Best ISPs in Richmond, Virginia

According to CNET, Verizon Fios is the best ISP in Richmond. The company fiber optic internet service is one of the best options available anywhere, in our opinion speed and pricing data analysis. If you can’t get Verizon Fios or Xfinity at your address, Internet speed is more of a mixed bag: Richmond’s average Internet speed is slower. The city ranked 86th out of the 100 most populous cities, according to Ookla’s latest data (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.) But at 185Mbps download speed and 51Mbps upload speed, it’s still plenty fast for most households.

Our team considers speeds, prices, customer service and overall value to recommend the best Richmond internet service in a variety of categories. Our assessment includes a reference to our own database built up over years of reviewing internet services. We verify this against the provider information by checking local addresses for service availability on site. We also carefully read the terms and conditions of the providers and, when necessary, we will call the ISPs to check the details.

Despite our efforts to find the most current and accurate information, our process has some limitations that you should be aware of. Pricing and speed data are variable: certain addresses may qualify for different levels of service, and monthly costs may vary even within a city. The best way to identify your specific options is to include your address on the provider’s website.

Note that the prices, speed and other information listed above and in the provider maps below may differ from what we found in our research. The maps show the full range of US provider prices and speeds, according to our database of plan information provided directly by ISPs, while the text is specific to what’s available in Richmond. The prices shown in the text of this article come from our research and include applicable discounts for setting up automatic payments each month – an industry standard offering. There may be other discounts and promotions for things like tying in a contract or bundling with a cell phone plan.

To learn more about how we review ISPs, visit our full methodology page.

Best ISPs in Richmond

The providers we recommend below offer extensive coverage in Richmond. Checking your home address against Federal Communications Commission broadband map will show your specific options.

Source: CNET analysis of vendor data

Other Richmond Residential Internet Providers Available

While the providers listed above are the best options for Internet in Richmond, there may be several other options, according to CNET’s analysis. Note that you’ll need to verify your actual address to see what plans you can access.

• Earthlink: Earthlink uses other providers’ networks for its Internet service, which usually means it’s more expensive than going through those providers directly. You will need to call to find out which plans are available at your address.
• Satellite internet: If you can’t get anything else, there’s always satellite internet. Although it’s available almost everywhere in the country, it almost always comes with long contracts, slow speeds, low data caps and high latency. HughesNet and Viasat are traditional satellite competitors and have nothing to recommend them. Starlink is a newer provider that offers significantly faster speeds, but has a high upfront equipment cost of $599 and service may not yet be available at all Richmond addresses.
• Verizon 5G Home Internet: Like T-Mobile, Verizon has begun using its cellular network for home Internet service. It’s not as widely available in Richmond as T-Mobile, but speeds can reach 1,000 Mbps in some areas.

Richmond home internet service cost details

The average starting price for Internet service in Richmond is about $44 a month, but that’s heavily skewed by Xfinity’s bargain $25 a month plan. While Xfinity offers some of the lowest introductory rates you’ll find anywhere in the country, your cost will go up significantly after one to three years.

Source: CNET analysis of vendor data

Richmond internet speeds

Richmond residents have access to several Internet service providers offering high-speed connections. Verizon Fios offers some of the fastest upload speeds in the area, ranging from 300 to 880Mbps, while Xfinity offers cable Internet plans with download speeds from 200 to 1200Mbps.

Source: CNET analysis of vendor data

What’s the final word on ISPs in Richmond?

Richmond residents don’t have many vendors to choose from, but it’s hard to go wrong with the ones they do have. No matter where you are in the country, Verizon Fios is a no-brainer — if it’s available, you should probably get it. The only exception is if you’re looking for the lowest price and don’t need a lot of speed. In that case, Xfinity’s Connect More 200Mbps plan for $30 per month is one of the best values ​​you’ll find in the area. 200Mbps is enough for several people to stream or work at the same time, but gamers may run into problems with Xfinity’s slow upload speeds.

How CNET chose the best ISPs in Richmond

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. So what is our approach? For starters, we tap into a proprietary database of pricing, availability, and speed information that draws from our own historical ISP data, partner data, and FCC.gov mapping information.

This guide uses an in-house artificial intelligence tool called RAMP, which is trained on our own writing and uses our database to generate ISP-specific content that our writers can use in determining and presenting our choices for given guidance. Check it out CNET’s AI policy for more information on how our teams use (and don’t use) AI tools.

Since our database is not exhaustive, we go to the FCC website to check the primary data for ourselves and make sure we are considering every ISP that provides service in an area. Plans and prices also vary by location, so we enter local addresses on provider websites to find the specific options available to residents. To gauge how satisfied customers are with an ISP’s service, we look at sources including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and JD Power. ISP plans and prices are subject to frequent change; All information provided is accurate at the time of our fact checking prior to 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?

While the answers to these questions are often multi-layered and complex, the vendors that come closest to saying yes to all three are the ones we recommend. To explore our process in more depth, visit our how we test ISPs page.

ISPs in Richmond FAQ