Readers' Choice Awards 2022: Internet Service Providers

There'southward a boxing raging in Washington, D.C., over whether to classify broadband internet service as a telecom service subject to strict regulation or an data service that doesn't crave the same level of oversight from the FCC. 1 thing there's trivial debate well-nigh, though, is that we all desire fast, reliable, and cheap internet service in our homes. At this bespeak, broadband is as necessary as electricity.

This month's PCMag Readers' Choice Survey gave you the chance to rate your satisfaction with the internet service providers (ISPs) delivering broadband—and often a diversity of other services—to your home. In general, you lot're a pretty tough crowd to please. Each year, ISPs increase the speed of our connections—according to the FCC, boilerplate speeds improved 22 percent last twelvemonth—but invariably, Isp satisfaction ratings are amongst the lowest we see across all the categories of products and services you rate for u.s.a. each year.

Information technology's easy to meet why. Broadband service isn't cheap. For many, the cost is well over $1,000 a year. 2nd, fast is rarely fast enough. Even as the bandwidth of our connections has increased, then has our need for more. Streaming video services such as YouTube and Netflix are incredibly popular and getting a smooth loftier-definition stream requires a large, fat cyberspace pipe into our domicile.

For case, Netflix tells customers they need a steady connectedness of 25 Megabits per second (Mbps) or faster to stream 4K video. Lots of ISPs can sustain that speed for one connection, just near homes accept multiple PCs, TVs, tablets, and phones all competing for portions of the pipe—that makes it difficult.

Another issue affecting Isp satisfaction is choice. There are dozens of broadband ISPs in the United States. Eighteen received at to the lowest degree the requisite fifty responses to exist included in our survey analysis this year. However, in any one area, yous typically are very express in your choices. About a third of our respondents (32 percent) said they either don't have any choice in ISPs or weren't sure if they had a choice.

It'due south non all bad news, still. It shouldn't be a given that ISPs provide terrible experiences. Every bit you will see, a couple of service providers fix themselves apart from the competition by providing satisfaction levels of several aspects of service that are essentially better than the contest. If you use one of these ISPs, congratulations. If you don't, make sure your ISPs knows you expect better.

The PCMag Readers' Choice survey for Internet Service Providers was in the field from April 24, 2017 through May 15, 2022. For more data on how the survey is conducted, read the survey methodology. Each person who completed the survey was entered into a drawing to win an Amazon.com gift menu valued at $350.

Yous can win! Sign upwardly for the Readers' Pick Survey mailing list to receive invitations for time to come sweepstakes.

Wondering which ISPs provide the most speed? Read The Fastest ISPs in the USA. Then exam your ISP'due south speed right here.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs)

In the midst of Triple Crown season, the horse racing metaphors come easy when talking broadband. Xviii ISPs showed up at our survey starting gates for 2022, merely two were in a form of their own, leaving all the rest in their dust.

Those 2 ISPs, RCN and Verizon FiOS, are neck-and-neck to the cease line, and we decided to mitt each of them a Readers' Option award (once more). This is the 3rd straight year RCN has won the Readers' Pick Honour. For Verizon Fios, it's a record-setting twelfth year as a winner.

RCN provides cable and cobweb connections in select areas, and recently purchased Grande Communications and Moving ridge Broadband to get the nation's 6th largest ISP. Verizon Fios—not to be confused with other Verizon-branded options similar wireless and DSL—is a fiber-to-the-habitation service.

Both finished with identical overall satisfaction ratings of 8.ane on our scale from 0 (extremely dissatisfied) to ten (extremely satisfied). This is downwardly a bit from last year when both had ratings of eight.four. On the other hand, the next closest finisher was WOW! Cyberspace, which only rated a 7.2 this year, downwards from 8.3—and a Readers' Choice award—last year.

In the centre of the pack are big names like Comcast Xfinity (6.9) and Spectrum (6.8)—the former being the nation'south largest cyberspace provider; the latter is the new uber-Internet service provider formed by the merger of Charter, Fourth dimension Warner Cable, and Bright Business firm Networks, creating the 2nd biggest ISP in the US. Bringing up the far rear, three ISPs received overall satisfaction ratings beneath 5.0: Verizon DSL (4.8), Frontier DSL (four.five), and Windstream (4.4).

RCN bested Verizon and the rest of the contest in likelihood to recommend, a key measure of customer loyalty. RCN received an eight.2; Verizon Fios was just behind at 8.0, while Borderland (3.6) and Windstream (three.9) finished under 4.0.

That likelihood to recommend rating is also used to summate the Cyberspace Promoter Score (NPS), which measures overall how customer experience near a brand; this yr, RCN, Verizon Fios, and WOW were the only three to even go positive numbers—as in, every unmarried other Internet access provider in our survey had then many detractors, their scores were less than cypher. Even RCN's 37 per centum NPS isn't much to trumpet and is well down from last year's 49 percent.

Equally noted in our intro, consumers pay a lot of coin for broadband and most feel it's manner too much. RCN received the highest rating for satisfaction with fees. Even at 6.9, in that location's certainly room for comeback merely it'southward far better than anyone else. WOW came in 2d on satisfaction with fees with a 6.0. Satisfaction with fees is Verizon Fios'southward main Achilles heel. The ISP rated only v.iv on this measure. Notwithstanding, that's better than the 11 ISPs that rated below 5.0. Optimum Online was at the back with a dismal 4.2.

Verizon Fios' strength has ever been its speed and reliability and this twelvemonth is no different. The Internet service provider had the best marks for satisfaction with speed (viii.0) and reliability (8.4). RCN also posted the second best ratings in those areas (each at seven.9). Respondents who needed technical help or repair work on their connection gave Verizon Fios the best ratings for satisfaction with technical support (seven.4) and satisfaction with repairs (vi.nine). RCN was 0.1 points behind on both these measures and rated best for non-technical customer service (7.three), a total furlong ahead of all the other ISPs.

Not merely were RCN'southward technical services well regarded, the Internet access provider besides had the lowest per centum of respondents needing technical support (18 percent, tied with Verizon Wireless) and repairs (6 percent). RCN received its highest satisfaction rating in the Initial Setup measure (8.5), but that was slightly behind AT&T Fiber (eight.6).

Related Story See all of our survey results for ISPs.

WINNERS: INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS

Readers' Choice 2022 Award

RCN
Lucky yous if you live in one of the metropolitan areas where you tin can pick RCN to be your ISP. For the third straight yr, the visitor earns a Readers' Choice Award. RCN is the consummate package, providing very practiced speed and reliability backed past back up services that are amidst the all-time.

Readers' Choice 2022 Award

Verizon Fios
The fact that Verizon's fiber-to-the-dwelling network is no longer expanding (and has been bought out in some areas by other providers, like Frontier), is a crime. Since its launch in 2005, Fios has been utterly adored by the PCMag readers who can get information technology. Information technology may never meet loftier scores like information technology did in the past, but current customers are even so extremely happy with speed and reliability.