Best Internet Providers in Salinas, California

What is the best internet provider in Salinas, California?

Residents of this California city don’t have too many options when it comes to fiber internet providers. While there may be more in the future, as of right now, AT&T Fiber is the best internet service provider in Salinas. It’s the only fiber provider in the city — which means it’s the only one with symmetrical upload and download speeds. Plans start at $55 a month for 300Mbps and go up to $245 for 5,000Mbps. The only downside is availability: Federal Communications Commission data shows that just one in five homes in the city have access to fiber.

If you’re looking for the lowest prices, Xfinity is the cheapest internet provider in Salinas. Plans start at an unbelievably low $20 a month, but that’s slightly misleading — prices increase significantly after a year or two on all plans. Wireless internet from T-Mobile and Verizon is also available in parts of Salinas, but it doesn’t offer the same top speeds as Xfinity or AT&T Fiber, and it’s more prone to network congestion. 

Best internet in Salinas, California

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

How to find internet deals and promotions in Salinas

The best internet deals and top promotions in Salinas depend on what discounts are available during a given time. Most deals are short-lived, but we look frequently for the latest offers. 

Salinas internet providers, such as Xfinity and Verizon 5G Home Internet, may offer lower introductory pricing or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Others, including AT&T Fiber, run the same standard pricing year-round.  

For a more extensive list of promos, check out our guide on the best internet deals. 

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

What’s 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 accommodate videoconferencing, streaming video or gaming, you’ll have a better experience with a more robust connection. Here’s an overview of the recommended minimum download speeds for various applications, according to the FCC. Note that these are only guidelines and that internet speed, service and performance vary by connection type, provider and address.

For more information, refer to our guide on how much internet speed you really need.

• 0 to 5Mbps allows you to tackle the basics: browsing the internet, sending and receiving email and streaming low-quality video.
• 5 to 40Mbps gives you higher-quality video streaming and videoconferencing.
• 40 to 100Mbps should give one person sufficient bandwidth to satisfy the demands of modern telecommuting, video streaming and online gaming. 
• 100 to 500Mbps allows one to two people to simultaneously engage in high-bandwidth activities like videoconferencing, streaming and online gaming. 
• 500 to 1,000Mbps allows three or more people to engage in high-bandwidth activities at the same time.

How CNET chose the best internet providers in Salinas

Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the latest smartphone, laptop, router or kitchen tool, it’s impractical to personally test every ISP in a given city. What’s our approach? We start by researching the pricing, availability and speed information, drawing on our own historical ISP data, the provider sites and mapping information from the Federal Communications Commission at FCC.gov.

It doesn’t end there: We go to the FCC’s website to check our data and ensure we consider every ISP that provides service in an area. We also input local addresses on provider websites to find specific options for residents. We look at sources, including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Power, to evaluate how happy customers are with an ISP’s service. ISP plans and prices are subject to frequent changes; all information provided is accurate as of the time of publication.

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

1. Does the provider offer access to reasonably fast internet speeds?
2. Do customers get decent value for what they’re paying?
3. Are customers happy with their service?

While the answer to those questions is often layered and complex, the providers who come closest to “yes” on all three are the ones we recommend. When selecting the cheapest internet service, we look for the plans with the lowest monthly fee, although we also factor in things like price increases, equipment fees and contracts. Choosing the fastest internet service is relatively straightforward. We look at advertised upload and download speeds and consider real-world speed data from sources like Ookla and FCC reports. (Disclosure: 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 Salinas FAQs