Best Internet Deals and Discounts for Veterans and Active Military

There are few providers that offer cash discounts on internet plans, and if that’s what you’re looking for, then Verizon Fios is your best bet. However, if you don’t mind getting other benefits instead, then Xfinity offers a range of great perks. And, if you want a discount but plan on bundling your internet with cellular lines, then T-Mobile is the way to go, considering its relatively deep discounts on cellular lines.

Members of the military and veterans should aim to get a fiber or cable internet plan that delivers speeds of 300Mbps or faster and costs around $60 to $80 a month.

If you’re shopping for internet for your home near the military base, your internet connection is likely more for personal and entertainment purposes than military purposes—so the things you should consider are the same as everyone else. But you may also want to look for an internet provider that’s widely available nationwide to give you the flexibility to keep your account if you change deployments. And veterans in rural areas should also look for internet service with adequate data allotments (and ideally unlimited data).

Here’s a breakdown of what internet to look for if you’re in the military:

You need enough bandwidth to cover Wi-Fi activities for you and anyone else in your household, and you also want a plan that meets your budget. A fiber or cable plan is best, but you probably don’t need gigabit speeds—unless you share your Wi-Fi with a lot of other roommates or family members. Run our speed test to see how fast your internet is right now, and see if you might need something with a little more oomph.

If you’re active military and living in the barracks or the base, then you likely don’t need your own plan at all, as the military usually provides internet.

“For those living in military housing on base, there is usually a single internet provider available, and you either purchase a plan through them or you simply don't have broadband internet,” says Lauren Hannula, managing editor of the mobile reviews site WhistleOut, who is married to a captain in the Marine Corps.

That may sound limiting, but depending on the provider, you likely have some options—you can upgrade to a plan with faster speeds, or opt for a slower plan to save money. Of course, you can also use a hotspot to give you Wi-Fi over a cellular network if you’re not so keen on the internet available on base.

If you’re living near the base or barracks, then you likely need to find your own internet. That’s what most people do: You can get a quick rundown of your internet options if you search your zip code below.

So what are the most important considerations to make when looking for internet plans, if you’re in the military? Well, it largely depends on your specific needs. Think about whether you just want internet for basic web browsing, in which case you can get a relatively low-speed plan, or if you want to be able to stream multiple devices at a time, connect many smart home devices, and more—in which case a higher-speed plan is the way to go.

Hannula and her husband have lived in several states across the country, but she’s done her best to keep her AT&T Fiber plan. “AT&T has been excellent for us,” she says. “Moving my service from place to place has been hassle free, even when we needed to have a brand-new fiber line drilled and installed into our Texas house. The tech was in and out within half an hour, if that, and we were up and running.”

Internet providers aren’t available everywhere, but some cable and fiber internet providers have a large enough nationwide network that you can keep your account and simply transfer addresses once you move. It also helps to have a plan that doesn’t require an annual contract so if you do need to cancel, you’re not on the hook for early termination fees.

It’s worth considering how long your orders are, and whether or not you’re likely to move in the near future. If so, bundling home internet and mobile service may not be the best idea—if you move and find that your previous home internet provider isn’t available in your new location, it impacts your cellular service too.

Other internet providers with a wide reach are Spectrum, Xfinity, and T-Mobile 5G Home Internet.

A quarter of U.S. military veterans live in rural parts of the United States. If you’re one of them, it’s entirely possible that you have limited options or no options at all among the traditional internet providers. Instead, consider a rural-focused internet provider like Rise Broadband or Starlink.

A lot of rural internet options have speed and data limits. “We’ve been looking for fast internet but can't find it—only 100Mbps [speeds],” says Juan Marin, a veteran for the U.S. Air Force who’s having trouble finding an adequate internet provider in a rural part of Arizona where he’s about to move.

Starlink gets solid reviews for a satellite provider, but the Space-X service’s plans are fairly expensive, and you have to pay a hefty fee up front for equipment. A traditional DSL or fixed wireless provider like Rise Broadband may be a better bet because you get unlimited data and adequate speeds without having to fork over $100+ a month.

Based on our research, Verizon is one of the only companies to offer an actual discount on internet plans for veterans and members of the military. To be clear, other services offer some perks for veterans and military members, but they typically don’t offer actual lower prices specifically for military families, outside of discounts offered through government programs like Lifeline.

Through Verizon’s awesome Fios fiber service, you can get a discount of between $5 and $15 per month, depending on the plan you go for. Fios customers who go for Verizon’s 300Mbps plan get $5 off, bringing the total to $44.99 per month before any other discounts. Customers with the 500Mbps plan get $10 off, making for a total of $64.99 before other discounts. And, those who go for the Gigabit plan or higher get $15 off every month, bringing the total to $74.99 per month before other discounts. Keep in mind that the military discount can be combined with other discounts. Discounts on the same whether you’re active in the military or a veteran.

The discount isn’t massive, but it is one of the few cash discounts on offer for home internet, so if you’re in the market for a home internet plan, it’s probably the way to go. Read on if you’re more interested in bundling mobile and home internet.

A widely available cable provider, Xfinity may not offer cash discounts on its internet plans, however, it does offer a large selection of perks for veterans and active members of the military. At the time of writing, the perks are set to expire on August 31, 2024, so it’s possible they may no longer be active, or be changed, in the near future.

The first perk is that Comcast gives customers a $180 virtual prepaid card, which can be used anywhere you want. Additionally, you get Xfinity Rewards Diamond status, which gives access to perks like Peacock Premium, among others that can be accessed through the Xfinity app. Members also get a free unlimited Xfinity Mobile line for a year—though keep in mind that after the year, you’ll need to pay. And lastly, if you move to an area without Xfinity home internet and want to keep your mobile line, Xfinity will waive the fee it charges other customers for only having a mobile line without a home line.

Although you can’t get a military discount for T-Mobile’s well-rated 5G home internet service, you can get a discount on one of its mobile plans—and as a result, it offers some great plans on bundles.

T-Mobile has three cellular plans for members of the military—Go5G Next Military ($85 for one line), Go5G Plus Military ($75 for one line), and Go5G Military ($60 for one line). These represent helpful discounts compared to its non-military plans. For example, Go5G Next typically costs $105 per month for one line, so you can get an impressive $20 discount. Members get all the same perks, too—for example, the Go5G Next plan offers Apple TV+ and Netflix Standard, along with 50GB of mobile hotspot access.

By extension, you can also get a discount on a T-Mobile home internet plan, just by virtue of having a T-Mobile mobile plan (not specifically because of your military service). T-Mobile’s Home Internet Unlimited plan costs $40 per month for those with a T-Mobile phone plan (instead of $55), and its Home Internet Plus plan costs $50 (instead of $75). T-Mobile doesn’t charge a fee to move home internet, however considering the fact that its availability is limited, you may not have the option of moving to a new address—so you need to double-check.

If you’re in the military (or part of a military family) and need a deal on internet, you should consider looking into government assistance programs.

The Lifeline program still exists, and veterans are eligible for assistance through the program. You’re eligible for the Lifeline program depending on income, but also if you’re already benefiting from the Veterans Pension and Survivors Benefit Program. Unfortunately, the Lifeline program doesn’t quite make the same impact as the Affordable Connectivity Program, but it can offer some discounts—up to $5.25 per month for a voice line or $9.25 for a broadband plan.

The Affordable Connectivity Program has been a solid government program to get discounted internet access—unfortunately, the plan came to an end in June. That’s due to congress failing to fund the program. There’s some hope that new funding could arrive in the future, or that another program may replace it. However, for now, it’s dead.

Unfortunately, there aren’t government programs to get free internet for veterans or members of the military.