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Bend Broadband vs. Buckeye Broadband vs. Frontier Communications Internet plan comparison


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Rebecca Palmer smiles for the camera
Researched by
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Reviewed by
Bri FieldAssigning Editor
Updated 2/7/23

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Bend Broadband brand
Staff rating
3.8
Customer rating
4.0
(2)

  • Plans starting at $54.99
  • Download speeds up to 1Gbps
Buckeye Broadband brand
Staff rating
3.3
Customer rating
3.6
(6)

  • Plans starting at $9.99
  • Download speeds up to 600MB
Frontier Communications brand
Staff rating
4.1
Customer rating
3.9
(50)

  • Plans starting at $49.99
  • Download speeds up to 5000 Mbps
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Bend Broadband brand
Staff rating
3.8

Big speeds and big value from a small-town provider

BendBroadband offers a surprisingly strong internet service to the towns around Bend, Oregon. Despite the occasional customer service issue, we think it’s one of the most compelling options in the area.

What we like

  • Competitive pricing
  • No contracts
  • Unlimited data options
What we dislike

  • Regular price increases
  • No true budget plan
Savings tip: Bend Broadband often has sign-up promotions for first-time customers. Call to ask a rep about current deals and discounts.
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Buckeye Broadband brand
Staff rating
3.3

High-value starter plans during promotional periods

Buckeye Broadband offers a good internet experience for residents of the Toledo area. However, substantial price hikes, high prices on the faster plans, and a reputation for poor customer service make it tough to recommend for certain customers.

What we like

  • Low upfront costs
  • Competitive budget packages
What we dislike

  • Poor value on faster plans
  • Hefty early termination fees
Savings tip: Buckeye Broadband often has sign-up promotions for first-time customers. Call to ask a rep about current deals and discounts.
Check deals
Frontier Communications brand
Staff rating
4.1

Excellent service, if you can get fiber

The story of Frontier internet is one of two services: a slow and expensive DSL network and a fast and affordable fiber network. Which one you get makes all the difference.

What we like

  • Well-priced fiber plans
  • Fast speeds
  • No data caps
What we dislike

  • Limited fiber availability
  • Slow DSL in non-fiber areas
  • Poor customer service reputation
Savings tip: Frontier often has sign-up promotions for first-time customers. Call to ask a rep about current deals and discounts.
Check deals
Bend Broadband brand
Value
4.0
Surprisingly strong value for a local provider

BendBroadband looks like a local brand, but it's actually owned by TDS, which services over 1,000 communities across the country(1). Still, it offers a surprisingly strong value proposition. BendBroadband's plans are competitively priced, there are no contracts required, and the installation and equipment fees are reasonable. Taken together, it feels like you get your money’s worth, which is ultimately the most important thing when assessing value.

Our one knock here is that there’s no true budget plan available for those who don’t need 300+ Mbps internet. For single-person households, 100 Mbps is often plenty fast, so this could be a drawback if you live alone—or with a couple of people who don't stream a lot or work from home.

Pricing details vary by location. Visit
Bend Broadband's website
or call 1-844-733-6485 to speak with a rep.
See pricing
Buckeye Broadband brand
Value
2.5
Price hikes turn a decent deal into a bad one

Buckeye Broadband isn't a bad deal if you're looking at the introductory price. In fact, for the first six months of service, you can often get a better deal with Buckeye than with the major national players. However, while most providers will guarantee prices for a year or two, you'll see significant price hikes from Buckeye after only six months if you have one of their cable plans. Fiber plans are a bit better, with promotional prices that last 12 months.

In most cases, the month seven price hike will amount to an additional $20 per month on your bill. Then, once the regular rate is applied, it is often double the advertised promotional price. Most Buckeye plans don't have contracts, but you might be locked into these higher prices if you sign one to get a specific deal. We also don't like that the length of the promotional period isn't obvious unless you read the fine print.

Pricing details vary by location. Visit
Buckeye Broadband's website
or call 1-844-719-0029 to speak with a rep.
See pricing
Frontier Communications brand
Value
4.0
Frontier offers excellent value on its fiber plans—if you can get them

Frontier offers two types of internet service: fiber and DSL. That means there are two sides to the Frontier value equation. Frontier fiber service is generally an excellent value—you can get 500 Mbps for around $50 per month or 1 gig for around $75, both of which are excellent prices well below the national benchmark for similar plans. (1) If you go for 2 gigs or even the newly available 5 gig plan, you'll pay quite a bit every month but enjoy excellent reliability and super fast speeds. If you go for 5 gigs, free tech support is included.

