Metronet vs Xfinity
These two overlap in 46 metro areas and 186 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 Xfinity at a glance
| Measure | Metronet | Xfinity |
|---|---|---|
| Main technology | Fiber | Cable |
| Residential locations on that technology | 2,612,684 | 37,853,193 |
| Single technology or mixed | Single | Mixed |
| Full coverage detail | Where Metronet is available | Where Xfinity is available |
We do not publish speeds or prices here.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 Xfinity 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 | Xfinity |
|---|---|---|
| Connersville, IN Micro Area | 62% | 78% |
| Bloomington, IL Metro Area | 58% | 75% |
| Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN Metro Area | 53% | 77% |
| Huntington, IN Micro Area | 49% | 63% |
| Crawfordsville, IN Micro Area | 47% | 70% |
| Seymour, IN Micro Area | 47% | 66% |
| New Castle, IN Micro Area | 44% | 78% |
| Wabash, IN Micro Area | 50% | 41% |
| Tallahassee, FL Metro Area | 37% | 86% |
| Kokomo, IN Metro Area | 34% | 91% |
| Lansing-East Lansing, MI Metro Area | 32% | 60% |
| North Vernon, IN Micro Area | 26% | 58% |
| Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN Metro Area | 22% | 66% |
| Kalamazoo-Portage, MI Metro Area | 22% | 25% |
| Grand Rapids-Kentwood, MI Metro Area | 16% | 57% |
| Rockford, IL Metro Area | 15% | 80% |
| Las Cruces, NM Metro Area | 15% | 71% |
| Battle Creek, MI Metro Area | 13% | 49% |
| South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI Metro Area | 11% | 84% |
| Colorado Springs, CO Metro Area | 10% | 87% |
| Logansport, IN Micro Area | 9% | 70% |
| Ocala, FL Metro Area | 7% | 21% |
| Warsaw, IN Micro Area | 6% | 37% |
| Huntsville, TX Micro Area | 6% | 11% |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro Area | 6% | 74% |
Showing 25 of 46 metro areas where both operate.
Where only one of them reaches
Metronet reports service in 19 states and Xfinity in 41, and they share 16 of them. Overlap is the exception, not the rule, so if you are outside the table above this is the part that answers your question.
60 metro areas have Metronet and not Xfinity
- Owatonna, MN Micro Area 87% covered
- Austin, MN Micro Area 69% covered
- Plainview, TX Micro Area 68% covered
- Amarillo, TX Metro Area 66% covered
- Pampa, TX Micro Area 65% covered
- Abilene, TX Metro Area 58% covered
- Faribault-Northfield, MN Micro Area 57% covered
- Lexington-Fayette, KY Metro Area 55% covered
308 metro areas have Xfinity and not Metronet
- Barnstable Town, MA Metro Area 100% covered
- Key West, FL Micro Area 99% covered
- Ocean City, NJ Metro Area 99% covered
- Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro Area 98% covered
- Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ Metro Area 98% covered
- San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA Metro Area 98% covered
- Vineyard Haven, MA Micro Area 98% covered
- Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area 97% covered
States where only Metronet reports service: Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma. States where only Xfinity reports service: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts and 13 more.
Showing the eight best covered of each. Ranked by reported coverage within the metro, from the same FCC filing as the table above. Providers self report and overstate, so read these as a ceiling on where a company will sell to you, not a promise about your street.
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 Xfinity 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.