The Best Rural Internet Providers of 2023

Best internet in rural areas

We’ve picked HughesNet as your best rural internet provider overall because it's available everywhere (even way, way off the grid) and delivers broadband speeds at better prices. HughesNet is also our pick for the best satellite internet for rural areas.

But if you need faster speeds than HughesNet's 25 Mbps, check out our other suggested rural internet options like CenturyLink DSL, Rise Broadband if you want fixed-wireless internet, Verizon 4G LTE Home Internet, and even Visible's mobile broadband data plan if you want internet in your RV. 

Jumplinks

• Best overall: HughesNet
• Best rural 5G internet: T-Mobile
• Best rural DSL: CenturyLink
• Best for RV internet: Visible
• Best for fixed wireless: Rise Broadband

Here are the best rural internet options that will keep you connected to that sweet rural Wi-Fi—no matter where you are.

Read our full report on the 10 Fastest and Slowest Rural Cities for Internet.

CenturyLink is your best bet for DSL internet in a rural area, mostly due to its contract-free plans and unlimited data caps. You won’t have to pay early termination fees (ETFs) if you choose to switch providers at any point during your subscription. 

Plus, its lack of data caps means you can skip out on overage charges at the end of the month—regardless of how much data you use. This is good news for streamers and online gamers. 

DSL is an older internet technology that relies on telephone lines. So, if you live in a remote rural area where there’s no infrastructure, CenturyLink is likely not on the table for you. DSL usually tops out at 100 Mbps, which is the fastest speed you can expect from a CenturyLink DSL plan. This is enough speed for one person to do most things they want to do online easily, but things could get sluggish if multiple people are sharing the connection—especially if you experience a slowdown, which is common with DSL.

That said, for how much speed and data you get for $50 per month, CenturyLink is much cheaper than even HughesNet (which admittedly has wider availability) and other rural internet providers. If you live in a rural area and CenturyLink is available, we recommend you go with that over satellite providers to get the most for your money.

Bonus: Starlink is the best rural internet for gaming 

If you're lucky enough to have Starlink internet available near you, we recommend it as the best rural internet for gaming.

With significantly lowered latency than geostationary satellite internet providers like HughesNet and Viasat, Starlink is also able to deliver faster speeds with a much bigger data cap that a lot of rural internet providers. The big drawback, unfortunately, is that a lot of people still don't have access to it. 

We could have also suggested T-Mobile Home Internet or  Verizon Home Internet pick for great gaming internet, but both have situational drawbacks that don't make them perfect matches for rural gamers. T-Mobile has restrictions on peer-to-peer gaming, for one, and if you live in an area where several people are using the same cell tower for internet, your speeds can drastically slow.

Plus, latency is still an issue with wireless internet, and it gets worse the further from the cell tower you are. With all those things taken into account, we couldn't recommend either as the best rural internet for gaming, even if either could also work if you were close enough to a cell tower that's not overused (and didn't care about peer-to-peer gaming, of course).

What should you look for in a rural internet provider?

The best rural internet provider for you will offer rural internet access where you need it, have good download speeds, and come with data caps that are generous enough to do what you want online.

But let’s keep it real. If you’re a rural resident, we don’t need to tell you that rural internet options are disappointing compared to what you can get in more crowded areas, so it’s important to start your search with the right expectations. With rural internet, just know upfront that you’ll be paying more each month for less speed and less data than you would in the city. This can be particularly frustrating if you're looking for Los Angeles County internet and have few options when there's a bustling metropolis with infinite internet options just miles away.

That said, it truly is amazing just how far rural internet coverage can go—especially with nationwide providers like HughesNet and Viasat. And finding the best rural internet provider for you can make your life possible, whether you want to work remotely from your farm in Montana or travel the country in your RV for the summer. 

Once you know which rural providers are available, the next step is finding a plan that’s the right balance of speed, data, and price. You don’t want to pay for more speed or data than you need to if monthly cost is an important factor for you.

There's no way to make your internet speed faster than the plan you're paying for, but if you're in a rural area, you might be running into classic internet problems like weak signals across too large an area or update issues. Here's our top recommendations to get the most out of your rural internet.

1. Upgrade to a better internet plan. If you're consistently running into buffering issues, and the other steps on this list don't work, you probably just need a faster internet plan with a more generous data cap.
2. Get a Wi-Fi booster (also called Wi-Fi extenders) to help your router's signal extend where you need it most.
3. Try using an ethernet cable on your most-used devices. Wi-Fi always waters down your internet speeds, so hardwiring into your router can ensure you're making the best of your internet plan's speeds. 
4. Check your data usage. Many rural internet providers throttle your speeds if you exceed your monthly high-speed data cap.
5. Make sure your router, modem, and internet-connected devices are all updated. Sometimes an outdated router can be all that's standing between you and your best internet speeds.

