We all need a reliable internet connection, but the monthly cost that comes with it can be a burden on the budget. While some internet providers are cheaper than others, you can still expect to pay a pretty penny for high-speed internet.
According to Parks Associates data from April 2022, US households spend an average of $116 a month on home internet, which is a significant chunk of change. Whether you use it for remote work, streaming your favorite shows, online gaming or video chatting with family, it's hard to live without the internet. We get it. But to keep your budget in check, there may be a few ways to lower your broadband costs and monthly bills. Here are eight suggestions:
Before you can find ways to save, you'll first need to know what you're currently paying. Read the bills from several previous months, and try to understand what your internet service provider is actually charging. What download speed are you supposed to receive? Do you have a data cap? If so, are you staying within that data limit, or do you typically incur overage fees? It's important to see how much you pay for internet speed and data usage. While you can't remove some fees, you'd be surprised at how many can be eliminated if you ask. So having this info at hand will be key when it's time to negotiate with your provider.
Locating local internet providers
You want the fastest speed available, right? Some folks have access to a 25Gbps plan, for goodness sake! Let's be honest: While most of us like the idea of having the fastest internet speed available, we probably don't need it. A fast internet package is probably near the top of your priority list if you work from home and have others in the house (whether several roommates or a family). But that could still mean you can lean on a 500Mbps plan vs. jumping right to a full gigabit tier or even a multigigabit plan.
But if it's just you and a roommate or spouse, or you're not working remotely and using your internet service for little more than email and checking a few sites, you may want to consider lowering your internet speed even more. Perhaps you can hop down from a 500Mbps plan to a 200Mbps tier. This could be an easy way to reduce your bill without impacting the quality of your internet experience.
Locating local internet providers
This is tough because our homes have become increasingly filled with connected devices, including smart TVs, phones, gaming consoles, voice assistants, smart thermostats, security cameras, smartwatches, etc. The more smart home gadgets you have, the more they'll consume your bandwidth. If you're the only one in your household, you can better wrangle these so they don't eat up your data cap (if you have one) or start to bring down your home's overall speed. Fewer devices mean you might avoid paying data overage fees and get more effective internet service.
On the other hand, this probably won't work if you have other people in your home -- like family or roommates -- and they all have multiple devices. It's one thing to ask your family or roommates to turn off (or minimize the usage of) their devices so you can stream a big game, but it's another to ask them to give them up altogether.
In a larger household, knocking down the number of devices connected to your home internet may be hard.
Another potential way to reduce your spending on your home internet is to dig into what discount programs might be available. You should start your search with government programs to help eligible customers cut costs. That starts with Lifeline, a program that offers assistance to low-income households. You'll get just over $9 monthly off your broadband bill if you're eligible.
If you qualify for Lifeline, you'll also be eligible for the Affordable Connectivity Program, a government subsidy from the Federal Communications Commission that provides a discount of $30 a month off your internet service (and up to $75 monthly for households on Tribal lands).
Finally, while you can use the monies and discounts from those federal programs on any internet plan from the more than 1,600 participating ISPs, you can also couple those subsidies with providers' low-cost plans, almost all of which are $30 or less. That means you could get your home internet service for free. In the past, that might have meant paltry speeds of 10Mbps or less, but in 2022, many providers committed to offering low-cost plans with a minimum of 100Mbps download speed. That's a significant difference.
Now that you know your internet speed, what you use it for and what you're paying to receive your home broadband, it's time to shop around. Many competitors are vying for your business. For example, T-Mobile and Verizon have aggressively entered the home internet space with their 5G home internet products. Other providers will happily give you an introductory rate less than you currently pay. Sometimes smaller, local ISPs can provide a better rate than the internet behemoths such as AT&T and Comcast Xfinity, but that's not always the case. Use our comparison shopping tool to research providers in your area.
Before signing up, get an idea of your monthly costs when you switch your internet service to a new provider. Compare what you're paying now to what you'll pay for the next month, six months and year. Along with that, what's the cost after the promo plan ends? Consider your long-term use as well. With the competitive landscape out there, try to avoid signing any long-term contracts unless you know for certain that you're getting the best possible rate at your address.
Shop a bit before making up your mind about your next internet provider.
Some internet providers charge an extra monthly fee for renting a modem and router. Sometimes it's just an extra $5 per month, but some ISPs charge as much as $15 monthly. In the long run, it could prove cheaper to buy your own, which might even boost your speed and performance. My CNET colleague, Ry Crist, goes into further detail on saving by using your own modem and router.
