Best Internet Providers in Bellingham, Washington – CNET
Posted on October 8, 2023
Best Internet Providers in Bellingham, Washington - CNET
Bellingham may have one of the greatest unofficial city nicknames ever: the City of Subdued Excitement. It dates to a mural painted in the ‘90s, but has stuck around as a loving tribute to a more relaxed town than its big-city neighbor to the south, Seattle. When it comes to high-speed home internet, though, it might be tough to drum up a lot of enthusiasm due to a lack of ISP competition in the area.
The heavyweight home internet contenders in Bellingham are CenturyLink and Xfinity. CenturyLink squeaks into the best ISP position, thanks to its fiber network. Xfinity, however, is a worthy foe with fast download speeds and wide availability.
Whenever you’re done with your scenic cruise along Chuckanut Drive or back from your visit to the Whatcom Museum, take a moment to tour with us through the best ISPs in Bellingham. Let’s see if we can achieve some subdued excitement for fiber, cable, DSL and 5G home internet.
CNET considers speeds, pricing, customer service and overall value to recommend the best internet service in Bellingham across several categories. Our evaluation includes referencing a proprietary database built over years of reviewing internet services. We validate that against provider information by spot-checking local addresses for service availability. We also do a close read of providers’ terms and conditions and, when needed, will call ISPs to verify the details.
Despite our efforts to find the most recent and accurate information, our process has some limitations you should know about. Pricing and speed data are variable: certain addresses may qualify for different service tiers, and monthly costs may vary, even within a city. The best way to identify your options is to plug your address into a provider’s website.
Also, the prices, speed and other information listed above and in the provider cards below may differ from what we found in our research. The cards display the full range of a provider’s pricing and speed across the US, according to our database of plan information provided directly by ISPs. At the same time, the text is specific to what’s available in Bellingham. The prices referenced within this article’s text come from our research and include applicable discounts for setting up automatic payments each month — a standard industry offering. Other discounts and promotions might also be available for things like signing a term contract or bundling with multiple services.
To learn more about how we review internet providers, visit our full methodology page.
Best internet in Bellingham in 2023
Most Bellingham residents (I can’t quite bring myself to call them Bellinghamsters) will choose between DSL, cable or fiber. Quantum Fiber’s fast uploads and straightforward plans earn it a special nod among the best ISPs in the city.
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...Or call to order: Call to Learn More (877) 609-6623
Product details
Price range $50 – $165 per month Speed range 500 – 8,000Mbps Connection Fiber Key Info Unlimited data, no contracts, equipment included
CenturyLink has two sides to its personality. Its older DSL network has a wide reach but suffers from slow speeds. Its fiber network (branded as Quantum Fiber) has a limited reach but superior download and upload speeds. If your choices are down to DSL or Xfinity, you’ll want to strongly consider Xfinity. If you can get fiber, though, you’ll want to give weight to Quantum Fiber’s simple plans and symmetrical speeds.
Availability: CenturyLink DSL covers most of the broader Bellingham area. The fiber network is more scattered, but you’ll find it around the Lettered Streets, Birchwood, the Broadway Park historic district and the Columbia neighborhood. Some fiber pockets are around Western Washington University and as far north as the King Mountain neighborhood.
Plans and pricing: CenturyLink’s DSL service provides speeds up to 100Mbps (though your available top speed may be radically lower) for $50 monthly. Quantum Fiber has two main options: 500Mbps for $50 per month or 940Mbps for $75 per month.
Fees and service details: Both fiber and DSL plans have unlimited data and no contract. Installation charges can vary. You might find it’s free, $15 or possibly much higher depending on location and special offers. A DSL modem lease runs $15 per month, or you can buy for $200 or provide your own gear. Look for a fiber offer online that includes equipment for no extra cost.
...Or call to order: Call to Learn More (877) 498-5506
Product details
Price range $20 – $300 per month Speed range 75 – 6,000Mbps Connection Cable Key Info Data caps on some plans, lots of plan options, solid customer satisfaction numbers
Availability, a decent 1,200Mbps top speed and low introductory prices put Xfinity in the conversation as one of the best ISPs in Bellingham. Sorting out plans and picking out the best deal for you can be challenging, but prices are reasonable for the first year or two.
