Cable is the backbone here. It reaches 75.0% of Franklin County, concentrated in the towns. Outside the cable footprint the picture changes sharply, which is why the address matters more than the county.
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 Franklin County sits in Massachusetts
Share of addresses with no fixed broadband at 25/3 Mbps
0.0% to 1.1%
1.1% to 1.9%
1.9% to 2.5%
2.5% and above
NaN% and above
NaN% and above
NaN% 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 Franklin County
Locations covered by each technology, out of 29,250 broadband serviceable locations. An address can be reached by more than one technology, so these add up to more than 100%.
Fiber6,605 · 23%
Cable21,950 · 75%
Licensed fixed wireless4,895 · 17%
Unlicensed fixed wireless0 · 0.0%
DSL over copper1 · 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
28,408
97.1%
Underserved
99
0.3%
Unserved
743
2.5%
What that means if you live here
The USDA classes Franklin 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 71,015, which works out to about 2.4 people for every address on the list.
Only 743 locations, 2.5%, are recorded with nothing at 25/3 Mbps or better.
The most widely available technology here is cable, reaching 21,950 locations (75.0%); next is fiber at 22.6%.
Fiber reaches 6,605 locations, 22.6% of the county.
Cable reaches 75.0% of locations, more than fiber does, and it will be concentrated in the built-up parts of the county.
16 providers file coverage in Franklin County: 6 with fiber, 2 with cable, 3 with licensed fixed wireless.
Reported fiber coverage fell by 76 locations over twelve months. That normally means a provider corrected an earlier over-report, not that service was removed.
Served locations fell 0.88% year on year, usually a filing correction rather than a loss of service.
Franklin County is harder-served than the typical Massachusetts county, where the median unserved share is 0.3%.
Fiber lags the rest of Massachusetts, where the median county is at 37.2%.
What people actually measure in Massachusetts
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
123 Mbps
45.6 Mbps to 293 Mbps
20.9 Mbps
13 ms
311,843
Verizon Business
152 Mbps
55.6 Mbps to 320 Mbps
90.4 Mbps
10 ms
118,265
Charter Communications
133 Mbps
54.0 Mbps to 287 Mbps
10.9 Mbps
22 ms
38,416
RCN
135 Mbps
38.8 Mbps to 305 Mbps
23.1 Mbps
13 ms
18,816
ZSCALER
79.6 Mbps
31.8 Mbps to 146 Mbps
22.3 Mbps
6 ms
16,620
AT&T Enterprises
61.3 Mbps
24.7 Mbps to 137 Mbps
5.3 Mbps
6 ms
11,648
Shrewsbury Electric and Cable Operations
93.1 Mbps
39.9 Mbps to 155 Mbps
8.0 Mbps
12 ms
3,268
Crown Castle Fiber
101 Mbps
39.5 Mbps to 224 Mbps
92.8 Mbps
8 ms
3,108
Starry
184 Mbps
54.8 Mbps to 220 Mbps
70.3 Mbps
12 ms
3,016
CDNEXT Datacamp
68.8 Mbps
24.9 Mbps to 142 Mbps
11.0 Mbps
7 ms
1,719
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
49.2 Mbps
11.4 Mbps to 150 Mbps
9.2 Mbps
26 ms
33,592
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 Franklin 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.
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.