Staff rating

3.3

Customer rating

3.6

(6)

Plans starting at $9.99

Download speeds up to 600MB

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Staff rating

3.7

Customer rating

4.2

(5)

Plans starting at $59.95

Download speeds up to 100 Mbps

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Staff rating

3.2

Customer rating

0.0

(0)

Plans starting at $35.00

Download speeds up to 940 Mbps

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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

See full review

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

Staff rating

3.7

Pay more for a better customer experience with EarthLink

EarthLink is an interesting provider. Instead of serving internet through its own infrastructure, it partners with other internet providers to repackage their service, acting as a go-between. This means higher prices, but a reputation for great customer service might make EarthLink worth it.

What we like

Wide availability
Strong customer service
No price hikes

What we dislike

High prices
Widely differing plans based on area

See full review

Savings tip: EarthLink often has sign-up promotions for first-time customers. Call to ask a rep about current deals and discounts.

Check deals

Staff rating

3.2

No-contract cable internet worth considering in areas without fiber

Sparklight, formerly known as Cable One, is a cable internet provider primarily serving suburbs and rural areas in over a dozen states. Its no-contract plans offer good download speeds to areas fiber doesn’t often reach, but its data caps aren’t ideal.

What we like

No contracts
Simple pricing
30-day money-back guarantee

What we dislike

Data caps for most plans
Expensive Gig plan

See full review

Savings tip: Sparklight often has sign-up promotions for first-time customers. Call to ask a rep about current deals and discounts.

Check deals

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

Value

4.0

Above-average prices, but they’re more constant than other providers

There’s no getting around it: EarthLink prices are almost always higher than the competition. Depending on the area, the difference can be as little as a few dollars per month, but it’s still there. That said, there are actually legitimate reasons for this.

First, EarthLink doesn’t actually have its own internet infrastructure. Instead, it partners with other local DSL and fiber internet providers, like AT&T and Frontier, and uses their infrastructure. This costs EarthLink money, and some of this naturally gets passed down to customers. In return, you’re promised a better customer experience.

The other reason is that EarthLink skips the usual promotional pricing most ISPs advertise. For example, when AT&T or Spectrum quote you a price, it’s often for an introductory period of 12 or 24 months, after which that price may increase (sometimes dramatically). EarthLink doesn’t do this, which is a plus in our book. This also means EarthLink may end up slightly less expensive if you intend to keep it for a couple of years.

Pricing details vary by location. Visit

EarthLink's website

or call 1-833-804-4930 to speak with a rep.

See pricing

Value

2.5

Sparklight’s plans are a decent value for casual users without access to fiber

Sparklight’s no-contract cable internet plans are generally a decent value compared to other providers available in the communities the company serves. While you might not be able to get fiber in these areas, you’re likely to find DSL, satellite, or other cable internet service providers (ISPs). The speed you get for the price is comparable to other cable providers or a bit cheaper, and the performance surpasses DSL and satellite. All of this means Sparklight’s plans are worth strongly considering if your address is in one of its service areas.

We recommend choosing a Sparklight plan with at least 200 Mbps of download speed, but ideally more if it’s in your budget. Since Sparklight is a cable provider, upload speeds tend to be far below the download speeds. Upload speeds increase with each pricing tier, so if you work from home and have multiple connected devices you may want to pick one of the more expensive plans for seamless video calls.

All of Sparklight’s plans have data caps, except for its most expensive Gig plan. Data caps are typical for cable providers. While some competitors offer data caps over 1 TB for all of their plans, Sparklight’s plans have data caps that range from 100 GB to 1.5 TB. You can get 100 GB blocks of additional data for $10 during months when you need it, or you can upgrade to unlimited data with any plan for an extra $30/month. When calculating your needs, consider that the average person uses 536 GB of data per month (1).

The Gig plan offers the most data for your dollar and the highest speeds, but it’s more expensive than fiber plans with comparable download speeds, at least in some of the service areas. If you don’t want to pay top dollar, the Internet 300 and 500 plans also offer good speeds and high enough data caps for the needs of most households. We wouldn’t recommend the Internet 25 plan because its low speeds and data cap won’t comfortably meet most people’s needs.

Pricing details vary by location. Visit

Sparklight's website

or call 1-877-687-1332 to speak with a rep.

See pricing

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.

Performance

4.0

Generally solid performance and fast speeds, but wide variation from place to place

EarthLink's performance is tough to rate. Because it is essentially reselling other providers’ services, the speed and reliability are highly dependent on which partners it uses in a given area.

That said, performance is generally good, and there are a wide range of high-speed internet plans available in most areas, so you can get exactly how much you need—up to 5 gigs in some places. Much of the service is fiber, which means performance is reliably consistent. Best of all, every plan has unlimited data, so whatever speed you opt for, you can use it without worry.

Available speeds vary by location. Call 1-833-804-4930 to speak with a EarthLink rep or

go to its website.

