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Best internet providers in Vestavia Hills, Alabama

Vestavia Hills has better internet availability than a lot of cities—and some great companies. AT&T is our favorite overall internet provider, but Spectrum and T-Mobile are great too. You also have Verizon internet and three satellite providers to choose from.

EDITOR'S CHOICE
AT&T
AT&T logo
Staff rating
4.5
Customer rating
4.1

  • Plans starting at $55.00 - $180.00
  • Download speeds up to 5000Mbps
  • Upload speeds up to 5000Mbps

Click below for all current AT&T deals

Disclaimer: Availability and pricing are subject to location. Conditions apply. For offer details, view disclaimers

RUNNER-UP
Spectrum
Charter Spectrum brand logo
Staff rating
3.5
Customer rating
4.0

  • Plans starting at $29.99 - $169.97
  • Download speeds up to 1 Gbps
  • Upload speeds up to 35 Mbps

Click below for all current Spectrum deals

Disclaimer: Availability and pricing are subject to location. Conditions apply. For offer details, view disclaimers

RUNNER-UP
T-Mobile
T-Mobile brand
Staff rating
3.7
Customer rating
4.2

  • Plans starting at $50.00
  • Download speeds up to 182 Mbps
  • Upload speeds up to 23 Mbps

Click below for all current T-Mobile deals

Disclaimer: Availability and pricing are subject to location. Conditions apply.

How we rank internet providers
We have a robust rating system to score internet service providers overall, but the quality of service could vary city to city. When narrowing down the best providers specific to Vestavia Hills, we considered factors like availability, value, performance, and customer experience. We source information directly from the ISP's themselves, the FCC, and first-hand insights from residents of Vestavia Hills.
Headshot of Kathryn Casna
Researched by
Kathryn CasnaSenior Staff Writer
Headshot of Eric Paulsen
Reviewed by
Eric PaulsenContent Manager
Updated 5/12/23

Our top 3 ISP choices in Vestavia Hills, AL

AT&T fiber is the best internet in Vestavia Hills. But check out Spectrum and T-Mobile too, because they’re great alternatives.

#1: AT&T fiber internet

Vestavia Hills has a large footprint of AT&T fiber, our top fiber internet provider nationally. This company delivers great speeds, reliable connections, and great customer service—all at a good price. Billing is transparent and straightforward, and you won’t have to sign a contract, pay for equipment, or deal with data caps. However, parts of Montclair, Beacon Hills, and Vestridge don’t have access to AT&T fiber.

Read our full AT&T fiber review.

#2: Spectrum internet

Spectrum isn’t as good as AT&T fiber, but it covers a lot of the neighborhoods AT&T doesn’t. This provider also offers a wider variety of plans, especially at the cheaper end, but some of these savings are negated by Spectrum’s hidden fees and big annual price increases. Spectrum also has issues in some places with outages and customer service, but some people have no problems.

Read our full Spectrum review.

#3: T-Mobile internet

T-Mobile makes a great alternative to Spectrum if you don’t need a ton of speed and you want great customer service. Plan to try it out for a month to ensure you get a good signal at your house, even if you’re already an existing T-Mobile cell phone customer. Speeds aren’t consistent, but you could get 182 Mbps on average for a great price—especially if you bundle internet with your mobile phone plan.

Read our full T-Mobile review.

All internet providers in Vestavia Hills

Vestavia Hills has a total of seven internet providers. If our top picks don’t appeal to you, see if Verizon fixed wireless is in your area—especially if you already have a cell phone plan with them. You’ll have to test out the service for a month to see if it works well at your house. If it does, you could get an average of 5–50 Mbps for super cheap with a bundling discount.

The other internet options in Vestavia Hills are all satellite internet, which is notoriously slow, unreliable, and expensive. But if it’s your only option, it’s better than nothing. Starlink has better latency and comes with unlimited data, but you’ll have to be on a waitlist until this provider can launch more satellites. Viasat and HughesNet are available now, but they come with stifling data caps that make streaming TV and working from home a challenge.

Fastest internet providers in Vestavia Hills

You could get a blazing-fast 5 gigs from AT&T fiber if you wanted to. But actually using that much speed isn’t possible for most households. Instead, try a symmetrical 1 gig plan from AT&T, which is plenty fast for almost everyone. Spectrum also offers 1 gig plans, but upload speeds are much slower at 100 Mbps.

How much speed do you need?

When choosing an internet plan, you want to keep all of your activities running smoothly without paying extra for speeds you don't need. At the bare minimum, you need 25 Mbps to do light browsing on one or two devices. Most households with multiple people and multiple devices will want to look for speeds in the 100–500 Mbps range. Learn how much speed your household needs in our guide to internet speed.
Illustration showing how much internet speed you may need

Cheapest internet providers in Vestavia Hills

The cheapest internet plan in Vestavia Hills comes from Spectrum. You’ll get 100 Mbps for around $30, plus the cost of fees and equipment. However, if you already have a cell phone plan from T-Mobile or Verizon, you could bundle in internet for slightly less.

Internet options in nearby cities

All Vestavia Hills internet providers also serve other cities near Birmingham, but they might have more or less coverage in other cities. Verizon has less coverage in Birmingham itself and Alabaster, but more coverage in Hoover.

Birmingham has a tiny footprint of CenturyLink DSL, but don’t worry. You’re not missing much. A few cities also have C Spire fiber, which is a great option. Rumor has it that C Spire is building fiber lines in Vestavia Hills, so you could see this provider pop up in your area soon.

