For Steel City residents, Verizon Fios is CNET’s top pick for the best internet provider in Pittsburgh. It got the top spot on our list because of its wide coverage and fast speed. If you’re one of the few Pittsburgh residents outside the Verizon Fios coverage area, Xfinity and T-Mobile Home Internet solid alternatives, but you’ll see higher prices and slower speeds, unlike Verizon Fios.

When recommending the best internet service in Pittsburgh, CNET considers high-speed internet, pricing, customer service and overall value. We also check local addresses for service availability. In addition, we carefully read the terms and conditions of the providers and, if necessary, call the ISPs to check the details.

However, our process has some limitations. Pricing and speed data vary: Some addresses may qualify for different levels of service or special discounts, and monthly costs may vary, even within a city. The best way to identify your options is to visit the provider’s website and input your address.

Note that the prices, speeds and other information listed above and on the provider cards below may differ from what we found in our research. The cards show the entire price and speed range of a provider across the US, according to our database of plan information provided directly by ISPs. At the same time, the text is specific to what is available in Pittsburgh. The prices referenced within the text of this article come from our research and include applicable discounts for setting up automatic monthly payments — a common offer in the industry. Other discounts and promotions may also be available for things like committing to a contract or bundling a cellphone plan.

To learn more about how we review internet providers, visit our complete method page.

Top internet providers in Pittsburgh

There are three main options when it comes to internet in Pittsburgh: Verizon Fios, Xfinity or T-Mobile Home Internet. The only other ISPs available in the city are Verizon 5G Home Internet (not very widely available) and satellite providers (not very good).

Source: CNET analysis of provider data

Other available Pittsburgh residential internet providers

There aren’t many other options for internet in Pittsburgh other than the three providers highlighted above. Here are all the other ISPs operating in the city:

• Satellite internet: No matter where you live in the country, satellite internet is always an option — it’s not a good one. HughesNet and Viasat has slow speeds, stingy data caps and high costs, but it works everywhere in Pittsburgh. Starlink can give you faster speeds and lower latency, but it’s more expensive: You’ll have to spend $499 for the equipment, and plans start at $120 per month.
• Verizon 5G Home Internet: Like T-Mobile Home Internet, Verizon uses its extensive 5G network to offer wireless internet plans. It’s not widely available in Pittsburgh, but it’s worth looking into if you’ve hit dead ends elsewhere.

Pittsburgh home internet service pricing information

Pittsburgh has five internet plans starting at $50 or less, which are similar nearby Cleveland, Columbus and Philadelphia. Xfinity’s $35 per month plan is one of the cheapest you’ll find anywhere in the country, but it’s only temporary — the price jumps to $90 after a year. The introductory plans of T-Mobile and Verizon are not so cheap at $50 a month, but the price is locked in both for at least two years.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data

How fast is Pittsburgh broadband?

Five gig-speed plans are available in Pittsburgh, which is comparable to other cities of its size. According to Ookla speed test dataPittsburgh ranks 73rd out of the 100 most populous US cities in terms of average internet speed. (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.) Residents get 215Mbps download and 52Mbps upload speeds on average, compared to 253/39Mbps for throughout the country. Verizon Fios is the fastest provider in the city, with an average download speed of 234Mbps.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data

What is the final word on internet providers in Pittsburgh?

No matter where you live in Pittsburgh, you should have access to some good internet providers. Verizon Fios is the best of the bunch. It gives you symmetrical upload and download speeds, no equipment overage charges, and you don’t have to worry about your price going up after a year. Xfinity provides fast download speeds, but upload speeds are extremely low, and the price increases significantly after one to three years on all plans. T-Mobile is an affordable backup option, but homes with more than a few people may need more bandwidth.

How CNET picks the best internet providers in Pittsburgh

Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the latest smartphones, laptop, router or kitchen utensilsit is not practical to personally test every ISP in a city. What is our approach? We started by researching pricing, availability and speed information, drawing on our own historical ISP data, provider sites and mapping information from the Federal Communications Commission of FCC.gov.

It doesn’t end there. We go to the FCC website to check our data and make sure we consider every ISP that provides service in an area. We also input local addresses into provider websites to find specific options for residents. To assess how happy customers are with an ISP’s service, we looked at sources including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and JD Power. ISP plans and prices are subject to constant change; All information provided is accurate at the time of publication.

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

• Does the provider offer access to reasonably fast internet speeds?
• Are customers getting decent value for what they paid for?
• Are customers happy with their service?

While the answers to these questions are often layered and complex, providers who are close to “yes” to all three are the ones we recommend.

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

Internet providers in Pittsburgh FAQ