Milwaukee, Wisconsin internet service
Fiber is available at 69.5% of the 144,197 homes and businesses the FCC counts in Milwaukee, and wired broadband of at least 100/20 Mbps at 98.1%. 74.0% of locations have a choice of two or more wired providers at that speed; at 24.1% there is only one.1
FCC National Broadband Map, availability as of June 30, 2026 (data revised November 10, 2026), as reported by providers.
Milwaukee in Wisconsin
Nearly every home and business in Milwaukee can order a 1 Gbps download, yet gigabit uploads stop where AT&T's fiber stops, at 69.5% of locations. Spectrum and AT&T are the only wired networks of any size, and the share of locations with a third wired choice at 100/20 Mbps is tied for the lowest1 among the country's large cities. The wires are in place; what moved most since 2019 is how many households subscribe.
Spectrum, AT&T and a long tail of small filers
The FCC's June 30, 2026 data (revision November 10, 2026) list 144,197 homes and businesses within Milwaukee's 2020 city limits. Two companies serve nearly all of them by wire. Spectrum reports service at 97.3%, over cable everywhere except a sliver of fiber (1.4%). AT&T reports service at 96.8%: fiber at 68.5%1, with DSL and fixed wireless covering much of the remainder.
| Spectrum | Fiber Cable | 97.3% | 97.3% | 1 Gbps | 23.3% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T | Fiber DSL Licensed wireless | 96.8% | 75.8% | 5 Gbps | 0.9% |
| T-Mobile | Licensed wireless | 86.7% | 42.6% | 100 Mbps | – |
| Verizon | Licensed wireless | 73.9% | 33.6% | 1 Gbps | – |
| PCs for People | Cable | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100 Mbps | – |
| Xiber LLC | Fixed wireless | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2 Gbps | – |
Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026. Share of the area's broadband serviceable locations where the provider reports service as of June 30, 2026. "Only wired option" is the share of locations where it is the single wired provider at 100/20 Mbps. Provider-reported and challengeable; speeds are advertised maximums, not measured; no prices. Satellite providers (HughesNet, Starlink, Viasat) report service at nearly every location and are left out of the table.
The other wired filers are small. PCs for People reports cable at 471 locations; US Signal, WIN, Cogent and others report fiber at a handful each. Satellite from Starlink, HughesNet and Viasat is reported at practically every location, as in every US city, and is left out of the counts of choice below. A listed provider is one that says it can install standard service within ten business days; anyone can challenge a report on the FCC National Broadband Map.
Gigabit downloads almost everywhere, gigabit uploads at seven in ten
Download speed barely separates Milwaukee's two networks. A 1 Gbps download is advertised at 98.0% of locations, above the US share of 91.0%, because Spectrum's cable plans reach that tier. Upload speed does separate them. The FCC's gigabit tier with at least 100 Mbps up (1,000/100) is advertised at 69.5% of locations, exactly the fiber share, and wired service of 100/100 Mbps at 69.5%1.
| Measure | Milwaukee | Wisconsin | United States | Rank among largest cities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Gbps download | 98.0% | 85.9% | 91.0% | 200th of 343 |
| Gigabit (1,000/100) | 69.5% | 55.8% | 72.3% | 272nd of 343 |
| Wired 100/100 Mbps | 69.5% | 56.2% | 73.7% | 275th of 343 |
| Fiber available | 69.5% | 55.9% | 62.6% | 190th of 343 |
| 2 Gbps or more | 62.8% | 34.9% | 61.0% | – |
Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026. Rank 1 is the highest value. FCC file revision of November 10, 2026. Shares are of broadband serviceable locations (homes and businesses), not people.
At the top end, the fastest advertised download is 2 Gbps or more at 62.8% of locations, up from 33.9%2 in June 2022, and AT&T lists up to 5 Gbps on fiber. Where AT&T has no fiber, the ceiling is Spectrum's 1 Gbps tier, now the top tier at 35.2%1 of locations. Every speed here is a provider's advertised maximum, not a measurement.
Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026. Maximum advertised download speed (Mbps) of any wired or fixed wireless offer at the location, as reported by providers to the FCC; satellite excluded. Advertised, not measured.
