Here are some of our top picks for internet service providers in Chicago so you can select one of the top internet providers in Chicago for your home or office.

Xfinity

Comcast Xfinity is the nation’s largest cable internet service provider that offers a good variety of internet speed plans in Chicago at an affordable price. However, the catch in this situation is that some of the Xfinity plans require you to sign a one-year contract, some require a two-year contract, and some plans are available with no contracts at all.

Astound Broadband by RCN

Powered by RCN, Astound Broadband offers a great starting price to its customers but the price increases after the introductory period are over. With the high internet speeds offered by Astound Broadband, you can play live games and stream your favorite HD shows.

AT&T

AT&T is one of the top internet providers in Chicago as its broadband service is available to over 40% of homes in the USA and a large percentage of Americans use it as their preferred home internet provider. In addition to fiber and DSL plans, AT&T offers a fixed wireless option as well in Chicago and other cities. However, there is a bit of work involved because the fixed wireless option involves installing an antenna and wireless equipment within the home and speeds won’t get higher than 25 Mbps with this internet connection.

Spectrum

Spectrum provides internet services to over 28 million customers in 41 states, which in turn means that it is one of the most widely available networks in the United States. One of the benefits of using their service is that Spectrum does not enforce a data cap like its other competitors in the market. However, we would recommend that if a 100% fiber connection is available at your address, you should strongly consider going with that instead of Spectrum for faster upload speeds and better reliability. Spectrum presently offers three different internet plans at different prices and none of these plans include data caps. However, after the introductory period is over, your monthly bill will go up a few bucks depending on your plan, but none of these Spectrum internet plans require you to commit to a contract. 

EarthLink 

Founded in the year 1994, EarthLink is one of the top providers that have been providing Internet service to over 1 million customers and over 150,000 businesses in the country through a number of sources including wireless, cable, satellite, and DSL. Some of the benefits of using EarthLink internet services are that it offers excellent fiber optic technology, high speeds, lower bandwidth plans for a lower price, the price doesn’t increase after one year, there is no throttling, and customers get a 30-Day satisfaction guarantee. One of the oldest names in the home internet industry, EarthLink is one of the top internet providers in Chicago and many other cities that actually use the established DSL and fiber-optic networks of other providers, including AT&T, CenturyLink, Frontier, Verizon, and others.

WOW!

You can presently find WOW home internet service in 19 markets among nine states in the United States. Being one of the top internet providers in Chicago, WOW features higher upload speeds than most cable internet providers in the USA. WOW offers a good variety of internet plans, but like many other providers, the rates increase after the promotional period ends. What we really liked about WOW is that there are no contracts, no data caps and you get a 30-day money-back guarantee with their internet plans. Their plans are affordable because even the least expensive plan offered by this internet service provider comes with download speeds of up to 100Mbps, which is much faster than the introductory plan of most other ISPs in Chicago and other cities of the USA and well above the FCC’s broadband definition of 25Mbps download and 3Mbps upload.

Viasat

With its widespread availability across the USA, Viasat believes everyone should be able to connect to the internet, no matter where someone lives. Viasat is available almost everywhere across all fifty states and there is no need for a phone line or cable because Viasat provides internet services in Chicago through a satellite connection.

HughesNet

For Americans currently residing in rural or underdeveloped areas, satellite service might be the only option, and Hughes Network Systems provides reliable connectivity and consistent speeds through satellite for people living in rural areas. Notably, HughesNet was the first satellite internet service to offer broadband speeds of 25 megabits per second back in the year 2017. It is common knowledge that satellite internet can’t compete with the speeds you get with cable or fiber connections in terms of speed efficiency, but it is comparatively faster when compared with phone-line-based DSL. On the other hand, the main issue is that ground-laid cable and fiber are not readily available to people who are living outside densely populated areas in the USA.

Ultra Home Internet

Ultra Home Internet is a service introduced and offered by Ultra Mobile, and its users get benefits like contract-free plans and rural coverage. It is one of the top internet providers in Chicago that is backed by T-Mobile’s 5G and LTE network. Notably, it is the second-largest fixed wireless provider in the USA as this internet service provider offers service in all 50 states. Ultra Home Internet offers Fixed Wireless internet access in 26,402 zip codes across the USA. Although this internet service runs on the T-Mobile network and provides services across the United States, it is recommended to first check to make sure that Ultra Home Internet is available in your area.