The Best Rural Internet Providers | SatelliteInternet.com (2024)

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Best internet for rural areas

We’ve picked Hughesnet as your best rural internet provider overall for several important reasons. No matter how off-the-grid you are, Hughesnet satellites can reach you so long as you have a clear view of the stars. Plus, it offers great speed and data plans for the lowest price of satellite providers. Hughesnet is also the clear victor for the best satellite internet for rural areas.

But if you need faster speeds than Hughesnet's 50–100Mbps, check out our other suggested rural internet options like CenturyLink DSL, Rise Broadband fixed-wireless internet, T-Mobile 5G Home Internet, and even Visible's mobile broadband data plan for RV internet. We also have suggestions for you rural gamers and tips to get the best performance out of whatever service you use.

Use our location tool below to see which internet options are available in your rural area.

Jump to:

• Best overall: Hughesnet
• Best rural 5G internet: T-Mobile
• Best rural DSL: CenturyLink
• Best for RV internet: Visible
• Best for fixed wireless: Rise Broadband
• Best for gaming:Starlink

Best internet options for rural areas

Data as of 12/23/2023. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. †Promotional price is for the first 12 months. Regular internet rate applies after 12 months*Rate requires paperless billing and excludes taxes. Additional fees apply. Speeds may not be available in your area. **Price for T-Mobile home internet plan with a mobile phone plan.

Read our full report on the 10 Fastest and Slowest Rural Cities for Internet.

T-Mobile Home Internet: Best rural 5G internet

*With qualifying phone plan.

T-Mobile Home Internet

T-Mobile offers 5G home internet to 90% of the US, with speeds averaging 72–245Mbps for $40 or $50 a month as long as you bundle it with one of T-Mobile's mobile plans. If 72–245Mbps doesn't sound as impressive as its competition (Verizon says it can deliver up to 1,000Mbps), just remember that T-Mobile speeds are the average range experienced by its users. Verizon could promise 1,000Mbps but almost never deliver, by contrast. And T-Mobile's range is a good internet speed that should support just about every internet activity.

T-Mobile sweetens the deal further by promising that your bill will never increase and unlimited data with no slowdowns. Plus, T-Mobile home internet has a 15-day trial window, so if within that timeframe you decide the service isn't working for you, you can cancel, return, and get your money back.

Keep in mind that although T-Mobile Home Internet is ideal for rural areas, you still need to live in an area that’s in its 5G coverage area, which still doesn’t cover everywhere in the continental US. Enter your zip code below to see if the service is available in your area.

Other wireless home internet providers

Verizon LTE and 5G Home Internet

For folks who live away from cable and fiber infrastructure but within cell phone coverage areas, Verizon 5G Home Internet is an excellent runner-up option to T-Mobile. It advertises speeds up to 1,000 Mbps in some areas, and of course that blessed unlimited data.

But where things really start to get good is if you already have Verizon cell service. If you add Verizon Home Internet to a qualifying mobile phone plan, you can get a pretty steep discount per month. Also, like T-Mobile's home internet service, Verizon LTE Home Internet service is meant to be in a fixed location, so it won't give you portable internet.

AT&T 5G Home Internet

Best rural DSL internet: CenturyLink

CenturyLink is your best bet for DSL internet in a rural area, mostly due to its contract-free plans and unlimited data caps. You won’t have to pay early termination fees (ETFs) if you choose to switch providers at any point during your subscription.

Plus, its lack of data caps means you can skip out on overage charges at the end of the month—regardless of how much data you use. This is good news for streamers and online gamers.

DSL is an older internet technology that relies on telephone lines. So, if you live in a remote rural area where there’s no infrastructure, CenturyLink is likely not on the table for you. DSL usually tops out at 100 Mbps, which is the fastest speed you can expect from a CenturyLink DSL plan. This is enough speed for one person to do most things they want to do online easily, but things could get sluggish if multiple people are sharing the connection—especially if you experience a slowdown, which is common with DSL.

