Lincoln County is genuinely hard to serve. 12.5% 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 Lincoln County sits in Oregon
Share of addresses with no fixed broadband at 25/3 Mbps
0.0% to 3.6%
3.6% to 10%
10% to 14%
14% to 20%
20% to 26%
26% to 44%
44% 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 Lincoln County
Locations covered by each technology, out of 30,156 broadband serviceable locations. An address can be reached by more than one technology, so these add up to more than 100%.
Fiber2,338 · 7.8%
Cable21,153 · 70%
Licensed fixed wireless7,660 · 25%
Unlicensed fixed wireless0 · 0.0%
DSL over copper1,396 · 4.6%
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
23,646
78.4%
Underserved
2,754
9.1%
Unserved
3,756
12.5%
What that means if you live here
The USDA classes Lincoln County as a nonmetro county with an urban population of 20,000 or more, not adjacent to a metro area (continuum code 5).
About 50,862 people live across those locations, roughly 1.7 people per serviceable address.
12.5% of addresses here, 3,756 of them, fall below 25/3 Mbps or have no fixed option at all.
Another 2,754 can get something, but not the 100/20 Mbps the FCC now treats as the benchmark.
The most widely available technology here is cable, reaching 21,153 locations (70.1%); next is licensed fixed wireless at 25.4%.
Fiber reaches 2,338 locations, 7.8% of the county.
Cable reaches 70.1% of locations, more than fiber does, and it will be concentrated in the built-up parts of the county.
Filings come from 14 providers, of which 5 offer fiber and 4 licensed fixed wireless.
Reported fiber coverage fell by 3,811 locations over twelve months. That normally means a provider corrected an earlier over-report, not that service was removed.
Served locations fell 13.07% year on year, usually a filing correction rather than a loss of service.
Lincoln County is harder-served than the typical Oregon county, where the median unserved share is 9.3%.
Fiber lags the rest of Oregon, where the median county is at 42.4%.
What people actually measure in Oregon
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
120 Mbps
44.0 Mbps to 303 Mbps
16.4 Mbps
17 ms
150,989
Charter Communications
129 Mbps
47.8 Mbps to 299 Mbps
10.7 Mbps
27 ms
39,203
CenturyLink Communications
54.5 Mbps
13.2 Mbps to 229 Mbps
20.1 Mbps
14 ms
37,746
Wholesail networks
140 Mbps
46.0 Mbps to 323 Mbps
96.4 Mbps
13 ms
34,175
Verizon Business
29.5 Mbps
7.5 Mbps to 80.4 Mbps
4.2 Mbps
31 ms
31,321
TDS TELECOM
119 Mbps
45.0 Mbps to 271 Mbps
13.0 Mbps
22 ms
15,833
AT&T Enterprises
47.0 Mbps
19.6 Mbps to 97.8 Mbps
3.3 Mbps
4 ms
7,444
Wave Broadband
93.5 Mbps
36.0 Mbps to 216 Mbps
11.7 Mbps
17 ms
6,233
HUNTER COMMUNICATIONS
144 Mbps
39.8 Mbps to 366 Mbps
94.5 Mbps
18 ms
4,419
Douglas FastNet
94.9 Mbps
39.5 Mbps to 234 Mbps
78.5 Mbps
17 ms
3,196
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
49.4 Mbps
9.3 Mbps to 135 Mbps
2.1 Mbps
49 ms
36,336
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 Lincoln 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