Best Internet Providers in Honolulu, Hawaii
What is the best internet provider in Honolulu?
Hawaiian Telecom is the best internet service provider in Honolulu. It offers affordable monthly pricing, nearly symmetrical upload and download speeds, and a price-lock guarantee of up to three years on some plans. However, once the promotional period ends, all plans will increase by $15 per month, with the cheapest plans increasing after one year.
If you are looking for quick planHawaiian Telecom is also the fastest internet provider in Honolulu, with speeds up to 3,000Mbps. spectrum A 1-gig plan was in place, but its price increases were even higher than Hawaiian Telcom’s – two factors that contributed to the provider’s below-average customer satisfaction scores. According to the latest US Customer Satisfaction IndexCompared to the industry average, Spectrum lags four percentage points.
Spectrum provided cheapest Plan in the region, $30 per month, 100Mbps. However, if you don’t want to deal with price increases or hidden fees, T-Mobile Home Internet is one of the most customer-friendly internet service providers in the country. It’s not as fast as the other two ISPs on our list, but most customers have no issues. T-Mobile also has the highest customer satisfaction score of any non-fiber ISP in the country.
Best Internet in Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu Internet Providers Comparison
provider | Internet technology | monthly price range | speed range | Monthly equipment cost | data cap | contract | CNET Review Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hawaii Telecom | fiber | $40-$150 | 600-3,000Mbps | without any | without any | without any | not applicable |
spectrum Read full review |
cable | $30-$70 | 100-1,000Mbps | Free modem; $10 router (optional) | without any | without any | 7.2 |
T-Mobile Home Internet Read full review |
fixed wireless | $50-$70 ($40-$50 for eligible Go5G Plus and Magenta Max mobile customers) | 72-245Mbps | without any | without any | without any | 7.4 |
Verizon 5G Home Internet Read full review |
fixed wireless | $50-$70 ($35-$45 for eligible Verizon Wireless customers) | 50-100Mbps | without any | without any | without any | 7.2 |
Show more(0 items)
Buy suppliers at my address
Source: CNET analysis of provider data.
Other available internet providers in Honolulu
- satellite internet: Besides our top three picks, the only other internet service providers with widespread availability in Honolulu are satellite providers Via Satellite and Starlink. Viasat’s unique program is no contractso you don’t have to worry about being bound by a term agreement. However, Viasat Release The monthly price is higher and includes a soft cap of 850GB. Starlink has speeds of up to 220Mbps, while Viasat’s top speed is only 150Mbps. Standard plan comes with unlimited databut before activating the service, you have to pay $349 for its satellite dish.
Cheap Internet Options in Honolulu
The average monthly starting cost in Honolulu is approximately $46. Spectrum offers the cheapest internet service in Honolulu, with plans starting at $30 per month. But a year later, the price rose to $50. If you don’t want to worry about price increases, T-Mobile Home Internet is the only provider in Honolulu that doesn’t automatically raise rates, and you can get the service plan for just $40 per month when bundled with an eligible phone. Some families can also take advantage of Low Income Internet Project Available in Honolulu.
What are the cheapest internet plans in Honolulu?
provider | starting price | Maximum download speed | Monthly equipment fee |
---|---|---|---|
Spectrum Internet Read full review |
$30 | 100Mbps | Free modem; $10 router (optional) |
Hawaii Telecom Fioptics 400 | $40 | 600Mbps | without any |
Spectrum Internet Read full review |
$40 | 500Mbps | Free modem; $10 router (optional) |
Verizon 5G Home Internet Read full review |
$50 ($35 for eligible Verizon Wireless customers) | 100Mbps | without any |
T-Mobile Home Internet Read full review |
$50 ($40 with eligible mobile plans) | 245Mbps | without any |
Show more(0 items)
Buy suppliers at my address
Source: CNET analysis of provider data.
How to Find Honolulu Internet Deals and Promotions
The best internet deals and top promotions in Honolulu depend on the discounts available during that time period. Most offers are short-lived, but we’re often on the lookout for the latest deals.
Honolulu internet providers like Hawaiian Telcom and Spectrum may offer lower introductory prices or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Others, including T-Mobile Home Internet, use the same standard pricing year-round.
For a more extensive list of promotions, check out our guide Best Internet Deals.
How fast is Honolulu broadband?
According to Ookla’s latest speed test dataHonolulu residents have an average download speed of 222Mbps and an upload speed of 23Mbps. This ranks 64th among the 100 most populous cities in the United States, just below the state of Hawaii. Spectrum and Hawaiian Telcom have launched gigabit speed plans in Honolulu, and Hawaiian Telcom has launched a 3-gigabit plan for $100 per month.
