Best Internet Providers in Durham, North Carolina

What is the best internet provider in Durham?

AT&T Fiber is CNET’s top pick for the best internet provider in Durham. It takes the top spot because of its fiber availability, a solid selection of plans and high customer satisfaction. It offers competitive pricing for high-speed service, making it hard to beat. If you need an alternative, Google Fiber is a close second and it offers even higher speeds, going up to 8,000 megabits per second. Durham has a median download speed of about 364Mbps, according to Ookla, so you should be able to get decent speeds in most areas. (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.)

If you’re looking for a fast, affordable internet plan, Frontier Fiber is another excellent choice for internet in Durham. Frontier Fiber internet gets you symmetrical speeds of up to 200Mbps at $30 a month — the cheapest price for internet in Durham. Spectrum also has a $30 plan at half the speed with significant price hikes in a year or two. Verizon 5G Home Internet is also a solid alternative for cheap internet, especially if you bundle it with the provider’s mobile plans.

With multiple internet providers serving the Durham area, your ideal internet provider will ultimately depend on service availability at your address and your specific needs. You’ll find details of the area’s top providers below, to help you decide.

Best internet in Durham, North Carolina

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

How to find internet deals and promotions in Durham

The best internet deals and top promotions in Durham depend on the discounts available during that period. Most deals are short-lived, but we look frequently for the latest offers. 

Durham internet providers, such as AT&T Fiber, may offer gift cards or other signup bonuses for a limited time. Many, including Frontier, Google Fiber and Spectrum, run the same standard pricing year-round. 

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

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 and 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 Durham

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? 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.

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:

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 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, 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 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 Durham FAQs