Best Internet Providers in Fort Worth, Texas

With a bunch of solid internet options, there’s an argument to be made that Fort Worth is one of the best cities in the country when it comes to internet access. It boasts multiple fiber internet providers, the 61st fastest speeds in the country and in 2022, it rolled out free Wi-Fi to 40,000 residents in historically underserved neighborhoods. 

But it’s not all roses in Fort Worth when it comes to internet either. If you spend any time on Fort Worth Reddit, you’ll find one common complaint is that apartment complexes often have exclusive deals with one (less than ideal) internet provider. Fortunately, that’s started to change in the past year with the arrival of 5G home internet providers like T-Mobile and Verizon, which are available virtually everywhere in the city.

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The best internet in Fort Worth comes down to price, speed and what’s available. For most people, that means AT&T Fiber, which has extensive coverage throughout the area. Let’s take a deeper look at all of your options. 

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.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data

All available Fort Worth residential internet providers

There are a few other options for internet in Fort Worth aside from our top picks listed above. Some might not be available within city limits but offer service in the surrounding suburbs. All of them have their flaws, but they’re worth checking your address to see what your options are.

• Nextlink: You can get Nextlink’s fixed wireless internet service virtually everywhere in the Fort Worth area, but I’d only recommend it as a last resort. It uses the same fixed wireless technology as T-Mobile and Verizon, but without 5G access, its speeds are generally slower — and come at a much steeper price. The 50Mbps plan, for example, runs $65 per month. 
• Satellite internet: Satellite internet is another option that’s available almost everywhere in Fort Worth. For a long time, the standbys have been HughesNet and Viasat. Both require a two-year contract, have stingy data caps and generally get slower speeds than competitors. Like DSL internet, most people only go to satellite when there are no other options. There is an intriguing new player in satellite space: Elon Musk’s Starlink, which uses low-Earth orbit satellites to provide much faster speeds than traditional satellite internet. 
• Verizon 5G Home Internet: Like T-Mobile’s fixed wireless service, Verizon is now leveraging its vast 5G network for home internet too. It’s not as widely available in Fort Worth as T-Mobile — only 35% of residents can currently get it — but it offers two plans to choose from. If you subscribe to select Verizon Wireless plans, you can also get home internet service for half price. 

Price of internet in Fort Worth

The average starting price for internet plans in Fort Worth is $47 per month. There aren’t as many cheap internet plans in Forth Worth as many other major metro areas — most providers start their plans at $50 per month — but most of those don’t add on extra fees for equipment either. The $47 average price is more expensive than neighboring Dallas ($43 per month) and Houston ($45) but nearly on par with San Antonio ($48).

Cheap internet options in the Fort Worth metro area

Spectrum offers the cheapest plan in Fort Worth at $25 monthly for 50Mbps. Frontier, Nextlink, T-Mobile and Verizon all have starting prices for internet in Fort Worth between $30 and $60 per month.

What’s the cheapest internet plan in Fort Worth?

Source: CNET analysis of provider data

Fastest internet providers in Fort Worth

Fort Worth’s internet speeds compare favorably with the rest of Texas, and the country as a whole. As I mentioned above, Fort Worth residents enjoy the 61st fastest internet speeds of any city in the nation, according to Ookla’s speed test results. 

Frontier offers a 7-gig plan in some parts of Fort Worth. Because they’re fiber connections, you’ll get symmetrical upload and download speeds on their plans. Spectrum’s cable internet reaches download speeds of 1,000Mbps, but upload speeds top out at 40Mbps for its gig plan.

What are the fastest internet plans in Fort Worth?

Source: CNET analysis of provider data

How CNET chose the best internet providers in Fort Worth

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’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? 

The answers to those questions are often layered and complex, but the providers that 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.

What’s the final word on internet providers in Fort Worth?

It’s good to be an internet customer in Fort Worth. Most residents have access to at least one fiber provider — AT&T or Frontier — which is as good as it gets for residential internet. The main downside is that there aren’t many cheap internet plans in Fort Worth. Most starting prices don’t go any lower than $50 per month, but most of these plans offer fantastic value.

Internet providers in Fort Worth FAQs