Fastest Internet Packages in Honolulu
provider | starting price | Maximum download speed | Maximum upload speed | data cap | Connection type |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hawaii Telecom Fioptics 3 Show | $100 | 3,000Mbps | 3,000Mbps | without any | fiber |
Spectrum Internet Performance Read full review |
$70 | 1,000Mbps | 35Mbps | without any | cable |
Hawaii Telecom Fioptics 1 session | $60 | 1,000Mbps | 500Mbps | without any | fiber |
Show more(0 items)
Buy suppliers at my address
Source: CNET analysis of provider data.
What is 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 video conferencing, streaming video, or gaming, you’ll get a better experience with a stronger connection. The recommended minimum download speeds for various applications are outlined below, According to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. Please note that these are guidelines only – Internet speeds, service and performance vary based on connection type, provider and address.
For more information, see our guide How much internet speed do you really need?.
- 0 to 5Mbps allows you to handle the basics: browsing the Internet, sending and receiving email, and streaming low-quality video.
- 5 to 40Mbps gives you higher quality video streaming and video conferencing.
- 40 to 100Mbps should provide one user with enough bandwidth to meet the needs of modern remote working, video streaming, and online gaming.
- 100 to 500Mbps allows one or two users to participate in high-bandwidth activities such as video conferencing, streaming and online gaming simultaneously.
- 500 to 1,000Mbps allows three or more users to engage in high-bandwidth activities simultaneously.
CNET How to choose the best internet provider in Honolulu
Internet service providers are numerous and regional. different from the latest cell phone, laptop, router or kitchen toolsit is impractical to personally test every Internet service provider in a specific city. So what is our approach? First, we leverage a proprietary database of pricing, availability, and speed information drawn from our own historical ISP data, partner data, and mapping information from the Federal Communications Commission’s FCC.gov.
This guide utilizes an in-house AI tool called RAMP, which is trained on our own writing and uses our database to generate content about specific internet service providers that our writers can use to identify and present our Selection of a given guideline. Check CNET’s AI policy Learn more about how our team uses (and doesn’t use) AI tools.
Since our database is not exhaustive, we head to the FCC website to check the primary data ourselves and make sure we account for every ISP offering service in a certain area. Plans and prices also vary by location, so we entered our local address on the provider website to find the specific options available to residents. We evaluate customer satisfaction with ISP services by looking at sources such as the US Customer Satisfaction Index and JD Power. ISP plans and prices may change frequently; all information provided is accurate as of our fact-checking prior to publication.
Once we have localized information, we ask three main questions:
- Does the provider offer reasonably fast internet speeds?
- Are customers getting value for money?
- Are customers satisfied with their service?
While the answers to these questions are often layered and complex, we recommend the provider that comes closest to a “yes” on these three questions. When choosing the cheapest internet service, we look for plans with the lowest monthly fees, although we also consider factors like price increases, equipment fees, and contracts. Choosing the fastest internet service is relatively simple. We look at advertised upload and download speeds and consider real-world speed data from the following sources: Okla and Federal Communications Commission Report. (Ookla and CNET are owned by the same parent company, Ziff Davis.)
To explore our process in more depth, you can visit our How we test ISPs Page.
What’s the final decision about Honolulu’s internet provider?
There aren’t many internet providers operating in Honolulu, but the ones that do exist are plentiful and well worth the money. The best ISP in the area is Hawaiian Telcom, a fiber optic internet provider with one of the cheapest plans in the area. Spectrum offers slightly faster download speeds than Hawaiian Telcom, but its upload speeds are significantly lower, and the price increases significantly after a year. T-Mobile Home Internet is a wireless alternative in the area with a price-lock guarantee, but its speeds aren’t as fast as Hawaiian Telcom or Spectrum.
Honolulu Internet Provider FAQs
What is the best internet service provider in Honolulu?
Hawaiian Telcom is Honolulu’s best internet service provider, offering fiber Internet plans start at $40 per month. Spectrum offers slightly faster download speeds, but its upload speeds are significantly lower than Hawaiian Telcom, so if you work from home or online games.
Is there fiber optic internet in Honolulu?
What is the cheapest internet provider in Honolulu?
Spectrum and Hawaiian Telcom are Honolulu’s cheapest internet providers, with plans starting at $30 and $40 per month, respectively. That means the price for the second year of service will increase by $15 to $30.
Which internet provider in Honolulu offers the fastest plans?
Hawaiian Telcom offers the fastest plans in Honolulu, with symmetrical download and upload speeds of 3,000Mbps.