Home Internet, Explained Without the Sales Pitch
Speeds, labels, fees and caps. The FCC now forces carriers to disclose most of it, and almost nobody reads it.
Get matched nowCarriers must now publish a label, and it answers most questions
The FCC requires a standardised broadband consumer label at the point of sale, in a fixed format, listing the monthly price, what happens after the promotional period ends, every recurring fee, the data allowance and the typical speeds. It exists to make plans comparable, and it is the single most useful document in this category.
Our guides show you how to read it, what the speed definitions mean in practice, and which of the fees on your bill are for equipment you are allowed to replace with your own.
Before you sign a two year agreement
Written from primary sources, with every figure linked to the page it came from.
Broadband Consumer Labels
What federal rules force every internet provider to disclose before you sign, and how to make them hand it over.
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Internet Speeds Explained
What 100/20 means, why the upload number matters, and how close providers came to their advertised speeds when the FCC measured.
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Cable vs Fiber vs Satellite
What each technology actually publishes about price and speed, and why the television half of a bundle follows different rules.
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Router Rental Fees
A federal statute bars your provider from charging rent on a router you own or on equipment you already returned. Here is the text.
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Data Caps and Overage
Federal regulators put average household broadband use at 800 GB a month for 2026. That gives you a yardstick for any cap.
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Switching Internet Providers
The total in writing before you sign, a 24 hour window to back out, and how to read a switching offer that expires into a standard rate.
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Rural Internet Options
What federal data says about rural availability, what satellite actually publishes, and the disclosures that work even when you buy by phone.
Read the guidePopular Broadband & Connectivity searches
The services and searches homeowners bring to this category most, straight from our demand data.
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