Internet Overview in Kansas

The middle point between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, the home for Kansas State Wildcats, and a very classic American state: this is Kansas.

The state is in the 28th position on the state broadband access ranking. More than 94.9% of Kansas have access to wireline service, while 84.7% of them have access to DSL service. These numbers drop when it comes to cable service (80.2%), and are even lower with fiber-optic service (43%).

About 52% of citizens have wired low-price plan access, which means plans that cost $60 or less per month, and the average state-wide speed is estimated at 134.3 Mbps. In fact, the percentage of citizens with access to low-priced internet plans is very similar in a nationwide scenario (51.5%).

The worst internet connections of the state are concentrated in the cities of Arnold, Burdick, Stark, and Cedar Point. All of those locations are rural areas. In these regions, no citizen has access to wired broadband —some have satellite alternatives, for example, which are useful when you live in distant places, but offer much less powerful internet than DSL or cable connections, not to say fiber.

But when it comes to governmental initiatives, the Department of Commerce has been awarded over R$6.3 million to expand broadband access in the state, and another $998 thousand came from federal grants to expand broadband infrastructure in communities throughout the state.

But to have a better view of the situation in the state, let's take a look at the four top cities in the state (Wichita, Overland Park, Topeka, and Kansas City).

Wichita is the largest city of Kansas, with more than 397 thousand people --but when it comes to the metropolitan area, ithas more 647 thousand people living in it.

You might have heard about Wichita as “The Air Capital of the World” too. That is because the city became an aircraft production hub, and companies such as Textron Aviation, Learjet, Airbus, and Boeing/Spirit AeroSystems still operate there.

In the 1860s, Wichita began as a trading post on the Chisholm Trail, and became a city ten years laters. It was a destination for those who were traveling from Texas to Kansas, and was known as “Cowtown'' for that.

Wichita is the 82nd most connected city in the state, behind cities like Andover, Derby and Valley Center. Still, it has 34 Internet Service Providers, with 18 of them offering residential service.

The city has a picture very similar to other cities in Kansas: most homes have access to few Internet provider options, but still, the city has strong access to cable and DSL.

Let's take a look at the top internet providers in the city.

As we can see, Viasat and HughesNet are two very popular options in the city, as they are theoretically available in all regions. Both, however, do not offer fiber optic service and also do not have the highest speeds in town.

Still, there are good options for those looking for higher internet speeds.

For example, you can find good plans from AT&T Internet, which offers fiber optics, with up to 940 Mbps. The company also has an availability of 91% of the territory, which makes it a possible option.

And if it's optical fiber you're looking for, EarthLink also offers services of this type, and it reaches speeds of 940 Mbps while it's available in 96.5% of the city.

Despite not having optical fiber available, Cox also has a good max download speed (1000 Mbps) and is available at 97.1%.

Even with these options, there are still 2.48% of Wichita residents who only have access to one Internet provider.

Now we are looking for the second-most populous city in Kansas. According to the 2020 census, the population of the city is more than 197 thousand.

Located in Johnson County, Overland Park is also the second-most populous city in the Kansas City metropolitan area and was awarded both as "Best city to raise a family" in 2018.

When it comes to the local economy, the service sector is what prevails in the city. The five largest industries in Overland Park are health care, retail trade, professional and technical services, finance and insurance, and information technology.

And now the good news: the city has an average download speed 1.54% better in comparison to the statewide average. Overland Park has also a good availability of fiber, cable and DSL.

It is the 5th most connected city in Kansas ahead of cities like Mission, Prairie Village and Shawnee. Among the 32 internet providers available in the region, 18 of them offer residential service.

Let's take a look at the top internet providers in the city.

As is common in many other cities, Viasat and HughesNet compete when it comes to availability, but both companies do not offer very high speeds or fiber optic service.

If what you're looking for is fiber optics, however, it's worth looking at AT&T Internet's plans, which are available in a good part of the region, and also on Google Fiber, which doesn't reach everywhere but has the max download speed plus high in the city (2000 Mbps).

The following statistic also reinforces the good scenario of internet providers in the city: only 0.1% of consumers in Overland Park, around 100 people, have access to only one or no internet provider available at their address.

The place where we dug potatoes, or a good place to dig potatoes. These are the meanings of “Topeka”, the name of the capital city of Kansas.

According to the 2020 census, the population of Topeka was more than 126 thousand. When it comes to the city metropolitan area, which includes Shawnee, Jackson, Jefferson, Osage, and Wabaunsee Counties, the population rises to more than 233 thousand.

Topeka residents should also find good options when it comes to the internet. Among the 32 internet providers in the region, 16 offer residential services and only 5.76% of the city's residents have only one or no internet service option.

Let's take a look at the top internet providers in the city.

As in other cities, Viasat and HughesNet are two very popular options, as they are available in all regions. Both, however, do not offer fiber optic service and also do not have the highest speeds in town.

Topeka's best max download speeds are AT&T Internet (940 Mbps), EarthLink (940 Mbps), which also have a fiber optic option, and Cox (1000 Mbps).

Also known as KCK, Kansas City is the third-largest city in Kansas and also the third-largest city of the Kansas City metropolitan area.

We are looking for a city with more than 156 thousand people, according to the 2020 census, situated at the junction of the Missouri and Kansas rivers.

When it comes to the internet, Kansas City is the 21st most connected city in Kansas and has widespread coverage for fiber, cable and DSL.

Actually, fiber service presents a very strong option in the city, with availability in 95.69%. That is the reason why the average internet speed in Kansas City is so high (260.86 Mbps).

Among the 27 internet providers in the city, 15 of those offer residential service.

Let's take a look at the top internet providers in the city.

Once again HughesNet and Viasat stand out for their availability in 100% of the territory, albeit with lower speeds.

But Spectrum and Google Fiber had good coverage in the region, with 95.9% and 95.7% availability, respectively.

While Spectrum has a speed of 1000 Mbps, Google Fiber reaches double that and has fiber optic service.