San Miguel County is genuinely hard to serve. 15.3% 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 San Miguel County sits in New Mexico
Share of addresses with no fixed broadband at 25/3 Mbps
0.0% to 1.4%
1.4% to 4.6%
4.6% to 6.6%
6.6% to 8.0%
8.0% to 12%
12% to 22%
22% 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 San Miguel County
Locations covered by each technology, out of 14,291 broadband serviceable locations. An address can be reached by more than one technology, so these add up to more than 100%.
Fiber6,590 · 46%
Cable6,820 · 48%
Licensed fixed wireless3,359 · 24%
Unlicensed fixed wireless543 · 3.8%
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
11,683
81.8%
Underserved
422
3.0%
Unserved
2,186
15.3%
What that means if you live here
The USDA classes San Miguel County as a nonmetro county with an urban population of 5,000 to 20,000, adjacent to a metro area (continuum code 6).
Population is around 27,150, which works out to about 1.9 people for every address on the list.
2,186 locations, 15.3% of the county, have nothing that reaches 25/3 Mbps.
A further 3.0% of the county sits in the middle: served, but below the 100/20 Mbps mark.
The most widely available technology here is cable, reaching 6,820 locations (47.7%); next is fiber at 46.1%.
Fiber reaches 6,590 locations, 46.1% of the county.
Cable reaches 47.7% of locations, more than fiber does, and it will be concentrated in the built-up parts of the county.
14 providers file coverage in San Miguel County: 2 with fiber, 1 with cable, 5 with licensed fixed wireless.
In twelve months fiber went from 5,554 locations to 6,590 here.
Served locations rose 7.71% year on year.
San Miguel County is harder-served than the typical New Mexico county, where the median unserved share is 6.6%.
What people actually measure in New Mexico
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
133 Mbps
46.4 Mbps to 322 Mbps
11.8 Mbps
15 ms
64,031
CenturyLink Communications
23.3 Mbps
8.9 Mbps to 50.9 Mbps
3.8 Mbps
32 ms
19,930
TDS TELECOM
105 Mbps
43.4 Mbps to 213 Mbps
12.2 Mbps
52 ms
6,698
AT&T Enterprises
36.7 Mbps
16.3 Mbps to 77.8 Mbps
3.7 Mbps
48 ms
5,342
CABLE ONE
121 Mbps
57.3 Mbps to 229 Mbps
18.2 Mbps
55 ms
4,791
Windstream Communications
32.4 Mbps
10.7 Mbps to 111 Mbps
10.2 Mbps
28 ms
4,455
Plateau Telecommunications
93.2 Mbps
32.1 Mbps to 221 Mbps
72.3 Mbps
32 ms
4,032
Kit Carson Electric Cooperative
50.5 Mbps
19.5 Mbps to 86.2 Mbps
32.7 Mbps
43 ms
1,924
NMSURF
44.5 Mbps
16.7 Mbps to 78.0 Mbps
9.6 Mbps
52 ms
1,427
Sharktech
46.9 Mbps
23.5 Mbps to 101 Mbps
5.5 Mbps
1 ms
1,160
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
25.0 Mbps
4.8 Mbps to 73.5 Mbps
7.9 Mbps
34 ms
21,682
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 San Miguel 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