Internet Providers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Xfinity, which offers speeds of up to 1 Gbps on its fastest plans, is the single fastest broadband internet service provider in Philadelphia.

When considering speed, remember that fiber internet speeds are “symmetrical,” meaning upload speeds on a fiber network are just as fast as download speeds are. On a cable or DSL connection, that won’t be true. You will get much higher download speeds than upload speeds. That’s why Philadelphia’s fiber providers can offer faster upload speeds than their competitors: Verizon Fios’ top upload speed is up to 2 Gbps. The best upload speed from the region’s cable provider, Xfinity, is up to 35 Mbps (and can be as slow as up to 10 Mbps).

Fiber networks are also more reliable at high-traffic time than their cable or DSL counterparts because they’re less susceptible to being overloaded with traffic from your neighbors’ internet usage.

The other dimension to worry about when it comes to internet speed is data caps, which can restrict your speed or trigger extra charges when you exceed certain data totals within a billing period. But Philadelphia residents don’t have to sweat data caps, because these providers don’t have them — even Xfinity, which uses data caps in some regions, doesn’t make use of them in Philadelphia. You have the aggressive competition from Verizon Fios to thank for that!