Show the numbers
| Area | Under 25 Mbps or none | 25–99 | 100–249 | 250–499 | 500–939 | 940–1,999 | 2,000 or more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee | 0.5% | 0.6% | 1.0% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 35.2% | 62.8% |
| Madison | 0.1% | 0.1% | 2.6% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 43.1% | 54.1% |
| Wisconsin | 3.5% | 4.1% | 5.0% | 1.3% | 0.2% | 51.1% | 34.9% |
| United States | 2.4% | 1.6% | 1.8% | 1.4% | 0.9% | 31.0% | 61.0% |
Statewide, the gigabit-upload tier reaches 55.8% of locations and nationally 72.3%; Madison is at 71.6%. Milwaukee's share is tied for 72nd lowest1 among the 343 cities of 100,000 or more.
No third wire
Wired service of 100/20 Mbps is reported at 98.1% of Milwaukee locations, and two such providers at 74.0%. Three or more are reported at 0.0%, as in December 2025 (0.0%3). Green Bay, by contrast, has a third wired option at 30.8% of locations and Chicago at 21.4%; the US share is 11.1%1.
Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026. FCC file revision of November 10, 2026. Shares are of broadband serviceable locations (homes and businesses), not people.
Show the numbers
| Area | Three or more wired choices |
|---|---|
| Green Bay | 30.8% |
| Chicago | 21.4% |
| United States | 11.1% |
| Wisconsin | 5.8% |
| Cleveland | 2.2% |
| Madison | 0.3% |
| Minneapolis | 0.1% |
| Detroit | 0.0% |
| Milwaukee | 0.0% |
Fiber overlap is just as thin. 2 companies report fiber somewhere in the city, but two separate fiber networks meet at only 0.5% of locations (706 in all). Where AT&T does not offer 100/20 Mbps, Spectrum is the only wired option at that speed: 23.3% of locations. A location averages 1.721 wired providers at 100/20.
Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026. Different wired providers (fiber, cable or DSL; FCC provider IDs) reporting 100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up or more at the same location. Fixed wireless and satellite are not counted.
Show the numbers
| Area | None | One | Two | Three or more |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee | 1.9% | 24.1% | 74.0% | 0.0% |
| Minneapolis | 0.2% | 7.9% | 91.9% | 0.1% |
| Detroit | 0.8% | 63.9% | 35.3% | 0.0% |
| Wisconsin | 13.6% | 45.9% | 34.7% | 5.8% |
| United States | 7.8% | 36.6% | 44.6% | 11.1% |
Two wires still beat the Wisconsin pattern. Across the state a single wired choice at 100/20 Mbps is the situation at 45.9% of locations, the 11th highest share among the states and DC, against 24.1% in Milwaukee. Among other Great Lakes cities, two or more wired choices reach 92.0% of locations in Minneapolis, 76.8% in Chicago, 57.8% in Cleveland and 35.3% in Detroit, against 74.0%1 here.
Licensed fixed wireless, the category that includes 5G home internet, adds a different kind of option rather than a third wire. 3 carriers report it (T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T), and service at 100/20 Mbps or faster is reported at 61.7% of locations. Tower capacity is shared, so a reported location is not a guaranteed sign-up. Only 8111 locations rely on fixed wireless as their sole 100/20 option.
Service is in place; subscriptions caught up
With a fast wire already reported at 97.3%2 of locations in June 2022, availability is not where Milwaukee's gap lies. The Census Bureau's American Community Survey counts households rather than locations. In 2019 it found 20.8% of Milwaukee households without any internet subscription (margin of error ±1.4 percentage points4); in 2025, 8.0% (margin ±1.2 percentage points). The two estimates are far apart relative to their margins, so the drop is clear. Wisconsin's 2025 figure was 7.2%5.
Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026; Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2025 1-year detailed tables. Availability is a share of locations as of June 30, 2026 (FCC); subscriptions are a share of households from the American Community Survey, 2025 (whiskers: 90% margin of error). Different units and dates: read the gap as a sign, not an exact number.
Show the numbers
| Measure | Share | MOE |
|---|---|---|
| Wired 100/20 Mbps available (FCC, share of locations) | 98.1% | |
| Households subscribing to cable, fiber or DSL (Census) | 73.9% | ±1.7 |
| Households relying only on a cellular data plan | 14.5% | ±1.7 |
| Households with no internet subscription | 8.0% | ±1.2 |
Cable, fiber or DSL subscriptions rose from 65.9%4 to 73.9% of households. Phones carry more of the load here than in most large cities: 14.5% of households relied only on a cellular data plan in 2025 (margin ±1.7 percentage points), and 17.2% had a smartphone but no desktop, laptop or tablet (margin ±1.7 percentage points), the 31st highest share among large cities by point estimate. Another 5.1% had no computer of any kind, a share tied for 16th highest5. Neighboring ranks in survey data may not differ significantly.
