Best Internet Providers in Johnson City, Tennessee [CNET]

This mountain city has towering fiber speeds, cheap internet options and everything in between. Here’s the best home internet in Johnson City.

What’s the best internet provider in Johnson City?

Johnson City is part of the Tri-Cities region, located in the Appalachian range of Northeast Tennessee. CNET’s pick for the best internet service provider in Johnson City is local fiber and fixed wireless provider BrightRidge Broadband, previously known as the Johnson City Power Board. With speed options topping out at 10,000Mbps, BrightRidge is also the fastest internet provider in the city, outpacing bigger companies like Spectrum and Xfinity. Known for providing internet to the surrounding rural mountain communities, BrightRidge is available to 77% of the city, according to the FCC, and offers competitive pricing and straightforward internet plans.

If your address isn’t eligible for BrightRidge, Brightspeed and T-Mobile Home Internet are solid next-best options. Brightspeed is the only other fiber provider in Johnson City, with speeds ranging from 200Mbps to 2,000Mbps and is available to 78% of the city, according to the FCC. With its affordable introductory prices and quick speeds, Brightspeed is a close second to BrightRidge. But Brightspeed’s DSL option is more available to the city than its fiber, and unfortunately, DSL speeds don’t quite measure up to the lightning-fast speeds of fiber. T-Mobile Home Internet is the city’s best fixed wireless internet provider because of its wide availability, reliable speeds and high customer satisfaction. For $50 a month, you can get speeds ranging from 72 to 245Mbps, which is plenty fast for the average household and measures up against most fixed wireless providers.

If you’re on the hunt for cheap internet, Xfinity offers the two cheapest internet options in Johnson City. For $30 a month, you can get 150Mbps, or for $45 monthly, 300Mbps. Xfinity’s offerings are competitive and appealing, with most other internet plans starting at $50 to $60 monthly. Some providers, like Spectrum, offer low-income plans for qualifying households: Spectrum offers 50Mbps for $25 monthly, which isn’t a lot of speed. Alternatively, Brightspeed offers a discount of up to $30 per month for customers who meet the requirements, meaning you could get up to 300Mbps for just $30 a month. Other internet providers in the city may offer bundling discounts, like T-Mobile Home Internet and Verizon 5G Home Internet.

Tennessee doesn’t currently offer statewide programming to replace the loss of funding from the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program, so your best bet is to find a low-priced but cost-effective plan that works for your household needs or consider negotiating with your provider.

Johnson City internet providers compared

Provider	Internet technology	Monthly price range	Speed range	Monthly equipment	Data cap	Contract	CNET review
Brightspeed	DSL, fiber	$49-$99	200-2,000Mbps	None	None	None	n/a
BrightRidge Broadband	Fixed Wireless, Fiber	$40-$160	25-10,000Mbps	None	None	None	n/a
Spectrum Read full review	Cable	$50-$80	300-1,000Mbps	$7 (optional)	None	None	7.2
T-Mobile Home Internet Read full review	Fixed wireless	$50-$70 ($40-$50 with eligible phone plans)	72-245Mbps	None	None	None	7.4
Verizon 5G Home Internet Read full review	Fixed wireless	$50-$70 ($35-$45)	50-1,000Mbps	None	None	None	7.2
Xfinity Read full review	Cable	$30-$95	150-1,200Mbps	$15 (optional)	1.2TB	Varies	7

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Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

What’s the cheapest internet plan in Johnson City?

Provider	Starting price	Max download	Monthly equipment fee
Xfinity Connect Read full review	$30	150Mbps	$15 (optional)
Xfinity Connect More Read full review	$45	300Mbps	$15 (optional)
Brightspeed	$49	200Mbps	None
Verizon 5G Home Internet Read full review	$50 ($35 with eligible phone plans)	300Mbps	None
T-Mobile Home Internet Read full review	$50 ($40 with eligible phone plans)	240Mbps	None
Spectrum Internet Read full review	$50	300Mbps	$7 (optional)
BrightRidge Broadband	$60	300Mbps	None

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Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

How to find internet deals and promotions in Johnson City

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

Some internet providers, like Spectrum, may offer lower introductory pricing. Others, including T-Mobile and Verizon Home Internet, run the same standard pricing year-round. Verizon recently rolled out a new slew of streaming add-ons and bundles for just $10 extra monthly, which may sweeten the deal for potential 5G home internet customers.

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

Fastest internet plans in Johnson City

Provider	Starting price	Max download speeds	Max upload speeds	Data Cap	Connection type
BrightRidge Broadband	$160	10,000Mbps	10,0000Mbps	None	Fiber
Brightspeed	$99	2,000Mbps	2,000Mbps	None	Fiber
Xfinity Gigabit Extra Read full review	$95	1,200Mbps	40Mbps	1.2TB	Cable
Spectrum Read full review	$80	1,000Mbps	30Mbps	None	Cable
Xfinity Gigabit Read full review	$75	1,000Mbps	20Mbps	1.2TB	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 video conferencing, streaming video or gaming, you’ll have a better experience with a quick connection with dependable download and upload speeds. Here’s an overview of the recommended minimum download speeds for various applications, according to the FCC. Note that these are only guidelines: 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 video conferencing.
• 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 video conferencing, streaming and online gaming. 
• 500 to 1,000Mbps allows three or more people to engage in high-bandwidth activities at the same time.

How CNET chose the best internet providers in Johnson City

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? 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. 

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 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 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 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 Johnson City FAQs