Best Internet Providers in Los Angeles

Los Angeles is a great city for professionals with a passion for entertainment. No matter who you are, though, you need a strong internet connection for work or play. LA is home to more internet providers than most cities, so you’ve got no shortage of options.

Shop around, and you’ll find broadband choices from fast fiber providers like AT&T and Frontier, reliable cable connections like Cox and Spectrum, the growing availability of 5G home internet from Verizon and T-Mobile and more.

That said, Los Angeles internet speeds are somewhat bogged down by DSL networks, which major providers like AT&T and Frontier still use. Per Ookla’s first-quarter 2023 reporting, Los Angeles was only the 65th fastest city among the top 100 metro areas in the US. 

It scored a median download speed of just over 193 megabits per second and a median upload speed of nearly 19Mbps. Comparing that to just some of the cities CNET has covered thus far, San Antonio and Austin were in the top 15 (with median download speeds above 235Mbps), and the country’s most populous metro area, New York, made the top 35. On the flip side, it’s also not in the bottom 10, like Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Minneapolis and Seattle. 

In addition to fiber, cable and DSL options, Los Angeles is home to several third-party providers — including EarthLink, EIN and Ultra Home Internet — which offer service using the networks of some providers listed below, like AT&T and Spectrum. We won’t get into those, nor the ever-available HughesNet, Starlink and Viasat, since all Los Angeles addresses should have faster and more flexible alternatives than satellite internet. 

Best ISPs in the City of Angels

Which companies are the best internet providers in Los Angeles? Our pick for the best ISP in LA is AT&T Fiber. If you want a better understanding of how we came to that conclusion, keep reading. Whether you’re looking for the best internet speed or the lowest monthly price, we’ve tracked down info on the internet service providers in the area so you can pick the best option for you.

AT&T Fiber

Best internet provider in Los Angeles

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Product details

Price range

$55 – $180 per month

Speed range

300 – 5,000Mbps

Connection

Fiber

Highlights

Unlimited data, no contracts, equipment included

AT&T Fiber offers excellent value. If you can get it, don’t hesitate to sign up. 

Availability: I almost put an asterisk on this because not all AT&T serviceability areas in Los Angeles can get AT&T Fiber. In some cases, you might have to settle for AT&T Internet, a copper DSL service that is not nearly as compelling and, in some areas, might have a top speed of 10Mbps. DSL is so old news that during an AT&T investor day event in March 2022, the company announced a commitment to reduce its copper footprint by 50% by 2025. 

Plans and pricing: Most AT&T Fiber households in Los Angeles are eligible for its three main plans — 300Mbps, 500Mbps or 1,000Mbps — and a growing number are becoming serviceable for its fastest options, a 2 gigabits per second plan and a 5Gbps tier, which is the fastest residential plan you can find in Tinseltown. 

Fees and service details: All AT&T Fiber plans feature symmetrical upload and download speeds, no data caps, no term agreements and no equipment rental fee.

Read our AT&T home internet review.

Check AT&T Fiber availability

Spectrum

Best availability among Los Angeles internet providers

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Product details

Price range

$50 – $90 per month

Speed range

300 – 940Mbps

Connection

Cable

Highlights

Unlimited data, simple pricing, no contracts, modem included, free access to nationwide Wi-Fi hotspots

As a cable internet provider, Spectrum won’t be able to match the symmetrical speeds of a fiber ISP, but its three speed tiers should be more than adequate for most customers. 

Availability: Charter Communications’ broadband service is available to nearly every neighborhood in Los Angeles (the Palos Verdes Peninsula and a few scattered pockets notwithstanding) and brings some of the most straightforward terms to be found from a cable internet provider. 

Plans and pricing: Spectrum offers three different speed plans featuring 300, 500 and 940Mbps download speeds. The starting price for those tiers ranges from $50 to $90 per month. So, it may not have the splashy multigigabit option like some AT&T areas, but Spectrum customers can lean on the consistency of the service throughout the city.

Fees and service details: There are no term agreements, early termination fees or data limits. It also includes the modem in the monthly costs (though you’ll need to add $5 a month if you want a Wi-Fi router). 

Read our Spectrum review.

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Starry Internet

Best fixed wireless internet service in Los Angeles

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Product details

Price range

$30 – $80 per month

Speed range

50 – 1,000Mbps

Connection

Fixed wireless

Highlights

Unlimited data, no contracts, no equipment fees, simple setup

Starry Internet was riding high after being named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential Companies of 2022. But by December 2022, it hit a bit of a speed bump with the New York Stock Exchange. Nevertheless, Starry strives to put the customer first by making high-speed internet affordable and hassle-free. It uses similar millimeter-wave technology as 5G to deliver high-speed broadband to customers’ homes.

Availability: For the Los Angeles market, Starry Internet coverage includes some of downtown Los Angeles, as well as Beverly Hills, Burbank, Long Beach and Santa Monica. 

Plans and pricing: Most customers will have access to Starry’s 200Mbps tier for $50. But some areas might be able to sign up for Starry Connect — its low-cost internet access program for $15 (which customers could get for free through the government’s Affordable Connectivity Program) — or Starry Gigabit, which boasts 1Gbps download and 500Mbps upload speeds for $80.

Fees and service details: Starry Internet includes free installation and equipment, unlimited data and no contracts. It also boasts a “Happy Interneting Guarantee,” which will give customers a full refund if they’re unsatisfied and cancel within the first month.

