Metronet vs Spectrum

These two overlap in 67 metro areas and 198 towns and cities, so for a lot of people this is a real choice rather than a hypothetical one. The first question is not which is better. It is which of them can reach you.

Metronet vs Spectrum at a glance

MetronetSpectrum
Main technology Fiber Cable
Residential locations on that technology 2,612,684 33,900,003
Single technology or mixed Single Mixed
Full coverage detail Where Metronet is available Coverage page coming

We do not publish speeds or prices here. Both providers change them constantly and by market, and a stale number is worse than no number. Coverage is the part that is federally reported and verifiable.

Where you can get both

Metro areas where both Metronet and Spectrum report service, ranked by how well covered the less available of the two is because that is what decides whether you genuinely get a choice.

Metro area Metronet Spectrum
Owatonna, MN Micro Area 87% 65%
Austin, MN Micro Area 69% 58%
Faribault-Northfield, MN Micro Area 57% 62%
Lexington-Fayette, KY Metro Area 55% 90%
Wichita Falls, TX Metro Area 53% 66%
Albert Lea, MN Micro Area 52% 54%
Madison, IN Micro Area 50% 70%
Rochester, MN Metro Area 49% 61%
Findlay, OH Micro Area 49% 86%
Richmond-Berea, KY Micro Area 43% 74%
Fayetteville, NC Metro Area 42% 90%
New Bern, NC Metro Area 41% 42%
Laredo, TX Metro Area 36% 89%
Jacksonville, NC Metro Area 29% 96%
Crawfordsville, IN Micro Area 47% 27%
Dayton-Kettering, OH Metro Area 25% 93%
Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN Metro Area 22% 32%
Kalamazoo-Portage, MI Metro Area 22% 71%
Hammond, LA Metro Area 21% 92%
La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN Metro Area 18% 78%
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX Metro Area 17% 92%
Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL Metro Area 17% 92%
Grand Rapids-Kentwood, MI Metro Area 16% 31%
Connersville, IN Micro Area 62% 16%
Las Cruces, NM Metro Area 15% 14%

Showing 25 of 67 metro areas where both operate.

Which should you pick?

Honestly, in most of the places above only one of them will actually reach your building, and that settles it. Where both do reach you, the useful question is the technology rather than the brand.

That is the case here: Metronet is mainly fiber and Spectrum is mainly cable. The practical difference is upload speed and consistency rather than headline download speed, we explain what that means here.

See which one reaches your address →

What we will not do is tell you one is better because it pays us more. See the affiliate disclosure for how that works.