Obviously, your internet connection isn't the only household service you pay for. You could pay less by bundling your internet with other services, such as your cellphone and cable TV plans. See if your provider offers discounted bundle packages. If you like the offer, signing up through the company's website is usually easy.
This is a good idea if you use what you buy. If you've cut the cord and are now a streaming household, buying a cable TV package might not be the best move.
You've reviewed your bill and checked your internet speed. You've counted how many devices you have and compared competing offers. Now you can negotiate with your current ISP and call them with confidence.
This isn't always the easiest or most time-efficient step, but it's important. If you've had the same provider for a few years, it's more likely to work with you on lowering your bill. Many will ask the same questions: Can you lower your internet speed? Can you increase your internet speed (they'll often try to lure you to a higher speed by offering better promos and a better cost per Mbps)? Now you're equipped to better answer those questions.
Do your research on the competition. If you mention offers from competitors you've come across, your customer service rep may give you a deal to keep you a happy customer. Knowing about competing offers gives you an advantage: Your provider knows you can move on to another ISP if you don't like what you currently have or what's offered.
Ask your current provider if any promotions are available for new customers. If so, you would also like to receive them. If you haven't found a deal that works for your budget (or you've run into an inflexible sales agent), it's all right to end the call and try again later or plan to end service with that provider.
Don't be afraid to cancel your service. It may take some time to close one account and open another, but saving a significant amount is worth it. Remember, though: It's not just about the promotion period. Otherwise, you may need to negotiate your bill this time next year when the promo rate is over.
Yes. You'll need to take advantage of some federal programs to do so. Start with Lifeline, a government program that can get eligible customers just over $9 off the monthly cost of internet service. If you qualify for Lifeline, you're eligible for the FCC's Affordable Connectivity Program, which nets you a $30 discount on your home broadband connection. Many internet service providers nationwide have plans up to 100Mbps download speed for $30 or less, so you can use your federal discounts to get free home internet.
That's a tricky question because so much depends on what's available at your location. Generally speaking, fiber internet will often provide the best cost per Mbps, where you'll get more download and upload speed for your money. However, regarding the cheapest internet, at least in terms of what you'll pay right out of the gate, that usually comes from cable internet providers. Their first-year promo prices can be tough to beat. Just avoid signing any long-term contract so you can opt out once the price increases.
Often they do. Many providers will offer an enticing price for your first 12 months of service and then ratchet up the price after one year. However, we see that practice declining as increased competition has developed. Some providers -- like AT&T, Spectrum and Verizon Fios, for example -- don't do promo prices, while others -- including Optimum and Verizon 5G Home Internet -- offer two-to-three-year price guarantees. Not to be outdone, a few other providers (including T-Mobile Home Internet) will do a price-lock guarantee for the life of your contract.
Pull up your last internet bill. If you've been paying your internet service provider a monthly fee to rent a modem or router, you may be able to prevent future charges and save some money. You just have to buy your own equipment and use that instead.
Equipment fees and the policies that come with them vary from provider to provider. Some charge $10 or more per month for the use of the company equipment. Others let you use it for free. A few providers require you to use their equipment -- meaning that you can't skip the fee by using your own -- but most are happy to let you use your own gear and save a few bucks each month.
Doing so is usually a smart move. For instance, plenty of decent modems cost less than $100. With the average cost of renting a modem from your provider sitting at around $10 per month, a device like that would pay for itself in less than a year and then continue saving you money each month after that. In other cases, where providers will rent you a high-end gaming router or a decent mesh router for a modest monthly fee, doing so might be a pretty decent deal.
Locating local internet providers
Does your provider let you use your own equipment to save some cash? Is that what's best for your home network? It depends on from which provider you get your internet. Let's run through all of the top options to see how their equipment policies compare and whether or not you're in a position to save some money. (You can also find out if your internet service provider is throttling your Wi-Fi connection, and learn if you're putting your router in the wrong spot.)
Equipment fee: No
This is significant because up until early 2022, AT&T charged $10 per month for its equipment. The company required the use of its combination modem-and-router gateway device and didn't allow customers to use their own modem. That meant that you couldn't skip the $10 monthly additional fee. However (cue the Hallelujah chorus), AT&T scrapped its equipment fee this year, so customers need not worry about that additional amount getting tacked onto their monthly bill.
Read our AT&T home internet review.
