Best Internet Providers in Eau Claire, Wisconsin

What is the best internet provider in Eau Claire?

If wide coverage and reasonable prices are what you’re looking for in an internet service provider, CNET recommends Spectrum as the best internet service provider in Eau Claire. Spectrum offers plans ranging from $50 to $70, plus speeds up to 1 gigabit and a free modem on all tiers.

AT&T Fiber and T-Mobile Home Internet are also available at select households in Eau Claire and both are worth checking out if Spectrum doesn’t serve your address, or just isn’t the right ISP for you. If you live in the more rural portions of the area and can’t access these big-name providers, we recommend West Wisconsin Telecom. It’s another solid internet provider for residential broadband.

The average starting cost for home internet in Eau Claire is $56 per month, but a few ISPs offer plans cheaper than that. Mediacom’s Prime Internet 100 is the most affordable service in the area, costing only $35 monthly, but it’s offered only to a limited percentage of the town. You’ll be better off with either Spectrum or Verizon 5G Home Internet, both offering $50 plans with download speeds up to 500 and 300 megabits per second, respectively.

If you’re hunting for the speediest connection, AT&T Fiber is the fastest provider in this small Wisconsin city. AT&T Fiber offers two multi-gigabit plans: 2,000Mbps for $125 or 5,000Mbps for $225 monthly.

Best internet in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, in 2024

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

How to find internet deals and promotions in Eau Claire

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

Eau Claire internet providers, such as Spectrum and Mediacom, may offer lower introductory pricing or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Others, such as 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. 

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 video conferencing, 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 video conferencing.
• 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 video conferencing, 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 Eau Claire

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 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 answers to those questions are 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 also consider real-world speed data from sources like Ookla (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.

Internet providers in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, FAQs