Putnam County is genuinely hard to serve. 15.2% 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 Putnam County sits in Florida
Share of addresses with no fixed broadband at 25/3 Mbps
0.0% to 2.2%
2.2% to 3.9%
3.9% to 6.1%
6.1% to 11%
11% to 15%
15% to 20%
20% 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 Putnam County
Locations covered by each technology, out of 38,975 broadband serviceable locations. An address can be reached by more than one technology, so these add up to more than 100%.
Fiber3,794 · 9.7%
Cable23,148 · 59%
Licensed fixed wireless8,796 · 23%
Unlicensed fixed wireless0 · 0.0%
DSL over copper4,388 · 11%
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
27,988
71.8%
Underserved
5,058
13.0%
Unserved
5,929
15.2%
What that means if you live here
The USDA classes Putnam County as a nonmetro county with an urban population of 20,000 or more, adjacent to a metro area (continuum code 4).
Population is around 74,167, which works out to about 1.9 people for every address on the list.
5,929 locations, 15.2% of the county, have nothing that reaches 25/3 Mbps.
A further 13.0% of the county sits in the middle: served, but below the 100/20 Mbps mark.
The most widely available technology here is cable, reaching 23,148 locations (59.4%); next is licensed fixed wireless at 22.6%.
Fiber reaches 3,794 locations, 9.7% of the county.
Cable reaches 59.4% of locations, more than fiber does, and it will be concentrated in the built-up parts of the county.
14 providers file coverage in Putnam County: 7 with fiber, 1 with cable, 3 with licensed fixed wireless.
In twelve months fiber went from 3,403 locations to 3,794 here.
Served locations fell 0.96% year on year, usually a filing correction rather than a loss of service.
Putnam County is harder-served than the typical Florida county, where the median unserved share is 1.9%.
Fiber lags the rest of Florida, where the median county is at 60.0%.
What people actually measure in Florida
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
138 Mbps
52.3 Mbps to 321 Mbps
17.5 Mbps
11 ms
552,577
Charter Communications
179 Mbps
62.8 Mbps to 327 Mbps
11.7 Mbps
16 ms
426,513
AT&T Enterprises
121 Mbps
36.8 Mbps to 346 Mbps
76.8 Mbps
17 ms
282,946
Verizon Business
29.6 Mbps
7.0 Mbps to 85.2 Mbps
4.2 Mbps
28 ms
143,129
Frontier Communications of America
200 Mbps
70.4 Mbps to 420 Mbps
76.1 Mbps
12 ms
106,794
Cox Communications
109 Mbps
38.8 Mbps to 249 Mbps
11.4 Mbps
44 ms
49,409
CenturyLink Communications
38.1 Mbps
9.3 Mbps to 193 Mbps
13.2 Mbps
14 ms
45,252
Hotwire Communications
166 Mbps
73.4 Mbps to 297 Mbps
55.8 Mbps
5 ms
36,878
ZSCALER
87.8 Mbps
30.6 Mbps to 191 Mbps
20.8 Mbps
0 ms
23,713
Breezeline
162 Mbps
64.1 Mbps to 277 Mbps
21.5 Mbps
5 ms
18,271
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
40.5 Mbps
8.5 Mbps to 117 Mbps
5.8 Mbps
46 ms
220,061
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 Putnam 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