Allconnect’s 2024 broadband customer satisfaction report 

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Key findings

• Verizon and Xfinity have some of the highest broadband customer satisfaction scores across our survey categories, beating out other top internet providers.
• Optimum and T-Mobile fall behind top ISPs in speed, reliability and customer service satisfaction.
• Overall, customers are less satisfied with their internet provider’s prices than with speed, reliability and customer service.
• Customers are most satisfied with their fiber and 5G service compared to satellite and cable.

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Allconnect surveyed over 21,000 internet customers to find out what they think about their internet service providers (ISPs) — there are some clear winners across the board. Verizon scored high across all survey categories, with Xfinity not far behind.

Unsurprisingly, fiber internet is the highest-rated internet technology type, with 5G internet a close second. Despite the speed capability of cable internet, our survey respondents rated cable internet lower than 5G and fiber in most survey categories, though not by much.

Best ISPs overall

Verizon and Xfinity customers are extremely satisfied with their service, resulting in the providers ranking high across the board. 

Verizon offers fiber internet with speeds from 300 – 940 Mbps in most of its service footprint, with its 2 Gig plan rolling out in certain markets. Verizon also has a 5G fixed wireless internet service with plans starting as low as $35/mo. when bundled with a mobile line. 

Xfinity is widely available with varied regional pricing and speeds up to 6,000 Mbps in some areas. You can often save when bundling an Xfinity internet plan with another service such as a TV or mobile plan. 

Runners-up

Cox customers are also pleased with their service, rating the provider a close second to Verizon and Xfinity. AT&T’s high rating also places it ahead of top cable and fiber providers. 

Spectrum isn’t far behind, closing out the top five ISPs in this category with similar ratings.

Best ISPs: Reliability

After we asked customers about their overall satisfaction with their ISP, we wanted to know what they thought about specific features of their internet service, like reliability, price, speed and customer service. 

Reliability is the most important factor to our survey respondents when considering internet service, even more than price and speed. The most reliable providers identified by the respondents deliver the speeds their customers pay for with minimal outages, connection failures or speed inconsistencies. 

Winners

The highest rating for this category once again belongs to Verizon. With its symmetrical speeds and fiber-optic technology, customers can count on Verizon to deliver the speed and quality they pay for. 

Fiber internet is also widely accepted across the broadband industry as the most reliable form of internet service. Fiber does not rely on electricity to transmit data. Instead, it does so by sending tiny packets of light down glass fiber cables. This protects fiber-optic internet connections from electrical interference that affects other internet technologies. Because of this, any fiber provider usually offers more reliable internet than other types of broadband technology.

Runners-up

Xfinity, Cox, Spectrum and AT&T all have high-reliability scores. Xfinity and Cox fall slightly ahead of the bulk of the group, while Optimum falls last for reliability.

Best ISPs: Price

According to our respondents, price is the second most important factor for internet service, ahead of both speed and customer service. For many, the price of internet is the determining factor in choosing the right ISP. 

The ISPs in this category had lower scores in general than other survey categories. 38% of our surveyed internet customers claim price as a main reason they would switch internet providers.

With the high prices of internet, it’s safe to say a large portion of the respondents aren’t wholly satisfied with what they pay to stay connected. When factoring in rate increases, equipment fees and other hidden costs added to your monthly bill, internet has become one of the more expensive utility services.

Winners

T-Mobile, Verizon and Frontier hold the top spots for price satisfaction. T-Mobile and Verizon offer some of the best promotional deals with their plans – customers can often reap significant discounts if they bundle with a mobile plan and can even receive perks like free equipment, gift cards and subscriptions.

Using wireless technology, T-Mobile’s pricing is its most attractive selling point: $40 – $60/mo. with no hidden fees or price increases. Extra costs and price increases are common amongst top ISPs, so T-Mobile’s guarantee of a fixed price for its customers and the ability to bundle with mobile lines make it an affordable alternative to cable and fiber internet. Frontier also provides some of the best-valued fiber plans around, with low prices for high-speed, symmetrical internet than some slower cable plans.

Runners-up

AT&T and Cox round out the top 5 providers for price satisfaction. When available, AT&T’s high-speed fiber service has great value. It offers plans up to 4,700 Mbps, and you get symmetrical upload and download fiber speeds.

Cox has competitive pricing compared to most ISPs, but you can save $25/mo. when you bundle with Cox Mobile – a significant discount that could make your monthly bill a bit more manageable.

Best ISPs: Speed

Speed was not the most important factor to our survey respondents. In fact, it fell behind both price and reliability. Although speed wasn’t as important as price or reliability for those surveyed, internet speed determines the quality of the internet experience and should be a factor when picking your next ISP.

