Best Internet Providers in Santa Ana, California

What is the best internet provider in Santa Ana, California?

Surprisingly, there are not many Internet provider options in Santa Ana. After reviewing the available options, AT&T Fiber topped our list as the best Internet provider in Santa Ana for most homes. Although it doesn’t have the best coverage, AT&T Fiber has the fastest speeds in the city by a mile. It’s also the only fiber provider in the area, meaning you’ll get the same upload and download speeds – ideal for working from home or gaming online. It also offers some of the simplest and most reasonable prices you’ll find from an Internet service provider. Prices start at $55 per month for the 300Mbps plan and go up to $245 per month.

If you are looking for the lowest prices, Spectrum has the cheapest internet plans in Santa Ana at $30 per month for 100Mbps. What’s even better is that Spectrum is available almost everywhere in the city and is a solid option to have as your default if AT&T Fiber isn’t available at your address. The main disadvantage is that Spectrum increases prices significantly after a year or two.

If you don’t want to worry about these built-in price increases, Verizon 5G Home Internet is the best wireless internet provider in Santa Ana. There’s no guarantee they won’t raise their rates, but unlike Spectrum, they’re not on time and aren’t likely to be as egregious.

The Best Internet in Santa Ana, California

Source: CNET analysis of supplier data.

Source: CNET analysis of supplier data.

How to Find Internet Deals and Promotions in Santa Ana, California

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

Santa Ana internet providers like Verizon 5G Home Internet and AT&T Fiber may offer lower introductory prices or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Others, including Spectrum, apply the same standard pricing year-round.

For a more extensive list of promotions, check out our guide to the best online deals.

Source: CNET analysis of supplier 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 support video conferencing, video streaming, or gaming, you’ll have a better experience with a stronger connection. Below is an overview of the minimum recommended download speeds for various applications. according to the FCC. Please note that these are only guidelines and Internet speed, service, and performance vary by connection type, provider, and address.

For more information, check out our guide on how much internet speed you really need.

• 0 to 5 Mbps lets you tackle the basics: browsing the Internet, sending and receiving email, and streaming low-quality video.
• 5 to 40 Mbps gives you higher quality video streaming and video conferencing.
• 40 to 100 Mbps should provide a user with enough bandwidth to meet the demands of modern teleworking, video streaming, and online gaming.
• 100 to 500 Mbps allow one or two users to simultaneously engage in high-bandwidth activities such as video conferencing, streaming, and online gaming.
• 500 to 1000 Mbps allows three or more users to perform high-bandwidth activities at the same time.

How CNET chose the best internet providers in Santa Ana

Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the latest smartphones, laptops, routers, or kitchen utensils, it’s not practical to personally test every ISP in a given city. What is our approach? We began by researching pricing, availability, and speed information, based on our own historical ISP data, carrier sites, and mapping information from the Federal Communications Commission at FCC.gov.

It doesn’t end there: we visited the FCC website to verify our data and make sure we considered all ISPs serving an area. We also enter local addresses on provider websites to find specific options for residents. We analyzed sources, including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and JD Power, to assess how satisfied customers are with an ISP’s service. ISP plans and prices are subject to frequent changes; All information provided is accurate at the time of publication.

Once we have this information located, we ask ourselves three main questions:

1. Does the provider offer access to reasonably fast Internet speeds?
2. Are customers getting decent value for what they pay?
3. Are customers happy with your service?

The answers to those questions are often complex and layered, but the providers that come closest to “yes” on all three are the ones we recommend. When selecting the cheapest Internet service, we look for plans with the lowest monthly rate, but we also take into account things like price increases, equipment fees, and contracts. Choosing the fastest Internet service is relatively simple. We analyze advertised upload and download speeds and consider real-world speed data from sources such as ookla and FCC Reports. (Disclaimer: Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.)

To explore our process in more depth, visit our page on how we test ISPs.

Internet Providers in Santa Ana Frequently Asked Questions