What is the best internet provider in San Bernardino?

Spectrum is CNET’s top pick for the best internet service provider for most households in San Bernardino because of its high speeds and wide availability across the area. Spectrum doesn’t serve every corner of San Bernardino. However, you can get good service from Frontier or T-Mobile Home Internet, depending on what’s available in your area.

Looking for the lowest prices or the fastest speeds in San Bernardino? We’ve got those options, too. The cheapest widely available internet in San Bernardino is Spectrum’s 500-megabit-per-second cable connection for $40 a month or Frontier’s 500Mbps fiber plan for the same price. If you want a good balance of speed and price, Spectrum offers a 1,000Mbps plan for $70 per month in some parts of town. The fastest available internet speed in San Bernardino comes from Frontier. It offers a 7,000Mbps (7 gigabit) fiber connection across a decent portion of the city.

Best internet in San Bernardino, California

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

Other available internet providers in San Bernardino

• AT&T Fiber: AT&T’s fiber network is superior to its Internet Air offering, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find AT&T Fiber in San Bernardino proper. I’m mentioning it here because residents of some areas of nearby Rialto, Colton and Highland may have it as an option. Prices range from $55 per month for 300Mbps up to $250 per month for 5,000Mbps.
• AT&T Internet Air: AT&T entered the 5G wireless internet market in 2023. The ISP offers its $55 per month Internet Air plan in some parts of San Bernardino. Equipment is included, and there are no data caps, but AT&T doesn’t advertise speeds. As with T-Mobile and Verizon, you can bundle with an eligible phone plan for a home internet discount.
• Satellite internet: Satellite internet from Starlink, Viasat or Hughesnet is best suited to homes in rural or remote areas that can’t get a faster, more affordable broadband connection via fiber, cable, DSL or fixed wireless. Satellite prices can be high, and speeds may be variable, so check those other options first.
• Verizon 5G Home Internet: Verizon is a close rival to T-Mobile regarding 5G home internet. While Verizon offers speeds up to a gig in some places, you’ll top out at 250Mbps in San Bernardino. There are two plans. For $50 per month, you’ll get speeds up to 80Mbps. For $70 per month, you can get speeds up to 250Mbps. Bundle an eligible phone plan to bring your monthly home internet price down as low as $35.

Cheap internet options in San Bernardino

Expect to pay around $50 monthly for an entry-level home internet plan in San Bernardino. That’s typical of what you’ll find in the broader Inland Empire area. Competition can mean better prices for some residents. Both Frontier and Spectrum may run deals that are lower than standard pricing. Spectrum may offer its 500Mbps plan for as low as $40 per month in areas where it’s competing with Frontier. Frontier may also offer a special deal to lower its 500Mbps tier to $45 per month for some addresses.

Another way to save on home internet is to bundle a T-Mobile or Verizon 5G plan with an eligible phone plan. That can drop your home internet monthly price to as low as $35.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

How to find internet deals and promotions in San Bernardino

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

San Bernardino internet providers, such as Spectrum, may offer lower introductory pricing or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Many, however, including AT&T Internet and Verizon 5G Home Internet, tend to run the same standard pricing year-round.

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

How fast is San Bernardino broadband?

If only the fastest internet will do, turn to Frontier and its speeds of up to 7,000Mbps. The fiber ISP clocks in as San Bernardino’s fastest provider in a recent Ookla speed test report. (Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.) Overall, San Bernardino fares well with a median fixed internet download speed of just over 303Mbps. The city falls behind some of its neighbors, although marginally. Redlands is above it at 309Mbps, while Fontana logs a 308Mbps median speed and Riverside matches at 303Mbps.

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 Federal Communications Commission. 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, streaming low-quality video.
• 5 to 40Mbps gives you higher-quality video streaming and videoconferencing.
• 40 to 100Mbps should give one user sufficient bandwidth to satisfy the demands of modern telecommuting, video streaming and online gaming.
• 100 to 500Mbps allows one to two users to simultaneously engage in high-bandwidth activities like videoconferencing, streaming and gaming.
• 500 to 1,000Mbps allows three or more users to engage in high-bandwidth activities at the same time.

How CNET chose the best internet providers in San Bernardino

Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the latest smartphone, laptop, router or kitchen tool, it’s impractical to personally test every internet service provider in a given city. So what’s our approach? For starters, we tap into a proprietary pricing, availability and speed database that draws from our own historical ISP data, partner data and mapping information from FCC.gov.

But 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 publication.

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

• Does the provider offer access to reasonably fast internet speeds?
• Do customers get decent value for what they’re paying?
• 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, though 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.

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

What’s the final word on internet providers in San Bernardino?

Most residents of San Bernardino will be weighing either Spectrum or Frontier as a broadband provider. Spectrum has wider coverage across the city, but Frontier’s fiber network offers much faster top download speeds alongside symmetrical upload speeds. Prices are best in the places where the two ISPs compete with each other. While T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T all offer 5G home internet in some parts of town, you’ll find faster top speeds with cable or fiber.

Internet providers in San Bernardino FAQ