Availability: Xfinity reaches far and wide across the greater Bellingham area (99%, according to the Federal Communications Commission), so chances are good it services your neighborhood.
Plans and pricing: If you’re looking for many plan options, then Xfinity is the ISP for you. Speeds range from 75Mbps to 1,200Mbps, while monthly prices swing from $20 to $80. Within that, you can also choose from 200Mbps, 400Mbps, 800Mbps or 1,000Mbps plans.
Fees and service details: Picking an Xfinity plan requires spending some quality time with the details of fees, contracts and equipment. Sure, that $20-per-month 75Mbps plan seems cheap, but you have to sign up for a one-year contract and either rent equipment for $15 per month or provide your own. On the high end, the 1,200Mbps plan costs $80 and includes equipment. Watch out for price hikes after your initial one or two-year promotional period. Most plans come with a 1.2TB data cap.
Best 5G wireless internet in Bellingham, Washington
...Or call to order: Call to Learn More (877) 687-6988
Product details
Price range $50 per month ($30 for eligible mobile customers) Speed range 72 – 245Mbps Connection Fixed wireless Key Info Unlimited data, equipment included, no contracts, no additional fees
T-Mobile’s 5G home internet service is an unfussy way to get online. It won’t reach the top speeds of cable or fiber, but it’s affordable and can be a functional alternative to wired ISPs. Here’s what you need to know about 5G home internet.
Availability: T-Mobile calls its latest and greatest network “5G Ultra Capacity.” Zoom in on Bellingham in the T-Mobile coverage map to check availability in your neighborhood. T-Mobile has the area well covered, but that doesn’t necessarily mean home internet slots are open in your area. You may end up on a waitlist.
Plans and pricing: T-Mobile’s one plan costs $50 monthly for typical speeds of 72 to 245Mbps. You can knock that fee down to $30 per month if you bundle it with an eligible phone plan.
Fees and service details: You won’t find any surprises in the plan terms. There’s no contract or data cap, and equipment is included. You may have to pay a $35 service fee when you sign up, but T-Mobile has been offering a reward card that makes up for it.
Xfinity and CenturyLink are the biggest competitors in Bellingham, but they’re not the only ISP options in town. Rural residents with few choices should check local provider PogoZone or consider satellite internet if other ISPs don’t work out.
Astound Broadband: A few households in the Bellingham area might be able to get Astound cable internet (formerly Wave Broadband), but it’s unlikely. “While Astound serves a significant base of business customers in Bellingham, the company’s network reaches a much more limited residential footprint — and a majority of residential consumers in and around Bellingham do not have access to Astound’s network and services,” an Astound spokesperson told me. It’s still worth noting the ISP’s presence in the area.
PogoZone: Bellingham is mainly serviced by big ISPs, but there is a local alternative with PogoZone. PogoZone specializes in fixed wireless and services most of Whatcom County, so it should be on the radar for rural residents who need to get online. Speeds will vary with location. The ISP also offers some fiber services in the area. PogoZone doesn’t advertise speeds, so you’ll need to talk to a sales rep to get details on pricing and plans for your address.
Ziply: You won’t find Ziply in the main part of Bellingham, but it is an option for some of the surrounding areas primarily via the ISP’s DSL network. This has the usual drawbacks of DSL, with the main beef being slow speeds. For example, I found Ziply DSL service to a Bellingham address in the north that maxed out at just 18Mbps for $75 per month. For Ziply’s fiber network, you must go to another town, like Ferndale.
Satellite internet: When even DSL and fixed wireless don’t reach your home, you may need to look into satellite service from Starlink, HughesNet or Viasat. The downside is that speeds aren’t always great and can be expensive. Starlink has the potential for faster speeds than its competitors, but be prepared for a hefty up-front equipment cost of $599.
Bellingham broadband at a glance
Xfinity and CenturyLink dominate Bellingham home internet, but you may find an alternative internet home with T-Mobile or PogoZone. Pricing varies between the ISPs, but there are some very affordable ways to get online and some good-value plans to consider.
Alan Majchrowicz/Getty Images
Pricing details on Bellingham home internet service
Limited choice in ISPs also means limited options for plans. Xfinity, however, has a wide variety of plans and pricing, and its cheapest options come in at under $40 per month. If you have breathing room in your budget, look into Quantum Fiber’s intro-level 500Mbps fiber plan for $50 per month. That’s a decent value, but you might also consider hopping up to the $70-per-month level for the full 940Mbps upload and download speeds.
