Best Internet Providers in La Crosse, Wisconsin

What is the best internet provider in La Crosse?

CNET recommends Spectrum as the top internet provider in La Crosse, Wisconsin, thanks to its extensive coverage, fast speeds and straightforward pricing. As the region’s largest cable provider, Spectrum delivers the best availability, offering plans with unlimited data, free modem rentals and no contracts—all at competitive rates.

While Spectrum excels in coverage and overall value, it’s not the cheapest or fastest option. For budget-conscious users, TDS offers the lowest-priced plan at $30 per month for speeds up to 300Mbps. TDS also takes the lead in speed, with plans reaching up to 8,000Mbps (8Gbps). However, TDS has limited availability in La Crosse.

For more widespread fiber coverage, Brightspeed is a stronger contender, although it lacks the ultra-low-cost, high-speed plans that TDS provides. Other options include Mediacom and T-Mobile Home Internet. Mediacom offers affordable cable internet, but it falls short of Spectrum in terms of availability and value. T-Mobile’s fixed wireless service stands out for its hassle-free setup, free equipment, unlimited data and no contracts, making it a compelling alternative.

Best internet in La Crosse, Wisconsin

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

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How to find internet deals and promotions in La Crosse

The best internet deals and top promotions in La Crosse depend on what discounts are available during a given time. Most deals are short-lived, but we look frequently for the latest offers. 

La Crosse internet providers, such as Spectrum and T-Mobile Home Internet, may offer lower introductory pricing or gift cards for a limited time. Others, including Brightspeed and TDS, run the same standard pricing year-round. 

For a more extensive list of promos, check out our guide on the best internet deals.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

What’s a 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 videoconferencing, streaming video or gaming, you'll have a better experience with a more robust connection. Here's an overview of the recommended minimum download speeds for various applications, according to the Federal Communications Commission. Note that these are only guidelines and that internet speed, service and performance vary by connection type, provider and address.

For more information, refer to our guide on how much internet speed you really need.

• 0 to 5Mbps allows you to tackle the basics: browsing the internet, sending and receiving email and streaming low-quality video.
• 5 to 40Mbps gives you higher-quality video streaming and videoconferencing.
• 40 to 100Mbps should give one user sufficient bandwidth to satisfy the demands of modern telecommuting, video streaming and online gaming. 
• 100 to 500Mbps allows one to two users to simultaneously engage in high-bandwidth activities like videoconferencing, streaming and online gaming. 
• 500 to 1,000Mbps allows three or more users to engage in high-bandwidth activities at the same time.

How CNET chose the best internet providers in La Crosse

Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the latest smartphone, laptop, router or kitchen tool, it’s impractical to personally test every ISP in a given city. What’s our approach? We start by researching the pricing, availability and speed information, drawing on our own historical ISP data, the provider sites and mapping information from the Federal Communications Commission at FCC.gov.

It doesn’t end there: We go to the FCC’s website to check our data and ensure we consider every ISP that provides service in an area. We also input local addresses on provider websites to find specific options for residents. We look at sources, including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Power, to evaluate how happy customers are with an ISP’s service. ISP plans and prices are subject to frequent changes; all information provided is accurate as 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. Do customers get decent value for what they’re paying?
3. Are customers happy with their service?

While the answers to those questions are often layered and complex, the providers that come closest to “yes” on all three are the ones we recommend. When selecting the cheapest internet service, we look for the plans with the lowest monthly fee, although we also factor in things like price increases, equipment fees and contracts. Choosing the fastest internet service is relatively straightforward. We look at advertised upload and download speeds and consider real-world speed data from sources like Ookla and FCC reports. (Disclosure: 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.

Internet providers in La Crosse, Wisconsin, FAQs