Apache County is genuinely hard to serve. 25.6% 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 Apache County sits in Arizona
Share of addresses with no fixed broadband at 25/3 Mbps
0.0% to 8.6%
8.6% to 12%
12% to 16%
16% to 17%
17% to 20%
20% to 26%
26% 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 Apache County
Locations covered by each technology, out of 28,036 broadband serviceable locations. An address can be reached by more than one technology, so these add up to more than 100%.
Fiber61 · 0.2%
Cable0 · 0.0%
Licensed fixed wireless8,101 · 29%
Unlicensed fixed wireless0 · 0.0%
DSL over copper82 · 0.3%
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
8,244
29.4%
Underserved
12,618
45.0%
Unserved
7,174
25.6%
What that means if you live here
The USDA classes Apache 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 65,623, which works out to about 2.3 people for every address on the list.
7,174 locations, 25.6%, or better than one address in five, have no fixed service reaching 25/3 Mbps. That is a large gap even by rural standards.
A further 45.0% of the county sits in the middle: served, but below the 100/20 Mbps mark.
The most widely available technology here is licensed fixed wireless, reaching 8,101 locations (28.9%); next is dsl over copper at 0.3%.
Fiber is essentially absent: 61 locations out of 28,036.
14 providers file coverage in Apache County: 1 with fiber, 0 with cable, 6 with licensed fixed wireless.
Served locations rose 37.95% year on year.
Apache County is harder-served than the typical Arizona county, where the median unserved share is 8.6%.
Fiber lags the rest of Arizona, where the median county is at 29.0%.
What people actually measure in Arizona
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
Cox Communications
135 Mbps
47.0 Mbps to 310 Mbps
23.5 Mbps
20 ms
308,185
Verizon Business
33.6 Mbps
7.0 Mbps to 101 Mbps
4.8 Mbps
40 ms
99,604
CenturyLink Communications
46.9 Mbps
15.4 Mbps to 122 Mbps
10.3 Mbps
23 ms
66,235
AT&T Enterprises
47.3 Mbps
18.8 Mbps to 112 Mbps
4.7 Mbps
16 ms
24,188
Comcast Cable Communications
165 Mbps
58.9 Mbps to 320 Mbps
12.5 Mbps
23 ms
21,124
Optimum
103 Mbps
43.5 Mbps to 228 Mbps
16.1 Mbps
28 ms
16,966
CABLE ONE
117 Mbps
48.0 Mbps to 275 Mbps
20.5 Mbps
19 ms
13,451
Charter Communications
98.4 Mbps
22.2 Mbps to 261 Mbps
10.9 Mbps
15 ms
9,939
Clouvider Clouvider
62.8 Mbps
26.7 Mbps to 134 Mbps
9.8 Mbps
15 ms
8,906
Wyyerd Group
267 Mbps
92.4 Mbps to 391 Mbps
144 Mbps
16 ms
5,654
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
48.2 Mbps
11.1 Mbps to 123 Mbps
2.0 Mbps
35 ms
76,871
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.
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Your realistic options in Apache 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