Best Internet Providers in Brooklyn – CNET [CNET]

• Price range: $40-$90 per month
• Speed range: 100-940Mbps
• Connection: Fiber
• Perks: Unlimited data, no contracts, signup bonuses
• Why choose it: 100% fiber connection, excellent value, high customer satisfaction

A fiber-optic connection, like the one you get with Verizon Fios, is often going to be your best option for home internet in terms of speed and value. Verizon Fios is the largest fiber-optic internet provider in Brooklyn, but its service area doesn’t quite reach every corner of Kings County.

Roughly 86% of households will have access to fiber internet, according to the latest data from the Federal Communications Commission. The remaining fiberless 14% includes random blocks throughout Kensington, Parkville, New Utrecht and other Brooklyn neighborhoods as well as the obvious nonresidential areas, like Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Naval Yard. The FCC’s data is admittedly outdated, so there may be, and likely is, better Verizon Fios coverage in Brooklyn today.

Either way, chances are fairly good that Verizon Fios is going to be an option if you live in Brooklyn. That means you’ll have the choice of three speed tiers: 300Mbps starting at $40 per month, 500Mbps starting at $65 and gigabit service (940Mbps) starting at $90. Select areas may also have access to Verizon’s new multigigabit service with speeds up to 2.3Gbps starting at $120 per month. Since Verizon Fios uses a 100% fiber connection, max download and upload speeds will be the same, or at least very close.

Read our Verizon internet review.

• Price range: $30-$50 per month
• Speed range: 100-940Mbps
• Connection: Cable, fiber
• Perks: Unlimited data, no contracts
• Why choose it: Low pricing, high speeds

If you’re looking for cheap internet — and I mean that in terms of actual pricing, not necessarily quality — Optimum is a good place to start, and you’ll find it just about everywhere south of Flushing Avenue save for most westside neighborhoods such as Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Dyker Heights and Fort Hamilton.

Optimum offers a high speed connection starting at $30 per month for speeds up to 300Mbps. That’s $10 less than Verizon Fios’ entry-level plan for the same download speed potential. (Though Optimum does have a growing fiber footprint in NYC, the provider largely uses a cable network, which means dramatically slower upload speeds.) You’ll also find Optimum’s middle speed tier to be cheaper than Verizon Fios at $40 for the same download speed potential, 500Mbps. And for gig service, you guessed it, Optimum is cheaper, starting at just $50 per month.

The low pricing is tempting, but enjoy it while you can. When Optimum’s introductory pricing will expire, and by how much exactly your bill will go up is a mystery. On the unclear price increase policy, an Optimum spokesperson informed me that “before the introductory offer expires, customers will receive a notification with the anticipated change to their rate, which does vary based on the plan and promotion they select at the time of purchase.”

Read our Optimum internet review.

• Price range: $50-$80 per month
• Speed range: 200-940Mbps
• Connection: Cable
• Perks: Unlimited data, no contracts, modem included
• Why choose it: Fast speeds, stable pricing

For the most part, Spectrum cable internet covers Queens, Manhattan and Staten Island, but there are parts of Brooklyn, specifically Downtown Brooklyn and neighborhoods to the north and west, like Red Hook, Williamsburg and Sunset Park, where Spectrum is available. 

Spectrum service areas start essentially where Optimum’s end, but there may be some overlap, particularly in the Bushwick, Prospect Heights or Borough Park neighborhoods where you may have the choice of both providers. Given the option of the two, I’d favor Spectrum, largely because of the simple, transparent pricing — an attribute that contributed to CNET naming Spectrum as the best cable internet provider in the country. 

Granted, Spectrum’s starting prices are higher than Optimum’s — Spectrum’s entry level plan, for example, comes with max speeds of 200Mbps starting at $50 per month, the same as gig service from Optimum — but those prices are good for a year. What’s more, when the price increase does go into effect, you’ll know exactly what to expect, because Spectrum doesn’t hide its standard pricing or adjust it based on promotions or when you signed up for service.

Read our Spectrum internet review.

• Price range: $15-$80 per month
• Speed range: 30-1,000Mbps
• Connection: Fixed wireless
• Perks: Unlimited data, no contracts, equipment included
• Why choose it: Convenience, fair pricing, favorable service terms

As a fixed wireless provider, Starry internet works by sending high-powered internet signals over the air to dedicated receivers affixed to the top of buildings, which then send service through the building’s existing infrastructure to the individual units within. If you’re moving into a building within Starry’s range (which includes roughly half of Brooklyn, mostly to the borough’s north, east and center) and it’s equipped for service, then Starry is definitely worth checking out.

Starry’s standard internet plan comes with max speeds of 200Mbps down and 100Mbps up for $50 per month. That’s plenty of speed for most apartments and, with unlimited data and your equipment included at no extra cost, the pricing is on point. Other plan options may be available, all the way up to gig service, and all are priced competitively compared to other Brooklyn internet providers. 

Select buildings will be eligible for Starry’s discount internet plan, Starry Connect, which offers symmetrical speeds up to 30Mbps for just $15 per month. That’s cheaper than most discount internet plans and, other than living in a building where it’s offered, there are no special requirements to sign up, such as showing proof of income or enrollment in WIC or school lunch programs.

Read our Starry internet overview.

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