Cheap internet options in Bellingham
Regarding low introductory prices for home internet, Xfinity has you covered. It’s tough to find anything cheaper than the Xfinity Connect 75Mbps plan, but it’s only a great deal if you have your own equipment and don’t need to drop an extra $15 per month on gear rental. Instead, check into the 200Mbps plan for $35 monthly with an xFi Gateway included. Be sure to brush up on your negotiation skills for when your price rises down the line.
If your budget is tight, check your federal Affordable Connectivity Program eligibility. It can get you $30 off (or $75 off on tribal lands) your monthly internet bill. Most ISPs participate, translating to cheap or free internet for qualified households. Xfinity, for example, has special free plans for ACP customers with speeds up to 100 Mbps.
A recent peek at Ookla’s Speedtest.net data showed Bellingham with a median fixed-internet download speed of just under 182Mbps. It’s possible to top a gig in download speed if you go with Xfinity’s fastest plan at 1,200Mbps. Quantum Fiber comes in just under the gig level. CenturyLink’s DSL network may be widespread, but speeds can be lacking.
Fastest internet providers in Bellingham
Xfinity offers the fastest residential internet in town with a top speed of 1,200Mbps. Quantum Fiber goes up to 940Mbps, but it has the advantage of equally fast uploads, while Xfinity’s upload speed maxes out at 35Mbps. Bellingham residents don’t yet have access to some of the multigig plans that have popped up in other cities. If sheer download speed is your goal, Xfinity is the ISP to consider.
What are the fastest internet plans in Bellingham?
How CNET chose the best internet providers in Bellingham
Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the latest smartphone, laptop, router or kitchen tool, it’s impractical to personally test every internet service provider in a given city. So what’s our approach? For starters, we tap into a proprietary database of pricing, availability and speed information that draws from our own historical ISP data, partner data 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 consider every ISP that provides service in an area. We also input local addresses on provider websites to find specific options for residents. We look at sources, including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Power, to evaluate how happy customers are with an ISP’s service. ISP plans and prices are subject to frequent changes; all information provided is accurate as of publication.
Once we have this localized information, we ask three main questions:
Does the provider offer access to reasonably fast internet speeds?
Do customers get decent value for what they’re paying?
Are customers happy with their service?
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. When selecting the cheapest internet service, we look for the plans with the lowest monthly fee, though we also factor in things like price increases, equipment fees and contracts. Choosing the fastest internet service is relatively straightforward. We look at advertised upload and download speeds and consider real-world speed data from sources like Ookla and FCC reports.
To explore our process in more depth, visit our How we test ISPs page.
What’s the final word on internet providers in Bellingham?
Bellingham is mostly a two-ISP town. There’s Xfinity and CenturyLink (which includes fiber service from Quantum Fiber). However, local provider PogoZone is available as an alternative if you’re not happy with your service from the bigger competitors. Xfinity has reasonable speeds with wide availability. Quantum Fiber is a strong option if you can get it. If it’s down to CenturyLink DSL or Xfinity cable, you’ll likely be happier with Xfinity’s speedier offerings.
Quantum Fiber is your ticket to residential fiber internet in Bellingham. It’s not available everywhere in town, but it’s a good value for those who can get it. The top speed is 940Mbps for both downloads and uploads for $70 per month.
Which internet provider in Bellingham offers the fastest plan?
Xfinity’s 1,200Mbps Gigabit Extra is the speed king for Bellingham, but only if we’re sticking to downloads. When it comes to uploads, Quantum Fiber’s symmetrical 940Mbps plan keeps your data moving in both directions.
The answer to this question depends on CenturyLink’s internet connection to your home. CenturyLink DSL is an older network; speeds can be at a crawl, depending on your location. If it’s DSL versus Xfinity’s faster cable network, prioritize Xfinity. If it’s between Quantum Fiber (a sibling company to CenturyLink) and Xfinity, you may prefer Quantum Fiber’s speedy uploads and more straightforward plans and pricing. Read CNET’s comparison of CenturyLink and Xfinity home internet.
