Who is my provider

This also lets you avoid certain fees ISPs love tacking onto your bill. Telecoms just love putting things on your bill with no warning.

What are they, anyway? Why not call and ask? Amazing how these lucrative little fees tend to fall through the cracks!

Small charges often increase and new ones get added as well, so download your bill when you get it and keep it somewhere or just keep the paper copies. Click through all of these and look for any options to opt out of stuff. Again, this is not about creators struggling to get their content online, but rather all about big media and internet corporations striking deals that make them money and harm consumers.

Share your unique, not reused! This just saves everyone a drive! Encrypting your internet traffic puts the kibosh on this creepy practice — as well as being good security. You should also use an ad blocker, not necessarily to block ads that keep outlets like TechCrunch alive please , but to block trackers seeded across the web by companies that use sophisticated techniques to record everything you do. All you need to do is slot those two numbers into your internet configuration, following the instructions they provide.

You can change it back at any time. Setting up a VPN is another option for very privacy-conscious individuals, but it can be complicated. And speaking of complicated…. Setting up your home computer or a dedicated device to host a website, script or service seems like a natural use of an always-on internet connection, but just about everyone in the world would rather you sign up for their service, hosted on their hardware and their connection.

You can do it on your own. Find your perfect plan Shop for cheap plans, limited-time offers and the fastest speeds available. How can you find internet service providers in your area? Show providers Hide providers. View regional providers Hide regional providers. Top regional internet service providers and service areas Atlantic Broadband — Available in 10 states. Mediacom — Available in 22 states. Primary service areas include the Midwest, South and communities along the Atlantic coast in Delaware and North Carolina.

Optimum — Available in four states. RCN — Available in five states. Sonic — Available in California. Starry Internet — Available in four states. Suddenlink — Available in 14 states. Windstream — Available in 18 states. Primary service areas include rural and suburban parts of the Eastern, Midwest, Southern and Southwestern U. Ziply Fiber — Available in four states. Primary service areas include regions in the Pacific Northwest formerly served by Frontier.

Search providers by address: Check availability. Xfinity Cox vs. Windstream Frontier vs. Cox Xfinity vs. CenturyLink Verizon Fios vs. Our top categories. Internet shopping tips from our experts How much should I pay for internet? Find your speed Speed is one of the most important considerations when choosing an internet service. Avoid overpaying Finding affordable internet goes beyond comparing plan pricing.

Optimize your service Make the most of your internet connection. Lastly, satellite is a common go-to internet service in rural areas where fiber and cable are not available. Residents of rural areas may want to consider fixed wireless providers since they often have lower latency and higher data allowances than satellite internet.

Read the fine print. Almost all providers charge extra fees for equipment rental and installation, but many also raise prices after the first year. Consider buying your own equipment.

Look at promotions for new customers. You can often find perks like rewards cards or free streaming subscriptions when you activate service. Factor in the dollar value for these extras before you make your final decision. Internet technology types Not all internet connections are the same. Cable Cable providers. Available speeds max out at around Mbps with DSL service. Fiber Fiber providers. Satellite Satellite providers. Fixed wireless Wireless providers.

Why are so few internet providers available in my area? Are there new internet options coming to my area? We value your feedback.

Was this page helpful? Tell us what helped most on this page. Type your response here. Thanks for your feedback! What to read next Read more. Internet speed classifications: What counts as fast internet? Remember the time you last tried streaming on a particular site and your internet just wouldn't let you?

Chances are, your ISP interfered with your connection. One of the major complaints against ISPs is that they occasionally restrict the bandwidth of your connection at the end of the month or during peak hours.

This allows them to cater to a much larger user base with the same bandwidth. So even though you've signed up for an unlimited data subscription or high-speed internet, if your ISP is not a reputable supplier, you could get slower speeds and actually be paying more for a lot less.

Only then can you exert pressure on your Internet Access Provider to change its ways or take your business elsewhere to get faster internet, more affordable internet or enjoy a better internet experience. As such, ISPs should be transparent with their network management practices. But transparency is not enough; internet users should have the ability to test the network themselves to make sure they're not being misinformed in any way or subject to any invasion of privacy.

In the simplest of ways, an ISP tool helps easily connect to a new router, install your personal router, solve any wireless connection issues, learn more and keep an active check on your internet provider.

In no time, just by navigating to this page, you can find out who is your Internet Service Provider, your IP, and the approximate location. More than that, you can also find the Cable Internet Providers or geographical location for any other IP address. You can do that from your computer or your mobile devices. If you have paid for a certain level of bandwidth and unlimited data, and yet you are not getting good speed, you can use the What Is My ISP Tool to learn key information such as your IP address, your local IP address, your hostname, server location and the name of your ISP supplying you internet.

Based on your results, you can further investigate your internet settings and check if your ISP is following privacy policies and respecting the Terms of Service you signed. You can also check out the cable internet plans they offer against their competitors. While back in the day most ISP's were able to manipulate your usage because a customer's knowledge of their activities was limited, now with little effort you can be aware of what they are up to so you can make an informed decision.

Forget about sharing the password of your wifi the old-fashioned way. Here is the easiest way to generate a QR code with your router credentials and share it.

Find out if you are accessing the internet through a proxy and tap into the details of this proxy server by simply navigating here. Find out your user agent.