Winners

Verizon, Xfinity and Cox rank first for customer satisfaction in the speed category. Considering Verizon and Xfinity’s gigabit and multi-gigabit fiber internet plans, its customers have more than enough speed for their daily internet activities. While any fiber connection will serve a home network well, gig speeds and above deliver seamless internet speed and reliability for high-bandwidth internet activities.

Verizon’s 5G service also advertises competitive speeds up to 1,000 Mbps. Factoring in the price and perks that come with Verizon 5G, it’s a great deal for those looking to simplify their internet service. 

Runners-up

Spectrum and AT&T are runners-up in customer speed satisfaction. Spectrum offers speeds up to 1,000 Mbps, but AT&T has more plan variety with plans up to 4,700 Mbps.

Best ISPs: Customer service

Finally, we asked internet customers about their ISP’s customer service. Despite this being the least important factor to our surveyed customers, customer service is still important to ensure a positive internet experience.  

Spectrum, AT&T, Verizon, Cox and T-Mobile earned the top spots in customer service satisfaction.

Fiber internet has the highest customer service rating compared to other technology types in our survey, which could be due to fiber’s inherent reliability, which could result in less need for customer support. 

Best type of internet

Cable and fiber internet received the most positive ratings from our respondents in the overall satisfaction, speed and reliability categories over other technology types like 5G and satellite internet.

Fiber internet is the fastest and most reliable internet technology available, so it’s no surprise that customers rate it high in each featured category. According to broadband analyst Matthew Davis of Independence Research, there is an appetite amongst consumers for the symmetrical speeds fiber offers, but cable still remains a trusted alternative.  

5G internet ranks even with cable and fiber in the price category despite 5G’s simplistic pricing model with no hidden fees or price hikes. 

5G home internet, a type of fixed wireless internet, is a newer internet technology on the market that has been rapidly expanding in recent years. Using cell towers to provide an internet connection it provides a simple and widely available internet option.

In fact, over 50% of our survey respondents would consider switching to 5G home internet in the next two years.

“There was a significant pent-up demand for an alternative in a lot of markets,” said Davis about 5G home internet. 

Providers like T-Mobile and Verizon spearheaded the 5G take-off as an alternative internet service to other technology types. 

“Before T-Mobile and Verizon got serious about it, there were hundreds of little wireless ISPs that served underserved areas. It did take providers like Verizon and T-Mobile to really come in and do it,” said Davis.

T-Mobile has one plan from $40 – $60/mo. with speeds up to 245 Mbps. Verizon has two 5G plans with speeds up to 1,000 Mbps starting at $35/mo. when bundled with a Verizon mobile plan. 

The future of broadband 

Technology develops daily, and broadband tech is no exception. From service footprint expansions from many ISPs, government funding initiatives to bridge the digital divide and constantly advancing technology to introduce unprecedented internet speeds, the future is bright for the broadband industry.

When asked what he thought about the future of broadband, Davis said he is most excited about the possibility of a national broadband infrastructure made possible by almost $43 billion in BEAD program funding. 

“Normally, those types of events will have unforeseen results down the road,” said Davis. “but there’s a lot of interesting opportunities once we get a national infrastructure in place.” 

Even large national ISPs like Xfinity and Spectrum are not available to everyone. Broadband infrastructure funding could bridge this availability gap to connect unserved and underserved areas like never before. 

We can also expect speed tiers to continue increasing, even if the average internet customer doesn’t necessarily need it. 

Allconnect customer satisfaction vs. ACSI

Let’s look at how the highest-rated ISPs in our survey compare to those in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) lineup. 

Verizon, our winner across the board, is also a contender in the ACSI for fiber providers, taking 5th place behind AT&T, CenturyLink and Google Fiber. AT&T, however, ranked even with our survey average for overall satisfaction and CenturyLink did not make our top 8 providers. 

In the non-fiber provider category, T-Mobile snagged first place on the ACSI list but ranked in line with our survey average among the top ISPs in our survey. Xfinity’s low ranking in our report is also low compared to ACSI’s placement of the provider in the fifth spot behind Windstream. 

Choose the provider that’s best for you

We know choosing an internet provider can be overwhelming, especially when faced with varying providers, speeds and prices. Our survey results revealed our top featured internet providers scoring similarly across multiple categories, so it’s best to choose the speed and price combo that makes sense for you.

Consider the internet speed you need, factoring in the number of connected devices you have in your household, your daily internet activities, and the value of the internet plan when trying to find the best internet provider in your area. 

See Allconnect’s News and Research hubs for more broadband guides and information.