Internet providers in Boston, MA

What is the best internet provider in Boston?

• Xfinity - High speeds widely available
• Verizon - Fast upload and download speeds
• RCN - Low latency
• Viasat - Widely available
• HughesNet - Perfect for rural areas

Internet providers in Boston cover every type of bandwidth need, whether you’re looking for basic broadband for emails and looking up Red Sox stats or a wicked fast high-speed internet connection so everyone in the house can stream in HD.

Verizon Fios fiber internet is a great option for reliable internet service, low latency, and fast upload speeds. But it’s available in only about half of Boston. The rest of the city has access to Verizon’s DSL internet service, which isn’t nearly as fast and doesn’t offer the same upload speeds.

Xfinity’s 1,000 Mbps speeds are available to almost all Bostonians, but this cable ISP can run a little pricey, especially if you have the need for speed.

Atlantic Broadband and RCN are a bit smaller on a national scale, but both offer decent coverage in Boston. RCN is highly rated for customer service, and Atlantic Broadband’s month-to-month service lets you avoid contracts and early termination fees.

Highest-rated internet providers in Boston

EarthLink took the lead for overall satisfaction in our annual customer satisfaction survey. Customers rated the ISP highly in all four categories: speed, price, reliability, and customer service.

Verizon also got top rankings in our survey. Verizon took third place overall, but it was scored second-highest in all categories except customer service (where it was ranked third). Verizon customers rate it particularly highly for satisfaction with reliability—75% of customers surveyed reported that they’re “very satisfied” or “100% satisfied” with their internet in that category.

RCN customers rated their overall satisfaction pretty average, but those with fiber internet connections were generally more satisfied than their counterparts with DSL or cable.

Xfinity did not get high ratings in our survey, but the cable ISP’s customers don’t report any out-of-the-ordinary performance issues when asked about specific issues. For example, Xfinity was ranked ninth out of 12 for speed, but 87% of its users report that their speeds usually or always meet their needs, which is above average for the category. So while it’s not the highest on the list, it’s still doing its job well.

Fastest internet service providers in Boston

Xfinity offers internet at speeds up to 1000 Mbps

RCN offers internet at speeds up to 1000 Mbps

Verizon offers internet at speeds up to 940 Mbps

Viasat offers internet at speeds up to 25 Mbps

You can find internet speeds ranging from 7 Mbps to 1,000 Mbps throughout Boston. Over 98% of the city has access to gigabit internet speeds, which is great for households with a lot of heavy internet users since no one has to fight over bandwidth.

Most people don’t need to pony up for gigabit speeds though. You can still get away with multiple connected devices, gaming, and HD streaming with speed plans upwards of 100 Mbps. 1,000 Mbps is overkill for most people, especially if you don’t want to spend a fortune on internet service.

One thing to take note of with Boston ISPs are the upload speeds. While several providers have gigabit internet download speeds, most give you much slower upload speeds. So if you’re doing a lot of cloud computing or video uploading, you might want to go with Verizon Fios, which has much faster upload speeds than other providers.

Boston residential internet coverage

Through Verizon, about half of Boston has access to high-speed fiber internet. Verizon Fios is available in some central neighborhoods, including Back Bay, Downtown, and Beacon Hill. In the north, the ISP serves Charlestown and Allston. Southern neighborhoods in the Verizon Fios service area include South Dorchester and Mattapan. Verizon’s DSL network is slightly larger, expanding to cover the entire city.

Cable internet provider Xfinity has a significant presence in Greater Boston, bringing high-speed internet coverage to neighborhoods as far north as Charlestown and as far south as Hyde Park.

Local providers RCN and Atlantic Broadband have more limited coverage areas around Boston but cover most of the central neighborhoods including Beacon Hill, Downtown, Chinatown, Leather District, Back Bay, and Fenway.