Internet Providers in Madison, Wisconsin

Best Internet Providers in Madison, WI

The best internet service provider in Madison is TDS. We also recommend AT&T Fiber.

Your internet service decision will likely come down to availability; depending on where you live in Madison, you may have access to only one fiber internet provider (or none at all). Madisonians with access to fiber internet plans from TDS give it high marks for its low prices. AT&T Fiber has a great reputation for speed and customer service, and its starting price of $55 isn’t too bad, either.

AT&T also offers an IPBB connection type in Madison (IPBB uses a mix of connection types, including DSL, at different places within its network). But if you don’t have access to fiber internet from AT&T or TDS, we recommend that you next look to Madison’s cable provider, Spectrum. With speeds up to 1 Gbps, Spectrum is still a solid option for most users — especially if you’re interested in one of the brand’s cable or phone bundles.

Fastest Internet Providers in Madison, WI

When evaluating speed, keep in mind that fiber internet connections get more out of their speed than other types of broadband connections. Fiber handles high-traffic times better without throttling your speed, and it offers upload speeds that are just as fast as its download speeds — something that not even cable providers can match.

The fastest internet service provider in Madison is AT&T Internet, with speeds up to 1 Gbps. With that said, most households will find that they can get an appropriate amount of bandwidth from any of the region’s top three providers: AT&T Fiber (5 Gbps), TDS (1 Gbps), and Spectrum (1 Gbps).

Internet Availability in Madison, WI

Like most cities in the United States, Madison has a primary cable internet provider that is available just about anywhere in the city. For Madison, this provider is Spectrum, which offers plans in 33.3% of the city.

The tricky part about shopping for internet in Madison is figuring out which internet companies besides Spectrum are available in your neighborhood. There are 11 providers in town, but we’d suggest narrowing your focus on just a few. Aside from Spectrum, you should be on the lookout for the city’s two fiber internet providers: TDS and AT&T Fiber.

Generally speaking, you’ll be most likely to see TDS’s fiber plans as an option in the western residential fringe of the city. TDS has excellent fiber coverage in neighboring Middleton and Verona, and that coverage carries over into Madison neighborhoods along Route 14 and Route 18. Availability starts to drop off as you get farther into neighborhoods like Meadowood, and it will disappear completely once you’ve reached South Campus and Downtown Madison.

Happily, you’ll start seeing TDS’s fiber internet options again over on the eastern side of town. Up on the North Side and near the airport, you’ll find TDS’s footprint all over Berkeley Oaks and spreading down into Sherman. Mayfair Park (near the East Towne Mall) is TDS fiber territory, too.

AT&T Fiber, for its part, does a bit of a better job of covering more downtown areas. You’ll find AT&T Fiber coverage right downtown and in areas nearby, like First Settlement and Mansion Hill. And AT&T Fiber has excellent availability in Emerson East, making it an option for folks in an area that TDS’s fiber plans don’t serve.

Back across town, AT&T provides a much-needed fiber internet option in Shorewood Hills, Rocky Bluff, and Wingra Park — all neighborhoods without much access to TDS’s fiber internet plans.

All of this makes most areas of Madison very well served by fiber internet options, though there are still a few areas where residents will find themselves choosing between the main cable provider (Spectrum) and DSL options like AT&T Internet.