Best Internet Providers in Bakersfield, California

Those who live in Bakersfield, California, have a mixed bag when it comes to the internet. The good? It appears that 100% of residents have access to a plan with at least 100Mbps download and 20Mbps upload speeds -- the Federal Communications Commission’s proposed minimum for broadband -- and it’s one of the top 50 cities in the country by median speed.

Then what's the bad? The options for high-speed internet in Bakersfield are still very limited. While AT&T Fiber is now available to around one in five households (with prices starting at $55), Spectrum is the only option in many neighborhoods. Wireless providers like T-Mobile and Verizon also offer home internet plans, but their speeds tend to fluctuate more than wired connections. Plans offered by both providers start at $50 and go up to $70 or $75, respectively.

On the bright side, in 2022 the Bakersfield City Council approved a deal with SiFi Networks to build and maintain a fiber network along every street in the city at no cost to taxpayers. SiFi will then sell network access to private internet providers. According to a presentation given to the Board of Supervisors, residents would pay about $60 each month for 10,000Mbps. For comparison, AT&T currently charges $245 for 5,000Mbps. But the project is currently in the design phase, with no clear timetable for construction.

CNET examines customer service, speed, pricing and overall value before recommending the best broadband in your area. For a long time, Spectrum was essentially the only option for high-speed internet in Bakersfield. Then, in 2015, AT&T agreed to expand its fiber-optic network to 20 new metro areas within four years as a part of its deal to buy DirecTV. In 2017, AT&T Fiber officially launched in Bakersfield, immediately becoming the city's best internet option. However, fiber networks are only available to about 25% of Bakersfield households.

Note: The prices, speeds and features detailed in the article text may differ from those listed in the product detail cards, which represent providers’ national offerings. Your particular internet service options -- including prices and speeds -- depend on your address and may differ from those detailed here.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

We think the three providers highlighted above are your best options for internet in Bakersfield, but there are a few other ISPs you can consider:

• Applied Technology Group: For residents in rural areas around Bakersfield, Applied Technology Group offers fixed wireless internet plans with speeds up to 35Mbps. If the choice is between Applied and satellite internet, we’d probably go with Applied. But in every other situation, there’s probably a better option.
• unWired Broadband: This is another fixed wireless provider in the area, with plans starting at $60 monthly. It’s targeted toward people living in rural areas; when we asked them for a quote for an address in the city, they actually recommended we look into Spectrum or AT&T instead. If you can’t get anything else, unWired may be worth a look.
• Satellite internet: Companies like Hughesnet and Viasat offer internet service at virtually every address in the country, but it’s only your best option if it’s your only option. Satellite internet comes with slow speeds, low data caps and high prices. One exception is Starlink, which provides significantly faster speeds but costs $120 a month with a $349 equipment fee upfront.
• Verizon 5G Home Internet: Like T-Mobile, Verizon’s home internet service offers wireless internet throughout Bakersfield. It has three plans: $50 a month for download speeds up to 85Mbps or $70 for speeds up to 250Mbps. Both plans get a decent discount when bundled with qualifying Verizon 5G mobile plans.

Bakersfield residents can expect to pay between $50 and $90 a month for internet service, which is about average for cities across the country. That said, there is a lack of truly cheap internet plans in the city, with only Spectrum offering starting prices at $30 a month.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

There are only two providers offering gig speeds -- download speeds reaching 1,000Mbps -- but they are both good options. AT&T’s fiber plans go all the way up to 5,000Mbps, which is far more than most people need, but it’s a nice option for ultra-connected smart homes. While Spectrum’s download speeds reach 1,000Mbps, households that do a lot of working from home or gaming might run into issues with its 35Mbps upload speeds.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

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. 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.

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 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, although 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. (Disclosure: 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.

Bakersfield residents aren’t exactly swimming in great options for internet, but all residents have access to at least one provider offering 100/20Mbps speeds -- the new minimum broadband speed proposed by the FCC. While AT&T Fiber is by far the best choice in the city, not all residents have access to their fiber plans. However, Spectrum and T-Mobile are both good backup options.