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

4.2

Plans starting at $55.00

Download speeds up to 2000 Mbps

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Staff rating

4.0

Customer rating

3.9

(12)

Plans starting at $9.99

Download speeds up to 1200 Mbps

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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

4.2

Outstanding local service with promises to expand in the future

Local internet service providers (ISPs) sometimes lack a certain something. They might be expensive or fail to reach the speeds of national providers. Omni Fiber wants to buck that trend with speedy internet at an affordable price and the promise of local customer service, but can it deliver? Spoiler alert—yes, it seems it can.

What we like

Competitive prices
Symmetrical speeds
No contracts

What we dislike

Limited availability
Relatively limited support options
Very new company

See full review

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

Check deals

Staff rating

4.0

Wow! Internet earns its name

Fast, inexpensive internet with great customer service, equipment, and installation? Wow is right. This internet company is a solid choice for most people. But if you’re a heavy streamer, its cable and fiber networks might not be beefy enough in all locations.

What we like

Low costs
Optional contracts
Award-winning customer service

What we dislike

Limited upload speed
Not ideal for online gaming
Availability in only 9 states

See full review

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

Check deals

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

4.0

Exceptional value for relatively little money

Omni Fiber offers excellent value. All three plans are competitively priced—the 1 gig plan is on par with the most affordable options we’ve reviewed, and the 2 gig plan is actually the most affordable plan of this speed we’ve seen from any provider. In addition to the low package prices, you also get equipment included at no extra cost, which further increases the value of the service.

Pricing details vary by location. Visit

Omni Fiber's website

or call 1-844-844-6664 to speak with a rep.

See pricing

Value

4.0

Great value, whether you sign a contract or not

WOW! offers 100 Mbps to 5 Gbps plans at a great price, whether or not you sign up for an optional one- or two-year contract. If you don’t mind signing a contract, WOW!’s plans will cost you about 25% of the national benchmark for a similar plan (1). After that, prices transition to month-to-month rates, which are $10 to $15 higher but still well below the benchmark.

To get WOW!’s advertised prices, you need to sign up for both autopay and paperless billing (a $5 monthly savings) and commit to a two-year contract. If you’re not sure whether you want to be chained to WOW! for that long, don’t worry too much about it. If you duck out early, you’ll pay only $15 for each month left on your contract—which isn’t much more than you’d pay if you skip the contract from the start. (2)

There are data caps of either 1.5 TB or 3 TB, depending on your plan. These are pretty high, but if you’re a heavy user, you could be charged up to $50 extra every month and have your speed throttled.

Pricing details vary by location. Visit

WOW!'s website

or call 1-844-727-4910 to speak with a rep.

See pricing

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

5.0

Fast speeds and unlimited data earn a big thumbs up

Omni Fiber performance is outstanding. Speeds are fast, with plans ranging from 500 Mbps to 2 Gbps. All three plans feature symmetrical upload speeds, which means the upload speeds are equal to the download speeds—this makes a huge difference for sharing content, particularly large files like videos. For reference, a typical upload speed for a cable provider is one tenth of the download speed (and often quite a bit lower). Finally, all Omni Fiber customers get unlimited data, which is a big thumbs up in our book.

Available speeds vary by location. Call 1-844-844-6664 to speak with a Omni Fiber rep or

go to its website.

Performance

4.0

Cable and fiber networks deliver fast, reliable download speeds

The majority of WOW!’s network is cable and fiber, though some customers in Alabama still have legacy DSL service. WOW!'s speeds top out at 5 gigs, but for most households, 250 Mbps is plenty fast. We generally don't recommend more than 1 gigs.

WOW's cable plans have upload speeds that cap out at 50 Mbps, but its fiber plans are symmetrical. That means you can upload as fast as you can download. Most people will be fine with 50 Mbps upload speeds, but if you upload a lot of photos or videos, WOW! fiber could save you some headaches.

Available speeds vary by location. Call 1-844-727-4910 to speak with a WOW! rep or

go to its website.

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

4.0

Decent equipment and free installation, with one potential catch

Omni Fiber’s equipment is fairly standard. The provider offers two choices: a standard gateway that’s free of charge, and a Whole Home Wi-Fi gateway you can upgrade to. The standard version, which Omni confusingly calls “premium Wi-Fi,” is a standard Wi-Fi modem and router, while the Whole Home version uses extenders to cover larger areas. It’s recommended for homes larger than about 2,000 square feet.

