Your guide to a better futureOur expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. How we test ISPs Broadband options in Brooklyn are as good as anywhere in the Big Apple. Here are the providers CNET recommends most. I've visited Brooklyn, but I'm by no means a Brooklynite. I don't know the best place to get a slice or which subway lines will take you to Coney Island. However, I do know the internet providers that serve the area and can tell you Verizon Fios is our top pick for internet in Brooklyn. Optimum and Spectrum are also good choices for cable internet, and your Brooklyn address may be serviceable for other ISPs such as T-Mobile or Starry. So which Brooklyn ISP is best for your home? CNET examines customer service, speed, pricing and overall value before recommending the best broadband in your area.You'll find our picks of the best Brooklyn internet providers and what makes them stand out below, followed by other potentially available, though probably less worthwhile, internet options in Brooklyn. All prices listed on this page reflect available discounts for setting up paperless billing. If you decide not to go with automatic monthly payments, your price will be higher.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. A fiber-optic connection, like the one you get with Verizon Fios, is often going to be your best option for home internet in terms of speed and value. Verizon Fios is the largest fiber-optic internet provider in Brooklyn, but its service area doesn't quite reach every corner of Kings County.Availability: Roughly 86% of households will have access to fiber internet, according to the latest data from the Federal Communications Commission. The remaining fiberless 14% includes random blocks throughout Kensington, Parkville, New Utrecht and other Brooklyn neighborhoods, as well as the obvious nonresidential areas, like Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Naval Yard. The FCC's data is admittedly outdated, so there may be, and likely is, better Verizon Fios coverage in Brooklyn today.Plans and pricing: You'll have the choice of four speed tiers with Verizon Fios: 300Mbps starting at $50 per month, 500Mbps starting at $70, gigabit service (940Mbps) starting at $90 and Verizon's new multigigabit service with speeds up to 2.3Gbps starting at $120 per month. Since Verizon Fios uses a 100% fiber connection, max download and upload speeds will be the same, or at least very close.Fees and service details: Router rental is included with Verizon Fios plans. There are no data caps or contracts required.Read our Verizon Fios review. If you're looking for cheap cable internet -- and I mean that in terms of actual pricing, not necessarily quality -- Optimum is a good place to start. Download speeds are right on par with Verizon Fios and pricing on comparable plans may be cheaper. Gig service from Optimum, for example, starts at $80 per month, $10 cheaper than Verizon. Availability: Optimum serves Brooklyn just about everywhere south of Flushing Avenue, save for most westside neighborhoods such as Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Dyker Heights and Fort Hamilton. Though Optimum does have a growing fiber footprint in NYC, the provider largely uses a cable network.Plans and pricing: Optimum offers three plans in the Brooklyn area: 300Mbps starting at $40 per month, 500Mbps for $50 and gigabit service for $80. You'll be able to enjoy that low pricing for a while, as Optimum internet plans include a two-year price guarantee. After that, a rate increase of just $10 will go into effect, which is one of the lower scheduled rate increases I've seen from any major provider.Fees and service details: Equipment is included with Optimum plans at no extra cost. There are no data caps or contracts required.Read our Optimum Internet review. Spectrum service areas start essentially where Optimum's end, but there may be some overlap, particularly in the Bushwick, Prospect Heights or Borough Park neighborhoods where you may have the choice of both providers. Given the option of the two, I'd favor Spectrum, largely because of the simple, transparent pricing and low equipment costs -- attributes that contributed to CNET naming Spectrum the best cable internet provider in the country. Availability: For the most part, Spectrum cable internet covers Queens, Manhattan and Staten Island, but there are parts of Brooklyn, specifically Downtown Brooklyn and neighborhoods to the north and west, like Red Hook, Williamsburg and Sunset Park, where Spectrum is available. Plans and pricing: Like Optimum and Verizon Fios, Spectrum has speed tiers of 300Mbps, 500Mbps and gigabit service with max download speeds of 940Mbps. Introductory pricing is also similar to Verizon Fios at $50, $70 and $90 per month, though customers should anticipate a $30 price increase after 12 months.Fees and service details: Your modem is included at no extra cost, but renting a router will add $5 to your monthly bill. Spectrum does not have data caps or contracts.Read our Spectrum Internet review. As a fixed wireless provider, Starry internet works by sending high-powered internet signals over the air to dedicated receivers affixed to the top of buildings, which then send service through the building's existing infrastructure to the individual units within. Availability: If you're moving into a building within Starry's range (which includes roughly half of Brooklyn, mostly to the borough's north, east and center) and it's equipped for service, then Starry is definitely worth checking out.Plans and pricing: Starry's standard internet plan comes with max speeds of 200Mbps down and 100Mbps up for $50 per month. That's plenty of speed for most apartments and, with unlimited data and your equipment included at no extra cost, the pricing is on point. Other plan options may be available, all the way up to gig service, and all are priced competitively compared to other Brooklyn internet providers. Select buildings will be eligible for Starry's discount internet plan, Starry Connect, which offers symmetrical speeds up to 30Mbps for just $15 per month. That's cheaper than most discount internet plans and, other than living in a building where it's offered, there are no special requirements to sign up, such as showing proof of income or enrollment in WIC or school lunch programs.Fees and service details: There are no equipment fees, data caps or contracts required with Starry internet service.Read our Starry Internet review. Not all the providers listed above may be available at your address. It's also possible that other ISPs or internet service types may be an option in your