Of course, speed isn't everything. Like we mentioned above, how much data you use can have a big impact on how much speed you really need, especially if you have satellite internet. Even Starlink, which boasts high data caps, will slow your internet data depending on what Starlink plan you have and how much data you've used. 

For the record, very few internet service providers offer unlimited internet. They might say they offer unlimited internet, but it's probably only technically true. For example, HughesNet, Viasat, and Starlink all claim to offer unlimited satellite internet for rural areas, but they actually offer only unlimited standard data, not high-speed data. That means you have unlimited access to slow, and sometimes very slow, internet. Not the fast stuff you actually want.

With that said, there are actually a few rural internet providers with unlimited data. Our favorites are T-Mobile 5G Home Internet and Verizon 5G Home Internet.

Both these providers are stand-outs as they offer actual unlimited internet for rural areas. They're also both highly available in rural areas, so if you're in one of their coverage zones, give them a look. The unlimited data would be worth it alone, but they also both offer quite fast and cheap rural internet to boot.

Just keep in mind that they are both wireless providers, so you might experience latency like you would with satellite providers—only, wireless home internet doesn't have quite as much latency as satellite.

Wired internet, also called land-based internet or terrestrial internet, is made up mostly of fiber internet, cable internet, and DSL internet providers. Wired internet providers tend to be faster and more reliable than land-based internet alternatives like wireless home internet and satellite internet providers, so it's understandable if you're looking for wired internet in your rural area.

Unfortunately, wired internet providers have high up-front costs because they have to lay internet cables directly to the areas they want to service. That means they often don't support rural areas, or at least, restrict their availability in rural areas. We think the Best Cable Provider for Rural Areas is Spectrum Internet because of its fast speeds, reasonable prices, and larger rural internet availability. If you can't find cable internet, you might be able to get DSL internet like CenturyLink (see above), but keep in mind that DSL isn't nearly as fast.

In the end, the best way to get wired internet in rural areas is to use our zip search below to find out exactly what providers are available in your specific zip code. 

We recommend HughesNet as the best rural internet option for the most people, simply because it has nationwide (and even overseas) availability combined with the lowest satellite internet prices available. It's a great solution for anyone living in a rural community, from the local bar owner to your basic internet browser. 

That said, satellite internet is inherently more expensive and offers less data compared to other internet types. So if you're in an area with T-Mobile 5G Home Internet available, it's definitely your best option. T-Mobile Home Internet offers fast average speeds, unlimited data, no contracts, and no equipment fees for an easy $50 per month. Plus, if you already have a T-Mobile wireless plan, that bill goes down to $30 a month. That's a sweet deal for rural internet if ever we've seen one. 

Of course, your best bet is to check all your internet options where you live first and then make your final decision from there. So use our zip finder below to get internet provider specific to your area.

• Best Cheap Internet Plans and Providers for Rural Areas
• T-Mobile Home Internet Review
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• Best 4G LTE Home Internet Providers

The fastest internet for rural areas is Starlink or Viasat, although Viasat's rural internet speeds are more dependable and far more expensive. Starlink advertises internet speeds up to 100 Mbps while Viasat also advertises 100 Mbps speeds. 

There aren’t many rural internet options because internet infrastructure is expensive to build in rural areas. The best internet options are usually based on fiber or cable, and it takes a significant investment from internet companies to lay down the necessary infrastructure for these internet types. Usually that investment is worthwhile only if the new infrastructure can reach a lot of people in a small area, which is difficult to achieve in rural areas.

That said, unlimited internet service in rural areas has become a goal for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and many politicians, who have passed the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and proposed additional measures to expand rural internet options with unlimited data.

The best internet service for rural areas is satellite internet from HughesNet or Viasat, but we’d recommend HughesNet for its better prices and lack of prices. Plus, if you need to purchase more data, HughesNet lets you roll it over for as long as it lasts, unlike Viasat. 

Other good rural internet options include 4G LTE home internet, DSL, and fixed wireless. Although satellite internet is often the best option, we recommend checking all your options first before signing up just in case a landline provider like CenturyLink or Xfinity happens to be available in your area.

The best alternative to satellite internet is 5G/4G LTE home internet service from Verizon or T-Mobile or fixed wireless service from Rise Broadband. DSL internet is also a cheaper alternative to satellite internet. But if you live in a remote area, satellite internet might be your only (and best) option.

You should get fixed wireless internet service if it’s available in your area and if you want a cheaper alternative to satellite internet. Often the prices are quite affordable in comparison to other types of rural internet service, and as long as you don’t need download speeds faster than 50 Mbps, you’re good to go on speed too.

Yes, technically HughesNet and Viasat both offer unlimited satellite internet plans, but your speeds will be significantly slowed once you hit your data allotment. So far, Starlink is the only satellite provider promising truly unlimited data, but its availability is still limited.

If you’re a very light data user, hotspotting off your mobile phone can be a solution (assuming you can get a cell phone signal at your house). But mobile phone plans usually don’t give you much hotspot data. Check out the best unlimited mobile hotspot data plans if you want more data.