Frontier Fiber is the best internet provider in Plano, offering the best combination of speed and price. Plans start at just $40 per month for 500Mbps upload and download speeds — one of the best deals you’ll find anywhere — and there are no equipment fees, data caps or contracts.
Spectrum offers the cheapest internet in Plano, with plans starting at just $30 monthly for 100Mbps download speeds. That said, Spectrum’s prices increase significantly after a year or two, and you’ll get much slower upload speeds than download.
T-Mobile Home Internet is a good backup option if you can’t get Frontier and don’t want to deal with Spectrum’s price increases. It uses a wireless connection, which can be more erratic than cable or fiber, but T-Mobile still has some of the highest customer satisfaction scores in the industry.
methodology page.
Best internet in Plano, Texas
Speed range
500 – 5,000Mbps
Price range
$50 – $155 per month
Our take – Frontier’s fiber internet service is one of the better internet providers you’ll find anywhere in the country, and it’s widely available in Plano. Prices are extremely low for the speeds you get, and Frontier is one of the only providers in the area that offers upload speeds that are just as fast as downloads — an important consideration for online gamers or remote workers. Frontier also received an above-average score for customer satisfaction in J.D. Power’s most recent survey in Plano’s region.
Our take – If you’re looking for low prices, Spectrum has the cheapest internet plans by far in Plano. But there are a couple of downsides: you’ll get significantly slower upload speeds than download, and Spectrum’s prices increase significantly after a year or two. You’re not tied to a contract, so you can always switch if the service becomes too expensive.
Our take – T-Mobile has all the finer details you’d want from an internet provider: no price increases (ever), no data caps and no equipment fees. It uses a wireless connection, which can be a little more unreliable than Spectrum’s cable or Frontier’s fiber internet. But T-Mobile’s download speeds go up to 245Mbps, which is more than enough for most homes.
$50-$70 ($35-$45 for eligible Verizon Wireless customers)
50-1,000Mbps
None
None
None
7.2
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Source: CNET analysis of provider data.
What’s the cheapest internet plan in Plano?
Show more (1 item)
Source: CNET analysis of provider data.
Haoyue Liang / Getty Images
How to find internet deals and promotions in Plano
The best internet deals and top promotions in Plano depend on what discounts are available at any given time. Most deals are short-lived, but we look frequently for the latest offers.
Plano internet providers, such as Spectrum and Verizon, may offer lower introductory pricing or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Many, however, including Frontier Fiber 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.
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 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 Plano
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 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:
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 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 Plano FAQs
FCC data. This is primarily through Frontier Fiber, but AT&T Fiber is also available on the city’s south side.
Home Internet Guides
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Updated Dec. 10, 2023 12:45 p.m. PT
CNET staff — not advertisers, partners or business interests — determine how we review the products and services we cover. If you buy through our links, we may get paid. Reviews ethics statement
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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