Fiber is actively arriving in Lake County. It reached 690 more locations here in the last twelve months. Check whether your own address is inside a build before committing to anything with a contract.
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 Lake County sits in South Dakota
Share of addresses with no fixed broadband at 25/3 Mbps
0.0% to 0.0%
0.0% to 0.2%
0.2% to 0.8%
0.8% to 1.2%
1.2% to 2.3%
2.3% to 9.9%
9.9% 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 Lake County
Locations covered by each technology, out of 6,288 broadband serviceable locations. An address can be reached by more than one technology, so these add up to more than 100%.
Fiber3,720 · 59%
Cable3,349 · 53%
Licensed fixed wireless1,907 · 30%
Unlicensed fixed wireless1,807 · 29%
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
6,194
98.5%
Underserved
17
0.3%
Unserved
77
1.2%
What that means if you live here
The USDA classes Lake County as a nonmetro county with an urban population of 5,000 to 20,000, adjacent to a metro area (continuum code 6).
About 10,851 people live across those locations, roughly 1.7 people per serviceable address.
Only 77 locations, 1.2%, are recorded with nothing at 25/3 Mbps or better.
The most widely available technology here is fiber, reaching 3,720 locations (59.2%); next is cable at 53.3%.
Fiber reaches 3,720 locations, 59.2% of the county.
Licensed fixed wireless covers 30.3% of the county. It does not reach as far as fiber does here, but it reaches places fiber does not.
Filings come from 17 providers, of which 8 offer fiber and 5 licensed fixed wireless.
Fiber reached 690 more locations in Lake County over the last twelve months, a 11.0% swing in the county's total.
Fiber lags the rest of South Dakota, where the median county is at 94.6%.
What people actually measure in South Dakota
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
Midcontinent Communications
116 Mbps
60.1 Mbps to 244 Mbps
30.1 Mbps
32 ms
15,783
Clarity Telecom
125 Mbps
66.4 Mbps to 206 Mbps
19.0 Mbps
27 ms
6,284
SDN Communications
87.3 Mbps
36.4 Mbps to 168 Mbps
39.0 Mbps
33 ms
4,771
Golden West Telecommunications Coop
99.5 Mbps
26.6 Mbps to 197 Mbps
81.2 Mbps
31 ms
2,408
CenturyLink Communications
27.7 Mbps
8.2 Mbps to 61.9 Mbps
3.7 Mbps
49 ms
1,025
Northern Valley Communications
51.6 Mbps
29.5 Mbps to 92.4 Mbps
16.4 Mbps
34 ms
948
SWIFTEL COMMUNICATIONS
64.6 Mbps
37.8 Mbps to 102 Mbps
9.8 Mbps
31 ms
880
Mediacom Communications
124 Mbps
42.2 Mbps to 184 Mbps
21.4 Mbps
39 ms
875
Long Lines Internet
87.8 Mbps
71.7 Mbps to 138 Mbps
14.3 Mbps
29 ms
526
South Dakota State Government
87.9 Mbps
52.1 Mbps to 149 Mbps
62.3 Mbps
34 ms
411
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 Lake 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.
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.