What is the best internet provider in San Marcos?

If you’re living in San Marcos, Texas, and looking for internet options, we’ve got you covered. While there are several good providers in the region, CNET recommends Spectrum as the best internet service provider for most San Marcos households. With availability to around 90% of addresses, according to FCC data, Spectrum will most likely be an option for residential internet wherever you’re located in this Texas town.

You can count on reasonable prices and speedy bandwidth with Spectrum, but Astound Broadband and Verizon 5G Home Internet are also worth checking out — especially for speed and affordability.

Astound Broadband is the cheapest and fastest provider in San Marcos. Astound’s 300-megabit-per-second plan costs only $30 per month for the first year, but watch out for a steep price hike after the promo period ends. If you’re looking for a lightning-fast connection, Astound’s 1.5-gig plan costs $70 and includes equipment and unlimited data.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

How to find internet deals and promotions in San Marcos

The best internet deals and top promotions in San Marcos depend on what discounts are available during that period. Most deals are short-lived, but we look frequently for the latest offers. 

San Marcos internet providers, such as Astound Broadband, may offer lower introductory pricing or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Others, however, such as Verizon, 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 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.

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 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 simultaneously engage in high-bandwidth activities like videoconferencing, 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 San Marcos

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? We start by researching the pricing, availability and speed information, drawing on our own historical ISP data, the provider sites 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 San Marcos FAQs