Best Internet Providers in South Lake Tahoe, California

What is the best internet provider in South Lake Tahoe?

Spectrum is the best internet service provider overall for most households in South Lake Tahoe because of coverage, affordability and speed. However, Spectrum service isn’t available everywhere in South Lake Tahoe, so AT&T Fiber or T-Mobile Home Internet are also solid picks, depending on what’s available in your area. 

If you’re hunting for the lowest prices or fastest speeds, we’ve also found those top options. The cheapest internet in South Lake Tahoe is Spectrum’s 100Mbps service for $30 per month for some addresses. The fastest internet speed in South Lake Tahoe is AT&T Fiber’s 5,000Mbps plan for $245 per month, though the coverage area is limited.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

Other available internet providers in South Lake Tahoe

• AT&T Internet: AT&T’s legacy DSL network covers a broad area of South Lake Tahoe, but the speeds tend to be very slow. Some addresses I checked maxed out at just 5Mbps for $60 monthly. You may also run into a $99 installation fee. There are no contracts or equipment fees. Look to other options before settling for DSL.
• Satellite internet: Starlink, Viasat and Hughesnet are competitors when it comes to satellite internet. Consider these ISPs if you’re in a rural or remote area outside of town and can’t get Spectrum. Pricing can be on the high side, and speeds may be variable, but it’ll get you online when other options fail.
• Verizon 5G Home Internet: Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband coverage is patchwork across South Lake Tahoe, so the ISP’s home internet service isn’t widely available. If you’re in the coverage zone, you can choose between the $50-per-month 5G Home plan with speeds up to 100Mbps or the $70-per-month 5G Home Plus plan with speeds up to 300Mbps. There are no contracts, equipment fees or data caps.

Cheap internet options in South Lake Tahoe

Spectrum sweeps in with the cheapest plan in town thanks to a $30-per-month introductory rate for 100Mbps service at eligible addresses. That price pops up to $50 per month after the first year. If you live in AT&T Fiber’s small coverage area, check out the 300Mbps plan for $55 monthly. That’s a decent deal for symmetrical fiber speeds. Another way to save on home internet is to bundle a mobile plan with T-Mobile’s 5G internet service. You’ll get a nice discount on your home broadband.

What’s the cheapest internet plan in South Lake Tahoe?

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

How to find internet deals and promotions in South Lake Tahoe

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

South Lake Tahoe internet providers, like Spectrum, may offer lower introductory pricing or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Others, however, including AT&T Internet and T-Mobile 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 South Lake Tahoe broadband?

Thanks to Spectrum’s widespread network, South Lake Tahoe logged a respectable 193Mbps median download speed on a recent Ookla speed test report. (Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.) That’s not as peppy as nearby Carson City’s 281Mbps, but South Lake Tahoe is a smaller town. Speed varies considerably depending on which ISPs reach your home. Most of South Lake Tahoe can access gig speeds through Spectrum. You can’t top AT&T Fiber’s 5,000Mbps plan, but it’s not cheap, costing $245 monthly.

Fastest internet plans in South Lake Tahoe

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, 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 online 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 South Lake Tahoe

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. 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 the Federal Communications Commission at 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 answers to those questions are often layered and complex, the providers that 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 how we test ISPs page.

What’s the final word on internet providers in South Lake Tahoe?

Spectrum ticks some important boxes for broadband in South Lake Tahoe. It has the widest availability and the cheapest introductory pricing. If you’re lucky enough to live in a neighborhood with AT&T Fiber, give that strong consideration. If Spectrum and AT&T don’t work for you, look into T-Mobile Home Internet as an alternative. For rural homes, check in with satellite providers like Starlink or Hughesnet. 

Internet providers in South Lake Tahoe FAQs