Top 12 Internet Providers in North Carolina

Key Points

• There are 12 great internet providers available to you in North Carolina.
• These providers include: AT&T, North State Fiber, and Cox.
• T-Mobile Home internet is a great option for households in remote or rural areas.

Beautiful scenery, mild winters, and a great sense of community are just a few things attracting record numbers of people to move to North Carolina.

As one of the fastest-growing states in the Union, you’d think that high-speed internet is a given. Right?

Wrong. NC is still incredibly rural and outside of the main cities. Your Internet options may be limited.

To help you find fast Internet at a competitive price in the Tar Heel state, we’ve brought together 12 Internet providers in North Carolina spanning fiber, cable, cellular, satellite, and DSL options in this concise and helpful guide. 

1. AT&T 

AT&T is the number one broadband internet provider in North Carolina, with 32% coverage statewide, providinh NC residents with DSL and fiber internet. They have a strong presence in the North, Central, and South regions.

Their fiber network infrastructure is being expanded throughout North Carolina and can achieve speeds of up to 5 Gbps. AT&T’s packages for DSL and fiber at $55 per month Affordable connectivity options are available for qualifying residents. 

2. North State Fiber

Owned by Lumos, North State Fiber is an Internet Service Provider that serves North Carolina and Virginia. Its coverage is currently limited to the Piedmont Triad (Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point), serving approximately 334,000 people with fiber broadband internet. This ISP is 29th largest provider of fiber and the 17th largest DSL provider in the US by coverage area.  

Besides internet-only packages, North State also provides DSL, Cable, Wi-Fi equipment, and fiber TV plans. Contract-free plans start at $39.99 for 500 Mpbs speed internet via an uncapped fiber connection. From time to time, they offer incentives like Visa reward cards.   

3. Cox

Cox Communications is an established telecommunications and cable TV provider throughout the US. It offers 7 residential internet-only plans to North Carolina customers via fiber or cable. Prices start at $49.99 for 1 Gbps fiber broadband.

You can also opt for Cox’s pay-as-you-go internet, StraightUp Prepaid Internet. For a flat fee of $50 per month, you get 100 Mbps speed internet, equipment, installation, and taxes with no credit check required.  Cox offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, and you can cancel your service at no charge. 

4. Frontier

Frontier is a notable cable and fiber internet provider in NC It has 9% coverage in North Carolina with predominantly suburban and rural coverage. Fiber speeds are understandably much faster than their DSL provision but their DSL availability is greater. 

Frontier’s data packages are diverse and vary between areas. The cheapest plan is the Frontier Basic, with 6 Mbps for $27.99 /month. Offers include lower introductory pricing, the latest Wi-Fi 6E, free voice line calls, and discounts on activation fees. Existing customers can negotiate a better deal by calling the cancellation team when their initial contract ends. 

5. Ultra Home Internet

Ultra Home Internet delivers 4G and 5G mobile internet connectivity using the T-mobile cellular network. The company achieves statewide coverage by using the cellular network with a high local availability and easy installation. 

A fantastic choice for households in rural areas, Ultra Home Internet is much cheaper than satellite internet and performs just as well as DSL. Ultra’s 4G connectivity is slower than fiber or cable but with T-Mobile’s 5G rollout, customers will soon be able to take advantage of 5G mobile broadband. 

Ultra Home Internet plans start at $59.99 per month for 25GB of data. Their plans are super affordable considering the average American household uses over 500GB of data per month. However, the company uses speed throttling. You need to hire a cellular router to get Wi-Fi coverage in your home.

6. Spectrum

Spectrum Internet is owned by Charter Communications and provides cable internet coverage throughout North Carolina, but mostly LA and Southern California. 

You can choose from three internet tiers: Standard, Ultra, and GIG. Monthly plans are inclusive of a home Wi-Fi router. Internet-only plans start at, $49.99 with the most expensive package, offering 1 Gbps speeds, costing $89.99. Prices increase after 12 months but you can renegotiate a new contract with a better rate after the initial contract period. 

7. T Mobile Home Internet

T-Mobile Home internet is a great option for households in remote or rural areas who can’t access fiber, cable, or DSL connectivity. The company uses T-Mobile’s 4G/LTE and 5G cellular network to deliver cellular internet at speeds of up to 115 Mbps. Their 4G and 5G mobile internet are reliable, affordable and faster than satellite internet.

Best of all their no throttling or data caps. While they have zero installation fee, you have to use their cellular router for connectivity.  For $50 per month, you will receive speeds of up to 182 Mbps. Wi-Fi gateway fee is included. 

8. Optimum Internet 

Optimum provides affordable fiber cable internet in NC’s western metropolitan areas. Their unlimited and contract-free data plans vary by location but typically include equipment fees.

The basic package, with a download speed of 100 Mbps, starts at $40 per month. Fiber connectivity speeds of up to 5 Gbps costs $180 per month. 

9. EarthLink

Atlanta-based EarthLink provides cable, fiber, and VDSL internet to North Carolina homes. Its coverage is extensive, and customers can choose from at least seven internet-only plans that start at $54.95. 

Payment is upfront and fixed. So you don’t have to worry about annual increases that competitors implement. Not to mention, their plans are contract-free and have no data caps or throttling. 

EarthLink achieves its expansive coverage by using the infrastructure of other ISPS, including AT&T and Frontier. Customers typically pay a one-time $80 installation fee. 

10. Windstream

Windstream is another option for internet connectivity in the remote or rural parts of North Carolina. It is a specialist in rural internet options with variable speeds and coverage. Though the company serves NC, you’ll have to contact them directly to see if they can provide a solution for your area. 

Their internet connectivity options include DSL, fiber, and satellite. Windstream can be expensive compared to competitors because of its low data caps. Monthly data plans start at $39.99.

11. King Street Wireless

Virginia-based King Street Wireless is a leading provider of 4G/LTE Internet and serves rural and remote parts of North Carolina. Their connectivity solutions are suitable for residential and commercial customers, with coverage over the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and South. 

Their cellular internet is expensive, with prices starting at $50 for just 2GB per month with a download speed of 12 Mbps. The unlimited plan, with similar speeds, costs $70/month. 

12. HughesNet

HughesNet offers satellite-based rural internet solutions that can reach the most remote parts of North Carolina. They are more competitively priced than some of the other satellite and cellular internet options available. However, their speeds are noticeably slower than other types of home internet.

Monthly data allocation is equally low compared to average household use. 15GB of data costs $54.99 and has a download speed of 25 Mbps. 

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