Best Internet Providers in Ocala, Florida

What is the best internet provider in Ocala?

Coke is CNET’s recommendation for the top Internet provider in Ocala. The service provider offers competitive starting prices and the fastest speeds in the area. While there are some drawbacks — such as slower upload speeds, potential price hikes and data caps — Cox remains the top choice for local high-speed Internet.

For those looking for the cheapest option, T-Mobile Home Internet stands out as our top budget pick in Ocala. Although it shares Cox’s $50 starting price, T-Mobile offers a price lock guarantee, includes equipment in the monthly fee, and offers unlimited data.

After Cox and T-Mobile, there’s a noticeable drop in speed with our third choice, CenturyLink. This DSL provider offers speeds of up to 80 Mbps or 100 Mbps, depending on location. While it’s suitable for smaller families, it’s on the slower side overall, with a flat fee of $55 per month regardless of speed.

Best Internet in Ocala, Florida

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

How to find deals and promotions online in Ocala

The best internet deals and top promotions in Ocala depend on what discounts are available during a certain time. Most deals are short-lived, but we often look for the latest deals.

Ocala Internet providers, such as Verizon, may offer lower introductory prices or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Others, including Cox, CenturyLink and T-Mobile Home Internet, have the same standard prices year-round.

For a more extensive list of promotions, check out our guide to the best internet deals.

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, video streaming, or gaming, you’ll have a better experience with a stronger connection. Here is a summary of the minimum recommended download speeds for various applications, according to the FCC. Note that these are guidelines only — and that Internet speed, service, and performance vary by connection type, provider, and address.

For more information, refer to our guide on how much internet speed you really need.

• 0 to 5 Mbps lets you get by with the basics — surfing the web, sending and receiving email, streaming low-quality video.
• 5 to 40 Mbps gives you the highest quality video streaming and video conferencing.
• 40 to 100 Mbps should give a person enough bandwidth to meet the demands of modern telecommunications, video streaming, and online gaming.
• 100 to 500 Mbps allows one to two people to simultaneously engage in high-bandwidth activities such as video conferencing, streaming, and online gaming.
• 500 to 1000 Mbps allows three or more people to engage in high-bandwidth activities at the same time.

How CNET picked the best Internet providers in Ocala

Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the latest smartphone, laptop, router, or kitchen appliance, it’s impractical to personally test every ISP in a given city. So what is our approach? We start by researching price, availability, and speed information based on our historical ISP data, provider sites, and map information from the Federal Communications Commission at FCC.gov.

But it doesn’t end there. We go to the FCC website to check our records and make sure we account for every ISP that provides service in an area. We also enter local addresses into provider websites to find specific options for residents. We look to sources, including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and JD Power, to gauge how satisfied customers are with an ISP’s service. ISP plans and prices are subject to frequent change; all information provided is correct as of publication.

Once we have this localized information, we ask three key questions:

1. Does the provider offer access to reasonably fast internet speeds?
2. Are customers getting good value for what they are paying for?
3. Are customers satisfied with their service?

While the answer to these questions is often layered and complex, the providers that come closest to saying “yes” to all three are the ones we recommend. When it comes to choosing the cheapest internet service, we look for the plans with the lowest monthly fee, although we also take into account things 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 sources like Ookla and FCC reports. (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.)

Internet Providers in Ocala FAQ