Best Internet Providers in Horseheads, New York [CNET]

Spectrum will be the best internet provider for most households in town.

What is the best internet provider in Horseheads, New York?

Located just outside the Finger Lakes in upstate New York, Horseheads offers its residents more than one decent option for getting online, including a small fiber network from Empire Access. Despite its price increases, CNET’s pick for the best internet service provider in Horseheads is Spectrum Internet. We chose Spectrum because of its overall availability in the village, straightforward pricing and reliable speeds compared to fixed wireless providers or satellite internet. According to the latest data from the Federal Communications Commission, Spectrum is available to 92% of Horseheads, meaning if you live within the city limits, you’re probably eligible for internet service from Spectrum.

If your house is eligible for fiber from Empire Access, you can’t go wrong with a fiber connection. Empire Access offers the fastest internet speeds in the city, up to 2,000Mbps download and upload for some lucky residents. It also offers two other plans: $55 a month for 500Mbps and $70 for 1,000Mbps. Those are decently affordable prices, coming out to a cost per Mbps of 11 and seven cents, respectively. 

If your address is not eligible for fiber from Empire Access and you’d prefer to cut the cords on cable, Verizon and T-Mobile both offer a significant 5G home internet footprint in Horseheads. Based on a wider availability, Verizon 5G Home Internet is the best fixed wireless option in the city. Verizon’s 5G internet service is available to 69% of the city compared to T-Mobile Home Internet’s 50%, according to the Federal Communications Commission. Verizon offers faster speeds than T-Mobile Home Internet, maxing out at 1,000Mbps in some areas. Besides offering faster speeds and being more broadly available than T-Mobile Home Internet, Verizon’s 5G Home Internet also comes with a few perks like a two- to three-year price guarantee depending on what plan you choose and streaming bundle add-ons for just $10 extra a month. 

If you’re on the hunt for cheap internet, your best bet is to bundle your fixed wireless internet plan with an eligible phone plan from either T-Mobile or Verizon, which can bring your monthly costs down by $10 to $25, depending on the provider. Otherwise, most internet plans in Horseheads start at $50 monthly. After the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program, New York recently mandated internet service providers offer internet for as low as $15 a month for qualifying low-income households, but while we’re waiting for that law to kick in, some providers already offer a few discounts to qualifying households. Spectrum Internet Access, for example, offers 50Mbps for just $25 monthly for qualifying households that participate in eligible government assistance programs. T-Mobile offers low-income students 100GB of free hotspot internet a year with Project 10Million, and Verizon offers discount opportunities to bring your monthly cost down to $20 in some cases with Verizon Forward. If none of these discounts apply to you and you’re still searching for a more affordable internet option in Horseheads, your best bet is to negotiate your price with your internet provider.

Horseheads internet providers compared

Provider	Internet technology	Monthly price range	Speed range	Monthly equipment	Data cap	Contract	CNET review
Spectrum Internet Read full review	Cable	$50-$80	300-1,000Mbps	$7 (optional)	None	None	7.2
Empire Access	Fiber	$55-$100	500-2,000Mbps	None	None	None	N/A
T-Mobile Home Internet Read full review	Fixed wireless	$50-$70	72-245Mbps	None	None	None	7.4
Verizon 5G Home Internet Read full review	Fixed wireless	$50-$70	50-300Mbps	None	None	None	7.2

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Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

What’s the cheapest internet in Horsehead?

Provider	Starting price	Max download	Monthly equipment fee
Verizon 5G Home Internet Read full review	$50 ($35 with eligible phone plans)	100Mbps	None
T-Mobile Home Internet Read full review	$50 ($40 with eligible phone plans)	245Mbps	None
Spectrum Read full review	$50	300Mbps	$7 (optional)
Empire Access	$55	500Mbps	None

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Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

How to find internet deals and promotions in Horseheads

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

Horseheads internet providers, like Spectrum and Verizon, may offer lower introductory pricing or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Others, including Empire Access and T-Mobile Home Internet, run the same standard pricing year-round.

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

Fastest internet plans in Horseheads

Provider	Starting price	Max download speed	Max upload speed	Data cap	Connection type
Empire Access	$100	2,000Mbps	2,000Mbps	None	Fiber
Empire Access	$70	1,000Mbps	1,000Mbps	None	Fiber
Spectrum Read full review	$80	1,000Mbps	30Mbps	None	Cable

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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, 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 Horseheads

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? For starters, we tap into a proprietary pricing, availability and speed database that draws from our own historical ISP data, partner data 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?

The answers to those questions are often layered and complex, but 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.

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

Internet providers in Horseheads FAQs