Best Internet Providers in Summerville, South Carolina

What is the best internet provider in Summerville?

The best internet service provider in Summerville, South Carolina, is AT&T Fiber. The area’s largest fiber internet provider, AT&T, offers a wide selection of competitively priced plans, including the fastest in Summerville, with speeds up to 5,000 megabits per second. Service includes free equipment rental, unlimited data and no contract requirements, perks that aren’t all available from other wired ISPs in Summerville.

If AT&T Fiber is unavailable, or you’re looking for a cheaper internet service, you might consider several cable ISPs. Spectrum, WideOpenWest (WOW) and Xfinity are all available to some extent in Summerville, and each is worth considering. Spectrum offers the broadest coverage, whereas Xfinity and WOW offer the most economical starting prices for internet service in Summerville, beginning at $20 per month for speeds of up to 75Mbps and 100Mbps, respectively.

For an alternative to traditional fiber and cable connections, consider fixed wireless internet from Verizon 5G Home Internet or T-Mobile Home Internet. The latter has slightly better coverage in Summerville, but Verizon 5G Home Internet has potentially faster speeds and two plans. Both are decent options and both currently offer mobile bundle discounts.

Best internet in Summerville, South Carolina

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

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How to find internet deals and promotions in Summerville

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

Summerville internet providers, such as Xfinity, may offer lower introductory pricing or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Many providers, including AT&T Fiber, Spectrum and WOW, 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 FCC. 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 Summerville

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 the time 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 answer to those questions is often layered and complex, the providers who come closest to “yes” on all three are the ones we recommend. When it comes to 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 take into account real-world speed data from sources like Ookla (Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis) and FCC reports.

To explore our process in more depth, visit our how we test ISPs page.

Internet providers in Summerville FAQs