Best Internet Providers in Medford, Oregon

What is the best internet provider in Medford, Oregon?

A popular destination for retirees and tourists alike, Medford, nicknamed the Pear Blossom City, has some decent internet provider options. CNET has compiled a list of the best internet providers in the area, whether you’re a resident or planning to move to the city. 

Spectrum Internet is CNET’s pick for the best internet service provider in Medford. It takes the top spot thanks to wide availability, reliable speeds and competitive introductory pricing. It covers 90% of the city, according to the latest data from the US Federal Communications Commission, and has a starting price of $30 per month. It also offers gigabit speed options, making Spectrum a pretty well-rounded option for most Medford residents.

If you want the fastest internet speed in Medford, local fiber provider Hunter Communications offers a plan with speeds up to 2,500 megabits per second. It’s the fastest ISP in the city and has an average cost per Mbps of 8 cents. Hunter Communications could easily have taken the spot as best provider in the city. But Hunter is available to only around 29% of the city, according to the FCC. If your address is available for fiber from Hunter Communications or Quantum Fiber, we recommend fiber over cable for its guaranteed symmetrical download and upload speeds.

If you’re looking for cheap internet plans in Medford, most plans start at $50 a month, but there are ways to lower that price. First, if you opt for home internet from T-Mobile, you can trim your monthly bill by bundling internet with an eligible phone plan. Plus, some internet providers, like Hunter Communications, participate in Oregon’s Lifeline Program, which offers discounts of up to $19 for eligible households.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

How to find internet deals and promotions in Medford

The best internet deals and top promotions in Medford depend on what discounts are available during a given time. Most deals are short-lived, but we look frequently for the latest offers.

Medford internet providers, like Spectrum and T-Mobile, may offer lower introductory pricing or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Others, however, like Hunter Communications, run the same standard pricing year-round. 

For a more extensive list of promos, check out our guide on the best internet deals.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

What’s a good internet speed?

Most internet connection plans can now handle basic productivity and communication tasks. If you’re looking for an internet plan that can accommodate video conferencing, 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.

For more information, refer to our guide on how much internet speed you really need.

• 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 video conferencing.
• 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 simultaneously engage in high-bandwidth activities like video conferencing, streaming and online gaming. 
• 500 to 1,000Mbps allows three or more users to engage in high-bandwidth activities at the same time.

How CNET chose the best internet providers in Medford.

Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the latest smartphone, laptop, router or kitchen tool, it’s impractical to personally test every ISP in a given city. So what’s our approach? For starters, we tap into a proprietary pricing, availability and speed database 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: 

1. Does the provider offer access to reasonably fast internet speeds?
2. Do customers get decent value for what they’re paying?
3. Are customers happy with their service?

While the answers to those questions are often layered and complex, the providers that 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. (Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.)

To explore our process in more depth, visit our how we test ISPs page.

Internet providers in Medford FAQs