The fastest Wi-Fi 7 internet providers in the US, ranked

Looking to upgrade your home network to Wi-Fi 7 and wondering which ISPs will deliver the most bang for your buck? The folks at Ookla have published a report that aims to answer that question.

Also: Should you upgrade to Wi-Fi 7? Here’s my advice after testing this Asus router at home

In its new report, “Wi-Fi 7 Speeds Up in the US,” Ookla has ranked the top internet providers in the US for their Wi-Fi 7 network performance. The strength of your Wi-Fi is determined by a variety of factors, including your equipment, your wireless devices, your location, and your environment. But your ISP also plays an important role. That’s largely because 71% of US households with internet get their routers directly from their ISP, according to recent research from Parks Associates.

(Disclosure: Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, ZDNET’s parent company.)

10 major US ISPs analyzed

For its report, Ookla analyzed the download and upload speeds of 10 major US ISPs for the first quarter of 2025. In the mix were AT&T Fiber, CenturyLink, Cox, Frontier Fiber, Google Fiber, MetroNet, Spectrum, Verizon, Xfinity, and Ziply Fiber. Among these, Spectrum is one ISP that started providing Wi-Fi 7 routers to its customers last year, tripling its adoption of the latest flavor of Wi-Fi.

Also: Slow internet at home? 3 things I always check first for faster Wi-Fi speeds

Looking at the 10 ISPs, Frontier Fiber was the winner with a median Wi-Fi 7 download speed of 1,010.81 Mbps, or a little more than 1 Gpbs. In second place was MetroNet with a download speed of 867.12 Mbps, followed by Google Fiber at 836.36 Mbps and Spectrum at 826 Mbps. Tied for fifth place were Xfinity and Ziply Fiber, each at 810.19 Mbps. Rounding out the 10 in order of median download speed were Cox, AT&T Fiber, CenturyLink, and Verizon.

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Typically, the upload speeds offered by internet providers are considerably slower than those for downloads. This is because people spend most of their time downloading content, so the ISPs prioritize more bandwidth for downloads. Ookla’s stats for Wi-Fi 7 upload performance showed variations as to which ISPs were the fastest.

Also: Sick of weak Wi-Fi? How I got wired home internet without running Ethernet cable

On a roll, Frontier Fiber again came in first with a median upload speed of 866.85 Mbps. Google Fiber and Ziply Fiber tied for second place with speeds of 646.08 Mbps. Next up were MetroNet with 614.24 Mbps and AT&T Fiber with 576.58 Mbps, followed by CenturyLink and Verizon. On the lower end were Cox, Xfinity, and Spectrum.

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Wi-Fi 7 adoption

Beyond looking at the speeds for different ISPs, Ookla’s report cited other intriguing details about the adoption of Wi-Fi 7.

The latest generation of Wi-Fi only has a 1.8% share of the user market, as recorded by Ookla’s speed-test measurements. That’s not necessarily surprising. The Wi-Fi Alliance gave Wi-Fi 7 its stamp of approval in early 2024, which means it’s only been certified for a year and a half.

Also: This Wi-Fi 7 router solved my big internet headache – and it’s fairly affordable

Plus, a Wi-Fi 7 router is only the first step. To take advantage of the higher speeds, lower latency, and other benefits of Wi-Fi 7, your peripheral devices must also support it. And that’s still an ongoing process for industry players.

Adoption of Wi-Fi 7 started off 2024 at a low 0.2% share. But by early 2025, it had achieved its 1.8% share, thanks largely to all the providers who began offering Wi-Fi 7 routers to their customers. At this point, Wi-Fi 6 (and 6E) collectively account for the highest slice of users with a 52.3% share. Next is Wi-Fi 5 with a 33% share, and Wi-Fi 4 with 13%.

Finally, the report brings up another barrier that may be stalling the adoption of Wi-Fi 7, namely user education, or lack thereof.

Also: The best Wi-Fi routers of 2025

“The cellular industry markets its generations, and consumers know, for example, that they need a 5G phone to be on a 5G network,” the report stated. “But Wi-Fi, as a category, has not educated consumers to the same extent such that consumers could experience better connectivity with, for example, the latest router (assuming they even know the technology generation of their current router). And given that the vast majority of consumers’ mobile traffic is via Wi-Fi – and basically all of the home internet – this is an opportunity for the industry to align the network capability with the service plan with the router with the end device.”

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Source: Robotics - zdnet.com