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What Vestavia Hills residents are saying on Reddit

Like other areas of Birmingham, which provider is best is highly dependent on location, even within Vestavia Hills. Residents in Bluff Park lament the lack of fiber options but get a good Verizon fixed wireless signal. Meanwhile, people near Galleria love their AT&T fiber service.

It sounds like many Vestavia Hills residents are happy with their T-Mobile and Spectrum service too.

Post by u/Extreme_Vegetable_23
09/13/2022
Spectrum or AT&T? I have heard good and bad things about both

We’re moving to the Hoover area

Most helpful response

If you get fiber, AT&T. I had a horrible time with spectrum outtages. I’ve only had a couple with AT&T in several years.

This might be highly area dependent


Post by u/blp313
08/18/2022
Questions about AT&T vs Spectrum

I have spectrum and it's unreliable as hell. I'm in Crestwood North and UVerse has just become available. Anyone have any experience with it in the area?

Most helpful response

I'm in Crestwood North too and have AT&T fiber and it's been great. Just make sure it's fiber and not DSL (have a coworker with the latter and it's horrible).


Post by u/AccomplishedLow9
04/18/2022
T-Mobile internet

I am considering switching from Spectrum to T-mobile internet. Has anyone here switched over? How has your experience been so far? We do stream our tv and both frequently use WiFi at the same time.

Most helpful response

I would check to see if you get full 5G service from t-mobile at your home. I live in hoover, but ina weird pocket where T-mobile 5G is weak, and my phone is typically on LTE.

I tested out t-mobile internet and when it worked it was great. DL speeds near 500mb/s. Unfortunately it would at times dip below 5 mb/s and with so many streaming devices it wrecked whatever we were doing. I wanted it to work, but unfortunately had to cancel.

They told me to keep the gateway tower, or whatever they called it, so I may try it again sometime in the next year. It was a little over a year ago that I tried it.


Post by u/Impressive-Season922
10/26/2022
Internet Service

Moving to Vestavia Hills and curious which internet service is best. I thought AT&T fiber may be an option but seems that is not the case. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Most helpful response

Spectrum is prominent and AT&T is slowly moving equipment in. Not sure on their time frame though


Post by u/unrelentingdepth
09/11/2021
Internet/Cable Providers in Birmingham

Hello

I am from out of town but have been asked by my grandparents who live in Hoover to figure out the best cable/internet providers in the area. What are your thoughts and experiences?

Most helpful response

AT&T Fiber if available.

Internet news and infrastructure in Vestavia Hills, AL

Vestavia Hills has a better high speed infrastructure than many surrounding cities, even Birmingham proper. Nearly 60% of residents have access to a 1 gig plan and 97% can get at least 250 Mbps. (1) And that may get even better in the next few years.

Residents report that C Spire, a small local company, has been laying fiber lines in the area. While we don’t typically rely on rumors, we can confirm that C Spire is investing heavily in building infrastructure from current operations in Mississippi to the Birmingham area. (2) So you may have access to additional options soon.

In Vestavia Hills, 98% of homes can get 100 Mbps, 97% can get 250 Mbps, and 59% can get 1 Gbps.

Frequently asked internet questions in Vestavia Hills


AT&T fiber is better than Spectrum, but not everyone can get it. If you have only AT&T DSL near you, Spectrum is probably better—especially since new customers can’t get AT&T DSL anyway.


AT&T provides great fiber service that’s super reliable and fast. You won’t have to sign a contract, worry about data caps, or pay equipment rental fees. However, it doesn’t have a wide variety of plans, so if you need less than 300 Mbps speeds, Spectrum could be a better fit. Spectrum has more hidden fees, though, so factor that into your shopping. Compare them both.


Usually, the best Wi-Fi signal is going to be right next to your router. Distance and walls between you and your router can cause signal to slow down or even drop off completely. If you have a small, open-concept house, you’ll get better signal throughout than if you have a large home with tons of individual rooms. You can boost your Wi-Fi signal in any dead spots in your home using well-placed Wi-Fi signal boosters, or switch to mesh Wi-Fi.

Interference from other wireless devices can also slow down your connection or cause drops in signal. Moving your device closer to the router can still help. And so can purchasing a router with more network management tools to help you prioritize traffic to certain devices. You may also get some relief by switching to a 5GHz network instead of your 2.4 GHz network—or vice versa—on the same router.


Yes, generally fiber optic internet is better than other kinds of internet. The greatest benefit is that both download and upload speeds can be faster. Plus, a lot of fiber companies provide tons of value and billing transparency. But that doesn’t mean another kind of internet won’t work for you. There’s a lot of hype about gig download speeds and symmetrical upload speeds, but most homes do just fine on slower upload and download speeds.


Cable internet can get up to a gig for downloading. Uploading speeds are usually under 50 Mbps, but most internet users don’t need more download speed anyway. So unless you’re constantly uploading high-quality video files to the internet, you probably don’t need a ton of upload speed. And as far as transparency, non-fiber companies are getting better at this too. T-Mobile, a fixed wireless company, has straightforward billing too.

Sources
1. “FCC National Broadband Map,” FCC. Accessed 20 March 2023.2. “C Spire Adds Hoover to its Fiber Network as Part of a $500 Million Investment,” C Spire. Accessed 17 March 2023.
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