See at AT&TEquipment fee: Yes ($15 per month for modem/router gateway device rental)
Can you skip it? Yes
CenturyLink charges $15 monthly to rent a gateway that combines a modem and a router into one device. Depending on the type of plan you sign up for, that gateway will be one of four models: the Actiontec C3000A, the Greenwave C4000, the Zyxel C4000LZ or the Zyxel C3000Z. You can skip that $15 fee by using a gateway or modem of your own, but CenturyLink cautions customers not to use anything that isn't on its list of approved devices.
"CenturyLink highly recommends using one of our certified or recommended Wi-Fi modems (gateways), which have been tested and approved to work optimally with our high-speed internet technology," the company's website reads. "Retired and third-party devices are more likely to cause performance issues and may not connect to your internet service correctly."
And remember, if you're replacing CenturyLink's gateway with a standard modem, then you'll also need to find a good router to go with it.
Read our CenturyLink home internet review.
See at CenturyLinkEquipment fee: Yes ($5 per month for router rental, modem provided free of charge)
Can you skip it? Yes
Spectrum includes a free modem with all of its home internet plans, but if you don't have a router of your own, you'll need to pay $5 per month to rent one. The exceptions here are gigabit subscribers of Spectrum's fastest plan tier -- they get the router included at no additional fee.
To skip that $5 monthly fee, you'll need to use your own router, with the usual caveat that your equipment won't be eligible for Spectrum technical support if it malfunctions. You can also use your own modem if you'd like, but make sure to use a Spectrum-supported model.
Read our Spectrum home internet review.
See at SpectrumEquipment fee: Yes ($10 per month for router rental, included in the advertised monthly rate)
Can you skip it? No
Frontier provides customers with a free modem and charges $10 per month to rent them a router, but that cost is baked into the advertised monthly rate, so it's not an additional fee that you'll need to pay on top of your monthly rate, like with most other providers. That's all well and good, but the rub is that there's no way to skip that fee, even if you already have a router of your own.
Read our Frontier home internet review.
See at FrontierEquipment fee: No
Google Fiber customers receive a modem and a mesh router with up to two additional extenders at no additional cost. If you subscribe to Google Fiber's fastest plan, with download speeds of up to 2Gbps, then you'll get a faster, multi-gig router to go with it, complete with support for Wi-Fi 6.
Read our Google Fiber home internet review.
See at GoogleEquipment fee: Yes ($15 per month for modem/router gateway device rental)
Can you skip it? No
HughesNet provides satellite internet service to all 50 states. That's the good news. The not-so-good news is that satellite internet features pretty pricey equipment costs. Customers must rent HughesNet's equipment to the tune of $15 per month, with no option to skip that fee. The only alternative provided is to buy the equipment upfront for $450.
That's a tough pill to swallow. Paying that much right out of the gate is not appealing. But once you consider that HughesNet requires a two-year contract (and canceling early will activate an early termination fee), you may find that upfront cost will save you money if you foresee staying with HughesNet beyond your initial term.
Read our HughesNet review.
See at AllconnectEquipment fees: No
Metronet is a 100% fiber-optic internet provider in the Midwest that covers Indiana and 15 other states across the country. Like fellow fiber providers like AT&T and Google Fiber, Metronet doesn't charge customers to use its router. It does charge $10 per month if you want to add WholeHome WiFi (which is its fancy term for a wireless extender), but that is an optional, not required, cost.
Read our Metronet review.
See at MetronetEquipment fee: No
Optimum offers both hybrid fiber and cable connections and 100% fiber hookups. The company provides customers with its Altice Gateway, which serves as your home's modem and router. Your exact model depends on your specific plan and whether your home's connection uses cable or fiber.
"Optimum internet customers using service delivered via our HFC network are able to use their own equipment," an Altice spokesperson tells CNET, pointing to a list of approved third-party modems. "Optimum Fiber service is currently only delivered via the Optimum-provided Gateway, which is designed specifically to work with our fiber network."
Read our Optimum home internet review.
See at OptimumEquipment fee: Yes ($10 per month for modem rental, $5 to $15 per month for router rental)
Can you skip it? Modem: no, Router: yes
Rise Broadband is a provider of fixed wireless home internet connections throughout much of the middle of the country, and subscribers will need to pay $10 per month to rent their modem along with the antenna that receives the over-the-air signal. That fee is unavoidable.
Rise also offers to rent customers a router -- specifically, the TP-Link Deco M4 mesh router. The cost is $5 per device, so a single Deco router will add an extra $5 to your monthly bill, a two-piece mesh setup would raise it by $10, and a three-piece setup will cost you $15 per month.
All of that is skippable if you use your own router. That's what I would recommend -- $10 or $15 per month is a bit much to rent the Deco M4, which is pretty entry-level as far as mesh routers go.
