Washington County is genuinely hard to serve. 37.3% of locations here have no fixed broadband at all, so for a lot of addresses the real choice is satellite or a cellular home-internet gateway, not a wired provider.
Everything below comes from the FCC's Broadband Data Collection, the filings providers are legally required to make about where they offer service. It describes the county; your own address can differ, and that is exactly why the technology mix matters.
Where Washington County sits in Alabama
Share of addresses with no fixed broadband at 25/3 Mbps
0.0% to 0.9%
0.9% to 3.3%
3.3% to 4.9%
4.9% to 14%
14% to 27%
27% to 43%
43% and above
not published
This county is outlined. Darker means a larger share of addresses with no fixed broadband. Select any county to open it.
What reaches homes in Washington County
Locations covered by each technology, out of 9,686 broadband serviceable locations. An address can be reached by more than one technology, so these add up to more than 100%.
Fiber4,412 · 46%
Cable563 · 5.8%
Licensed fixed wireless617 · 6.4%
Unlicensed fixed wireless0 · 0.0%
DSL over copper0 · 0.0%
Served, underserved, unserved
The FCC's three categories. "Served" means at least 100/20 Mbps is available; "underserved" means at least 25/3 but below 100/20; "unserved" means below 25/3 or nothing at all.
Category
Locations
Share of county
Served
5,357
55.3%
Underserved
718
7.4%
Unserved
3,611
37.3%
What that means if you live here
The USDA classes Washington County as a completely rural county, or one with an urban population under 5,000, adjacent to a metro area (continuum code 8).
Population is around 15,147, which works out to about 1.6 people for every address on the list.
3,611 locations, 37.3% of the county, have no fixed service reaching 25/3 Mbps. That is more than a third of every address here.
A further 7.4% of the county sits in the middle: served, but below the 100/20 Mbps mark.
The most widely available technology here is fiber, reaching 4,412 locations (45.6%); next is licensed fixed wireless at 6.4%.
Fiber reaches 4,412 locations, 45.6% of the county.
15 providers file coverage in Washington County: 6 with fiber, 1 with cable, 4 with licensed fixed wireless.
In twelve months fiber went from 2,987 locations to 4,412 here.
Served locations rose 36.87% year on year.
Washington County is harder-served than the typical Alabama county, where the median unserved share is 4.6%.
Fiber lags the rest of Alabama, where the median county is at 57.1%.
What people actually measure in Alabama
Median of real speed tests run on each network during 2024, from M-Lab. This is measured performance, not an advertised plan speed, and not a customer review. The middle-half column shows how consistent a network is: a wide spread means your experience depends heavily on where and when.
Network
Median download
Middle half of tests
Median upload
Latency
Tests
AT&T Enterprises
90.6 Mbps
25.4 Mbps to 301 Mbps
46.8 Mbps
28 ms
57,284
Charter Communications
141 Mbps
57.5 Mbps to 286 Mbps
10.9 Mbps
34 ms
51,106
Verizon Business
22.5 Mbps
5.4 Mbps to 57.0 Mbps
3.4 Mbps
45 ms
35,980
Comcast Cable Communications
113 Mbps
46.5 Mbps to 254 Mbps
14.8 Mbps
34 ms
21,565
WideOpenWest Finance
118 Mbps
46.8 Mbps to 269 Mbps
21.4 Mbps
32 ms
13,258
Mediacom Communications
111 Mbps
53.0 Mbps to 272 Mbps
21.9 Mbps
29 ms
10,095
Brightspeed
9.6 Mbps
3.9 Mbps to 39.1 Mbps
0.8 Mbps
57 ms
6,462
Troy Cablevision
90.5 Mbps
37.1 Mbps to 212 Mbps
47.9 Mbps
26 ms
3,820
Uniti Fiber Holdings
58.0 Mbps
19.1 Mbps to 93.5 Mbps
32.8 Mbps
31 ms
3,811
Windstream Communications
27.2 Mbps
9.5 Mbps to 78.2 Mbps
8.5 Mbps
39 ms
2,499
Cellular networks, measured
The same measurement for the mobile networks behind 5G home internet. These tests come from phones as well as home gateways, so treat them as an indication of network health in the state rather than a home-internet plan speed.
Network
Median download
Middle half of tests
Median upload
Latency
Tests
T-Mobile USA
50.1 Mbps
12.4 Mbps to 115 Mbps
5.2 Mbps
51 ms
22,293
Latency is the number that decides whether video calls and gaming feel right, and it is where satellite differs most from everything else. Measured data is statewide: below county level there are usually too few tests to report an honest number.
Disclosure: some links on this page are affiliate links. If you sign up for a service or buy equipment through one, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes which options we list or the order we rank them in, and we do not accept payment for a better placement.
Your realistic options in Washington County
Satellite
Starlink
Low-earth-orbit satellite. Latency is low enough for video calls and most gaming, unlike older satellite services.
Best for
Anywhere with a clear view of the sky and no wired option
Watch out
Hardware costs money up front, and heavy tree cover or a north-facing obstruction will cost you throughput