Four years of filings: fiber in, copper out
Between the first National Broadband Map (June 30, 2022) and June 30, 2026, AT&T's fiber reshaped the city's filings. Fiber rose from 53.8% to 69.5% of locations, +3.3 percentage points of that since December 31, 2025. DSL over telephone lines fell by 8.0 percentage points, to 57.0%. The share with a single wired 100/20 choice dropped from 34.3%2 to 24.1%1 as fiber arrived where Spectrum had been alone.
Source: FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2022; FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of December 31, 2025; FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026. Shares of broadband serviceable locations in each FCC release (latest revision of each); the small number is the change in percentage points since June 30, 2022. The FCC's count of locations is updated with each release, so shares are compared rather than counts.
Show the numbers
| Measure | June 30, 2022 | December 31, 2025 | June 30, 2026 | Change (points) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiber available | 53.8% | 66.2% | 69.5% | 15.7 pts |
| Gigabit (1,000/100) | 53.8% | 68.0% | 69.5% | 15.7 pts |
| DSL available | 65.1% | 57.0% | 57.0% | −8.0 pts |
| One wired choice | 34.3% | 26.4% | 24.1% | −10.2 pts |
Among providers, Verizon's fixed wireless footprint grew the most since 2022 and now covers 73.9% of locations. Unlicensed fixed wireless went the other way: reported at 96.6%2 of locations in June 2022, it is at 0.0% now. The filings record these shifts without explaining them. Shares are the fair comparison across releases because the FCC's location list itself changes; Milwaukee's changed by +4651 locations over the period.
Milwaukee lies almost entirely in Milwaukee County; the Wisconsin page maps every county in the state.
Questions about Milwaukee internet service
Which internet providers serve Milwaukee?
As of June 30, 2026, Spectrum reports service at 97.3% of Milwaukee locations, mainly over cable, and AT&T at 96.8% over fiber, DSL and fixed wireless. T-Mobile (86.7%) and Verizon (73.9%1) report fixed wireless home internet. Use the FCC map to see what is reported at one address.
How much of Milwaukee has fiber internet?
69.5% of homes and businesses as of June 30, 2026, up from 53.8%2 in June 2022, against 55.9% in Wisconsin and 62.6% in the US. AT&T reports fiber at 68.5%1 of locations, nearly all of the city's total.
How many internet providers does Milwaukee have?
3 wired providers report service somewhere in the city, and 6 counting fixed wireless. Only Spectrum and AT&T reach more than a few dozen locations by wire, so most addresses have two wired choices at 100/20 Mbps (74.0% of locations) or one (24.1%1).
Can I get 5G home internet in Milwaukee?
T-Mobile reports fixed wireless home internet at 86.7% of locations and Verizon at 73.9%; at 100/20 Mbps or more the shares are 42.6% and 33.6%1. Each carrier decides eligibility address by address.
Checking one address in Milwaukee
The figures on this page describe the whole area. Which providers report service at a single home or apartment is shown only on the FCC's own map: search the address at broadbandmap.fcc.gov. If a provider is listed there but cannot actually connect you within ten business days, or the location is missing or misplaced, the map has a button to file a challenge; providers must respond, and corrections flow into later releases. Prices and plans are not part of the FCC data: each provider must show them on its broadband facts label at the point of sale.
More on internet in Wisconsin
The state picture, county by county: internet in Wisconsin. Other large cities in the state: Madison and Green Bay. Compare Milwaukee with any other city or state in the comparison tool.
Sources
- FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2026; Availability as of June 30, 2026; released November 10, 2026. broadbandmap.fcc.gov
- FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of June 30, 2022; Availability as of June 30, 2022; released May 10, 2024. broadbandmap.fcc.gov
- FCC, National Broadband Map, data as of December 31, 2025; Availability as of December 31, 2025; released November 3, 2026. broadbandmap.fcc.gov
- Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2019 1-year detailed tables; 2019. api.census.gov
- Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2025 1-year detailed tables; 2025 (calendar-year sample); released October 29, 2026. api.census.gov
Margins of error (±) are at the 90% confidence level. A difference is called significant only when it passes the Census Bureau's test at that level. How every figure is built: methodology. Found an error? Write to [email protected]; corrections are listed on the updates page.