Fiber internet Internet resellers Wireless internet Fixed 5G
Comcast can feel hard to avoid among the internet options in San Francisco, given their 100% coverage within city limits.
However, service options have increased substantially in recent years thanks to increased fiber and wireless development. Most homes and apartments now have at least 2–4 options to choose from.
Xfinity speeds have also increased substantially, so be sure to check what they offer at your address as a benchmark for the alternatives described below.
Wireless and 5G internet from Common and Monkeybrains have increased wireless options that can compete with traditional cable on speed and price. Fiber has also increased within San Francisco, with more than half the city now able to purchase Sonic fiber internet deals or AT&T Fiber packages.
Best Comcast Xfinity Alternatives in San Francisco
- AT&T: Most common gigabit fiber alternative to Xfinity.
- Raw Bandwidth Communications: Best home office provider.
- Earthlink: Best budget fiber option.
- Monkeybrains: Best fixed wireless service.
- Sonic: Best customer service and growing fiber footprint.
Finding internet alternatives in San Francisco
In most cities, the FCC broadband map is a great place to start when prospecting internet options at your building.
Unfortunately, this is not true in San Francisco.
Because many of the competitive alternatives are very new, they are not yet listed most places online. On commercial listing sites you might see while Googling for options, local internet providers like Common and Sonic are commonly not listed because they don’t have big ad budgets like Comcast to pay for placement.
The bad news: California has an overall uncompetative internet service market, and ranks near the bottom on state rankings for service quality.
The good news: Thanks to maturing wireless technology and increased fiber buildouts, most homes now have multiple internet options above 100 Mbps. This has driven the price for Xfinity deals in San Francisco down to the lowest levels we’ve measured for Xfinity nationwide.
Fed up with Comcast Xfinity price hikes? Switch to a cheaper provider
Comcast alternatives like Earthlink and AT&T Fiber expanded rapidly in 2021, thanks to increased demand for fast home internet during Covid-19.
As a result, you might be able to cut off Comcast and switch to a faster, cheaper internet provider.
Call our partner BundleYourHome for live help finding the cheapest Comcast alternative. Their agents can compare options at your address and advise which is best for your needs.
Get Help Switching NowFiber internet options San Francisco
AT&T Fiber
AT&T offers fiber service in San Francisco as well. Their coverage area does not overlap with Sonic, so if you can't get Sonic, try AT&T.
The customer service isn't rated as well, and the pricing tends to be higher (especially for TV bundles). However, it's much more reliable than Xfinity and offers faster download speed for the price. As with most fiber services, the upload speed matches the download speed, unlike the surprisingly low 35 Mbps download speed offered by Comcast cable.
- Gigabit service starting price: $49.99.
- Benefits: no data caps, local customer service.
Sonic
Sonic is a longtime favorite for internet service in the Bay Area, and has been building out a fiber network over the last 5+ years.
Note that even with fiber service, Sonic requires you to receive a home phone line (VoIP). This is an odd quirk in 2024 with so few people using landlines, but it doesn't impact your price, so consider it a free home office line.
The key drawback of Sonic is availability. While areas like Sunset and Parkside or the Richmond District are fully serviced, others like Bayview and Hunter's Point have little or no availability.
- Gigabit service starting price: $49.99.
- Benefits: no data caps, local customer service.
Internet Resellers in San Francisco
Note that Earthlink also offers DSL as a reseller on AT&T DSL (copper) phone lines. It’s not as fast as their fiber plans, but they offer some nice perks for home office users like static IPs.
Raw Bandwidth Communications
RBC is a small company in the Bay Area (San Bruno) that offers DSL service resold over AT&T lines. Their specialty is in ultra-specific bespoke plans, primarily for business use but also for home offices and residential "power users."
The benefit of RBC is that when you call them, it's just a few guys — usually the owner of the company. While they don't list plans and pricing publicly, that's because they offer highly customized service.
Running a complex tech business out of a home office? This is the shop to call.
View RBC Plans (650) 802-8006Earthlink
Earthlink is a newcomer to the Bay Area, offering resold service over AT&T DSL and Fiber lines.
As a nationwide company, Earthlink does not have a strong track record for customer service. They are not a "local" option in San Francisco, although they do offer more favorable pricing than AT&T for the same speeds at many addresses.
Budget plans lower than $20/mo are the main draw for Earthlink, although these plans have very low bandwidth compared to AT&T plans.
- Entry price for speeds of at least 25 Mbps: $69.95.
- Benefits: no data caps, avoiding AT&T customer service.
Fixed Wireless internet alternatives in San Francisco
Monkeybrains
Billing themselves as "the most punk rock ISP in the Bay Area," Monkeybrains focuses on neighborhoods that are poorly served by Comcast and AT&T, and do not have fiber backups. They are also a primary low-income internet program in San Francisco, through a partnership with the city to supply low-income housing projects. Monkeybrains is a fixed wireless service, meaning that it can be installed in locations where wired service might not be feasible.
As a local company, the main selling point of Monkeybrains is the local customer service. The owners and employees are knowledgable about networking and respond to issues much faster and more thoroughly than you'd expect coming from a standard cable company.
View Monkeybrains Plans (415) 974-13135G home internet in San Francisco
Fixed 5G home internet has been slow to launch in the Bay Area due to opposition to small cell towers by community groups.
Common
Common internet launched in San Francisco in 2019, and has been building out a fixed 5G network in suburban areas like Alameda.
The service requires line of site with a Common tower, similar to mobile service, and also requires installation of a reception device on customer homes. As such, it's best suited for suburban single-family homes and apartement buildings.
- Entry price for speeds of at least 25 Mbps: $50.
- Benefits: 200 Mbps upload speeds, simple pricing with no fees.
Update: Unfortunately, this provider has now shut down as of 2024.
Reasons for low internet quality in San Francisco and the Bay Area
Internet access isn’t actually bad in the Bay Area overall — it’s specifically bad for residential users. San Francisco has abundant niche fiber providers dedicated to connecting office parks and large tech companies. In the Bay Area, Palo Alto even has municipal fiber options, allowing large companies to take advantage of dark fiber invested in by the city back in the 90s.
Residential consumers, however, are less well connected. Within San Francisco city limits, only around half of the city has residential fiber access. The rest is stuck choosing between cable and DSL, which really means just choosing cable. While some of the companies above provide competative wireless service, it’s dependent on line of site with customers, so it doesn’t work for everyone.
Will more internet options come to the Bay Area?
Starry Internet recently filed one block of coverage in San Francisco with the FCC, and has indicated in press releases that they’re considering San Francisco as an expansion area.
They would be competing with Common and Monkeybrains for fixed wireless service, effectively making San Francisco one of the most active internet markets for fixed wireless startups.
The vast majority of fixed wireless companies focus on rural areas, so this is a unique service option that most cities don’t have. It makes sense that San Fran would be first to launch services like this, given the high population of potential founders with startup and networking backgrounds. In fact, Common was launched by ex-Square employees.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there an alternative to Comcast in San Francisco?
The main alternatives to Xfinity in San Francisco is are Sonic and AT&T, who both offer fiber internet throughout the city and surrounding Bay Area.
Why are there so few internet providers?
Providing internet service is an expensive endeavor, with the cost to install fiber service in the high thousands per address even in dense urban areas. While local providers in California like Sonic have fought to improve pole access and microtrenching law to improve competition levels, a combination of high costs and incumbent regulatory lock-in has made it difficult for new providers to enter the market.
What is the cheapest Xfinity plan in San Francisco?
Xfinity's cheapest plan in San Francisco starts at 29.99 per month for 25/3 Mbps internet-only service with a one-year contract term.
