With almost 30 billion IoT devices in use worldwide and 90% of Americans owning a smart device, this convenience comes with an inbuilt problem...

All those smart devices in our homes need a brisk internet connection to bring out the best in them. From your video doorbell and security lights to your voice-controlled smart TV and WiFi thermostat, all these devices demand seamless WiFi connectivity.

When you’re searching for ISPs, you should consider whether regular WiFi will suffice or if you need a faster fiber connection. Take the amount of data you need into account and choose an unlimited package if necessary.

Beyond this and as a general rule of thumb, avoid the very cheapest bundles as they typically won’t give you the speeds and reliability you need for a household packed with smart devices.

Rather than confusing you with a wide array of choices, we’ve got two suggestions for you if you want quick, dependable home WiFi:

• AT&T

• Spectrum

AT&T

If you’re looking for gigabit-speed internet and you don’t mind committing to a one-year contract, have you considered AT&T? The number one US internet provider for customer service and overall satisfaction, this ISP is well worth considering if you have a home stuffed with smart tech.

With DSL plans, you could be stuck with slower download speeds. Fiber packages, though, offer speeds of 940 Mbps if available in your area.

If you’re a data monster, you should avoid those DSL connections as they come with a data cap.

Key Benefits

• Speeds to 100 Mbps

• Cheap modem and router rental fees

• Impressive and responsive customer care

Downside

• You’ll need to commit to a one-year contract

Spectrum

Are you resistant to the idea of locking yourself into a contract for home internet? Well, with Spectrum you don’t need to. Cancel at any time with no prohibitive early redemption fees.

Packages come with a free modem and anti-virus software so you can keep your home network fully secured. This is vital if you plan to install smart devices. As an aside, you should regularly reset your router if you’re using smart devices to protect yourself against malware.

Add streaming services to your internet connection for a complete package. Internet speeds are close to gigabit territory so you can easily accommodate a suite of smart kit.

Key Benefits

• Super-swift speeds to 940 Mbps

• One-hour installation window

• Streaming services available

Downside

• Limited availability of 940 Mbps speeds

Final Thoughts

All that counts when you’re looking for the best internet providers for smart devices is finding the smoothest fit for you and your ecosystem. If you live alone and have just a smart doorbell, you won’t have the same priorities as a large family with heavy download habits and a sprawling connected home.

So, think about speed as well as contract length and any penalty charges. Make sure any data caps in place are acceptable or seek all-you-can-eat packages if you don’t want those restrictions.

We would suggest starting your search with AT&T or Spectrum but you should also consider any other options with a solid reputation in your area.

Get all these things right and you’ll have no problem finding the best internet provider for your needs.

5 Things You Didn’t Know About Spectrum

With download speeds outflanking Comcast and Cox, Spectrum’s cable internet service gives speeds touching 940 Mbps in the following areas:

• Austin, TX

• Charlotte, NC

• Cincinnati, OH

• Kansas City, MO

• New York, NY

• Oahu, HI

• Raleigh, NC

• San Antonio, TX 

Elsewhere in the US, expect to hit speeds from 200 to 940 Mbps according to the manufacturer’s website.

Whether you want Spectrum TV, an internet-only service, or an all-inclusive package extending to your phone, what else should you know about this cord-cutting company?

Today, we’ll highlight 5 things you might not know about Spectrum so you can assess whether this ISP’s product line might be worth exploring further.

5 Things You Didn’t Know About Spectrum

1. You won’t be tied into a restrictive contract

2. Super-swift downloads with speeds nudging 1000 Mbps in some areas

3. Take advantage of one-hour installation window to save waiting around all day

4. Streaming service available if you have a Spectrum internet connection

5. Spectrum offer robust business plans for less than you might imagine

1) You won’t be tied into a restrictive contract

With most ISPs, you must commit to a long-term contract to benefit from keener prices. While you might get a short-term discount, what happens if unexpected circumstances mean you want to cancel that contract? With many providers, you’ll face stiff early redemption penalties.

Spectrum offers you internet services you can easily cancel at any stage but this flexibility comes at a cost. Expect price increases once your promotional rate expires after the first year. Price hikes vary from customer to customer.

There’s only one internet plan available - more on the impressive speeds right below - along with on-demand TV, and a bundle. Whichever you choose, you can stop your subscription at any time with no questions asked.

You’ll get a free modem and free antivirus software along with uncapped data usage and commendable speeds on the download.

