For most people, Verizon Fios is the best internet provider in the Bronx. It offers symmetrical upload and download speeds — ideal for people who game or work from home — and Verizon routinely receives stellar scores in customer satisfaction surveys.
While Verizon Fios offers plenty of speed for most people, Optimum is the fastest internet in the Bronx, with speeds reaching 8,000Mbps. That’s probably overkill for most households, but there are a number of Optimum plans to choose from. If you’re looking for the lowest prices, Starry Internet is the cheapest internet service provider in the Bronx, offering plans as low as $15 per month. T-Mobile Home Internet is another solid option. It has one plan for $50 per month, and it guarantees that it won’t ever raise your rates.
Verizon Fios checks every box we look for when it comes to internet. You’ll get fast upload speeds as fast as download speeds — a necessity if you do any online gaming or videoconferencing — and the prices are reasonable and shenanigan-free. Equipment is included on every plan, and your price is guaranteed for two to four years, depending on which one you choose. Verizon also earned the highest score of any ISP for customer satisfaction in J.D. Power’s most recent survey.
Optimum offers both cable and fiber internet in the Bronx, with its fiber plans reaching symmetrical speeds of 8,000Mbps. That’s incredibly fast, and far more speed than you’re likely to need. That said, Optimum has received the lowest score of any internet provider in the most recent American Customer Satisfaction Index report — likely due to its history of steep and unpredictable price increases.
It’s rare to see an internet plan below $40 these days — let alone the $15 per month that Starry charges for its introductory plan. You won’t get blazing fast speeds for that price, but Starry’s cheapest fixed wireless internet plan has enough to do basic activities like streaming and videoconferencing. You just might be limited to one or two devices at a time.
T-Mobile Home Internet is one of the most straightforward and affordable internet options in the Bronx. It has the highest approval rating of any non-fiber provider in the country, according to the ACSI. As an added bonus, T-Mobile customers can save an additional $20 each month by bundling with an eligible T-Mobile cellphone plan.
$50-$90 ($25-$65 for eligible Verizon Wireless customers)
300-940Mbops
None
None
None
7.6
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Source: CNET analysis of provider data.
Other available internet providers in the Bronx
Satellite internet: You can get satellite internet anywhere with a clear view of the southern sky, but it doesn’t make sense to use it in a city like New York with plenty of other options. HughesNet, Viasat and Starlink are all available in the Bronx, but speeds are on the slow side and you’ll pay a premium to rent or own the satellite dish.
Verizon 5G Home Internet: Like T-Mobile Home Internet, Verizon utilizes its cellular network to offer fixed wireless internet. It’s not as widely available as T-Mobile or Verizon Fios — a much better option — but there are some areas where it might be your best bet, especially if you can bundle with a Verizon cellphone plan.
Cheap internet options in the Bronx
The Bronx has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to cheap internet. There are eight plans under $50 in the borough — compared with seven in Brooklyn — and you can get extremely low prices through Starry Internet. Most providers in the Bronx also participate in the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides low-income households a $30 monthly discount for home internet.
What’s the cheapest internet plan in the Bronx?
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Source: CNET analysis of provider data.
How to find internet deals and promotions in the Bronx
The best internet deals and the top promotions in the Bronx depend on what discounts are available during that time period. Most deals are short-lived, but we look frequently for the latest offers.
The Bronx internet providers, such as Verizon Fios and Optimum, may offer lower introductory pricing or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Many, however, including T-Mobile Home Internet and Starry Internet, run the same standard pricing year-round.
For a more extensive list of promos, check out our guide on the best internet deals.
How fast is broadband in the Bronx?
There are seven internet plans in the Bronx that reach gig speeds, and many of those are fiber providers that offer symmetrical upload and download speeds. Optimum’s fiber plans are the fastest in the borough by far, with speeds reaching 8,000Mbps.
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 the Bronx
Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the latest smartphone, laptop, router or kitchen tool, it’s impractical to personally test every internet service provider in a given city. So what’s our approach? For starters, we tap into a proprietary database of pricing, availability and speed information that draws from our own historical ISP data, partner data and mapping information from the Federal Communications Commission at FCC.gov.
This guide leverages an in-house artificial intelligence tool called RAMP, which is trained on our own writing and uses our database to generate content about specific internet service providers that our writers can use in determining and presenting our picks for a given guide. Check CNET’s AI policy for more information about how our teams use (and don’t use) AI tools.
Because our database isn’t exhaustive, we go to the FCC’s website to check the primary data for ourselves and make sure we’re considering every ISP that provides service in an area. Plans and prices also vary by location, so we input local addresses on provider websites to find the specific options available to 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 our pre-publication fact-check.
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, you can visit our how we test ISPs page.
What’s the final word on internet providers in the Bronx?
The Bronx has some of the fastests internet plans I’ve seen in any city as well as some of the cheapest. If you’re looking for the best all-around internet provider, though, it’s hard to go wrong with Verizon Fios. The fiber ISP offers fast upload and download speeds at a fair price, and your bill is locked in for at least two years.
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