Internet Providers in
Madison, WI

Compare Top Providers in Your Area

TDS - Fastest Provider
Spectrum - Cheapest Provider
Viasat - Widely Available
Viasat - Great for Rural Areas
T-Mobile - Offers 5G Home Internet
AT&T - Great Value

Fastest Internet Providers in Madison, WI

TDS is the fastest provider in Madison, with speeds up to 8 Gbps.

The fastest internet service provider in Madison is TDS Telecom, with speeds up to 8 Gbps. With that said, most households will find that they can get an appropriate amount of bandwidth from any of the region’s top two providers: AT&T Fiber (5 Gbps) and Spectrum (2 Gbps).

Fiber internet connections get more out of their speed than other types of broadband connections because they offer upload speeds that are just as fast as downloads. In Madison, AT&T Fiber has multi-gig upload speeds that match its download speeds. However, the biggest cable provider, Spectrum, only offers upload speeds that reach 35 Mbps and can be as low as 20 Mbps. Fiber also doesn’t have the problem of traffic overload during busy periods.

Another reason to choose a fiber provider, if possible, is because data caps can restrict your internet speed and incur extra charges. Luckily the biggest cable provider, Spectrum, also offers unlimited data, but other providers in the city will likely enforce data caps.

What’s a Good Internet Speed?

Internet Speed	Appropriate For	Providers in your Area offering this Speed	Availability in your Area
100 Mbps	Streaming Video chat Online gaming Larger households	Viasat T-Mobile Hughesnet Frontier UScellular UPNETWI Starlink	100%
1000 Mbps (1 Gbps)	Heavy streaming (4K video multiple devices etc.) Video chat Lag-free gaming Large households	Spectrum AT&T Verizon TDS XNET WiFi	90.94%

Learn more about internet speeds:

Internet Availability in Madison, WI

Like most cities in the United States, Madison has a primary cable internet provider that is available just about anywhere in the city. For Madison, this provider is Spectrum, which offers plans in 24.8% of the city.

The tricky part about shopping for internet in Madison is figuring out which internet companies besides Spectrum are available in your neighborhood. There are 15 providers in town, but we’d suggest narrowing your focus. Aside from Spectrum, you should be on the lookout for the city’s best fiber internet provider: AT&T Fiber.

AT&T Fiber, for its part, does a bit of a better job of covering more downtown areas. You’ll find AT&T Fiber coverage right downtown and in areas nearby, like First Settlement and Mansion Hill. AT&T Fiber has excellent availability in Emerson East, making it an option for folks in an area that other providers don’t serve. Back across town, AT&T provides a much-needed fiber internet option in Shorewood Hills, Rocky Bluff and Wingra Park.

This makes most areas of Madison very well served by fiber internet options, though there are still a few areas where residents will find themselves choosing between the main cable provider (Spectrum) and DSL options like AT&T Internet.

Provider Connection Types in Madison, WI

Connection Type	About this Connection Type	Availability in Madison, WI
Satellite	Available even in very rural areas Typically has high latency (lag)	100%
Cable	Typically 250 Mbps - 1 Gbps Widely available A good choice for most users	94.75%
Fiber	Typically 1 Gbps or faster Upload speeds match download speeds	43.669999999999995%