If you’re tempted to try the streaming service but you’re not sure if you’d like it, you have nothing much to risk as you can just cancel the package at any stage.

Now, a bit more on those speeds…

2) Super-swift downloads with speeds nudging 1000 Mbps in some areas

In today’s households crammed with gaming consoles, laptops, tablets, cell phones, and smart devices, who isn’t looking for brisk internet speeds?

Spectrum delivers the quickest starting speeds for the money with some areas benefiting from gigabit internet and blistering speeds of 940 Mbps.

Whether you’re a heavy online gamer looking for a lag-free experience, or you work from home doing lots of heavy lifting for your SEO company, get speeds to suit with Spectrum.

3) Take advantage of one-hour installation window to save waiting around all day

What’s one of the worst things about switching internet service providers?

For us, it’s waiting around all day for installation with no fixed time arranged. You could take the entire day off only to find the technician arrives at 7pm.

With Spectrum, you’ll be issued with a set time and a guarantee the technician won’t be delayed by more than one hour. While not perfect, this allows you to block off your day more easily to accommodate installation.

4) Streaming service available if you have a Spectrum internet connection

While Spectrum TV Stream is a nimble and affordable streaming platform, you’ll need a Spectrum internet connection to take advantage of this service.

Priced at just $44 monthly, you’ll get access to over 200 channels you can watch across your devices using the Spectrum TV app. Premium viewing ranges from HBO and SHOWTIME to STARZ and The Movie Channel.

If you’re looking for entertainment on the go, access up to 30,000 on-demand TV shows on any connected device.

As with all Spectrum services, you won’t need to panic about locking yourself into a lengthy commitment. You can bail out at any time and for any reason.

5) Spectrum offer robust business plans for less than you might imagine

Spectrum internet is not limited to residential packages.

The baseline package gives more than acceptable speeds of up to 100 Mbps. This is priced at a competitive $59.99 monthly. Spectrum recommends this package for up to 10 users with moderate needs.

You can step things up to cater for more users with the top $249.99 package ideal for up to 40 heavy users transferring lots of data.

The added kicker is that the streaming services make a neat bolt-on for many business owners in the hospitality industry. Get all you need in one simple bundle rather than dealing with multiple providers.

Final Thoughts

What are your thoughts on Spectrum now you have a snapshot of their offerings?

If you’re looking for quick internet and a solid streaming service under one roof, Spectrum is well worth exploring further. You won’t face any fees if you want to cancel and you’ll get generally responsive customer care.

As with all decisions about ISPs, yours will be largely dictated by the best providers in your area. We hope you’ve found some useful pointers about Spectrum here today and good luck finding the best ISP for your needs.

Your Guide to the Best Internet Providers in Denver

In Colorado, 79.9% of the population uses the internet. Needless to say, the majority of the population is hooked up digitally.

Perhaps you've just moved to Denver, or maybe you're looking to switch internet providers. Either way, you've been searching "internet providers near me," trying to find the fastest internet available. Not only that, but you're looking for a price comparison on all your choices so you can get the best deals around.

In that case, you're in the right place. We'll give you a detailed guide on the best internet providers in Denver you can use.

CenturyLink

CenturyLink is a pretty big name in the industry; it was founded in 1930. So it should come as no surprise that their DSL service covers 94% of Denver and their fastest speed is 140 Mbps. This means you can get pretty quick internet speeds if you sign up with CenturyLink.

DSL stands for "digital subscriber line" and much quicker than the old-school dial-up internet. It's pretty comparable to cable internet, although in some areas, you'll get faster speeds. They also offer fiber optic internet, which covers 47.1% of the city.

Plans

CenturyLink offers several internet-only plans. They are speeds of up to 15, 20, 80, 100, and 940 Mbps. The pricing is just $49 per month for all packages. You'll need to get paperless billing to get these prices.

The exception of the 9490 Mbps one (Fiber Gigabit plan). With this one, you'll have to pay $65 per month.

Based on this, it's probably worth it for you to sign up up for the 100 Mbps plan, as you'll get the quickest download speed possible for the same price as the other packages (except for the Fiber Gigabit one).

If you need lightning-quick speeds, the Fiber Gigabit is well worth it, as you'll only have to pay $16 more per month to get almost 10 times the speed of the 100 Mbps plan! Do note that this is only available in select areas, so you may not have this option open to you.

