Best Internet Providers in Santa Fe, New Mexico – CNET
Posted on October 5, 2023
Best Internet Providers in Santa Fe, New Mexico - CNET
What is the best internet provider in Santa Fe?
Xfinity is the best internet provider in Santa Fe, with both the fastest and cheapest plans in the city. It’s available almost everywhere, but be prepared for your monthly bill to spike once you hit your third year of service. If you don’t want to worry about those kinds of headaches, T-Mobile guarantees your price won’t increase as long as you maintain service, but its speeds might not be enough for households with a lot of devices using the internet at once. NMSurf is a step up down from Xfinity and T-Mobile, but it still provides better value than satellite or DSL service from CenturyLink.
CNET considers speeds, pricing, customer service and overall value to recommend the best internet service in Santa Fe across a number of 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 tiers of service, and monthly costs may vary, even within a city. The best way to identify your particular 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, while the text is specific to what’s available in Santa Fe. 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 be available as well, 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 Santa Fe, New Mexico
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...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
Xfinity is the only internet provider in Santa Fe that offers cable or fiber internet service — the default option for most people shopping for internet. Its prices increase significantly after two years, but most customers are still relatively happy with their service. Xfinity scored two points above the industry average in the most recent American Customer Satisfaction Index report and above average in Santa Fe’s region in J.D. Power’s most recent survey.
Availability: Xfinity’s cable internet service is available to 98% of residents in Santa Fe, according to FCC data.
Plans and pricing: Xfinity offers six plans in Santa Fe, ranging from 75Mbps for $20 per month to 1,200Mbps for $80. After two years, prices increase by from $18 to $31 per month on all plans. (The $20 plan increases after both the first and second years.)
Fees and service details: A one-year contract is required on the cheapest Xfinity plan to get the best rate. Equipment rental adds $15 a month, but this is waived on every plan but the cheapest one. Xfinity also has a limit of 1.2TB of data each month if you use your own equipment; if you use Xfinity’s equipment, you’ll get unlimited data. It also costs $15 to have Xfinity’s self-installation kit mailed to you.
...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 uses its cellphone network to send internet to your home, and it’s a great option for households with only one or two internet users. It has the highest approval rating of any nonfiber provider in the country, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, and T-Mobile says it won’t ever raise your price.
Availability: 51% of Santa Fe residents have access to T-Mobile Home Internet, according to FCC data.
Plans and pricing: T-Mobile offers one plan for $50 a month with average download speeds up to 245Mbps and upload speeds up to 31Mbps. You can save an additional $20 each month by bundling with an eligible T-Mobile cellphone plan.
Fees and service details: There are no equipment fees, data caps or contracts with T-Mobile Home Internet. Prices are locked in for as long as you remain a customer, and you can try it out on a 15-day trial.
...Or call to order: Call to Learn More (877) 687-6988
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...Or call to order: Call to Learn More (undefined) undefined-undefined
Product details
Price range $40 – $50 per month Speed range 25 – 100Mbps Connection Fixed wireless Key Info No data caps, contracts required for best price, high equipment fees
I’ll be honest: In most cities, NMSurf wouldn’t be one of our recommendations. Its speeds top out at 100Mbps for $50 a month, and you’ll need to get an antenna installed on your roof. I also had to fill out a contact form and wait for an email from NMSurf to get details on its service — an easy, but slightly annoying added step. But even with all those drawbacks, NMSurf is still a significant step up from satellite and DSL, and it’s available almost everywhere in Santa Fe.
Availability: NMSurf is available to 99% of Santa Fe residents.
Plans and pricing: NMSurf offers three fixed wireless plans in Santa Fe: 25/7Mbps for $40 a month, 50/10Mbps for $45 and 100/25Mbps for $50.
Fees and service details: To get the prices listed above, you’ll have to commit to a two-year contract, but NMSurf also offers one-year and month-to-month options. Equipment charges add an extra $20 each month, and there’s a one-time installation fee of $150. All plans include unlimited data.
CenturyLink: CenturyLink only offers DSL plans in Santa Fe, which is considered a slower type of connection. Speeds go up to 100Mbps at most addresses in the city, which is a decent option for smaller households. I’d still recommend going with NMSurf if you can’t get Xfinity or T-Mobile, but CenturyLink is a significant step up from the satellite providers.