That said, for how much speed and data you get for $55 per month, CenturyLink is much cheaper than even Hughesnet (which admittedly has wider availability) and other rural internet providers. If you live in a rural area and CenturyLink is available, we recommend you go with that over satellite providers to get the most for your money.

Best for RV internet: Visible mobile hotspot

Best fixed wireless rural internet: Rise Broadband

Bonus: Starlink is the best rural internet for gaming

If you're in a rural area, but also a gamer, then you’re in luck because we recommend Starlink as the best rural internet provider for gaming.

With significantly lower latency than geostationary satellite internet providers like Hughesnet and Viasat, Starlink is also able to deliver faster speeds with unlimited data, unlike a lot of rural internet providers.

We could have also suggested T-Mobile Home Internet or Verizon Home Internet pick for great gaming internet, but both have situational drawbacks that don't make them perfect matches for rural gamers. You should have no problem downloading games digitally, but fast-paced multiplayer gaming will most likely suffer from lag.

Plus, latency is still an issue with wireless internet, and it gets worse the further from the cell tower you are or the more people using the same tower. With all those things taken into account, we couldn't recommend either as the best rural internet for gaming.

What should you look for in a rural internet provider?

The best rural internet provider for you will offer rural internet access where you need it, have good download speeds, and come with data caps that are generous enough to do what you want online.

But let’s keep it real. If you’re a rural resident, we don’t need to tell you that rural internet options are disappointing compared to what you can get in more crowded areas, so it’s important to start your search with the right expectations. With rural internet, just know upfront that you’ll be paying more each month for less speed and less data than you would in the city. This can be particularly frustrating if you're looking for Los Angeles County internet and have few options when there's a bustling metropolis with infinite internet options just miles away.

That said, it truly is amazing just how far rural internet coverage can go—especially with nationwide providers like Hughesnet and Viasat. And finding the best rural internet provider for you can make your life possible, whether you want to work remotely from your farm in Montana or travel the country in your RV for the summer.

Once you know which rural providers are available, the next step is finding a plan that’s the right balance of speed, data, and price. You don’t want to pay for more speed or data than you need to if monthly cost is an important factor for you.

How to improve internet speed in rural areas

There's no way to make your internet speed faster than the plan you're paying for, but if you're in a rural area, you might be running into classic internet problems like weak signals across too large an area or update issues. Here's our top recommendations to get the most out of your rural internet.

1. Upgrade to a better internet plan. If you're consistently running into buffering issues, and the other steps on this list don't work, you probably just need a faster internet plan with a more generous data cap.
2. Viasat and Hughesnet technicians install your dish for the best signal, but if you feel like your connection has gotten weaker, then you should contact their tech support to possibly find a better spot or bring out a new dish. It’s also vital to keep the dish clear of debris or snow.
3. For 5G home internet receivers, the best place to put your device is close to a window. If you happen to know the direction of the nearest cell tower, place it on that side of your home.
4. Try using an ethernet cable on your most-used devices. Wi-Fi always waters down your internet speeds, so hardwiring into your router can ensure you're making the best of your internet plan's speeds.
5. If a hardwire connection isn’t an option, a Wi-Fi booster can extend your router’s signal to where you need it most.
6. Check your data usage. Many rural internet providers throttle your speeds if you exceed your monthly high-speed data cap.
7. Make sure your router, modem, and internet-connected devices are all updated. Sometimes outdated software on your router can be all that's standing between you and your best internet speeds.

Of course, speed isn't everything. Like we mentioned above, how much data you use can have a big impact on how much speed you really need, especially if you have satellite internet. Even Starlink, which boasts high data caps, will slow your internet data depending on what Starlink plan you have and how much data you've used.

How do I get unlimited high speed internet for rural areas?

For the record, very few internet service providers offer unlimited internet. They might say they offer unlimited internet, but it's probably only technically true. For example, Hughesnet, Viasat, and Starlink all claim to offer unlimited satellite internet for rural areas, but they actually offer only unlimited standard data, not high-speed data. That means you have unlimited access to slow, and sometimes very slow, internet. Not the fast stuff you actually want.