Read our Rise Broadband home internet review.
See at Rise BroadbandEquipment fee: Yes ($599 one-time purchase)
Can you skip it? No
Starlink, Elon Musk's internet service, aims to disrupt the satellite internet category by providing faster speeds and lower latency than offered by rivals HughesNet and Viasat. What Starlink shares with those companies, however, is a stark equipment fee. Instead of an additional monthly charge for your equipment, Starlink requires that you pay for the equipment upfront. That means a payout of $599 for the regular service and a jaw-dropping $2,500 if you choose Starlink Premium. There's no getting around those rates if you want to sign up for Starlink.
Read more about Starlink.
See at StarlinkEquipment fee: No
Starry Internet is a fixed wireless internet provider mostly focused on larger cities, including Boston, Denver, Los Angeles and New York City. Starry optimizes its technology for urban areas, and that customized equipment is included in the price. There's no additional charge beyond your monthly rate.
Read our Starry Internet review.
See at StarryEquipment fee: No
T-Mobile offers 5G home internet service, and you'll need a 5G modem capable of receiving that wireless signal to connect. Fortunately, T-Mobile takes care of that for you with a 5G modem/router gateway provided free of charge. It's a gray cylinder, and it's all you need after subscribing to get online.
That said, if you have a router of your own that you like, you can plug it into T-Mobile's gateway and use it to put out your home's Wi-Fi signal instead. That might be worth doing if you'd like to set up a mesh network in your home, but with fast top speeds and support for Wi-Fi 6, T-Mobile's gateway is probably enough for anyone outside of that.
Read our T-Mobile 5G home internet review.
See at T-MobileEquipment fee: Yes with DSL plans; no with Fios, 5G Home and LTE
Can you skip it? Yes with DSL; no with LTE
Summing up Verizon's equipment fees is a bit tricky, because the provider offers four different types of plans, each with its own prices and terms. Let's do a quick run-through:
Read our Verizon home internet review.
See at VerizonEquipment fee: Yes ($13 per month for modem/router)
Can you skip it? No
Viasat is slightly less expensive than rival HughesNet, but its monthly equipment charge is still inescapable. Whereas HughesNet's monthly equipment cost is $15, Viasat charges $13 per month for its modem. You could get a slight discount on that price by choosing to pay for the equipment with a one-time purchase of $299, but there are no significant savings to be had there unless you hold on to your Viasat service beyond the initial two-year contract.
Read our Viasat internet review.
See at AllconnectEquipment fee: Yes ($7 to $10 for modem/router gateway device rental)
Can you skip it? Yes
Kinetic is Windstream's home internet service, and the equipment rental fees vary slightly by region, ranging from $7 to $10 per month. Paying that fee gets you a combination modem-and-router gateway device, but you can skip the fee outright if you use your own modem and router hardware.
The company has different hardware requirements for different customers based on the specific nature of the connection (some DSL subscribers use ADSL technology, while others use VDSL, for instance). Be sure to ask Windstream for some guidance specific to your home's connection before you make a purchase -- the customer service number is 800-347-1991.
Read our Kinetic by Windstream home internet review.
See at WindstreamEquipment fee: Yes ($14 per month for modem rental, $10 per month for mesh router rental)
Can you skip it? Yes
WideOpenWest -- or WOW, as the company enjoys branding itself -- charges customers $14 per month to rent a cable modem, but you can skip that fee by using a WOW-approved modem (PDF) of your own. Separately, customers can pay $10 per month to rent a two-piece Eero mesh router (the regular, non-Wi-Fi 6 version from 2019, to be specific). And yep, you can skip that fee if you already have a router that you're happy with.
Ten dollars per month isn't a bad price to try out a mesh system in your home, but that older version of Eero sells in a two-pack for $199, and you can often find it on sale. If you plan on using that router for longer than a year and a half or so, it's probably better to buy one of your own.
Read our WOW home internet review.
See at WOWEquipment fee: Yes ($10 per month promo price for the router; $20 monthly regular price)
Can you skip it? Yes
Ziply Fiber features an optimized Wi-Fi 6 router for all fiber plans. Its Whole Home Wi-Fi service includes customized Wi-Fi installation and up to three Wi-Fi extenders.
However, you can also skip that additional monthly fee by using your own router. But, to paraphrase an FAQ on Ziply's website, it recommends you use the Ziply Fiber router "for the best fiber internet experience."
Read our Ziply Fiber review.
See at Ziply FiberFor more information, please visit winged clothes dryer, gold wire hangers, portable camping clothes line.