as 12Mbps, plus an added $13 per month for equipment.
There’s also a price hike after just three months of service that could add $30, $50 or $100 to your bill, depending on the plan. Viasat is the fastest satellite provider with coverage in all 50 states, but perhaps not for long. Elon Musk’s Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper have injected a lot of interest into the category, and consumers should keep an eye on names like those in the coming years.
Our take – HughesNet offers some relief to the high cost of satellite internet with lower starting prices than Viasat, albeit not by much. There is more value to HughesNet’s entry-level plan versus Viasat, with HughesNet delivering speeds up to 25Mbps and 15GB of data starting at $50 per month compared to Viasat’s 12Mbps with 60GB of data starting at $70 per month.
At the surface level, Viasat plans appear to come with significantly more data, but HughesNet throws in an additional 50GB per month for all customers, regardless of their plan. Known as the “Bonus Zone,” the extra 50GB is available between the hours of 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. when network congestion is presumably at its lowest.
Granted, the timing’s not ideal if you’re not a night owl, but if you can strategically schedule your downloads to occur between these hours, it could add a considerable chunk to your monthly data allowance. Speed reliability is another advantage of HughesNet service.
According to the FCC’s Eighth Measuring Broadband in America Report, HughesNet outperformed all other participating ISPs in terms of actual versus advertised speeds over a wired connection, with actual median speeds coming in at 150% or higher of the advertised speed. HughesNet customers are likely to run into speed issues if they exceed the monthly data cap.
HughesNet does not charge overage fees, meaning the service is technically “unlimited,” but customers who go over their monthly data allowance will have to purchase more data or endure drastically reduced speeds for the remainder of their billing cycle. Still, Mediacom is one of the best cheap internet providers for rural areas, offering service starting at just $35 a month.
Just know that the cheapest Mediacom plan only comes with 300GB of data and that going over the limit can add up to $50 to your bill. More data is available with higher-tiered plans — up to 3 terabytes, but no Mediacom plan offers fully unlimited rural internet service. Pricing goes up on all Mediacom plans after the first year and settles close to the industry average for cable internet providers.
Still, starting prices of $35 to $70 per month aren’t bad, especially for a rural internet connection. Our take – You read that speed range correctly: Ziply Fiber offers multi-gigabit internet speeds of 2Gbps, 5Gbps, 10Gbps and now 50Gbps available in select