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Joe Supan is a senior writer for CNET covering home technology, broadband, and moving. Prior to joining CNET, Joe led MyMove’s moving coverage and reported on broadband policy, the digital divide, and privacy issues for the broadband marketplace Allconnect. He has been featured as a guest columnist on Broadband Breakfast, and his work has been referenced by the Los Angeles Times, Forbes, National Geographic, Yahoo! Finance and more.
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What is the best internet provider in Irvine?
AT&T Fiber is the best internet provider in Irvine, offering the fastest speeds in the area, with upload speeds just as fast as download speeds. While Google Fiber offers similar speeds in the area, AT&T’s plans are slightly cheaper and it scored higher in customer satisfaction surveys.
If you can’t get AT&T or Google Fiber at your address, Cox has the broadest coverage in Irvine, and some neighborhoods even have access to Cox’s fiber internet service. Whether you get fiber or Cox’s standard cable internet, its plans are reasonably priced, and they all include unlimited data and free equipment for the first two years.
Wireless internet from T-Mobile and Verizon is also widely available in the area. These connections don’t reach the same top-end speeds as cable or fiber internet, but they provide plenty of bandwidth for most homes.
methodology page.
Best internet in Irvine, California
Speed range
300 – 5,000Mbps
Price range
$55 – $250 per month
Our take – AT&T offers both fiber and DSL plans in Irvine, but we’d only recommend its fiber plans. You’ll get fast, symmetrical speeds — plans go up to 5,000 megabits per second in Irvine — plus unlimited data and no equipment fees. Those favorable terms have helped earn AT&T the highest customer satisfaction scores in the industry, from both J.D. Power and the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
Our take – Cox offers cable internet throughout most of Irvine, with a smattering of fiber internet around the airport and Orchard Hills. Whether you get cable or fiber at your address, Cox is a decent option no matter what. It offers a wide range of plans, and the price is locked in for the first two years. Like all cable internet plans, upload speeds are much lower than download speeds, which could make online gaming or videoconferencing on multiple devices difficult.
Our take – Irvine is a Verizon 5G city, which means around 2 in 5 homes can access its wireless home internet service. Verizon’s Home plan offers download speeds ranging from 50 to 300Mbps, while Home Plus has speeds from 85 to 1,000Mbps. That’s a pretty wide range, so you may need to test the service out to see if it meets your needs.
$50-$70 ($35-$45 for eligible Verizon Wireless customers)
50-1,000Mbps
None
None
None
7.2
Show more (2 items)
Source: CNET analysis of provider data.
What’s the cheapest internet plan in Irvine?
Source: CNET analysis of provider data.
How to find internet deals and promotions in Irvine
The best internet deals and the top promotions in Irvine depend on what discounts are available during that time period. Most deals are short-lived, but we look frequently for the latest offers.
Irvine internet providers such as Verizon may offer lower introductory pricing or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Many, however, including Cox, Google Fiber and AT&T Fiber, run the same standard pricing year-round.
For a more extensive list of promos, check out our guide on the best internet deals.
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.
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 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 Irvine
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. So 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 FCC.gov.
But 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:
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, visit our how we test ISPs page.
Internet providers in Irvine FAQs
FCC data. AT&T, Cox and Google Fiber all offer fiber internet service in the area.
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