Best ISPs in Elmira, NY

What is the best ISP in Elmira?

Once home to Mark Twain, this city in the Finger Lakes region offers access to several of the best Internet providers in the country. With so many options available, you can feel overwhelmed as you search for the right provider for you. CNET reviewed the available ISPs to help you find the best ISP in Elmira. As of now, Spectrum is CNET’s pick for Elmira’s Best Internet Service Provider due to its available gigabit speeds and coverage reaching over 92% of households in the city, according to the latest data from the Federal Communications Commission. A cable connection is not comparable to an optical connection, but Spectrum still has the highest average download speed in the countrytop suppliers like Xfinity, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile.

The starting monthly price for internet in Elmira averages $47. Several ISPs offer more affordable plans. Zeta Broadband, which offers fixed wireless plans in the city, has an inexpensive $35 per month plan for download speeds of 7 megabits per second. For $5 less you can get speeds of 100Mbps with Spectrum. Spectrum is notorious for price gougingand you can certainly expect your bill to go up in a year or two.

Regional fiber optic provider Empire Access boasts the fastest plan in the area, offering speeds of 2,000 Mbps for $100 per month. $100 a month isn’t cheap, but cost per Mbps it works out to a cheap 5 cents per Mbps. Empire Access has symmetrical download and upload speeds, which is not the case with Spectrum or T-Mobile.

Source: CNET analysis of vendor data.

What is the cheapest internet plan in Elmira?

Source: CNET analysis of vendor data.

How to Find Internet Deals and Promotions in Elmira?

The best internet deals and promotions in Elmira depend on what discounts are available at any given time. Most deals are short-lived, but we’re often on the lookout for the latest deals.

Elmira ISPs, such as Spectrum and Verizon, may offer lower introductory rates or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Others, including Empire Access and Zeta Broadband, Inc., have the same standard rates year-round.

For a more extensive list of promotions, see our guide to the best internet deals.

The fastest internet plans in Elmira

Source: CNET analysis of vendor data.

What is 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 include video conferencing, streaming video, or gaming, you’ll have a better experience with a more stable connection. Here’s an overview of recommended minimum download speeds for different apps, according to the FCC. Note that these are guidelines only and that internet speed, service and performance will vary by connection type, provider and address.

For more information, see our guide to how much internet speed do you really need?.

• 0 to 5 Mbps lets you handle the basics: surfing the web, sending and receiving email, and streaming low-quality video.
• 5 to 40 Mbps gives you higher quality video streaming and video conferencing.
• 40 to 100 Mbps should provide a single user with enough bandwidth to satisfy the demands of modern telecommuting, video streaming and online gaming.
• 100 to 500Mbps allows one or two users to simultaneously engage in high-bandwidth activities such as video conferencing, streaming and online gaming.
• 500 to 1000 Mbps allows three or more users to engage in high-bandwidth activities simultaneously.

How CNET picked the best ISPs in Elmira

Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the latest ones smartphone, laptop, router or kitchen toolit is not practical to personally test every ISP in a given city. What is our approach? We start by researching pricing, availability, and speed information, drawing on our own historical data from ISPs, provider sites, and mapping information from the Federal Communications Commission on FCC.gov.

It doesn’t stop there: we go to the FCC website to check our data and make sure we account for every ISP that provides service in an area. We also enter local addresses on provider websites to find specific options for residents. We look at sources including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and JD Power to gauge how satisfied customers are with an ISP’s service. ISP plans and prices are subject to frequent change; all information provided is accurate at the time of publication.

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

1. Does the provider offer relatively fast internet access?
2. Are customers getting decent value for what they pay?
3. Are customers satisfied with their service?

The answer to these questions is often layered and complex, but the vendors that come closest to saying yes to all three are the ones we recommend. When choosing the cheapest internet service, we look for the plans with the lowest monthly fee, although we also take into account things like price increases, equipment fees and contracts. Choosing the fastest internet service is relatively easy. We look at advertised upload and download speeds and consider 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.

Internet providers in Elmira FAQ