area. Here's a quick comparison of all potential (and practical; I've left out satellite internet, for example) internet providers in Brooklyn. Source: CNET analysis of provider data.These internet providers may also be available in Brooklyn, but lack the availability or service qualities to be included among the best Brooklyn internet providers. Astound: Formerly known as RCN, Astound gives Optimum a run for its money for the title of cheapest internet provider in the area with plans starting at $25 per month, but service is highly limited to select blocks in Downtown Brooklyn and Coney Island. There's also a steep, steep price increase to look forward to. T-Mobile Home Internet: The arrival of 5G and its use for home internet is exciting, but the availability of cable, fiber and fixed wireless throughout Brooklyn makes T-Mobile's $50 plan with speeds of 72-245Mbps a little less enticing. But if you're interested, T-Mobile home internet is available in random spots throughout Brooklyn. Verizon Internet: As mentioned above, Verizon Fios covers most, but not all, of Brooklyn. The lacking locations may have access to Verizon Internet, a DSL-based service, but the slow speeds aren't worth your money when other options like cable internet, Starry or T-Mobile may be available. Xchange Telecom: Mainly a fixed wireless provider with some DSL and fiber mixed in, Xchange Telecom is specific to the NY metropolitan area with service covering much of Brooklyn north of Kings Highway. Speeds up to 1,000Mbps are available, according to the FCC, but actual speeds and pricing will vary based on your location and the available connection type. Satellite internet: No local list of internet providers would be complete without mentioning HughesNet and Viasat. Yes, they are probably available at your address, but slow speeds, high prices and restrictive data caps would make satellite internet an absolute last resort for internet in Brooklyn. You'd be better off rolling the dice with Xchange Telecom. Excluding some of the impractical, and often expensive, internet options like satellite service and Verizon's DSL, the average starting price for internet in Brooklyn is around $36 per month. That's lower than many areas, but Astound's cheap $25 per month plan is the main factor bringing the average down. Otherwise, expect the cheapest internet plans to run you between $40 and $50 per month, plus taxes and fees. Source: CNET analysis of provider data.Starry has arguably the best internet option for low-income households with its Starry Connect plan, which offers speeds up to 30Mbps starting at $15 per month. The only condition for signing up is living in a building where the plan is available. But let's say you don't live in a building with Starry Connect, what are your other options for affordable internet? Select Brooklyn internet providers also offer a discount internet plan available to qualifying low income households. Additionally, you can apply for the Affordable Connectivity Program credit, which will grant up to $30 per month for home internet. Here's where you can learn more about each provider's discount internet plans or programs: Average residential internet speeds are about the same as the rest of the US, but slightly lower than the state of New York. Keep in mind these are averages and not necessarily an indicator of what speeds to expect from your ISP. Plans with max speeds much faster than the Brooklyn averages are available from multiple providers. Excluding the addition of Verizon's new multigig plan, gigabit service with speeds at or around 1,000Mbps are the fastest you'll find from most Brooklyn ISPs. That's plenty fast for most homes, but if you have the need for more speed, it may be worth checking to see if Verizon's 2Gbps service is available and paying the high, though fair, price for it. Source: CNET analysis of provider data.With all that speed, it's easy to burn through data, which could pose a problem if any of the major Brooklyn internet providers enforced data caps. You won't have to worry about that with Astound, Verizon Fios, Optimum, Spectrum, Starry or T-Mobile, as all include unlimited data at no extra cost. Contracts aren't an issue either, as none of the providers mentioned above come with a term agreement or early termination fee for canceling service. With no penalty for canceling service, it may be worth your while to give every decent ISP available at your address a shot to see which suits you best for your home. Just keep in mind that if you cancel service while receiving promotional pricing or special offers from a particular provider, it likely won't be there for you if you decide to go back to that provider in the future. Most Brooklyn ISPs are reasonable when it comes to added fees as well. Optimum has the highest equipment fee at $10 per month, but you also have the option to use your own equipment. Other Brooklyn internet providers charge $5 or nothing at all for equipment. 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: 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 explainer on how we test ISPs.Yes. More than 86% of households in Kings County are eligible for fiber-optic internet service, according to the FCC. Verizon Fios is the largest fiber internet provider in Brooklyn, but fiber service may also be available from Optimum or Xchange Telecom. Brooklyn neighborhoods with the greatest fiber coverage include Red Hook, East Flatbush and Gravesend, while Downtown Brooklyn, New Utrecht, Brownsville and Kensington are among the neighborhoods with the least fiber coverage.If you're out and about, you can find free Wi-Fi in a few Brooklyn areas, including Fort Greene Park and Brooklyn Heights Promenade. Check out this NYC parks map to find more locations with free Wi-Fi. You can also find free Wi-Fi at many coffee shops, restaurants, hotels and other businesses throughout Brooklyn.As for free Wi-Fi at home, you'll need an internet connection for that, which won't be free unless you qualify for low-income programs that offset the cost of internet service. Most providers, including Verizon, Spectrum and Optimum charge an additional fee for Wi-Fi equipment but allow you to use your own compatible equipment and skip the fee, which would make the Wi-Fi aspect of your internet connection essentially "free."No. Xfinity does not offer internet service in Brooklyn. The major cable internet providers in Brooklyn are Astound, Optimum and Spectrum. Xfinity availability largely stops at the Jersey border, but there are select areas of Manhattan that are serviceable for Xfinity.Enter your address to view internet providers available near you