Performance

4.0

Good download speeds, but data caps hold it back

Sparklight is available in mostly rural and suburban areas where customers probably won’t be able to get fiber internet. This makes Sparklight’s cable internet speeds the best option in some communities that are otherwise served only by DSL or satellite, which can be slow and unreliable. According to a report from Ookla, Sparklight had the highest download speeds among fixed broadband providers in North Dakota and New Mexico. (2)

Sparklight is a fiber-rich cable provider, meaning it delivers service using a mix of fiber and coaxial cables. While it can achieve download speeds of up to 940 Mbps, its upload speeds are much lower than that, reaching 50 Mbps. This is a technical limitation of cable connections that those with fiber connections won’t experience. While this isn’t ideal for households with several people who want to do heavy gaming or take video calls at the same time, Sparklight’s download and upload speeds are generally still sufficient for most households. And for regular browsing and streaming for multiple users, it's just fine. However, the data caps may hold you back if you’re a heavy internet user. Occasional outages and inconsistent speeds do affect service according to customer reports on Downdetector. (3)

Available speeds vary by location. Call 1-877-687-1332 to speak with a Sparklight rep or

go to its website.

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

Equipment and Installation

2.5

Reasonable prices, but wide variation from place to place (again)

This is another category that’s tough to rate. Since EarthLink partners with other internet service providers (ISPs) to provide service, it doesn’t actually issue its own equipment. Instead, you’ll get equipment from whichever partner EarthLink uses in your area. The good news is that EarthLink does set the fees, and they’re reasonable: $9.95 per month.

It’s a similar story for installation—your service will be installed and set up by a rep from the partner company, not EarthLink itself. The installation fee is $79.95, which isn’t the highest we’ve seen. That said, we’d rather see installation included in the price, particularly since EarthLink’s overall prices tend to be on the high side. Self-install is available only in some service areas.

Equipment and installation options can vary widely depending on

EarthLink plans

available in your area.

View plans

Equipment and installation

3.5

Low equipment costs and simple installation

When you sign up for Sparklight internet service, you can call to schedule professional installation or choose self-installation. Both options are reasonably fast according to customer reviews. Professional installation is typically free and can be scheduled at your convenience. There's technically a $90 professional installation fee, but it is waived as part of a "permanent promotion." Self-installation is free and should take about 15 minutes once you receive your equipment in the mail.

You can choose to purchase your own Sparklight-supported modem or lease a modem from Sparklight for just over $10/month, less than some other providers. The installation cost, activation fee, and any equipment deposits may be waived for qualifying new customers.

Equipment and installation options can vary widely depending on

Sparklight plans

available in your area.

View plans

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

Customer Experience

4.5

EarthLink provides a surprisingly great experience from an ISP.

Customer service is where EarthLink really shines. The company claims to prioritize customer service and experience, and users seem to agree. The company actually ranks first in some user-driven surveys of internet satisfaction, beating out providers like AT&T and Verizon despite the higher prices.

From a practical standpoint, it seems that EarthLink representatives are friendlier, more helpful, and more knowledgeable than those we’ve dealt with at other companies. However, we've seen reports that some customers don't get the Earthlink customer experience. In some places, customer service is handled by the end provider instead.

Visit EarthLink's website

or call 1-833-804-4930 for more information on contracts and money-back guarantees.

Go to provider

Customer experience

3.0

Average customer service and occasional slowdowns and outages

Customer experience with Sparklight is about average compared to other providers. Tech support is available 24/7 by phone or email, and there are plenty of help articles available online. Like most other providers, equipment installation is straightforward whether you have it done professionally or do it yourself.

Common complaints include unplanned outages, inconsistent speeds, and long wait times to reach Sparklight support by phone, according to user reports on Downdetector. (4) If you try Sparklight’s internet service and it doesn’t live up to expectations, the company offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Visit Sparklight's website

or call 1-877-687-1332 for more information on contracts and money-back guarantees.

Go to provider

Made up your mind?

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Buckeye Broadband

3.6

(6)

5 Star

17%

4 Star

33%

3 Star

50%

2 Star

1 Star

Brittneyfrom Toledo, OH

Buckeye Broadband Customer for 4+ years

Reviewed on: 6-24-2022

Good, fast internet

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

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.

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.

EarthLink

4.2

(5)

5 Star

40%

4 Star

40%

3 Star

20%

2 Star

1 Star

Marstonfrom Brooklyn , NY

EarthLink Customer for 4+ years

Reviewed on: 4-4-2023

Earthlink is good internet, but not better than anyone else. I haven't had problems, but I don't expect to have problems.

Jerryfrom Elkin, NC

EarthLink Customer for 8+ years

Reviewed on: 3-14-2023

Earthlink has been pretty good for what I use it for. It's a little expensive but not bad

J.J.from Dominguez, CA

EarthLink Customer for 1+ years

Reviewed on: 8-29-2022

been an ok provider so far. nothing outstanding, nothing to complain about.

Veronica from Macon, GA

EarthLink Customer for Less than a year

Reviewed on: 8-29-2022

Fast internet service, cloud storage

Sparklight

0.0

(0)

5 Star

4 Star

3 Star

2 Star

1 Star

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Endnotes and sources

1. "Broadband Insights Report (OVBI)," OpenVault. Accessed 17 October 2022.

Endnotes and sources

1. "Broadband Insights Report (OVBI)," OpenVault. Accessed 17 October 2022.2. “Here’s Where Smaller ISPs Are Blazing Ahead in the United States,” Ookla. Accessed 8 July 2022.3. “Sparklight outage or service down?,” Downdetector. Accessed 8 July 2022.4. “Sparklight outage or service down?,” Downdetector. Accessed 8 July 2022.