Best ISPs for streaming: We have new intel on the fastest providers

According to Ookla's speed tests, AT&T performed the fastest in Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. In terms of cities, AT&T Fiber was the fastest option in San Diego, San Francisco, Chicago, and Dallas.

Crowned Ookla's top recommendation based on Speedscore and user experience ratings, AT&T would just be a solid choice for folks who want something fast and reliable, but don't want to zero in on video or video game streaming specifically.

AT&T clocked the highest speeds in Ookla's speed test, with its overall Speed Score of 78.33, beating the rest of the competition. AT&T had the fastest median download speed (363.54 Mbps), a high-ranking median upload speed (296.52 Mbps), and a solid latency rating of 18 ms. It was also one of the top two most consistent ISPs (with no statistical difference found between it and Frontier Fiber).

AT&T Fiber was also awarded the top spot in the Consumer Sentiment portion of the test, receiving a 3.7 out of 5.

According to Ookla's speed tests, Verizon did not have the fastest speed in any state or major city. However, Verizon's vast coverage across the U.S. and respectable performance in both the video streaming and gaming categories keep it a top player for those who care about latency and quick content playback.

Verizon's appearance in the Speedtest results was a bit of a roller coaster. Funnily enough, that lack of consistency in the report overall was reflected when placing dead last in the "most consistent ISP" ranking. (To be fair, the score was still above 90.)

However, when Verizon is good, it's good. Verizon killed the competition when it came to video experience, offering the snappiest video start time, most uninterrupted video playback, and best video resolution delivered. Verizon's gaming score also nearly tied for first place, only losing out to Frontier by .29.

According to Ookla's speed tests, Frontier Fiber performed the fastest in Connecticut, Indiana, and West Virginia. In terms of cities, Frontier Fiber worked faster in Los Angeles than any of the larger ISPs, leading LA to have the third-fastest median download speed.

Frontier scored particularly high in the gaming category, making it a good choice for those whose main priority is low latency. (If it's available in your area, that is — Frontier Fiber doesn't quite have the geographical coverage that the bigger providers do.)

Lesser-known network Frontier Fiber held its own against the industry giants. Most notably, Frontier claimed the top spot in the gaming-specific speed test, which involves the gaming KPIs that live gamers care about: ping time, jitter, download and upload speeds.

Frontier's fiber plans typically shake out to be more cost-effective than AT&T and Verizon's — think higher speeds at lower monthly prices. For example, the cheapest Frontier Fiber plan costs $54.99/month (with a current deal dropping that to $24.99/month in some areas) for a bandwidth of 500 Mbps. The cheapest fiber plans from AT&T and Verizon are similarly priced, but start at 300 Mbps.