Best ISPs in Sioux Falls, South Dakota

What is the best ISP in Sioux Falls?

CNET’s top pick for the best ISP in Sioux Falls is Bluepeak. Offering the fastest and most affordable plans in the area, Bluepeak provides excellent value with its fiber and cable internet options. Although fiber provides the best performance, even Bluepeak’s cable plans are a reliable choice for Sioux Falls residents.

For those in areas where Bluepeak is not available, Midco serves as an excellent alternative with the widest coverage in the city. Like Bluepeak, Midco offers both fiber and wired connections, providing solid performance. Although its plans tend to be more expensive, discounts for new customers can help offset the cost.

Another option is T-Mobile Home Internet, a fixed wireless service with a simple $50 monthly plan that includes all fees and a lifetime price guarantee. It’s an excellent choice for households looking for simple billing with no surprises.

The best internet in Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Source: CNET analysis of vendor data.

Source: CNET analysis of vendor data.

How to Find Internet Deals and Promotions in Sioux Falls

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

Sioux Falls ISPs like Midco may offer lower introductory rates or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Many, including Bluepeak and T-Mobile Home Internet, maintain the same standard rates year-round.

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

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 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 emails, 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 person with enough bandwidth to meet the demands of modern telecommuting, video streaming and online gaming.
• 100 to 500Mbps allows one or two people to simultaneously engage in high-bandwidth activities such as video conferencing, streaming and online gaming.
• 500 to 1000 Mbps allows three or more people to engage in high-bandwidth activities at the same time.

How CNET chose the best ISPs in Sioux Falls

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? 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.

But it doesn’t end there. We go to the FCC website to check our data and make sure we’re looking at 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?

While the answer to these questions is often layered and complex, 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.

ISPs in Sioux Falls Frequently Asked Questions