Cass County is genuinely hard to serve. 13.6% 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 Cass County sits in Minnesota
Share of addresses with no fixed broadband at 25/3 Mbps
0.0% to 0.0%
0.0% to 0.0%
0.0% to 0.1%
0.1% to 1.0%
1.0% to 2.5%
2.5% to 7.1%
7.1% 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 Cass County
Locations covered by each technology, out of 27,565 broadband serviceable locations. An address can be reached by more than one technology, so these add up to more than 100%.
Fiber14,105 · 51%
Cable7,443 · 27%
Licensed fixed wireless4,299 · 16%
Unlicensed fixed wireless0 · 0.0%
DSL over copper0 · 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
19,332
70.1%
Underserved
4,480
16.3%
Unserved
3,753
13.6%
What that means if you live here
The USDA classes Cass County as a completely rural county, or one with an urban population under 5,000, not adjacent to any metro area (continuum code 9).
About 30,639 people live across those locations, roughly 1.1 people per serviceable address.
13.6% of addresses here, 3,753 of them, fall below 25/3 Mbps or have no fixed option at all.
Another 4,480 can get something, but not the 100/20 Mbps the FCC now treats as the benchmark.
The most widely available technology here is fiber, reaching 14,105 locations (51.2%); next is cable at 27.0%.
Fiber reaches 14,105 locations, 51.2% of the county.
Filings come from 20 providers, of which 12 offer fiber and 3 licensed fixed wireless.
Fiber reached 1,523 more locations in Cass County over the last twelve months, a 5.5% swing in the county's total.
Served locations rose 1.46% year on year.
Cass County is harder-served than the typical Minnesota county, where the median unserved share is 0.5%.
Fiber lags the rest of Minnesota, where the median county is at 66.0%.
What people actually measure in Minnesota
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
132 Mbps
51.2 Mbps to 265 Mbps
11.9 Mbps
30 ms
159,253
Charter Communications
136 Mbps
54.6 Mbps to 267 Mbps
10.8 Mbps
43 ms
50,601
CenturyLink Communications
58.1 Mbps
16.7 Mbps to 182 Mbps
16.3 Mbps
30 ms
46,555
Verizon Business
46.2 Mbps
13.0 Mbps to 115 Mbps
6.3 Mbps
41 ms
42,492
Mediacom Communications
130 Mbps
64.7 Mbps to 257 Mbps
30.0 Mbps
32 ms
20,183
Midcontinent Communications
143 Mbps
57.2 Mbps to 246 Mbps
30.6 Mbps
32 ms
14,199
Frontier Communications of America
16.0 Mbps
6.3 Mbps to 46.3 Mbps
1.4 Mbps
34 ms
11,036
Arvig Enterprises
87.7 Mbps
30.3 Mbps to 113 Mbps
25.9 Mbps
26 ms
9,922
Metronet
134 Mbps
65.9 Mbps to 275 Mbps
104 Mbps
30 ms
5,757
Nuvera
47.5 Mbps
23.3 Mbps to 92.8 Mbps
14.0 Mbps
26 ms
5,339
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
59.7 Mbps
16.6 Mbps to 143 Mbps
7.4 Mbps
44 ms
75,509
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 Cass 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