This is fixed-wireless country. Licensed fixed wireless reaches 84.0% of Tehama County while fiber reaches 1.6%. Start with the local wireless operators, and treat satellite as the fallback rather than the plan.
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 Tehama County sits in California
Share of addresses with no fixed broadband at 25/3 Mbps
0.0% to 4.7%
4.7% to 7.4%
7.4% to 9.9%
9.9% to 16%
16% to 35%
35% to 55%
55% 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 Tehama County
Locations covered by each technology, out of 25,734 broadband serviceable locations. An address can be reached by more than one technology, so these add up to more than 100%.
Fiber404 · 1.6%
Cable11,721 · 46%
Licensed fixed wireless21,626 · 84%
Unlicensed fixed wireless18,858 · 73%
DSL over copper206 · 0.8%
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
23,213
90.2%
Underserved
605
2.4%
Unserved
1,916
7.4%
What that means if you live here
The USDA classes Tehama County as a nonmetro county with an urban population of 20,000 or more, adjacent to a metro area (continuum code 4).
About 65,498 people live across those locations, roughly 2.5 people per serviceable address.
7.4% of addresses here, 1,916 of them, fall below 25/3 Mbps or have no fixed option at all.
Another 605 can get something, but not the 100/20 Mbps the FCC now treats as the benchmark.
The most widely available technology here is licensed fixed wireless, reaching 21,626 locations (84.0%); next is unlicensed fixed wireless at 73.3%.
Practically no fiber has been built here. The filings show 404 locations reached.
Licensed fixed wireless covers 84.0% of Tehama County, wider than anything else available. In a county shaped like this it is usually the practical answer rather than the fallback.
Cable reaches 45.5% of locations, more than fiber does, and it will be concentrated in the built-up parts of the county.
Filings come from 22 providers, of which 4 offer fiber and 6 licensed fixed wireless.
Fiber reached 63 more locations in Tehama County over the last twelve months, a 0.2% swing in the county's total.
Served locations fell 0.99% year on year, usually a filing correction rather than a loss of service.
Tehama County is harder-served than the typical California county, where the median unserved share is 3.3%.
Fiber lags the rest of California, where the median county is at 30.6%.
What people actually measure in California
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
Comcast Cable Communications
124 Mbps
46.4 Mbps to 308 Mbps
15.9 Mbps
11 ms
1,071,162
Charter Communications
170 Mbps
57.2 Mbps to 332 Mbps
11.6 Mbps
11 ms
822,147
AT&T Enterprises
84.9 Mbps
25.5 Mbps to 298 Mbps
34.7 Mbps
7 ms
708,950
Verizon Business
36.2 Mbps
8.9 Mbps to 100 Mbps
5.0 Mbps
23 ms
327,928
Cox Communications
141 Mbps
48.1 Mbps to 320 Mbps
27.4 Mbps
9 ms
241,463
Frontier Communications of America
167 Mbps
56.2 Mbps to 414 Mbps
99.8 Mbps
6 ms
216,384
Sonic Telecom
150 Mbps
47.4 Mbps to 359 Mbps
101 Mbps
8 ms
87,912
ZSCALER
71.0 Mbps
21.9 Mbps to 160 Mbps
20.3 Mbps
1 ms
55,409
Wave Broadband
112 Mbps
45.4 Mbps to 288 Mbps
11.5 Mbps
11 ms
24,830
Optimum
101 Mbps
37.5 Mbps to 229 Mbps
14.6 Mbps
14 ms
16,447
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
32.8 Mbps
6.8 Mbps to 105 Mbps
4.6 Mbps
34 ms
457,155
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 Tehama County
Fixed wireless
A local fixed-wireless provider
A regional operator beaming service from a tower or ridge to an antenna on your roof. In much of rural America this is the fastest thing available.
Best for
Counties where the FCC data shows large licensed fixed-wireless coverage, which this page tells you
Watch out
Needs line of sight. Quality varies enormously between operators; ask neighbours, not the sales page.
5G home internet
T-Mobile Home Internet
Home internet over T-Mobile’s cellular network. A gateway box you plug in yourself; no truck roll, no dish.
Best for
Rural addresses that still get a usable T-Mobile signal, often near a highway or a town
Watch out
Availability is decided address by address, not by town. Speed varies with how busy the local tower is.