Best Internet Providers in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

What is the best internet provider in Chapel Hill?

CNET recommends AT&T Fiber as the best overall provider for those residing in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. While there are other providers with larger coverage in the area, AT&T Fiber boasts a variety of plans for every need, with offerings ranging from 300Mbps to 5,000Mbps, all at a range of prices. There are also no set price hikes, and AT&T Fiber is well-regarded when it comes to customer satisfaction.

For residents looking for a decent internet package bundled alongside TV, we recommend Spectrum. If you bundle both TV and internet together, you'll get up to $20 off your internet rate monthly. That's not a bad deal. Spectrum is also widely available, even more so than AT&T Fiber, so if you can't get one internet service provider, you'll at least be able to get the other.

If you seek big speeds and are willing to splash the cash around, there's also Google Fiber. For $150 per month, you'll be able to get 8,000Mbps -- a speed that's great for businesses and busy households. It's well worth the investment, particularly if you're working remotely.

Last but not least, anyone seeking the best fixed wireless internet in Chapel Hill should consider T-Mobile Home Internet. It may not have the fastest speeds, but it isn't outrageously pricey either and, if bundled with select mobile plans, you can get the ISP for a pretty decent price.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

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 Federal Communications Commission. 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 Chapel Hill, North Carolina

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, but 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. (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.)

To explore our process in more depth, visit our how we test ISPs page.

Internet providers in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, FAQs