Best internet providers in Kansas City, Kansas

You can pay a lot for incredibly fast internet speeds throughout the Kansas City metro area, or you can pay very little for plans that are quite slow (but still usable). Which home internet service you choose depends on what you can get at your exact address and how much speed you need.

#1: AT&T internet

Our team of expert reviewers loves AT&T internet for its fast speeds, its reliable fiber network, and its reasonable prices. Its cheapest plan, at $55 per month, is fast enough for almost any household with speeds up to 300 Mbps. Nice Wi-Fi gear comes included with the monthly price, and there aren’t any other hidden fees to worry about. If you’re just getting started with AT&T and haven’t had service before, though, you may have to pay $100 for a professional technician to come out and help you get set up.

Some parts of Kansas City, KS, don’t yet have fiber internet from AT&T. Instead, they’re stuck with the provider's much slower DSL network. If that’s the case for your household, we recommend taking a look at our #2 and #3 providers instead.

Read our full AT&T internet review.

#2: Google Fiber internet

The Kansas City metro area was the first in the US to get access to Google Fiber, and it’s still a very popular option throughout the region. The cheapest plan you can get is $70 per month, but you get a full 1 Gbps of bandwidth for the price. That’s still faster than most modern devices can use in the real world, but it means your home network can handle anything you can throw at it. Installation and equipment are included with Google Fiber, and you can pay more for even faster speeds if you’re confident your home needs them.

Read our full Google Fiber review.

#3: Spectrum internet

Cable internet from Spectrum can’t match our top fiber providers for upload speeds, but it’s offering download speeds virtually as fast and is available to a full 89% of homes in Kansas City, KS. (1) You’ll pay a little more every month for 1 Gbps speeds from Spectrum than you would for the same speeds from Google Fiber or AT&T, but this cable internet provider also has great options for buyers on a budget. Its slowest plan, 30 Mbps, can be found for $20 per month, but we generally recommend plans in the 200–500 Mbps range instead. These still cost less than you’d pay for any plan available from the big fiber players. If you’re switching to Spectrum, watch out for a $5 monthly equipment fee if you don’t have a working router and startup fees of at least $25.

Read our full Spectrum internet review.

Each of our top three providers in Kansas City, KS, lays cables of some kind all the way from their network infrastructure to your home. You may have other options in the city, though, if those providers haven’t gotten to your address. Home internet on T-Mobile’s 5G network is the most widely available (2), and you’ll find the network’s best coverage—5G Ultra Capacity—almost everywhere. Verizon also offers home internet on its 5G network, but you’ll be subject to 4G LTE in a lot of places. (3)

Lucky for you, two traditional fixed wireless internet providers also operate in Kansas City, KS. These connections are subject to slowdowns if the network gets busy, which is a bummer, but they’re a lot more reliable than satellite internet and are a good option for rural areas. Midco offers plans that start at $50 and prides itself on its Wi-Fi equipment and local touch. It’s worth noting that the company offers fiber connections in some spots, so ask about the possibility when you call to order.

The other big fixed wireless (and sometimes fiber) provider in Kansas City, KS, is Mercury Broadband. The company has a fantastic reputation for customer service (4), but prices go up by as much as $40 after the first year so it may not be a permanent internet solution for your home.

Spectrum offers the cheapest internet in Kansas City, KS, with its $20 monthly plan. Your speeds top out at 30 Mbps on that plan though, so you’ll only be able to connect a few devices at a time without worrying about network congestion. You can get speeds that are sometimes much faster with a 5G home internet provider, with comparable $25 monthly pricing if you bundle with certain mobile phone plans.

Every provider we recommend partners with the Affordable Connectivity Program, which uses taxpayer funds to cover the first $30 of internet bills for certain families every month. Learn more about free and cheap internet options.

If you live in the Kansas City metro area, there’s a very good chance you’ve heard of Google Fiber. There’s also a good chance you and your neighbors love the service! People posting online in Kansas City recommend Google Fiber almost exclusively, but acknowledge it isn’t available everywhere. They generally recommend against choosing Spectrum unless you have to and aren’t too happy with AT&T, but say T-Mobile home internet works well in some situations.

Almost every home in Kansas City, KS, has access to broadband internet speeds of 100 Mbps or faster, according to the Federal Communications Commission. (1) Nearly 80% can get speeds ten times that fast, proving that Kansas City is a nice place to learn, work, and play online.

Google Fiber expanded its network into Kansas City, KS, soon after it launched in Kansas City, MO, and is still adding thousands of addresses a year in the area. (5) AT&T started building its own pure fiber network shortly thereafter, and the companies still compete with one another to provide home internet service to Kansas City.

A few neighborhoods in town still can’t get internet from either of these big fiber providers or from Spectrum’s cable internet. Unfortunately, none of the big fiber build outs being planned in Kansas are slated for Johnson County. (6)

If you can’t get wired internet at your address, the good news is fixed wireless internet (including 5G home internet) is widely available and fast enough for a lot of households.