On the other hand, Frontier’s DSL plan is not nearly so exciting. It is around $50 per month for up to 115 Mbps, but the actual speed varies heavily with the specific area you’re in. Many places won’t see anywhere near 115 Mbps, but even if you do have that speed available, it’s not great for the price. There's also a required $85 installation charge. The good news, though, is that Frontier guarantees its DSL pricing for two years and doesn't require you to sign a contract.

To be fair, DSL service is almost always a poor value for money—it’s not unique to Frontier. And unlike some other combined fiber and internet providers, Frontier offers fiber in a good portion of its coverage area. (4)

Pricing details vary by location. Visit
Frontier's website
or call 1-833-970-0804 to speak with a rep.
See pricing
Bend Broadband brand
Performance
4.5
BendBroadband delivers with excellent performance

Performance-wise, BendBroadband holds its own against competing internet service providers. There are plans available ranging from 300 Mbps to 1 Gbps, and reports indicate that the service is reliable. If we had to knock BendBroadband for anything performance-wise, it would be a lack of speeds above 1 Gbps—some cable competitors are offering up to 2 Gbps speeds, and we’d like to see the same from BendBroadband. These faster speeds can be useful for customers who download a large number of media files or frequently watch multiple concurrent 4K streams, for example. There are also data caps to be aware of, with overage charges up to $30 per month.

Available speeds vary by location. Call 1-844-733-6485 to speak with a Bend Broadband rep or
go to its website.
Buckeye Broadband brand
Performance
4.5
Excellent performance across the board, plus symmetrical upload speeds

In terms of speed, Buckeye Broadband competes well. The company offers a range of speeds up to 1 gig, with a good spread of package tiers. There are two types of service—cable internet and fiber—and both offer speedy downloads. The fiber plans also come with symmetrical speeds, meaning the upload speed and download speed are equal—excellent for content creators and anyone else who uploads and shares lots of large files.

Additionally, Buckeye Broadband offers unlimited data. We're happy about this update since cable plans used to only come with 250 GB of data. For a modern household, that's not nearly enough--on average, people typically use around 536 GB of data per month (1). You could upgrade to unlimited data for $30 per month before, but we're happy to see it included from the get-go.

Available speeds vary by location. Call 1-844-719-0029 to speak with a Buckeye Broadband rep or
go to its website.
Frontier Communications brand
Performance
5.0
Outstanding fiber performance and so-so DSL service

Frontier continues the tale of two in the performance department. The DSL service caps out at a fairly slow 115 Mbps, and that’s only in certain areas. While that’s sufficient for many day-to-day activities and light streaming, larger families or those who want to stream in HD may be left wanting more.

On the flip side, the fiber service is predictably excellent, with speeds up to 2,000 Mbps and no data caps to limit you. In fact, Frontier's fiber plans are some of the fastest, according to PCMag (2). The service has the fastest ping of any provider, according and a study by the FCC (3), and it's neck and neck with the competition in terms of speed and reliability. These fiber plans also offer symmetrical speeds, which means the upload speed is equal to the download speed. This is handy if you upload or share a lot of large files, and it tends to be unique to fiber.

Available speeds vary by location. Call 1-833-970-0804 to speak with a Frontier rep or
go to its website.
Bend Broadband brand
Equipment and installation
4.0
A fantastic mesh Wi-Fi system and affordable installation

BendBroadband has jumped on the mesh network bandwagon and offers what it calls TDS Wi-Fi+. For those unfamiliar with the term, a mesh network is a system of multiple wireless routers that help spread your network over a larger area without losing signal strength. The result is fuller coverage of your entire home, with no weird dead spots or dropped connections. It’s often a big improvement on traditional single-router setups.

The TDS Wi-Fi+ set up is about $15 per month, plus $5 per month for each additional extender you need (most homes should be fine with the default). Customers can opt for a cheaper, standard equipment setup for $10 per month. However, many customers report problems with this router and opt to get their own(2).