Satellite internet: Typically reserved for rural areas without any other options, satellite providers like HughesNet and Viasat offer service everywhere in Santa Fe, but there’s not much to recommend about them. They’re more expensive than the other options, and slow speeds and data caps make things like streaming and video conferencing difficult. Starlink is a faster option with unlimited data, but it’s $120 a month with an upfront equipment cost of $599.
Verizon 5G Home Internet: If it was more widely available, Verizon would easily be one of our top picks in Santa Fe. It offers some of the fastest speeds in the city at reasonable prices, but it’s currently only available to 9% of households.
Cheap internet options in Santa Fe
There are seven internet plans available in Santa Fe for $50 a month or less. That’s the same as nearby cities like Albuquerque and Colorado Springs and two more than Phoenix. Xfinity’s Connect and Connect More are some of the cheapest plans you’ll find anywhere, but they increase to $51 and $63, respectively, by year 3.
How to find internet deals and promotions in Santa Fe
The best internet deals and the top promotions in Santa Fe depend on what discounts are available during that time period. Most deals are short-lived, but we look frequently for the latest offers.
Santa Fe internet providers such as Xfinity may offer lower introductory pricing or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Many, however, including T-Mobile and NMSurf, run the same standard pricing year-round.
For a more extensive list of deals, check out our guide to the best internet deals.
How fast is Santa Fe broadband?
Santa Fe residents don’t have as many options for high-speed internet plans as other cities of its size. Only Xfinity and Verizon offer gig speeds, and the latter is only available to about 1 in 10 residents. That said, most houses can make do with much less than 1,000Mbps of download speed, although 35Mbps of upload speed may still be limiting for houses with multiple people videoconferencing or online gaming.
Most internet connection plans can now handle basic productivity and communication tasks. If you’re looking for an internet plan that can accommodate videoconferencing, streaming video or gaming, you’ll have a better experience with a more robust connection. Here’s an overview of the recommended minimum download speeds for various applications, according to the FCC. Note that these are only guidelines — and that internet speed, service and performance vary by connection type, provider and address.
0 to 5Mbps allows you to tackle the basics — browsing the internet, sending and receiving email, streaming low-quality video.
5 to 40Mbps gives you higher-quality video streaming and videoconferencing.
40 to 100Mbps should give one user sufficient bandwidth to satisfy the demands of modern telecommuting, video streaming and online gaming.
100 to 500Mbps allows one to two users to engage in high-bandwidth activities like videoconferencing, streaming and online gaming simultaneously.
500 to 1,000Mbps allows three or more users to engage in high-bandwidth activities like videoconferencing, streaming and online gaming simultaneously.
How CNET chose the best internet providers in Santa Fe
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.
This guide leverages an in-house artificial intelligence tool called RAMP, which is trained on our own writing and uses our database to generate content about specific internet service providers that our writers can use in determining and presenting our picks for a given guide. Check CNET’s AI policy for more information about how our teams use (and don’t use) AI tools.
Because our database is not exhaustive, we go to the FCC’s website to check the primary data for ourselves and make sure we’re considering every ISP that provides service in an area. Plans and prices also vary by location, so we input local addresses on provider websites to find the specific options available to 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 the time of our pre-publication fact-check.
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 it comes to 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 also take into account real-world speed data from sources like Ookla and FCC reports.
To explore our process in more depth, you can visit our How we test ISPs page.
What’s the final word on internet providers in Santa Fe?
Santa Fe has limited internet options for a city of its size. Xfinity is the best internet provider by a mile — it offers both the cheapest and fastest plans in the area, and customers are generally happy with its service. If you can’t get Xfinity — or you’re just sick of its post-promo-period price hikes — T-Mobile is a solid backup option, with speeds up to 245Mbps for a flat $50 a month. NMSurf is a step down from T-Mobile and Xfinity, but the local provider still offers better value than DSL or satellite options.
What is the best internet service provider in Santa Fe?
Xfinity is the best internet service provider in Santa Fe, with six cable internet plans with speeds up to 1,200 Mbps and prices ranging from $20 to $80 monthly. Prices increase after two years on all plans. (The $20 plan increases after both the first and second years.) T-Mobile’s fixed wireless service is also available in Santa Fe, with speeds up to 245 Mbps and for $50 per month with no equipment fees, data caps or contracts.