Read our Starry home internet overview.

Check Starry Internet availability

Other available Los Angeles internet providers

There are other ISPs in the City of Angels beyond our top three picks for the best internet providers in Los Angeles. In some cases, they may be available to only small portions of LA but might be a viable choice for one reason or another. 

• Cox: Although it’s one of the country’s biggest cable internet providers, Cox has a relatively small footprint in the Los Angeles metro area. It’s solely available in the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Starting prices for plans begin at $50 per month for 100Mbps download and go up to $80 per month for its gigabit option. 
• Frontier: Frontier has a notable presence in the Los Angeles market. In fact, according to Ookla’s most recent data, Frontier is the area’s fastest provider on average, at approximately 268Mbps download speed. Its DSL and fiber-optic service are scattered throughout the area, including some of Beverly Hills, Long Beach, the San Fernando Valley, Santa Monica and portions of western LA. Similar to our guidance on AT&T, if Frontier’s DSL service is the only option at your address, seek other alternatives. But if Frontier Fiber is available — which has options for 500Mbps up to 5Gbps symmetrical speeds starting at $50-$155 per month — you’d be hard-pressed to find a better option.
• Race Communications: Like Cox, Race Communications has a fairly small piece of the pie in the Los Angeles market. It’s mainly situated in Marina del Rey, Playa Vista and Santa Monica. But unlike Cox, and all other providers listed here, it’s a 100% fiber-optic service. There are two plan options: $25 a month for 25Mbps, or Gig service for a very affordable $60 monthly.
• Sonic Telecom: This ISP is mainly known for offering service in the Bay Area. But Angelenos can find Sonic service in a handful of neighborhoods, including Beverly Hills, Glendale, Inglewood, Pasadena and West Hollywood. Although Sonic is known for building 100% fiber networks, much of its offering in the LA market is older DSL, and most of its fiber service in the area currently utilizes AT&T’s fiber network. 
• T-Mobile Home Internet: T-Mobile’s fixed wireless home internet solution uses its 5G and 4G LTE networks to get customers online at an average download speed between 33-182Mbps. It’s appealing for its simplicity: $50 a month covers all equipment, taxes, installation fees and services. There are no data caps and no contracts required. Although it’s technically available throughout the Los Angeles metro area, you’ll need to plug in your address on the T-Mobile site to see if you’re serviceable. 
• Verizon 5G Home Internet: Like T-Mobile, this is a fixed wireless home internet option. But unlike T-Mobile, Verizon leans more heavily on its Ultra Wideband 5G technology, so its average download speeds are higher, around 300Mbps. It also features an all-in price that covers taxes, installation fees and equipment, but splits the cost into two buckets: $50 a month for a two-year price-lock guarantee, or $70 a month for a three-year price-lock and additional perks. 

Los Angeles internet details at a glance

It’s one thing to get an overview of the best internet providers in Los Angeles. But the questions we get most often revolve around finding the cheapest internet plans or the fastest possible options. So, let’s drill down more specifically on those two areas in a moment.

Los Angeles internet pricing

The average starting price for internet service in Los Angeles is approximately $38 per month. Of the other major markets CNET has covered thus far, only Brooklyn rings in at a lower starting price ($36 a month).

Though Starry is only available within the city, it rings in with the lowest starting price at $15 a month for its Starry Connect plan. 

The prize for the highest starting price goes to AT&T and its Internet 5000 plan, unveiled in 2022, at $180 a month. We’ll talk more about it in a few moments when we discuss the fastest plans available in Los Angeles. But it should be noted that despite the high monthly cost, it’s actually a high-value plan: it has a very low cost of just under 4 cents per Mbps, which is quite good, but not the best we’ve seen for any plan we’ve covered thus far at CNET. That goes to Frontier’s 5Gbps tier which, at $155 monthly, rates out to an excellent cost of 3 cents per Mbps.

Cheap internet options in Los Angeles

As for your low-cost internet options, Angelenos have several choices from internet providers in the area, nearly all of whom participate in the Affordable Connectivity Program from the Federal Communications Commission. It provides a $30 per month benefit to qualifying households to help them afford high-speed internet service. As you can see from the chart below, some providers’ cheap internet plans — like those from Cox, Race Communications and Starry — will ultimately be free when combined with the ACP credit.

Internet speeds in Los Angeles

Los Angeles isn’t among the top 50 fastest cities in the US. A big reason is that 100% fiber connections are not yet as prevalent as cable and DSL connections in the city. But major efforts by AT&T (making its new Internet 2000 and Internet 5000 plans more widely available) and Frontier (whose 2-gigabit and 5-gigabit plans are now available for all locations serviceable for its Fiber offerings) should help boost those stats.

What’s the bottom line on internet providers in Los Angeles?

Spectrum is tough to beat among Los Angeles internet providers if you’re looking for consistent service and wide availability. Yet AT&T’s fiber plans take the top prize for the fastest — including symmetrical download and upload speeds — plans to be found in LA. Overall, change is coming over the next few years in the City of Angels, as providers like AT&T and Frontier start to move away from their older DSL lines (which are still prominent in the area) toward their growing fiber networks. Cable internet still rules in LA, but fiber is the future. 

Internet providers in Los Angeles FAQs