BendBroadband also offers options for installation. You can opt for a free self-install kit. Or you can choose professional installation for around $50, which is one of the lower installation fees we’ve seen. In areas that aren’t eligible for self-install, the professional fee is waived, so it won’t cost you anything to get set up.

Equipment and installation options can vary widely depending on
Bend Broadband plans
available in your area.
View plans
Buckeye Broadband brand
Equipment and installation
4.0
A fantastic installation process

Buckeye Broadband's equipment situation depends on whether you have cable or fiber.

Buckeye uses pretty standard Arris wireless gateways for its cable plans. Customers can rent one from the provider for $14 per month, which is in line with most other providers. You can also opt to bring your own equipment—the provider has a list of supported modems to choose from.

Fiber plans include free SmartNet routers powered by eero. However, after chatting with a customer service rep about unclear terms of service, we found out there is a $120 activation fee for any SmartNet services unless you sign a 12-month contract. Since you can keep your promotional price for the length of the contract, that's not a deal-breaker, but it is something to keep in mind.

As for installation, Buckeye doesn’t charge a fee for either installation or service activation with most plans. In the event you somehow land on a package that doesn’t waive the installation fee, it’s only $10, which is lower than most providers—it’s usually closer to $100 for a professional installation.

Equipment and installation options can vary widely depending on
Buckeye Broadband plans
available in your area.
View plans
Frontier Communications brand
Equipment and installation
5.0
No charges for equipment—seriously

Frontier redeems itself in a big way when it comes to equipment and installation. If you have Frontier's DSL internet, the equipment itself is fairly standard. It works, but it doesn't look great on a desk and the capabilities are limited. It's free, which is nice, but you might still want to use your own gear if you need more control over which devices on your network get bandwidth priority. DSL installation costs $85, and there's no self-install option.

If you have fiber internet from Frontier, you're in luck! You get free rental of an eero 6 on the Fiber 1 Gig plan or an eero6E mesh Wi-Fi system, on the Fiber 2 Gig plan. If you have the 5 Gig plan, you'll get the TP-Link AXE300 6E with an optional TP-Link RE815XE Wi-Fi extender for an extra $10 per month. You could still technically use your own gear, but it's hard to do any better than the latest and greatest from eero and TP-Link.

If you're eligible, you may be able to get a Frontier self-install kit—otherwise, a professional will come to your house to install the internet for you. If you need a pro to come out, you'll be charged $50 on your first bill. Cancelation is also free, but some customers are charged a $20 restocking fee for rented fiber gear and a $50 restocking fee on DSL gear.

Equipment and installation options can vary widely depending on
Frontier plans
available in your area.
View plans
Bend Broadband brand
Customer experience
3.0
Occasional customer service hiccups hamper an otherwise excellent ISP

Living with BendBroadband has its ups and downs. The day-to-day experience is solid for most customers, and the speeds seem to be consistent with what’s advertised. However, a few customers complain about regular price hikes and unreliable service that drops occasionally. Some customers also report poor customer service over the phone.

Because BendBroad is now owned by TDS, we would expect some changes in customer service moving forward. However, TDS rates about the same for customer service as Bend, so you may experience different issues and still feel the overall level of satisfaction.

Visit Bend Broadband's website
or call 1-844-733-6485 for more information on contracts and money-back guarantees.
Go to provider
Buckeye Broadband brand
Customer experience
2.5
A solid experience brought down by dodgy customer support—what else is new?

The combination of solid performance and minimal fees makes for a good overall experience with Buckeye. However, as with all internet providers, there are some issues. The first is that the prices increase substantially after the introductory period. This is normal internet provider stuff, but that doesn’t mean we have to like it.

The second issue is a general reputation for poor customer service. You’ll quickly find complaints online about communication difficulties and service reliability.

In our research, we thought some of the terms were pretty hard to find on the website, but it only took a few minutes to get in contact with a customer service rep via their online chat feature, and they were able to answer our questions.

Not everyone has a bad experience with Buckeye, but clearly, not everyone has a good experience, either, so just be aware of what you’re getting into.

Visit Buckeye Broadband's website
or call 1-844-719-0029 for more information on contracts and money-back guarantees.
Go to provider
Frontier Communications brand
Customer experience
2.5
Plenty of unsatisfied customers, and you can't order online

The Frontier customer experience is a mixed bag. The service itself is fairly reliable—especially the fiber. The DSL service is relatively stable, but more prone to slowdowns during heavy traffic times (like the evening). We’ve also seen some reports online of speeds that are inconsistent with what’s advertised, so keep that in mind.

