Best Internet Plans and Deals for Students: Get Your Homework Done

Our take: Spectrum Internet might not have the razzle-dazzle of some hot new providers like Google Fiber or Starlink, but it’s infinitely better for student internet needs. Spectrum is available in or near the cities that are home to the 25 most-enrolled U.S. colleges, so chances of being in a coverage area are high.

Spectrum more than exceeds our speed and price requirements: With it, you can get more than 500Mbps for $50 a month. (For students, we recommend at least 200Mbps for $55 or less—perfect for checking your schedule on Canvas, attending class on Zoom, or relaxing with Fortnite.) There’s no major wallet-squeezing, at least not before price hikes kick in. And Spectrum offers student perks: A free modem (that means no equipment fees) and free antivirus (gotta keep that laptop operational all four years of undergrad). Read our Spectrum Internet review.

No, there’s no Spectrum college student discount. However, students who sign up with Spectrum receive perks: a free modem and antivirus software.

One way to lower your Spectrum bill is to bundle it with a Spectrum Mobile cellular line or TV service. Right now, when you sign up for a Spectrum Internet plan, you get a free mobile line for 12 months. That’s a great deal!

You can connect to free Spectrum access points through the My Spectrum app. Mobile customers receive free service through the access points, while internet customers get a limited free trial. After that, they need to pay.

Our take: T-Mobile 5G Home Internet checks the boxes for college students: Widespread network, fast enough, and affordable. Customers almost universally rate it highly for reliability and customer satisfaction. And while 5G service can be prone to outages due to its lack of physical connection, I have yet to hear any major reliability complaints from T-Mobile customers. Plus, no wiring means T-Mobile 5G is a great option if you’re in a living space where you can’t install heavy-duty equipment.

While T-Mobile doesn’t offer college-specific perks, the service already eschews equipment fees and other extra costs. You don’t have to dig into that slim student savings account to pay for any surprises. Read our T-Mobile 5G Home Internet review.

No, T-Mobile doesn’t offer financial help to college students. However, disadvantaged K–12 students can qualify for T-Mobile’s Project 10Million, which offers free internet for five years and a free T-Mobile hotspot.

Yes, T-Mobile 5G Home Internet is really $50 a month if you stick with the Rely Plan (which is what I recommend).

No, K–12 students enrolled with Project 10Million don’t have to pay for a T-Mobile hotspot. However, college students aren’t eligible for Project 10Million.

Our take: AT&T Fiber is available at over half the highest-enrolled colleges in the U.S., and it's relatively affordable for a student budget (you spend as little as $55 for 300Mbps). It has symmetrical speeds, meaning an upload speed that matches the download speed. That makes an AT&T Fiber plan particularly handy if you take art, videography, or photography classes.

AT&T doesn't offer a student internet discount, but it does offer a cell phone service discount for students, which can save you money when you spend on fiber. Read our AT&T Fiber review.

No, AT&T doesn’t offer a college student discount for internet, although it does have one for its mobile offering, AT&T Wireless.

One benefit of AT&T Fiber is its fiber-optic internet connection. Fiber internet is generally faster and more stable than other internet options.

Yes, you can install AT&T Fiber in an apartment if you live in an AT&T Fiber service area and the landlord gives permission. An AT&T technician completes the installation for you, so you don’t have to worry about running wires or connecting cables yourself.

Our take: Xfinity Internet is available in 39 states, so it’s all but guaranteed to be an option at your preferred school. Even if you move apartments or transfer to a different university, you can probably bring your Xfinity service with you. Xfinity's cheapest plan, Connect, starts at just $19.99 a month while delivering respectable speeds of up to 150Mbps, making it the perfect pick for a college student sharing an apartment with friends on a budget. You can check if it meets your needs using our Xfinity internet speed test. 

Although Xfinity has its faults (including a bad customer service rep for its owner company, Comcast), my brother John said it’s been quite reliable for his homework and online classes. Over the four years he’s used Xfinity, “We have had two outages that I can think of.” Read our Xfinity Internet review.

Yes, Xfinity does offer some college student discounts. But you might only know what deals you can get and whether you're eligible once you've shared your official student email address with Comcast.

Non-Xfinity and non-Comcast customers can use some Xfinity hotspots free of charge. But otherwise, you have to pay.

One way to make Xfinity Wi-Fi cheaper is to try an Xfinity bundle. You can combine your Xfinity internet with phone, TV, or even home security to get money off several services.

Our take: Good news for your modest part-time job paychecks: Mediacom’s Xtream Internet is one of the most inexpensive internet services, with plans starting at $19.99. (Just watch out for price hikes after the first year.) It’s also available at eleven of the U.S. colleges with the highest enrollment.

