Best internet providers in Long Beach, California
When people think of Long Beach, they mostly imagine long walks on the beach and beautiful sunsets, but we know there is plenty of working and studying going on too. For all your non-beach time, fast home internet is a modern necessity. Thankfully, there are plenty of options for fast, reliable internet in Long Beach.
Frontier earns our top spot for internet providers with its fast download speeds and affordable prices, but its coverage of Long Beach leaves a little bit to be desired. If you aren’t covered by Frontier, Spectrum and T-Mobile offer decent products as well with better coverage. Plus, T-Mobile has special deals for current T-Mobile customers, making it one of the most affordable rates in the area.
- Plans starting at $49.99 - $164.99
- Download speeds up to 5000 Mbps
- Upload speeds up to 5000 Mbps
Disclaimer: Subject to availability. Cannot be combined with other offers. Other restrictions, Frontier policies and service terms apply. For a list of terms, view disclaimers
- Plans starting at $29.99 - $169.97
- Download speeds up to 1 Gbps
- Upload speeds up to 1 Gbps
Disclaimer: Availability and pricing are subject to location. Conditions apply. For offer details, view disclaimers
- Plans starting at $50.00
- Download speeds up to 182 Mbps
- Upload speeds up to 23 Mbps
Disclaimer: Availability and pricing are subject to location. Conditions apply.
Our top 3 ISP choices in Long Beach, CA
Long Beach has some great options for high-speed internet. We suggest you start your search with Frontier, but Spectrum and T-Mobile are solid options as well.
#1: Frontier Communications internet
Our team of experts name Frontier Communications as the top internet provider in Long Beach, California. While Frontier offers fiber and DSL internet, we strongly recommend fiber. Frontier’s fiber is fast, affordable (starting at just $50 a month), and reliable.
Frontier’s service covers around 77% of the Long Beach area, and most of that coverage includes fiber offerings. It’s still worth checking the Frontier availability at your individual address on our provider availability map, but overall it’s pretty good coverage for a fiber network.
Read our full Frontier Communications review.
#2: Spectrum internet
Spectrum is always a solid choice for internet providers. As a cable service, Spectrum is reliable and fast with a 1000 Mbps download speed—half of Frontier’s fiber speed, but far more than T-Mobile’s. The one downside to Spectrum is the price. The initial monthly price is very reasonable, but come year two you should expect a price hike. It isn’t enough for many people to walk away, but it’s worth knowing it’s coming.
Read our full Spectrum review.
#3: T-Mobile 5G Home internet
T-Mobile has the most coverage of Long Beach in our top three. With 95.5% coverage, your residence is probably set. Plus, at $50 a month, it’s pretty affordable. The reason we rank it third, however, is reliability.
As a fixed wireless internet provider, T-Mobile’s speed and reliability can vary greatly depending on location, weather, and usage. That means T-Mobile might be a great fit for some people and a horrible fit for others. The best thing you can do is simply try it out. Luckily, with no contract or commitment, you’re not locked in if T-Mobile doesn’t work for you.
All internet providers in Long Beach
Long Beach residents have many different options for internet providers. Along with the all-stars we’ve already recommended, there are several satellite and additional fixed wireless companies.
As satellite companies, Viasat, Starlink, and HughesNet boast of 100% coverage in the Long Beach area. However, we suggest you stay away because satellite companies are often very expensive with slower speeds.
As an alternative to T-Mobile, Starry and Verizon also offer fixed wireless internet, but with only a third of the coverage that T-Mobile provides.
Finally, AT&T brings up the rear in Long Beach providers. Normally, AT&T is one of our favorite providers, but with only 3% coverage right now, it barely makes the list.
Fastest internet providers in Long Beach
We know that when someone says they want good internet, they really mean one thing: fast. Long Beach is covered in that department. Frontier offers packages that include speeds up to a whopping 5 Gbps. While that’s incredibly fast internet, most of us would probably be fine with Spectrum’s speeds up to 1 Gbps or even T-Mobile at 182 Mbps.
How much speed do you need?
Cheapest internet providers in Long Beach
Verizon offers some of the cheapest internet in Long Beach with plans as low as $25 a month if you also have a premium 5G mobile plan. T-Mobile has a similar discount for customers with specific plans, offering internet for around $30 a month. If you’re not a part of these specific groups, Frontier is the next-cheapest option at $34.99 for DSL and $49 for fiber.
