Best Internet Providers in St. Louis, Missouri - CNET

According to our CNET experts, Spectrum is the best internet service provider in St. Louis for most households,thanks to its wide availability, fast speeds and reasonable prices. Providers like AT&T Fiber and Verizon 5G Home Internet are also good options for St. Louis residents, but it all comes down to what's available at your address.

If you're looking for the most affordable internet plan in St. Louis, Optimum has the cheapest plan. Optimum Internet costs $40 monthly for 300 megabits per second. Spectrum, Verizon, and T-Mobile tie for the second cheapest option. Plus, discounts on Verizon and T-Mobile internet services are available with qualifying mobile plans.

Looking for the fastest service in St. Louis? AT&T Fiber surpasses the competition with its 2,000Mbps and 5,000Mbps plans, priced at $145 and $245, respectively.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

EarthLink: EarthLink's been around for decades, but these days, it leases internet infrastructure and wireless airwaves from other providers to resell home internet plans to consumers, including in St. Louis. As such, the company offers a mix of plans that use different technologies, from satellite to fiber to fixed wireless. EarthLink's offerings typically offer slightly less value than the primary providers themselves. Since the company doesn't control the infrastructure, customers are left at the mercy of primary providers regarding things like network slowdowns.

Optimum: Formerly known as Suddenlink, Optimum offers cable internet service without data caps, which is appealing. In fact, the company's first-year pricing is about as enticing as home internet gets, with 300Mbps download speeds available for just $40 per month. Prices soar after the first year, though. On top of that, availability in St. Louis is quite slim, as it's limited mostly to select areas around Des Peres and Manchester. That means that Optimum isn't likely to be available at your address. Even if it is, it's worth shopping around for a better long-term value.

Satellite internet: Satellite internet from Hughesnet, Viasat or Starlink is an option wherever you live. But it shouldn’t be your first pick – with high prices and slow speeds, it's not ideal. There are cheaper and faster options available.

T-Mobile Home Internet: Like Verizon, T-Mobile offers fixed wireless home internet service over the same airwaves it uses to offer mobile connectivity, including 5G. Top speeds aren't quite as high as Verizon's, with downloads maxing out at 245Mbps and uploads at 31Mbps, but the value is still strong -- starting at $50 per month with no data caps and no hidden fees.

Wisper Internet: Wisper is a regional fixed-wireless provider headquartered in Mascoutah, Illinois, and it's been spending the past few years working to expand service throughout Missouri. Service is still most prevalent east of the Mississippi in Illinois, in places like East St. Louis and Caseyville. With plans starting at $75 a month, download speeds of up to 1,000Mbps and no data caps or prescheduled price increases, it's worth taking a look to see if Wisper is an option in the rural areas surrounding St. Louis.

Are you looking for the cheapest service possible? In most cases, you should expect to spend at least $50 monthly for home internet in St. Louis. Besides Spectrum's 100Mbps and 300Mbps plans, costing $30 and $40, Optimum is the only provider offering a plan cheaper than $50 per month.

Again, the best deal is AT&T Fiber, which offers symmetrical upload and download speeds of 300Mbps for $55 a month with no price increase after year one and no data caps. Verizon offers good value too, with a fixed rate of $50 a month with no data caps. It might be particularly appealing if you have an existing mobile plan, as you might qualify for a discount on your internet bill.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

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

St. Louis internet providers, such as Spectrum and Optimum, may offer lower introductory pricing or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Many, however, including AT&T and Verizon, run the same standard pricing year-round.

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

Nationwide, the fastest internet plans come from companies that offer multi-gig service, with speeds as high as 5 gigabits per second (5,000Mbps) or more. That includes AT&T, and the company tells CNET that these plans are available to "thousands of customers" in the St. Louis area. AT&T Fiber offers two speedy mult-gig plans under its network: 2,000Mbps for $125 and 5,000Mbps for $225.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

See all results for internet providers in Missouri.

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.

Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike with 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 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:

While the answers to those questions are often layered and complex, the providers that 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, though 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 (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.) and FCC reports.

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

If you're looking for internet service in St. Louis, you'll find various options for getting online, including cable connections, fixed wireless services, high-speed fiber hookups and new options like 5G home internet. While AT&T's fiber network offers the fastest speeds in the city, Spectrum's wide availability makes it the best option for many St. Louis households.

How fast are internet plans in St. Louis?

Like in most major cities, you'll find a wide range of options for getting online in St. Louis, with the largest providers being AT&T, Spectrum, T-Mobile and Verizon. Speeds will vary depending on your provider and address, but download speeds of up to 1,000Mbps are available from a few providers. However, AT&T Fiber can't be beaten with its 5,000Mbps plan, costing $245 monthly.

Is fiber internet available in St. Louis?

Yes. Providers like AT&T and Wisper Internet offer fiber-optic internet services in St. Louis, but your home needs to be wired for fiber to start service. In April 2022, an AT&T spokesperson told CNET that fiber services were "available to hundreds of thousands of customers in the St. Louis area" and added that the company planned to expand the reach of its fiber infrastructure in the area throughout the year.

Does St. Louis have Google Fiber?

No, St. Louis is not a Google Fiber city. Google Fiber is available in Kansas City and Jefferson City, but hasn't expanded in St. Louis yet.