With that said, there are actually a few rural internet providers with unlimited data. Our favorites are T-Mobile 5G Home Internet and Verizon 5G Home Internet.

Both these providers are stand-outs as they offer unlimited internet for rural areas. They're also both highly available in rural areas, so if you're in one of their coverage zones, give them a look. The unlimited data would be worth it alone, but they also both offer quite fast and cheap rural internet to boot.

Just keep in mind that they are both wireless providers, so you might experience latency like you would with satellite providers—only, wireless home internet doesn't have quite as much latency as satellite.

How do I get wired internet in rural areas?

Wired internet, also called land-based internet or terrestrial internet, is made up mostly of fiber internet, cable internet, and DSL internet providers. Wired internet providers tend to be faster and more reliable than land-based internet alternatives like wireless home internet and satellite internet providers, so it's understandable if you're looking for wired internet in your rural area.

Unfortunately, wired internet providers have high up-front costs because they have to lay internet cables directly to the areas they want to service. That means they often don't support rural areas, or at least, restrict their availability in rural areas. We think the Best Cable Provider for Rural Areas is Spectrum Internet because of its fast speeds, reasonable prices, and larger rural internet availability. If you can't find cable internet, you might be able to get DSL internet like CenturyLink (see above), but keep in mind that DSL isn't nearly as fast.

In the end, the best way to get wired internet in rural areas is to use our zip search below to find out exactly what providers are available in your specific zip code.

Our verdict: Get HughesNet unless T-Mobile 5G Internet is available

We recommend HughesNet as the best rural internet option for the most people, simply because it has nationwide (and even overseas) availability combined with the lowest satellite internet prices available. It's a great solution for anyone living in a rural community, from the local bar owner to your basic internet browser.

That said, satellite internet is inherently more expensive and offers less data compared to other internet types. So if you're in an area with T-Mobile 5G Home Internet available, it's definitely your best option. T-Mobile Home Internet offers fast average speeds, unlimited data, no contracts, and no equipment fees for an easy $60 per month. Plus, if you already have a T-Mobile wireless plan, that bill goes down to $40 to $50 a month. That's a sweet deal for rural internet if ever we've seen one.

Of course, your best bet is to check all your internet options where you live first and then make your final decision from there. So use our zip finder below to get internet provider specific to your area.

Related content

• Best Cheap Internet Plans and Providers for Rural Areas
• T-Mobile Home Internet Review
• Hughesnet vs. Viasat: Which One Is Better for You?
• Best 4G LTE Home Internet Providers

FAQ about the best rural internet options

What is the fastest internet for rural areas?

Why aren’t there more rural internet options?

There aren’t many rural internet options because internet infrastructure is expensive to build in rural areas. The best internet options are usually based on fiber or cable, and it takes a significant investment from internet companies to lay down the necessary infrastructure for these internet types. Usually that investment is worthwhile only if the new infrastructure can reach a lot of people in a small area, which is difficult to achieve in rural areas.

That said, unlimited internet service in rural areas has become a goal for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and many politicians, who have passed the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and proposed additional measures to expand rural internet options with unlimited data.

What is the best internet service for rural areas?

The best internet service for rural areas is satellite internet from HughesNet or Viasat, but we’d recommend HughesNet for its better prices and lack of prices. Plus, if you need to purchase more data, Hughesnet lets you roll it over for as long as it lasts, unlike Viasat.

Other good rural internet options include 4G LTE home internet, DSL, and fixed wireless. Although satellite internet is often the best option, we recommend checking all your options first before signing up just in case a landline provider like CenturyLink or Xfinity happens to be available in your area.

What alternatives to satellite internet are there?

Should I get fixed wireless internet service?

Do Viasat or Hughesnet offer unlimited satellite internet?

Can I use my cell phone as a hotspot for my home internet?

If you’re a very light data user, hotspotting off your mobile phone can be a solution (assuming you can get a cell phone signal at your house). But mobile phone plans usually don’t give you much hotspot data. Check out the best unlimited mobile hotspot data plans if you want more data.