Internet options in nearby cities
Long Beach has some of the best Frontier coverage when compared to its nearby neighbors. While it is offered in some areas like Torrance or Compton, Frontier has almost no coverage in Los Angeles or Anaheim. Similarly, AT&T has no coverage in Long Beach and a pretty good presence in Los Angeles. On the other hand, T-Mobile coverage is consistent throughout almost all nearby cities.
What Long Beach residents are saying on Reddit
On social media, people in Long Beach seem to love Frontier and Spectrum for their speed and reliability and warn against T-Mobile for the exact opposite problems. No provider is left completely unscathed, however, with complaints about Frontier’s customer service and Spectrum’s prices. Ultimately, you’ll have to read what the Long Beach residents are saying and decide what matters most to you.
Hi im going to move to long beach by next month or so. And I am a gamer too and would like to find a stable no throttle internet service provider in long beach.
Any recommendations that you may have?;
I heard spectrum throttles internet speeds during peak hours.,,,
Thinking of getting 1 to 2 gb of speed.
Thanks
Frontier will probably be your best bet. Have had little to no issues with them.
I'd stay away from Spectrum.
They're both $50 per month apparently, however I think you get a discount on the T Mobile internet if you already have a phone plan with them ($25 per/mo). I'm thinking about switching from my overpriced Spectrum internet because the service keeps going down for maintenance which is frustrating.
Which would you get between the two? Or are you happy with another internet service?
DO NOT rely on 5G for your home internet. The speeds and latency are very inconsistent. Think about how many times you get crappy internet on your phone and then imagine that in your house. NAh.
I have Frontier and besides one or two dropouts, it’s been very fast and reliable. The Eevo router they provide can be expanded to create a mesh network around the house. Only downside is they will for sure be increasing the monthly cost after the first year.
Does anyone have t-mobile home internet in the area? Would be interested to know your experience on their service and speeds. Specifically I’m around Pacific and Anaheim if that would affect service.
I got the $25/mo promo and have been using T-Mobile home internet for a few months. I switched from Spectrum because it was slow, throttling when I was on VPN for work, and it was frustrating. I haven’t had issues with T-Mobile. I live in Belmont Heights.
I'm looking at switching internet providers from Spectrum to T-Mobile's 5G home option, but want to make sure their speeds are comparable to what I have now (300Mbps). Anyone currently using them with good or bad experiences?
Anything that can get me finally free of Spectrum would be amazing, but I have a feeling speeds would not be what I'm used to. Only other options I've heard are Frontier and AT&T but I don't have these in dtlb.
I had Spectrum, switched to T-Mobile and just switched back to Spectrum. It was much slower, then out of nowhere it just stopped working. I switched out the "gateway" twice and still my internet didn't work. I work from home and had to use my hotspot until I could get Spectrum back. I would not recommend switching.
Internet news and infrastructure in Long Beach, CA
Long Beach seems to be a city dedicated to building up a strong internet infrastructure. In as early as 2015, the Long Beach government was talking about how to improve residents’ fiber internet connection. In fact, in 2017, they dedicated $88 million to update the city’s digital infrastructure with some money set aside to expand a citywide fiber-optic infrastructure. (1)
While this project is ongoing, there’s been some progress already. In fact, Long Beach was recently awarded first place in the Top Digital Cities Survey held by the Center for Digital Government (2). More than just the internet connection goes into this award, but it’s still a pretty cool achievement.
All in all, we’re impressed at Long Beach’s internet infrastructure and overall fiber coverage and can’t wait to see it continue to grow.
Frequently asked internet questions in Long Beach
Frontier offers the fastest internet for residents of Long Beach with upload and download speeds up to 5 Gbps. The vast majority of households won’t need speeds this fast, though.
Yes, Long Beach does have access to fiber internet through Frontier. Frontier doesn’t have perfect coverage, but it does cover around 77% of the area.
Prices vary across Long Beach depending on provider, but Frontier and Spectrum start customers at around $50 per month, while T-Mobile and other fixed wireless services can begin closer to $30.
- “Can Long Beach’s fiber master plan bridge the digital divide?”, Long Beach Business Journal. Accessed 24 April 2023.
- “Press release,” City of Long Beach. Accessed 24 April 2023.