Carter County is genuinely hard to serve. 67.1% 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 Carter County sits in Missouri
Share of addresses with no fixed broadband at 25/3 Mbps
0.0% to 1.1%
1.1% to 2.1%
2.1% to 4.8%
4.8% to 8.7%
8.7% to 15%
15% to 28%
28% 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 Carter County
Locations covered by each technology, out of 3,357 broadband serviceable locations. An address can be reached by more than one technology, so these add up to more than 100%.
Fiber11 · 0.3%
Cable247 · 7.4%
Licensed fixed wireless272 · 8.1%
Unlicensed fixed wireless0 · 0.0%
DSL over copper77 · 2.3%
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
606
18.1%
Underserved
498
14.8%
Unserved
2,253
67.1%
What that means if you live here
The USDA classes Carter County as a completely rural county, or one with an urban population under 5,000, not adjacent to any metro area (continuum code 9).
Population is around 5,320, which works out to about 1.6 people for every address on the list.
More than half of Carter County, 2,253 of 3,357 locations, has no fixed service reaching 25/3 Mbps. Very few counties in the country are in this position.
A further 14.8% of the county sits in the middle: served, but below the 100/20 Mbps mark.
The most widely available technology here is licensed fixed wireless, reaching 272 locations (8.1%); next is cable at 7.4%.
Fiber is essentially absent: 11 locations out of 3,357.
9 providers file coverage in Carter County: 1 with fiber, 1 with cable, 2 with licensed fixed wireless.
Served locations rose 1.68% year on year.
Carter County is harder-served than the typical Missouri county, where the median unserved share is 4.8%.
Fiber lags the rest of Missouri, where the median county is at 62.7%.
What people actually measure in Missouri
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
Charter Communications
146 Mbps
61.0 Mbps to 311 Mbps
11.2 Mbps
14 ms
113,069
AT&T Enterprises
74.9 Mbps
24.9 Mbps to 249 Mbps
19.8 Mbps
25 ms
94,768
Verizon Business
25.4 Mbps
6.0 Mbps to 63.7 Mbps
4.4 Mbps
36 ms
37,752
Brightspeed
24.1 Mbps
8.1 Mbps to 93.2 Mbps
3.0 Mbps
45 ms
21,330
Mediacom Communications
120 Mbps
49.3 Mbps to 282 Mbps
18.4 Mbps
31 ms
15,391
Optimum
104 Mbps
36.9 Mbps to 234 Mbps
15.4 Mbps
41 ms
10,815
Comcast Cable Communications
131 Mbps
47.6 Mbps to 296 Mbps
18.9 Mbps
27 ms
9,787
Fidelity Communication International
80.7 Mbps
24.5 Mbps to 163 Mbps
16.9 Mbps
30 ms
6,782
CABLE ONE
123 Mbps
56.1 Mbps to 191 Mbps
18.8 Mbps
56 ms
6,051
Socket Holdings
112 Mbps
51.4 Mbps to 235 Mbps
67.1 Mbps
30 ms
5,568
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
61.4 Mbps
16.9 Mbps to 144 Mbps
7.2 Mbps
41 ms
72,849
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 Carter 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