TDS (formerly Bend Broadband) is the best internet provider in Bend, offering cable internet plans up to 1,000Mbps. You’ll have to deal with slow upload speeds and steep price increases, but it’s still the area’s fastest and most reliable ISP. If you don’t need much speed, T-Mobile Home Internet is our pick for the cheapest internet in the area at $50 a month. Starlink and CenturyLink are also worth considering as backup options, but both come with significant drawbacks.
TDS, formerly known in the area as Bend Broadband, is a cable internet provider that’s widely available in Bend. While it comes with drawbacks like slow upload speeds and steep price increases, it’s essentially the only game in town for wired internet service, which is considered the fastest and most reliable internet technology.
T-Mobile’s fixed wireless internet service is rarely our top pick for internet in a city, but with Bend’s limited options, it’s easily the best option. Speeds only go up to 245Mbps, but that’s still one of the fastest plans available in Bend. T-Mobile has the highest approval rating of any non-fiber provider in the country, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
Satellite internet is available almost everywhere, but it’s usually only a good option in rural areas with few other choices. Starlink’s satellite service is actually one of the faster plans in Bend. It’s expensive — especially when you factor in the upfront cost of buying the satellite — but it’s the best choice for high-speed internet in Bend.
I would usually only recommend DSL internet as a last resort, but internet options are so limited in Bend that CenturyLink is one of your better choices. The speeds available vary from house to house — I checked five addresses in Bend and got five different speeds at each one — and some are relatively fast.
Fixed wireless: A few regional fixed wireless networks in Bend are worth considering. Blue Mountain Networks, PrineTime and Webformix all operate in the area, but none of them are great options, and you’ll have to fill out a form to see what plans are available at your address. US Cellular is a national fixed wireless provider available almost everywhere in Bend, but the company doesn’t say what speeds you can expect.
Satellite internet: Besides Starlink, HughesNet and Viasat offer satellite internet service in Bend. You won’t have to pay the $599 upfront to purchase the satellite dish, but both require a two-year contract, charge a monthly equipment fee and offer lower speeds than Starlink.
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Cheap internet options in Bend
There are a few cheap internet options in Bend, but several come with low speeds or data caps that they’re not good for much besides checking your email or browsing web pages. T-Mobile Home Internet is your best bet for cheap internet in Bend at $50 monthly.
The best internet deals and the top promotions in Bend depend on what discounts are available during that time period. Most deals are short-lived, but we look frequently for the latest offers.
Bend internet providers such as T-Mobile Home Internet may offer lower introductory pricing or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Many, however, including CenturyLink, Starlink and US Cellular, run the same standard pricing year-round.
For a more extensive list of promos, check out our guide on the best internet deals.
How fast is Bend broadband?
Overall, the internet in Bend is extremely slow. According to the FCC, only 8% of residents have access to 250/25Mbps speeds, compared to 84% of Oregon and 88% of the US. TDS is the fastest option, but like all cable internet plans, its upload speeds are much slower than download.
Provider
Starting price
Max download speed
Max upload speed
Data cap
Connection type
TDS (Bend Broadband)
$80
1,000Mbps
20Mbps
None
Cable
Quantum Fiber
$75
940Mbps
940Mbps
None
Fiber
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.
0 to 5Mbps allows you to tackle the basics — browsing the internet, sending and receiving email, streaming low-quality video.
5 to 40Mbps gives you higher-quality video streaming and videoconferencing.
40 to 100Mbps should give one person sufficient bandwidth to satisfy the demands of modern telecommuting, video streaming and online gaming.
100 to 500Mbps allows one to two people to simultaneously engage in high-bandwidth activities like videoconferencing, streaming and online gaming.
500 to 1,000Mbps allows three or more people to engage in high-bandwidth activities like videoconferencing, streaming and online gaming all at the same time.
How CNET chose the best internet providers in Bend
Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the latest smartphone, laptop, router or kitchen tool, it’s impractical to personally test every internet service provider in a given city. So what’s our approach? For starters, we tap into a proprietary database of pricing, availability and speed information that draws from our own historical ISP data, partner data and mapping information from the Federal Communications Commission at FCC.gov.
This guide leverages an in-house artificial intelligence tool called RAMP, which is trained on our own writing and uses our database to generate content about specific internet service providers that our writers can use in determining and presenting our picks for a given guide. Check CNET’s AI policy for more information about how our teams use (and don’t use) AI tools.
Because our database is not exhaustive, we go to the FCC’s website to check the primary data for ourselves and make sure we’re considering every ISP that provides service in an area. Plans and prices also vary by location, so we input local addresses on provider websites to find the specific options available to 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 our pre-publication fact-check.
Once we have this localized information, we ask three main questions:
Does the provider offer access to reasonably fast internet speeds?
Do customers get decent value for what they’re paying?
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, though 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 also take into account real-world speed data from sources like Ookla and FCC reports.
To explore our process in more depth, you can visit our How we test ISPs page.
What’s the final word on internet providers in Bend?
There’s a lot to love about living in Bend, but good internet isn’t one of them. TDS (formerly Bend Broadband) is the best option by default — it’s the only wired internet service widely available in the city. While its speeds are plenty fast for most homes, TDS increases prices significantly after the promotional period ends, and a couple of annoying fees add to the monthly bill. T-Mobile Home Internet and Starlink are good backup options, but both are more prone to outages.
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