Reviews

In general, CenturyLink offers solid services. Out of almost 62,000 customers, over 35% said they'd recommend this company's internet services.

While those numbers aren't terribly great, it still may be worth checking out.

Xfinity

Xfinity is also another big name in the industry; it was first founded in 1981. They offer cable internet with a city coverage of 98.2%, which is around 41 zip codes in Denver. The fastest speed you'll get with this company is 987 Mbps.

Plans

With Xfinity, you'll enjoy 6 different plans. They are as follows:

• 25 Mbps: $29.99/month
• 100 Mbps: $34.99/month
• 200 Mbps: $49.99/month
• 300 Mbps: $64.99/month
• 600 Mbps: $74.99/month
• 1,000 Mbps: $84.99/month

As you can see, the range of prices for Xfinity gives you more flexibility than with CenturyLink, where prices were uniform across the board for all DSL options. However, once you get past the 300 Mbps range, Xfinity's plans do get more expensive.

Reviews

You'll be happy to learn that for the majority of Xfinity customers, they'd recommend this company. They're satisfied with both the plans' affordability and excellent customer service.

Fixed Wireless Internet

Fixed wireless internet is a great alternative to DSL, cable, and fiber optics if you live somewhere that's more rural and you can't get those services out there.

Instead of getting online through wires and cables, you connect through radio waves that are broadcast out to your area. As a result, you won't need to hook up anything besides a receiver on your house.

A caveat to this type of internet is that you'll get slower speeds than you would with DSL, cable, or fiber optics. It's not always stable either, as bad weather conditions can affect how strong the signal is.

Here are some fixed wireless internet options you can get in Denver.

Rise Broadband

Rise Broadband is pretty new on the scene, as they were only just founded in 2005. But that doesn't necessarily mean you won't get great service from them.

This internet service provider covers about 53.6% of the city, which means you have about a 50/50 chance of receiving service for your home.

Rise Broadband offers 3 plans of up to 25 or 50 Mbps. They are:

• 25 Mbps (250 GB/month data cap): $29.95/month
• 50 Mbps (no data caps): $49.95/month
• 25 Mbps (no data caps): $59.99/month

For the first 2 plans, these are promo rates that will increase by $10 in your second year of usage.

Unfortunately, Rise Broadband doesn't get very good reviews from their customers; they have a rating of 1.7 out of 5.0 stars. But if you live somewhere with no other service providers, you may not have any choice but this company for internet access.

Aerux Broadband

Aerux Broadband is also relatively new, as they were established in 2003. They have a city coverage of 76.9%, so there's a good chance you can receive their services where you live. 

Aerux Broadband has 5 different plans available. You can choose from:

• 20 Mbps: $99/month
• 30 Mbps: $129/month
• 40 Mbps: $149/month
• 50 Mbps: $169/month
• 100+ Mbps: call for pricing

For the fastest plan, it may not be available in all areas, so you'll have to call and check. If they do provide this service where you live, you can also ask for a quote.

There aren't many reviews available on Aerux Broadband, but the few that are available seem to be quite positive. As you can see, this ISP is more expensive than Rise Broadband, but the positive reviews may be worth it to pay extra.

DirectLink

DirectLink first came on the wireless broadband scene in 2002. They cover 41.5% of Denver over 28 zip codes.

You can choose from 3 plants with DirectLink: Basic Plus, Gold Plan, and Gold Plan Plus. Here's what you get with each plan:

• 6 Mbps: $49.90/month
• 15 Mbps: $69.90/month
• 25 Mbps: $89.90/month

As you can see, they offer some of the priciest plans around and the speeds aren't very fast when compared with the other fixed wireless internet providers.

In addition, although there aren't many, their reviews are pretty lackluster. This, combined with their low speeds and high prices, probably makes DirectLink not your first choice. But again, if you're somewhere pretty rural, you may have no choice but to subscribe to DirectLink.

Starry Internet

Starry Internet may just be the newest internet provider on this list; it was established in 2016. They have a city coverage of 28.5% over 20 zip codes, so you might not receive service in your area.

What's great about Starry Internet is they eliminate the dilemma of determining which internet package is right for you. They offer only one package, which gives you 200 Mbps at $50/month. When compared to the other fixed wireless internet providers on this list, this is quite a steal.

They have close to a 5-star rating on the internet, with the majority of customers being pleasantly surprised and impressed by their internet services and prices. This makes Starry Internet a top contender for ISPs of this internet type.

