5 providers are likely to serve this rural area, based on their footprint in Illinois, across 3 technologies. The best value right now is Frontier, a Verizon Company Fiber 500 at 500 Mbps for $45/mo.
Prices last checked September 2026. Provider list estimated from state footprints — how.
Ranked
Ordered by our score, which weighs technology, speed, symmetry, the real two-year cost and the terms. How we rank.
Verizon completed its $20bn acquisition of Frontier on 20 January 2026, and the brand now operates as Frontier, a Verizon Company. Still one of the most aggressive fiber builders in the country, with cheap gigabit pricing.
Low-earth-orbit satellite. The only satellite service with latency low enough for video calls, and it works essentially anywhere with sky.
Fixed wireless aimed squarely at farms and small towns on the plains, where the alternative is satellite or nothing.
The other geostationary satellite option. Cheaper than Viasat at the entry tier, with the same latency limits.
Geostationary satellite covering the whole country. Latency makes it a last resort, but it reaches addresses nothing else does.
Coverage is recorded by city, not by street address, and availability in the US changes block by block. Confirm with the provider before you plan around any of this.
Side by side
Each provider's best plan here. Real cost spreads the promo step-up, equipment rental and installation over two years.
| Provider | Plan | Technology | Download / upload | Advertised | Real cost / mo | Data cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frontier, a Verizon Company | Fiber 500 | Fiber | 500 Mbps / 500 Mbps | $45 | $45 | Unlimited |
| Starlink | Residential | Satellite | 220 Mbps / 25 Mbps | $55 | $69.54 | Unlimited |
| Rise Broadband | Rise 100 | Fixed wireless | 100 Mbps / 15 Mbps | $85 | $89.13 | Unlimited |
| HughesNet | Select | Satellite | 50 Mbps / 5 Mbps | $50 | $50 | 100 GB |
| Viasat | Unleashed 50 | Satellite | 50 Mbps / 3 Mbps | $100 | $100 | Unlimited |
Technology
Not every technology reaches every address, and they are not interchangeable.
Glass to the house. Same speed up as down, lowest latency.
A radio link to a nearby tower. Needs line of sight.
A dish pointed at the sky. Works anywhere, costs more.
Coverage
Nearby
Questions
Based on where each provider operates in Illinois, 5 providers are likely to serve St James: Frontier, a Verizon Company, Starlink, Rise Broadband, HughesNet, Viasat. This is an estimate, not an address check — confirm your exact address with the provider.
Probably, in parts of it. Frontier, a Verizon Company sells fiber plans in Illinois, likely including St James. Fiber gives you the same speed up as down, which matters if anyone in the house takes video calls, uploads files or backs up to the cloud.
Fiber 200 from Frontier, a Verizon Company has the lowest real cost we track in St James: $30 a month averaged over two years, advertised at $30 with no promo step-up. Real cost folds in equipment rental and installation.
Frontier, a Verizon Company sells the fastest plan we track here, at 1 Gbps. Most households do not need anything close to that — the number that usually matters is upload speed, not download.
Every plan gets a score from five things: the technology, the download speed on a log scale, how symmetrical it is, the true two-year cost including any promo step-up and equipment rental, and the terms — contracts, data caps and fees. Nobody pays for placement.