The largest internet service providers in the United States do not necessarily have the most satisfied customers.
Consumer Reports’ latest home internet survey placed Greenlight Networks and EPB Fiber Optics at the top of its rankings, ahead of household names such as Xfinity, Spectrum, Cox and AT&T. Both providers earned an overall score of 90, the highest result among nearly 60 companies included in the survey.
The rankings were based on responses from more than 73,000 Consumer Reports members about their experiences with internet service during 2025. Respondents evaluated important areas such as speed, reliability, value, technical support and customer service.
Greenlight Networks took first place, while Chattanooga’s community-owned EPB finished second. Their strong performance highlights a recurring pattern in broadband satisfaction surveys: smaller regional fiber providers can outperform national cable companies when they combine fast symmetrical service with responsive local support.
The major limitation is availability. Greenlight serves selected communities in the Northeast, while EPB operates within and around Chattanooga, Tennessee. Customers outside those service territories cannot simply switch to either provider.
Greenlight Networks Earned Consumer Reports’ Highest Rating
Greenlight Networks received the highest overall score in Consumer Reports’ latest ISP survey.
The company performed particularly well in speed, reliability, value, customer service and technical support. Those categories cover both the technical performance of the connection and the quality of the experience when something goes wrong.
Greenlight was founded in Rochester, New York, in 2011. It builds, owns and operates its own fiber-optic infrastructure rather than leasing an older cable or telephone network.
The provider now serves more than 100,000 homes and businesses across eight markets in New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Its current footprint includes communities around Rochester, Buffalo, Albany, Binghamton, the Hudson Valley, northeastern Pennsylvania and parts of Maryland.
Because Greenlight builds its network street by street, availability can vary within the same city. A household may be close to an active Greenlight area but still be unable to order service until construction reaches its address.
Customers can check an address through Greenlight’s official service-availability page, which separates locations where service is active from those where the company is still collecting demand or completing construction.
Greenlight Offers Symmetrical Fiber Speeds Up to 8 Gig
Greenlight’s network uses fiber-to-the-home technology.
Unlike many cable connections, its plans provide symmetrical service, meaning the advertised upload and download speeds are approximately equal. A 1-gigabit plan is therefore designed to deliver up to 1 Gbps in both directions rather than pairing fast downloads with much slower uploads.
That difference matters for households that regularly upload large files, participate in video meetings, operate cloud backups or create online content.
Greenlight currently advertises residential plans reaching as high as 8 Gbps. The company introduced that top tier in 2024 after previously offering a maximum of 5 Gbps.
Most households do not need an 8-gigabit connection. Streaming video, web browsing and ordinary remote work can operate comfortably on far lower speeds. The larger advantage is that Greenlight’s fiber infrastructure can offer consistent performance and high upload capacity without the congestion patterns sometimes associated with older shared cable systems.
Actual Wi-Fi performance will still depend on the router, device and distance from the access point. A customer can subscribe to multi-gigabit service while seeing much lower speeds on an older phone or laptop that cannot support the full connection.
EPB Fiber Optics Finished Close Behind
EPB Fiber Optics took second place in Consumer Reports’ survey and matched Greenlight’s overall score of 90.
The Chattanooga provider received high marks for speed, reliability, customer support and value. Consumer Reports’ results indicate that customers were broadly satisfied not only with the technical service but also with how the company handled billing and support issues.
EPB is different from a conventional national ISP because it is operated by Chattanooga’s publicly owned electric utility.
The organization launched its fiber service in 2009 after building a community-wide smart-grid network. Chattanooga later became widely known as “Gig City” because EPB was among the first US providers to make gigabit residential internet broadly available.
EPB’s local ownership is often cited as an important part of its customer-service model. Its support and network operations are centered in the region it serves rather than distributed across a national footprint.
That model does not automatically guarantee better service, but Consumer Reports’ survey suggests that EPB customers are much happier than many subscribers of larger cable providers.
EPB Now Offers Speeds From 300 Mbps to 25 Gig
EPB’s entry-level residential fiber service begins at 300 Mbps and provides equal upload and download speeds.
That level is sufficient for most households, including those with several people streaming, working remotely and using connected devices at the same time. EPB also offers faster gigabit and multi-gigabit tiers for homes with heavier requirements.
In July 2026, the company introduced a 5-gigabit residential tier throughout its service area. EPB says its current portfolio ranges from 300 Mbps to 25 Gbps, with symmetrical speeds across its fiber network.
The highest plans are likely to appeal mainly to businesses, technical professionals and households transferring extremely large files. Most customers will gain more practical value from selecting an appropriate plan and installing a strong Wi-Fi network than from automatically buying the highest speed available.