LiveWire

LiveWire's a local internet provider that's been serving the state of Colorado ever since 1999. Despite this fact, they only cover about 6.3% of Denver, which is 10 zip codes. So there's a very small chance your neighborhood is included.

Unfortunately, LiveWire isn't very transparent about what plans they have and how much they cost. They do allow visitors to use a service coverage map to determine whether or not they can receive service. But after that, you'll have to fill in a form with your service address to get more information.

There are very little reviews online about LiveWire and the ones that are there aren't very positive. This ISP should probably be on your backup list for these reasons.

Verso Networks

Verso Networks provides residential fixed wireless internet services under the name WiFi Hood. It'll be hard to find coverage with this ISP, as they only provide service to about 4.4% of Denver, over 21 zip codes.

This company offers 4 different plans. They are:

• 25 Mbps: $39.95/month
• 50 Mbps: $59.95/month
• 100 Mbps: $79.95/month
• 200 Mbps: $99.95/month

You can also opt for quarterly or yearly billing to get bigger savings. Also, if you cancel in the middle, you only have to pay a prorated price. This makes Verso Networks a very flexible ISP.

Not surprisingly, they've received lots of fantastic reviews from their customers. Not only do they have great internet plans, but they also provide their customers with excellent and prompt service.

Satellite Internet

While the best choices for getting online maybe be cable, DSL, and fiber internet, you may not always get those choices. You may not even be able to get fixed wireless internet in some cases.

In that case, not all hope is lost. There's still satellite internet available, which isn't quite high-speed internet at times, but at least it's a stable way for you to get online. This type of internet can offer you similar speeds to DSL and cable; however, it may feel a bit more sluggish than those 2 options because of the latency.

Read on to find out about the satellite internet providers in Denver.

Viasat

When it comes to rural internet, Viasat is one of the best providers to use. They were first established in 1986 and provide 100% coverage in Denver. So you won't have to worry about not being able to get their satellite internet services, whenever you're located.

There are several plants with different Viasat speeds. They include:

• Liberty 12 (12 Mbps; 12 GB/month data cap): $50/month 
• Liberty 25 (12 Mbps; 25 GB/month data cap): $75/month
• Liberty 50 (12 Mbps; 50 GB/month data cap): $100/month
• Unlimited Silver 25 (25 Mbps; no data cap): $150/month

Once you're done with your priority data in these Viasat deals, you'll still be able to access the internet, just at slower speeds. You can also choose to purchase additional priority data. What's great is any usage from 3:00 am until 6:00 am do not count toward your priority data usage.

For most customers, they have positive things to say about Viasat. The speeds and prices are acceptable, especially when it comes to rural usage.

HughesNet

Out of the Viasat alternatives, HughesNet is their major competitor. This company was established in 1971 and they provide 100% coverage in Denver, as is expected with satellite internet.

With HughesNet, you'll have 3 choices for plans. They are:

• 25 Mbps (20 GB/month data cap): $69.99/month
• 25 Mbps (30 GB/month data cap): $99.99/month
• 25 Mbps (50 GB/month data cap): $149.99/month

With all these HughesNet deals, you'll get an extra 50 GB per month to use during off-peak hours. This is between 2:00 am to 8:00 am.

When you compare HughesNet with Viasat, they're about the same when it comes to internet speeds and prices. However, Viasat has a leg up because they offer 25 Mbps download speeds without a data cap at the same price that HughesNet offers 25 Mbps, but with a 50 GB/month data cap.

This company also has lower overall ratings when compared to Viasat. So if you have a choice, we'd suggest considering HughesNet alternatives, even if it's just Viasat at a satellite internet level. You won't have to worry about hitting data limits if you opt for the highest-tiered plan.

Choose From the Best Internet Providers in Denver

Now you have a comprehensive list of the best internet providers in Denver. With a better understanding of what's available, you'll be able to make a better decision for your household.

When it comes to DSL and cable, you pretty much only have 2 choices: CenturyLink or Xfinity. Otherwise, you'll have to look into either fixed wireless or satellite internet to get your household connected.

With the help of KonectEaze, you'll be able to search and find internet deals that give you the best bang for your buck. We'll show you all the internet plans available so you don't feel like you're limited in your choices.

Are you ready to find the best internet deals? Then start searching now. Our search tool encompasses over 40,000 zip codes!