Frontier has also received very low scores in customer satisfaction from organizations like the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). (3) The provider ranked second-worst in overall satisfaction in the most recent surveys, falling well below average. The complaints we’ve seen point generally to a broad pattern of poor customer service, so if that’s a key factor in your choice of provider, you might want to steer clear until Frontier can sort out its issues.

Unlike most internet service providers, the only way to order internet service is to call in. It works okay for most people, but some folks love the convenience of handling everything without having to deal with phone trees, wait on hold, or talk to a live human. At least the hold music is nice, though, and you can enter info via text message!

Visit Frontier's website
or call 1-833-970-0804 for more information on contracts and money-back guarantees.
Go to provider
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Bend Broadband
4.0
(2)
5 Star
50%
4 Star
0%
3 Star
50%
2 Star
0%
1 Star
0%
B
Brittany from West Chester , OH
Bend Broadband Customer for 1+ years
Reviewed on: 8-29-2022
Okay okay I’ll be there in about a minute. I don’t have a phone number on my account so I’m just. Okay okay I’ll let you know when I get home from the.
M
Maryfrom Bend, OR
Bend Broadband Customer for 4+ years
Reviewed on: 6-22-2022
The internet speed has improved,as has connectivity. They need to lower their prices and improve their customer service.
Buckeye Broadband
3.6
(6)
5 Star
17%
4 Star
33%
3 Star
50%
2 Star
0%
1 Star
0%
B
Brittneyfrom Toledo, OH
Buckeye Broadband Customer for 4+ years
Reviewed on: 6-24-2022
Good, fast internet
T
Terrencefrom Perrysburg, OH
Buckeye Broadband Customer for 4+ years
Reviewed on: 6-22-2022
they are reliable the speed could be better the wifi does not seem to work like it should thats my big hang up
R
Rebeccafrom Toledo, OH
Buckeye Broadband Customer for 8+ years
Reviewed on: 6-17-2022
They're extremely over-priced. As soon as I move somewhere that I have a choice in providers, I will be dumping them.
W
Whitneyfrom Montgomery, AL
Buckeye Broadband Customer for 1+ years
Reviewed on: 6-17-2022
They try to help u as much as they can.With whatever you need help to guide you.
Frontier Communications
3.9
(50)
5 Star
26%
4 Star
46%
3 Star
22%
2 Star
6%
1 Star
0%
L
Lucyfrom Englewood, FL
Frontier Communications Customer for 8+ years
Reviewed on: 6-17-2022
there are to many breaks in service, but they do repair very quickly they should be able to stop the breaks better than do now
D
Douglasfrom Murphy, NC
Frontier Communications Customer for 4+ years
Reviewed on: 6-17-2022
Good speed and network reliabilty. Customer service is very good and solve problems. The cost is a little high; sometimes worth it.
C
Cayleefrom Murphy, NC
Frontier Communications Customer for 4+ years
Reviewed on: 6-17-2022
Frontier has been a great company for internet. I like how high speed it is and how great the customer service is. It never fails to impress me. I think that they are great on every aspect.
R
Robertfrom Middletown, NY
Frontier Communications Customer for 8+ years
Reviewed on: 6-17-2022
It seems Frontier gives us very slow internet service.
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Endnotes and sources
1. "About Us," TDS. Accessed 15 December 2022.2. "How is BendBroadband?" Reddit. Accessed 15 December 2022.
Endnotes and sources
1. "Broadband Insights Report (OVBI)," OpenVault. Accessed 17 October 2022.
Endnotes and sources
1. “2022 Urban Rate Survey – Fixed Broadband Service,” FCC. Accessed 19 October 2022.2. "The Fastest ISPs of 2022," PC Mag. Accessed 19 October 2022.Internet Service Providers,” American Customer Satisfaction Index. Accessed 14 June 2022.3. "Measuring Broadband America," FCC. Accessed Dec. 9, 2022.4. "FCC National Broadband Map," FCC. Accessed Dec. 9. 2022. As an Amazon Associate, Switchful.com may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.