Best Internet Providers in Arlington, Virginia

What is the best internet provider in Arlington?

CNET’s Best Vendor Pick for most Arlington households, it’s Xfinity. In addition to serving most addresses in the city, this service also offers the fastest plan in Arlington. For $120 per month, Xfinity customers can reach download speeds of up to 2 gigabits per second, with no data caps or monthly equipment fees. Providers like Verizon Fios and T-Mobile are also good choices for home internet, depending on availability.

Xfinity also offers one of the cheapest plans in Arlington, tied with Astound Broadband. Even though Astound offers faster speeds with its basic plan, availability is much rarer. Xfinity Connect costs $25 per month for speeds up to 150 megabits per second.

Best Internet in Arlington, Virginia

Source: CNET analysis of supplier data.

Source: CNET analysis of supplier data.

How to Find Internet Deals and Promotions in Arlington

The best internet deals and promotions in Arlington depend on the discounts available during this time. Most deals are short-term, but we frequently check for the latest deals.

Arlington internet providers, such as Xfinity, Cox and Astound Broadband, may offer lower introductory prices or streaming add-ons for a limited time. However, many, including Verizon and T-Mobile, charge the same standard rates year-round.

For a more complete list of promotions, see our guide on best internet deals.

Source: CNET analysis of supplier data.

What is 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 video conferencing, video streaming, or gaming, you’ll have a better experience with a more robust connection. Here’s a look at the minimum recommended download speeds for various apps, according to the FCC. Note that these are guidelines only and Internet speed, service and performance vary depending on connection type, provider and address.

For more information, see our guide on how much internet speed you actually need.

• 0 to 5 Mbps lets you tackle the basics: browsing the Internet, sending and receiving emails, streaming low-quality video.
• 5 to 40 Mbps gives you higher quality video streaming and video conferencing.
• 40 to 100 Mbps should give a user enough bandwidth to satisfy the demands of modern teleworking, video streaming, and online gaming.
• 100 to 500 Mbps allows one or two users to participate in high-bandwidth activities like video conferencing, streaming, and gaming simultaneously.
• 500 to 1000 Mbps allows three or more users to engage in high-bandwidth activities simultaneously.

How CNET Chose the Best Internet Service Providers in Arlington

Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the last smart phone, laptop, router Or kitchen toolit is not practical to personally test every ISP in a given city. So what is our approach? We begin by researching pricing, availability, and speed information, drawing on our own historical ISP data, provider sites, and Federal Communications Commission map information at FCC.gov.

But it doesn’t stop there. We go to the FCC website to check our data and make sure we are accounting for all ISPs that provide service in an area. We also enter local addresses on provider websites to find specific options for residents. We look at sources including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and JD Power to gauge how satisfied customers are with an ISP’s service. ISP plans and prices are subject to frequent change; All information provided is accurate at the time of publication.

Once we have this localized information, we ask three main questions:

1. Does the provider offer access to reasonably fast internet speeds?
2. Are customers getting decent value for what they pay?
3. Are customers satisfied with their service?

While the answer to these questions is often complex and complicated, the providers who come closest to “yes” in all three areas are the ones we recommend. When it comes to selecting the cheapest internet service, we look for the plans with the lowest monthly fees, but we also consider things like price increases, equipment fees, and contracts . Choosing the fastest Internet service is relatively simple. We look at advertised upload and download speeds and also take into account actual speed data from sources like Ookla And FCC Reports. (Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.)

To explore our process in more depth, visit our how we test ISPs page.

FAQs about Internet Service Providers in Arlington