Greatest Web Suppliers in Charleston, South Carolina

I dwell slightly below 200 miles from Charleston, South Carolina, and let me be totally clear: After I go to, the very last thing on my thoughts is my broadband choices. I’m often targeted on fluffy biscuits, sandy seashores and bustling markets. Nevertheless, Charleston residents have a stable lineup of cable and fiber web service selections supplied by all kinds of suppliers.

What’s the greatest web supplier in Charleston?

CNET’s decide for the very best web supplier in Charleston is AT&T Fiber. Nevertheless, Holy Metropolis residents have many selections, together with fiber plans from AT&T and native supplier Home Telecom and cable connections from Xfinity or Spectrum. There’s additionally 5G home internet from T-Mobile Home Internet or Verizon 5G Home Internet. 

According to the Federal Communications Commission, 100% of Charleston households have entry to a broadband connection (outlined as 100 megabits per second obtain and 20Mbps add speeds), and 97% are eligible for plans that supply obtain speeds as much as 250Mbps. That is uncommon. In South Carolina’s capital metropolis of Columbia, for instance, 92% have entry to web plans that quick, which might permit a family of 4 to comfortably stream exhibits, earn a living from home and sport concurrently, per FCC guidelines.

Supply: CNET evaluation of supplier information.

Different accessible Charleston residential web suppliers

Charleston has extra ISPs than many different cities within the US, offering a reasonably extraordinary vary of choices. Listed here are another suppliers value contemplating.

• Home Telecom: This firm covers about 8% of Charleston, with availability largely within the Daniel Island space. Its fiber-optic plans supply 300Mbps, 500Mbps, 1 gig or 2 gig for $60, $70, $80 or $100 month-to-month — which is a little more costly than AT&T’s Fiber plans. But it surely’s a neighborhood outfit, gear is included and there aren’t any information caps or contracts.
• Satellite internet: We advocate avoiding satellite tv for pc web in Charleston, provided that cheaper and sooner choices are extensively accessible. Satellite tv for pc web is greatest for rural areas that cable and fiber do not attain. If that is the place you reside, Hughesnet and Viasat are essentially the most distinguished suppliers, although every requires a two-year contract. Elon Musk’s Starlink, which affords increased obtain speeds and decrease latency, though it requires $499 for the standard set up, not together with the month-to-month charge of $120 per thirty days.
• Spectrum Internet: Constitution Communications’ residence web service is offered to about 5% of the realm, largely north of town in Ladson and Summerville. There are three completely different cable web plans: 300Mbps for $50 per thirty days, 500Mbps for $70 month-to-month and a gigabit providing for $90 per thirty days. There aren’t any information caps or contracts. Costs improve by $30 month-to-month after the primary yr.
• Verizon 5G Home Internet: Like T-Cell, Verizon makes use of its mobile community to wirelessly present residence broadband connections. It affords some plans with increased most obtain speeds than T-Cell (1,000Mbps vs. 245), nevertheless it’s solely accessible to about 23% of Charleston households.

Pricing information on Charleston residence web service

The common beginning value for web in Charleston is round $46 per thirty days — on par with different cities, together with Austin, Dallas and Philadelphia. 

Supply: CNET evaluation of supplier information.

Charleston broadband speeds

In keeping with the FCC, 100% of Charleston residents have entry to broadband web and, much more impressively, greater than 43% are eligible for gig pace connections (940-1,000Mbps) from both AT&T Fiber, Dwelling Telecom, Spectrum or Xfinity. AT&T additionally affords multigigabit plans as much as 5 gigs (5,000Mbps). 

Supply: CNET evaluation of supplier information.

How CNET selected the very best web suppliers in Charleston

Web service suppliers are quite a few and regional. Not like the newest smartphone, laptop, router or kitchen tool, it is impractical to personally check each ISP in a given metropolis. So what’s our method? For starters, we faucet right into a proprietary database of pricing, availability and pace info that pulls from our personal historic ISP information, accomplice information and mapping info from the Federal Communications Fee at FCC.gov. 

This information leverages an in-house synthetic intelligence instrument referred to as RAMP, which is educated on our personal writing and makes use of our database to generate content material about particular web service suppliers that our writers can use in figuring out and presenting our picks for a given information. Examine CNET’s AI policy for extra details about how our groups use (and don’t use) AI instruments.

As a result of our database will not be exhaustive, we go to the FCC’s web site to verify the first information for ourselves and ensure we’re contemplating each ISP that gives service in an space. Plans and costs additionally differ by location, so we enter native addresses on supplier web sites to search out the precise choices accessible to residents. We have a look at sources, together with the American Buyer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Energy, to judge how pleased prospects are with an ISP’s service. ISP plans and costs are topic to frequent modifications; all info supplied is correct as of our prepublication fact-check.

As soon as we’ve this localized info, we ask three fundamental questions: 

1. Does the supplier supply entry to moderately quick web speeds? 
2. Do prospects get respectable worth for what they’re paying? 
3. Are prospects proud of their service? 

Whereas the reply to these questions is usually layered and complicated, the suppliers who come closest to “sure” on all three are those we advocate. To discover our course of in additional depth, go to our how we test ISPs web page.

What’s the underside line on Charleston web suppliers?

Residents of Charleston have quite a lot of choices in the case of selecting a broadband supplier. Xfinity covers almost each deal with within the metropolis, and a few households can get sooner add speeds via fiber connections from AT&T and native supplier Dwelling Telecom. And If it’s low-cost web you’re after, look no additional than WOW — it has a number of the lowest beginning costs you’ll discover wherever within the US which do not spike after 1-2 years of use.

Web suppliers in Charleston FAQs