Bradenton is an attractive place to live and work. The Florida city has adorable cottages, the Riverwalk, the Village of the Arts and plenty of history. Sure, it gets humid, but that's a small price to pay for easy access to the coast and the Bishop Museum of Science and Nature, which is best known for giving manatees a helping hand.   

Whether you're moving to Bradenton or already a resident, you'll want fast, reliable internet service that will keep you connected for entertainment, gaming or remote work. Our choice for the best ISP in Bradenton is Frontier, thanks to its widely available fiber network, which delivers fast download and upload speeds. Cable competitors Spectrum and Xfinity are also worth considering, as are fixed wireless providers T-Mobile and Verizon. Let's sort through the best internet providers in Bradenton to find the strongest option for your online needs. 

Best internet providers in the Friendly City

Our picks for the best ISPs in Bradenton run the gamut from fiber to fixed wireless. With a variety to choose from, you're bound to find a home internet plan that fits your needs and wants.

Note: The prices, speeds and features detailed in the article text may differ from those listed in the product detail cards, which represent providers’ national offerings. Your particular internet service options -- including prices and speeds -- depend on your address and may differ from those detailed here.

All available Bradenton residential internet providers

While Frontier has fiber covered and Spectrum is the main cable provider for Brandenton, some other ISPs are vying for your attention. Xfinity is a notable cable competitor with limited coverage in the area, while T-Mobile's 5G home internet service is worthy of consideration if you're looking into fixed wireless.

• Rapid Systems: Local provider Rapid Systems services communities around Florida with fixed wireless internet. ISPs like this typically focus on rural and underserved areas. Pricing and speeds may not be attractive if another ISP already covers your area. Plans start at $79 a month for 10Mbps service and top out at $99 monthly for 25Mbps. No data cap and no contract are required, but a $149 installation fee applies.

• Satellite internet: Most internet shoppers in Bradenton will go with fiber, cable or fixed wireless. Satellite internet providers Starlink, Viasat or HughesNet are left-field options and unlikely to be your first choice. Starlink, however, makes a case for frequent travelers with its on-the-go internet plan. It can be a good choice for avid RVers who need to stay connected on the road. 
• T-Mobile Home Internet: T-Mobile and Verizon are competitors in Bradenton regarding 5G fixed wireless home internet. T-Mobile offers typical speeds of 72 to 245Mbps for $50-$70 a month. Bundling with an eligible phone plan can knock that down to $40-$50 a month. Availability is hit-and-miss. I plugged in addresses from around Bradenton and got a lot of wait-list messages, but the service is open in some locations. 
  
• Xfinity: Comcast's cable internet service only covers a small part of Bradenton compared to other ISPs, but it's worth mentioning if it reaches your address. Xfinity offers a wide variety of plans, with some requiring contracts and some with equipment included. On the low end, you can get 150Mbps service for $20 a month on up to 1,20Mbps for $80 a month (with no term contract). Spend some time digging into the plan details for equipment costs, contracts and data cap information.

Pricing details on Bradenton home internet service

With Spectrum's Internet Assist plan in the mix, Bradenton's average starting price for home internet is $40. All the ISPs in the area offer affordable plans at the $50-a-month level, though speeds differ considerably. On the fast end, Frontier and Spectrum both offer 500Mbps service at that price, giving you a good bang for the buck.

Cheap internet options in the Bradenton area

Let's talk budget. The cheapest internet in Bradenton comes from Spectrum's Internet Assist plan at $20 a month, but there are low-income eligibility requirements you need to meet to qualify. Alternatively, Xfinity's entry-level plan is also only $20, although the price will go up after the first 12 months. The next cheapest plan comes from Frontier's $30-a-month 200Mbps fiber plan. Bundling Verizon 5G Home Internet with a qualified phone plan to knock your monthly internet price down to $35.

Fastest internet providers in Bradenton

There's no competition for the fastest internet provider in Bradenton. Frontier's fiber plans reign supreme with 1-gig, 2-gig and 5-gig options (in some areas). The highest speed tier comes at a price of $130 a month, but that may be well worth it to households with demanding internet needs. Here's what you need to know about the best multi-gigabit internet plans.

What's the final word on internet providers in Bradenton?

Frontier is a clear front-runner among ISPs in Bradenton thanks to its wide availability, fiber technology and reasonably priced plans. Give strong consideration to Frontier's Fiber 1 Gig plan at $65 a month. Spectrum and Xfinity (if you fall within its small coverage area for Bradenton) are worth looking at for cable, but they can't touch the upload speeds or max speeds you can get with Frontier.

How CNET chose the best internet providers in Bradenton

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’re considering every ISP that provides service in an area. We also input local addresses on provider websites to find specific options for residents. To evaluate how happy customers are with an ISP's service, we look at sources including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Power. 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: 

• 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. 

To explore our process in more depth, visit our How We Test ISPs page.

Internet providers in Bradenton FAQs