While Mediacom may not be the best long-term option (it has price hikes and data caps, and its cheapest plan runs pretty slow), it can save you money for at least a year. On a student budget, that makes a huge difference—it might even keep you from having ramen every. Single. Night. Read our Mediacom review.

No, Mediacom doesn't offer a college student discount, although college students might be able to use Xtream Connect if their families qualify for the low-income option.

After the first year, Mediacom’s Xtream Internet goes up by a minimum of $30, depending on the plan.

Connect2Complete is a low-income internet program that Mediacom used to participate in. It’s since replaced the program with Xtream Connect.

So how do these five top providers for college students compare to one another? Let's dig a little deeper.

Spectrum is the best option for college students overall, especially its starter plan: 500Mbps for $50 a month. And for the kicker, Spectrum provides students with a free modem, effectively eliminating equipment fees. That's an astonishingly good deal. It would be better if Spectrum were a full fiber provider instead of a partial fiber provider. Still, the physical connection between your home and the wider network makes for a stable internet experience.

In contrast, T-Mobile is (in theory) the least stable provider because of its wireless 5G connection, although it's actually rated well for reliability. In fact, T-Mobile is one of the most highly rated non-fiber providers. And while it's not the best deal up front (just 245Mbps for $50, half Spectrum's value), its lack of price hikes, equipment rental, and installation fees makes it a good money saver over time.

AT&T Fiber is my top fiber pick for students because it balances speed, price, and availability effectively. It's fast, not too costly, and you can get it at many popular universities—a trifecta many internet providers can't offer. Unlike T-Mobile's all-inclusive service, AT&T Fiber has some annoying fees, but you can balance those out by taking advantage of the student cell service discount.

Xfinity Internet shares Spectrum's penchant for price hikes, but it almost makes up for it by being absurdly prolific. Wherever your college is, you're practically guaranteed to be in an Xfinity service area. You could even get an Xfinity student deal if one's available in your area.

Lastly, Mediacom also has price hikes on its Xtream Internet service, but it starts so inexpensive that it's still worth considering. That discounted first twelve months can save students a lot more money than the higher-priced Spectrum or Xfinity do before their increases.

Don't be alarmed if none of these best providers are available at your college. A good option should still be nearby—you just have to find it.

Some internet services offer a college student discount or deal, but you typically need a student ID or official email address to qualify. So you may not be able to get your internet set up until right before or even after school starts—an inconvenience but hopefully not a dealbreaker.

You can even check with your school to see if it has a deal with a provider.

Whatever route you pursue, home internet without a discount costs about $81 a month on average, so keep that in mind as you compare deals. 

Although I've listed the best student internet providers above, other choices exist. You can find other great options at your chosen college.

The internet providers below are standout options for college students—not too expensive and sufficiently fast and reliable for your classes and schoolwork.

Your parents’ stories about their college experiences might be entertaining, but they’re missing something: The relevance of the internet to modern higher education.

“The entire college is basically through online now, even if you’re in an in-person class,” says Weber State University student (and my brother) John Sandorf. For students to truly get what they need out of this new age of college education, they need internet, and John feels the most important components for that internet are reliability and low cost.

Reliable home internet service is crucial for college students, especially commuter students who mainly complete homework and communicate with professors off-campus.

“College students need reliable internet because almost everything is submitted online with deadlines … you need to be able to be updated, know what’s going on,” says John. For instance, if a professor sends an email an hour before class saying it’s canceled, their students need a reliable internet connection to read that message. Otherwise, they might drive to campus for no reason (something that happened to me more than once during my college experience).

John says that although his home Xfinity internet service has been very reliable, even an occasional blip throws off his schoolwork cadence. “When I did have an outage, it was actually horrible. I was so stressed. Because I didn’t have the internet, I also couldn’t email my professors and let them know.”

Even if you live on campus, you may need to invest in a stable internet service separate from the campus-wide network. The constant connection of hundreds of students’ phones and laptops can strain your school’s internet, making it less reliable.

“Sometimes when I even have been on campus using their internet and it can be slow in certain places, it’s hard because I won’t know if something’s changed with an assignment,” says John.

While he finishes school, John lives with our parents, who graciously allow him to use their Xfinity internet free of cost. But if he had to pay for his own internet, it would need to be as inexpensive as possible, since he earns a sporadic income by being an extra in Hallmark and Lifetime movies over the summer: “[Low cost] is gonna be a need.”

Remember, you usually need a student ID or email address to get a student deal. If you're still looking for one at your school, many low-cost internet options are available in the U.S., some of which offer better prices than even a student deal.

Time to get that internet provider lined up for school! If you’re still deciding which provider to go with, you can enter your zip code in the form below to find what’s available at your housing.