Fiber is actively arriving in Jefferson County. It reached 606 more locations here in the last twelve months. Check whether your own address is inside a build before committing to anything with a contract.
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 Jefferson County sits in Iowa
Share of addresses with no fixed broadband at 25/3 Mbps
0.0% to 0.4%
0.4% to 0.8%
0.8% to 1.5%
1.5% to 2.2%
2.2% to 4.7%
4.7% to 11%
11% 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 Jefferson County
Locations covered by each technology, out of 7,978 broadband serviceable locations. An address can be reached by more than one technology, so these add up to more than 100%.
Fiber4,757 · 60%
Cable3,993 · 50%
Licensed fixed wireless1,983 · 25%
Unlicensed fixed wireless7,031 · 88%
DSL over copper914 · 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
7,562
94.8%
Underserved
245
3.1%
Unserved
171
2.1%
What that means if you live here
The USDA classes Jefferson County as a nonmetro county with an urban population of 5,000 to 20,000, not adjacent to a metro area (continuum code 7).
About 15,647 people live across those locations, roughly 2.0 people per serviceable address.
Only 171 locations, 2.1%, are recorded with nothing at 25/3 Mbps or better.
Another 245 can get something, but not the 100/20 Mbps the FCC now treats as the benchmark.
The most widely available technology here is unlicensed fixed wireless, reaching 7,031 locations (88.1%); next is fiber at 59.6%.
Fiber reaches 4,757 locations, 59.6% of the county.
Filings come from 16 providers, of which 8 offer fiber and 5 licensed fixed wireless.
Fiber reached 606 more locations in Jefferson County over the last twelve months, a 7.6% swing in the county's total.
Served locations rose 7.45% year on year.
Fiber lags the rest of Iowa, where the median county is at 74.4%.
What people actually measure in Iowa
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
Mediacom Communications
113 Mbps
57.0 Mbps to 282 Mbps
24.4 Mbps
24 ms
58,533
CenturyLink Communications
36.7 Mbps
10.5 Mbps to 93.8 Mbps
7.1 Mbps
29 ms
17,538
Metronet
178 Mbps
73.8 Mbps to 338 Mbps
124 Mbps
24 ms
16,112
Aureon Network Services
78.4 Mbps
29.3 Mbps to 115 Mbps
47.4 Mbps
23 ms
11,340
ImOn Communications
90.8 Mbps
33.9 Mbps to 183 Mbps
42.9 Mbps
16 ms
8,635
Windstream Communications
37.6 Mbps
12.2 Mbps to 81.3 Mbps
10.7 Mbps
36 ms
8,336
Verizon Business
36.1 Mbps
9.9 Mbps to 96.6 Mbps
7.5 Mbps
45 ms
4,642
CABLE ONE
122 Mbps
55.1 Mbps to 203 Mbps
22.4 Mbps
64 ms
3,325
South Slope Cooperative Telephone
61.6 Mbps
33.5 Mbps to 184 Mbps
44.6 Mbps
21 ms
3,202
ICS Advanced Technologies
85.4 Mbps
30.4 Mbps to 184 Mbps
57.0 Mbps
24 ms
3,083
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 Jefferson County
Fiber
Fiber, if it has reached you
The best outcome by a distance: symmetric speed, low latency, no weather sensitivity, no data ceiling in practice.
Best for
Anyone whose address is inside a fiber build. Always check this first.
Watch out
Coverage stops abruptly at the edge of a build. Being a mile from fiber is the same as being fifty.
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.