The best internet providers in Juneau, Alaska

What is the best internet provider in Juneau?

GCI is the best Internet provider in Juneau. The service offers speeds up to 2,500 Mbps with prices starting at $90 per month. It’s the only wired connection in town, making it less susceptible to weather outages than other providers’ services, but you’ll have to deal with data caps on most plans.

If you want lower prices (and higher data caps), the cheapest internet in Juneau is SnowCloud, which offers plans starting at $65 per month for speeds of 200 Mbps. Satellite Internet from Starlink is another decent option, but you have to buy the equipment up front for a fee of $349 and you may also have to pay a congestion fee.

The best internet in Juneau, Alaska

Source: CNET analysis of provider data

Other Internet providers available in Juneau

• Alaska Communications: While technically offering fiber service to a handful of addresses in Juneau, Alaska Communications is primarily a DSL provider. The speed depends on your specific address, but the highest I saw was 75Mbps for $100 a month. In most areas, you’ll be looking at 15-30 Mbps for $95 – an extremely high price for such low speeds. That said, Alaska Communications is one of the few ISPs in Juneau that includes unlimited data with all of their plans, so it’s worth a look.
• HughesNet: Along with Starlink, HughesNet is your other option for satellite internet in Juneau. You won’t have to pay a huge initial equipment cost—HughesNet charges $14 a month for equipment—but it’s significantly worse in every other area. Speeds range from 15Mbps to 50Mbps, but the most important problem for most people is data caps. Prices start at $50 for 15 GB and go up to $150 for 200 GB. After you hit these limits, HughesNet will slow your speed down by 1 to 3 Mbps for the rest of the month, making things like streaming TV or video conferencing impractical.

Cheap internet options in Juneau

There aren’t many really “cheap” internet options in Juneau. The lowest starting price comes from HughesNet, which offers two plans for $50 a month (in the first year, at least), but adds an extra $14 for equipment. SnowCloud is the cheapest all-in provider, with plans starting at $65 for 200 Mbps speeds and no equipment fees.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data

How to find Internet deals and promotions in Juneau

The best deals on the Internet and the best promotions in Juneau depend on what discounts are available during that time period. Most deals are short-lived, but we often keep an eye on the latest deals.

Juneau Internet providers like GCI may offer a lower introductory price or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Many, however, including SnowCloud, Starlink and Alaska Communications, run the same standard price year-round.

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

How much is Juneau broadband?

The Internet in Juneau is extremely slow compared to cities in the lower 48, but it stacks up well compared to other cities in Alaska. 97% of Juneau residents have access to 250/25 Mbps speeds, compared to only 75% statewide. It is entirely thanks to GCI; is the fastest provider in the state, and is available almost everywhere in Juneau.

The fastest internet plans in Juneau

Source: CNET analysis of provider data

What is 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, video streaming or gaming, you’ll have a better experience with a more robust connection. Here is an overview of the minimum recommended download speed for different applications, according to the FCC. Note that these are only guidelines – and that Internet speed, service and performance will vary by connection type, provider and address.

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

• From 0 to 5 Mbps lets you tackle the basics – surfing the Internet, sending and receiving email, streaming low-quality video.
• 5 to 40 Mbps gives you superior video streaming and video conferencing.
• From 40 to 100 Mbps should give a user sufficient bandwidth to satisfy the demands of modern telecommuting, video streaming and online gaming.
• 100 to 500 Mbps allows one to two users to engage in high bandwidth activities such as video conferencing, streaming and online gaming. simultaneously.
• 500 to 1,000 Mbps allows three or more users to engage in high bandwidth activities such as video conferencing, streaming and online gaming simultaneously.

How CNET chose the best Internet providers in Juneau

Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the latter smartphones, laptop, router o kitchen toolit is not practical to personally test every ISP in a given city. So what is our approach? We start by researching pricing, availability, and speed information based on our ISP historical data, provider sites, and mapping information from the Federal Communications Commission at FCC.gov.

But it doesn’t end there. We go to the FCC website to check our data and make sure we consider every ISP that provides service in an area. We also gather local addresses on provider websites to find specific options for residents. We look at sources, including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and JD 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 at the time of publication.

Once we have this information located, we ask three main questions:

1. Does the provider offer access to a reasonably fast internet speed?
2. Are customers getting decent value for what they are paying for?
3. Are customers happy with their service?

While the answer to these questions is often layered and complex, the providers who are 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, although we also factor in things like price increases, equipment fees and contracts Choosing the fastest Internet service is relatively simple. We look at advertised upload and download speeds, and also take into account real-world speed data from sources like Ookla and FCC reports. (Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.)

What is the latest word on Internet providers in Juneau?

Compared to the country as a whole, the internet landscape in Juneau leaves a lot to be desired. But that’s apples to oranges — by Alaskan standards, Juneau is doing pretty well. The best internet provider for most people is GCI, which is the only wired connection in town. It’s the fastest internet in Juneau by far, but it’s on the expensive side, and you’ll have to deal with data caps on most plans. If you’re looking for cheap internet in Juneau, SnowCloud is your best bet, with plans starting at just $65. Satellite internet from Starlink is another option for reasonably fast speeds, but requires an equipment purchase of $349 in advance.

Internet providers in Juneau FAQs