Best Internet Providers in Franklin, North Carolina

What is the best internet provider in Franklin?

Optimum is the best internet service provider in Franklin, North Carolina, thanks to its widespread availability throughout the city and reasonable pricing. However, there are a few other solid options to choose from if Optimum isn’t available at your address. Franklin residents can get some pretty fast internet speeds from Frontier.

In general, North Carolina fares well overall when it comes to connectivity. According to the latest Ookla data, the Tar Heel State ranks 7th among all US states and the District of Columbia for top internet speeds, with average download speeds of around 231 megabits per second. (Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.) The high speed average is partly thanks to the Google Fiber, which is available in Charlotte and the Triangle. Unfortunately, it isn’t available in Franklin yet. 

Best internet providers in Franklin, North Carolina

We’ve narrowed the top Franklin internet providers by internet speed, availability, quality of service and other important factors.

Note: The prices, speeds and features detailed in the article text may differ from those listed in the product detail cards, which represent providers’ national offerings. Your particular internet service options — including prices and speeds — depend on your address and may differ from those detailed here.

All available Franklin residential internet providers

If you don’t find our top three internet service providers in Franklin to be a good fit, there are other options. Here’s a quick comparison of all top providers that may be available in the area.

A closer look at other Franklin ISPs

T-Mobile Home Internet: T-Mobile internet is a great low-cost internet option in Franklin with its sole plan starting at $50 per month, or $40 if you have a Go5G Plus or Magenta Max line and autopay. You can even try it out for 15 days and get your money back if it’s not a good fit. Speeds range from around 33Mbps to just over 180 Mbps, but this can accommodate most people who are using the internet for searching and the occasional streaming. 

HughesNet: HughesNet has satellite internet in Franklin with plans that start at $50. Download speeds range from 50 to 100Mbps.

Franklin broadband at a glance

Franklin doesn’t have fiber internet as of yet, but some of the internet service providers in the area do offer fiber elsewhere. That opens up the possibility that fiber could come to Franklin eventually. As such, cable internet from Optimum will be your best bet for fast speeds in Franklin while Frontier, T-Mobile 5G Home Internet and satellite service will be your main options in surrounding rural areas.

Franklin internet pricing

Most internet plans in Franklin start at about $50 per month. If you want to increase your speed or you’re in a rural area, you may need to increase your budget to get the bandwidth you require. 

Cheap internet options in the Franklin metro area

Optimum has the most affordable internet plan in Franklin, $40 per month. If you’re already a T-Mobile customer, you should also check out their bundle that lowers their internet price to just $40.

Fastest internet providers in Franklin

There aren’t a lot of lightning-fast internet speed plans in Franklin, but you can find at least one plan with nearly 1,000Mbps. Fast speeds are most necessary for homes with multiple connected devices and several users all online at the same time. If you’re just using your internet to do Google searches, post to Instagram and watch TV in bed (but not all at the same time), the more common 100Mbps download speed in Franklin will be ample. 

Optimum is the only Franklin internet provider with plans above 300Mbps, though T-Mobile’s 5G Home Internet does have the potential for speeds up to 245Mbps. Keep your eyes peeled for news of any fiber construction or the expansion of 5G home internet.

What’s the final word on internet providers in Franklin?

The fastest option in Franklin is the Optimum Gig plan. If you want to get the most bang for your buck, the Frontier plan with a free router may be the ticket to streaming on a budget — but make sure to determine what type of speed is available at your address, since it varies throughout the area.

How CNET chose the best internet providers in Franklin

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? We start by researching the pricing, availability and speed information drawing on our own historical ISP data, the provider sites 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’re considering every ISP that provides service in an area. We also input local addresses on provider websites to find specific options for residents. To evaluate how happy customers are with an ISP’s service, we look at sources including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Power. ISP plans and prices are subject to frequent changes; all information provided is accurate as of the time 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. 

To explore our process in more depth, visit our How We Test ISPs page.

Franklin internet FAQs