Best Internet Providers in Columbia, Missouri

What is the best internet provider in Columbia?

You get a lot of options for choosing an internet providers in Columbia, Missouri. But we recommend Brightspeed as the best internet service provider overall. It offers the best combination of speed, price and availability. The fiber internet provider reaches upload and download speeds up to 2,000 megabits per second, and there are no data caps or contracts required. 

Socket Fiber is the fastest internet provider in Columbia, with internet speeds reaching 2,500Mbps. It’s more expensive than Brightspeed, but the local provider has earned rave reviews from Columbia residents for its speed and reliability.

If you’re looking for the lowest prices, Mediacom offers the cheapest internet in Columbia, with plans starting at $20 a month for download speeds up to 250Mbps. That plan increases to $50 a month in the second year, but it’s still the cheapest plan in the city even after the price hike.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

How to find internet deals and promotions in Columbia

Columbia’s best internet deals and top promotions depend on what discounts are available during a given period. Most deals are short-lived, but we look frequently for the latest offers. 

Columbia internet providers, such as Mediacom, may offer lower introductory pricing or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Many, however, including Brightspeed, Socket and T-Mobile, run the same standard pricing year-round. 

For a more extensive list of promotions, check out our guide on the best internet deals.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

What’s a good internet speed?

Most internet connection plans can now handle basic productivity and communication tasks. If you’re looking for an internet plan that can accommodate videoconferencing, streaming video or gaming, you’ll have a better experience with a more robust connection. Here’s an overview of the recommended minimum download speeds for various applications, according to the Federal Communications Commission. Note that these are only guidelines — and that internet speed, service and performance vary by connection type, provider and address.

For more information, refer to our guide on how much internet speed you really need.

• 0 to 5Mbps allows you to tackle the basics — browsing the internet, sending and receiving email, streaming low-quality video.
• 5 to 40Mbps gives you higher-quality video streaming and videoconferencing.
• 40 to 100Mbps should give one person sufficient bandwidth to satisfy the demands of modern telecommuting, video streaming and online gaming. 
• 100 to 500Mbps allows one to two people to simultaneously engage in high-bandwidth activities like videoconferencing, streaming and gaming. 
• 500 to 1,000Mbps allows three or more people to engage in high-bandwidth activities at the same time.

How CNET chose the best internet providers in Columbia

Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the latest smartphone, laptop, router or kitchen tool, it’s impractical to personally test every ISP in a given city. So what’s our approach? We start by researching the pricing, availability and speed information drawing on our own historical ISP data, the provider sites and mapping information from FCC.gov.

But it doesn’t end there. We use the FCC’s website to check our data and ensure we consider every ISP that provides service in an area. We also input local addresses on provider websites to find specific options for residents. We look at sources, including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Power, to evaluate how happy customers are with an ISP’s service. ISP plans and prices are subject to frequent changes; all information provided is accurate as of publication.

Once we have this localized information, we ask three main questions:

1. Does the provider offer access to reasonably fast internet speeds?
2. Do customers get decent value for what they’re paying?
3. Are customers happy with their service?

While the answer to those questions is often layered and complex, the providers who come closest to “yes” on all three are the ones we recommend. When it comes to selecting the cheapest internet service, we look for the plans with the lowest monthly fee, though we also factor in things like price increases, equipment fees and contracts. Choosing the fastest internet service is relatively straightforward. We look at advertised upload and download speeds, and also take into account real-world speed data from sources like Ookla and FCC reports. (Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.)

To explore our process in more depth, visit our how we test ISPs page.

Columbia internet provider FAQs