EPB also states that its internet plans do not have data caps. That means customers are not charged extra or slowed after using a specified monthly amount of data.
Residents can review current plans and determine whether their address is covered through the official EPB Fiber Optics website.
Why Fiber Providers Often Score Better
Both top-rated providers use fiber-to-the-home connections.
Fiber transmits data through light traveling across thin glass strands. It can support high capacity, low latency and symmetrical speeds more easily than many traditional cable and copper networks.
However, the connection technology alone does not explain the Consumer Reports rankings.
Large fiber providers can still receive complaints about billing, price increases or poor support. Greenlight and EPB ranked highly because survey participants were satisfied across several categories, including value and service—not simply because speed tests produced impressive numbers.
Their regional scale may also help. A smaller provider can focus its maintenance teams, customer support and infrastructure investment on a limited territory.
National cable companies operate much larger and more varied networks, some of which include ageing equipment and areas with limited competition. Their customers may also face promotional prices, equipment charges and complicated service bundles that affect perceived value.
Consumer Reports noted that many of the largest providers, including Cox, Optimum, Spectrum and Xfinity, received weak satisfaction results compared with smaller regional companies.
Availability Is the Biggest Problem
The two highest-rated ISPs are unavailable to most American households.
Greenlight continues expanding, but its network remains limited to selected communities across New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Even within those markets, service depends on whether fiber has reached the individual street.
EPB’s coverage is even more geographically concentrated. It primarily serves Chattanooga and surrounding communities within its electric-service territory.
That means the Consumer Reports rankings are most useful as evidence of what a good ISP can provide, not as a nationwide shopping list.
A customer in another state may have to look for a local municipal network, electric cooperative or regional fiber provider offering similar characteristics.
The most important qualities to search for are fiber-to-the-home service, symmetrical speeds, transparent pricing, no data cap, reliable local support and a clear policy on equipment fees.
How to Compare Internet Plans Properly
Advertised speed should not be the only deciding factor.
A household should compare the full monthly price after promotional offers expire, installation costs, modem or router charges, contract terms and cancellation fees.
Upload speed deserves special attention. Two plans may both advertise 500 Mbps downloads, but one may provide only 20 Mbps uploads while the other offers symmetrical 500 Mbps service.
Customers should also examine the provider’s Broadband Consumer Label. Federal rules require broadband companies to present standardized information about monthly pricing, fees, data allowances and typical performance at the point of sale.
These labels make it easier to compare the expected total cost rather than relying on a promotional headline. The FCC’s official Broadband Consumer Labels guide explains the information providers must disclose.
Reliability and support are harder to judge from an advertisement. Local customer reviews, neighbourhood groups and satisfaction surveys can help reveal whether outages are frequent or repairs take too long.
The Fastest Plan Is Not Always the Best Value
Providers increasingly promote multi-gigabit plans, but most devices cannot use those speeds individually.
A typical 4K video stream consumes only a fraction of a 1-gigabit connection. Web browsing, social media and email require even less bandwidth.
A larger plan becomes useful when many people and devices are active simultaneously, especially when the household regularly downloads games, transfers video files or maintains large cloud backups.
Before upgrading, customers should check whether slow performance is actually caused by the internet plan. Weak Wi-Fi coverage, an outdated router, interference or an older device can create poor speeds even when the connection entering the home is fast.
EPB notes that client hardware has its own maximum performance. A phone or computer cannot exceed the speed supported by its Wi-Fi radio regardless of how fast the subscribed internet plan is.
Improving router placement or installing a properly configured mesh system may therefore produce a greater benefit than paying for another speed tier.
Smaller Providers Set the Standard for Customer Satisfaction
Greenlight Networks and EPB Fiber Optics demonstrate that internet-service satisfaction is not determined by company size or national brand recognition.
Both earned Consumer Reports’ highest overall score by combining fast fiber connections with reliability, perceived value and responsive support. Greenlight took the leading position, while EPB finished close behind with the same overall score.
Their limited coverage prevents them from becoming realistic options for most households. However, their success provides a useful benchmark when evaluating any provider.
A strong internet service should deliver consistent real-world performance, clearly explain its pricing and respond effectively when technical problems occur. Extremely high advertised speed means little when the connection is unreliable or support is difficult to reach.
For customers lucky enough to live within either company’s network, Greenlight and EPB deserve serious consideration. For everyone else, the best strategy is to search for a regional fiber provider offering the same combination of symmetrical speeds, transparent costs and strong local service.
