What is the best internet provider in Indianapolis?

Offering fast speeds, widespread availability and excellent value, AT&T Fiber gets CNET's nod for Indianapolis's best internet service provider. If you're in one of the few neighborhoods not covered by AT&T Fiber, Spectrum's cable internet or Verizon's 5G internet service has you covered.

Need a low-cost internet provider in Indy? Xfinity offers some of the most affordable internet providers in the area. Prices start at $30 a month for $150 Mbps. If the fastest internet is what you need, don't look further than AT&T Fiber. It wins the race for the speediest pal and offers 5,000 Mbps for $245 monthly.

Best internet in Indianapolis, Indiana

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

Other available internet providers in Indianapolis

• Earthlink: With the largest customer reach of any wired ISP, Earthlink piggybacks off other networks to connect its customers. It offers a good variety of speeds, starting at 100Mbps and going up to an impressive 5,000Mbps, with prices ranging from $60 to $190.
• Hoosier Broadband: This regional carrier services some areas of Indianapolis (city center and north) and its surrounding regions. It offers fixed wireless and fiber, based on the customer’s address.
• Satellite internet: Satellite internet from Hughesnet, Viasat or Starlink is an option wherever you live. However, it shouldn’t be your first pick. With high prices and slow speeds, cheaper and faster options are available. 
• T-Mobile Home Internet: Some Indy residents (mostly in the north and east of the city) may have access to 5G internet from T-Mobile. T-Mobile’s home internet service is available for $60 (or $40 for eligible mobile customers) and offers speeds up to 245Mbps.
• Xfinity: The biggest name in cable only services a small section of Indianapolis around the city’s center and surrounding regions. The company offers speeds ranging from 150 to 1,200Mbps, with prices topping at $95. Just mind the 1.2TB data cap.

Cheap internet options in Indianapolis

If you want the most affordable internet plan in Indianapolis, Xfinity offers a 150Mbps plan for $20 a month. Providers like Verizon and T-Mobile offer discounts to eligible mobile customers, meaning your monthly bill might only cost $35-$40.

What's the cheapest internet plan in Indianapolis?

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

How to find internet deals and promotions in Indianapolis

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

Indianapolis internet providers, such as Spectrum and Xfinity, may offer lower introductory pricing or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Many providers, including AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, 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 Indianapolis broadband?

With median download speeds of about 213Mbps, according to Ookla’s list of internet speeds in the nation’s 100 most populous cities, Indy sits in the middle of the pack, ranking at 68th. (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.) Fortunately for residents of Hoosier City, there are many broadband choices when it comes to connecting to the internet. Major internet service providers like AT&T, Xfinity, Spectrum, T-Mobile and Verizon operate in the city, although they won’t all be available to every neighborhood.

Ready to zoom around the (internet) speedway? AT&T has the fastest hookup with its 5,000Mbps plan. If you don't need to go that fast, you can opt for plans from multiple providers that offer gigabit download speeds.

Fastest internet plans in Indianapolis

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 Indianapolis

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? 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. 

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, 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 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.

What’s the final word on internet providers in Indianapolis?

With decent availability and high value in terms of speed for the price, most of Indianapolis is well served by AT&T’s hard-to-beat fiber internet. For residents of certain parts of the city, other choices include cable, 5G and satellite.