Internet Providers in Tampa, Florida

Best Internet Providers in Tampa, FL

If you’re shopping for internet in Tampa, we recommend focusing first on your fiber internet options — particularly the plans offered by Earthlink. We consider Earthlink to be the best provider in town. Its fiber internet connections can reach up to 5 Gbps, and its prices start at just $54.95 per month. It also enjoys relatively high approval ratings from its customers, according to our review data.

Another solid option is Frontier Fiber, which — like Earthlink — offers fiber internet connections in Tampa. Fiber is the most reliable and cutting-edge type of internet that there is. Wherever you live, we recommend you strongly consider it if it is available in your area.

Of course, fiber internet isn’t available everywhere, and some customers will prefer cable bundles anyway. After our top two fiber internet recommendations, your next-best option for broadband internet in Tampa is going to be the city’s cable internet provider, Spectrum. Like most cable providers, Spectrum offers bundle deals, allowing you to roll your TV or phone service into your internet plan. Spectrum’s bundles start at $49.99 per month and are a popular choice among Tampa residents.

Tampa residents don’t have much access to DSL internet plans, but that’s okay. We generally don’t recommend DSL plans to customers who have access to cable or fiber alternatives, which means we wouldn’t be recommending DSL options to Tampa residents anyway.

Fastest Internet Providers in Tampa, FL

Tampa’s speediest internet service company is Frontier, which offers a top speed of 5 Gbps. That’s more than fast enough to cover typical internet use, even if you have a large household and enjoy bandwidth-intensive activities like livestreaming or online gaming.

Keep in mind fiber internet has certain advantages over cable and DSL alternatives. Fiber offers symmetrical speeds, a term that means that its upload speeds are the same speed as its download speeds. Cable, on the other hand, offers much slower upload speeds than its download speeds. (Naturally, the download speeds are the ones many companies advertise — so look in the fine print to find upload speeds.) Fiber internet is also more reliable than most internet alternatives at peak times; with fiber, your neighbors’ heavy internet use won’t mean your internet service will be throttled.

Internet Availability in Tampa, FL

The availability of certain internet service providers varies in Tampa, so your neighborhood may determine which choices you have.

The easiest part of the equation is Spectrum, which is Tampa’s cable provider. Spectrum covers all of residential Tampa, so you should be able to sign up for a plan or bundle from them regardless of where within Tampa you live.

Typically, things would be a little more complicated in the case of fiber providers, since most cities don’t have complete fiber coverage. But, happily for Tampa residents, Tampa is very well-served by its two fiber providers. Earthlink covers 85.8% of the city, while Frontier covers 85.8%.

There are really only a couple of areas within Tampa where you may not be able to get fiber internet. One is on MacDill Air Force Base, way past South Tampa and Sun Bay South at the end of the peninsula that separates Old Tampa Bay from Hillsborough Bay. The other is in the heart of downtown, where some commercial areas and historic buildings may not be linked to either of the city’s two big fiber networks.

Other than that, you should be in good shape. West Tampa, Riverside Heights, Wellswood, North Tampa, East Tampa, Ybor City, and all of Tampa’s other great neighborhoods are all quite well covered by Frontier Fiber and Earthlink Fiber. It’s the same story in nearby suburbs like Brandon. The entire Tampa Bay area is really well covered by cutting-edge fiber networks, which is something a lot of U.S. cities and metropolitan areas simply can’t say.