Mesh networks tend to work a little better than Wi-Fi extenders, but we still think the Omni Fiber system will be adequate for most homes. If you want to use your own equipment, you'll need to make sure it's compatible with a fiber connection but either way, there's no extra charge!

Omni Fiber also gets high marks for installation. There is no installation fee or other cost involved, and the technician will ensure your equipment is properly placed to cover as much of your home as possible. The only potential concern is that Omni Fiber is still building out its infrastructure, so—depending on where you live—there may be some additional construction involved.

Equipment and installation options can vary widely depending on

Omni Fiber plans

available in your area.

View plans

Equipment and installation

3.5

Competitive Wi-Fi gear and installation

WOW! includes a free modem for your first year ($14/month after that), and fiber plans come with a free Wi-Fi router too. If you have cable service, you can rent a Whole Home Wi-Fi system, which includes a coveted eero base and one extender for $9.99. Additional extenders are $5.99 each, but most households won’t need more than one because eero’s that good. eero comes with an app you can use to manage your network, and you can add security services for an additional cost (under $10/month) if you want ad-blocking, malware protection, or parental controls.

A free self-startup kit is available to most new customers, but if you prefer professional installation, it’ll cost you $75. The good news is that with professional installation, WOW! waives its $10 activation fee, so it’s really just $65 more to have a technician’s help.

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Equipment and installation options can vary widely depending on

WOW! plans

available in your area.

View plans

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

4.0

Local service, but without the resources of the big players

If there’s an area to be cautious with Omni Fiber, it’s customer experience. The provider promises personal, local customer support and service to its subscribers. However, remember that this is a relatively small company that is still building and growing. Omni also doesn’t have the same resources as national companies when it comes to providing support—for example, there’s no chat option yet.

On the other hand, local customer service certainly sounds better than the automated and outsourced support many large providers offer. Omni Fiber also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, which is promising.

Finally, it’s important to keep in mind that Omni Fiber is a very new company. While this isn’t inherently a bad thing, there could be growing pains. Issues like billing problems or service outages could crop up as the company gets its infrastructure sorted out.

Omni Fiber will be available first in the Ohio towns of Clyde, Dover, and Shelby. It plans to expand to small and mid-size markets in the Midwest "as quickly as possible," CEO Darrick Zucco said in a press release in August of 2022. (1)

The company, founded in 2022, has not yet been studied by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in either its annual performance tests (2) or its rate study (3).

Visit Omni Fiber's website

or call 1-844-844-6664 for more information on contracts and money-back guarantees.

Go to provider

Customer experience

4.5

Award-winning customer service, even in areas under new management

WOW! provides an award-winning customer experience, ranking fourth-highest in J.D. Power’s ISP Satisfaction list in the North Central US region in 2022. (3)

We should note that in 2021 WOW! sold a couple regions of its business (Evansville, IN and Chicago) to Astound broadband, so customers may see some changes in their service. That said, Astound ranks fifth on P.C. Mag's Readers' Choice awards, so you're probably in good hands. (4)

Visit WOW!'s website

or call 1-844-727-4910 for more information on contracts and money-back guarantees.

Go to provider

Made up your mind?

Find out what providers are available near 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

Omni Fiber

0.0

(0)

5 Star

4 Star

3 Star

2 Star

1 Star

WOW!

3.9

(12)

5 Star

33%

4 Star

33%

3 Star

25%

2 Star

1 Star

Annfrom Sterling Heights , MI

WOW! Customer for 4+ years

Reviewed on: 6-22-2022

Nothing is good. The internet is too slow. It sucks.

Rickfrom Canton, MI

WOW! Customer for 8+ years

Reviewed on: 6-22-2022

WOW started off fine for years. In recent years there service has gone down hill. There are more interuptions and slower speeds.

Mercedesfrom Knoxville, TN

WOW! Customer for 4+ years

Reviewed on: 6-22-2022

I think that wow is a great internet service company, they get the job done and are always there when you need them. I think that they could improve by offering more services to the public

Angelfrom Leslie, MI

WOW! Customer for 4+ years

Reviewed on: 6-17-2022

I THINK IT IS TOO EXPENSIVE FOR BASIC PHONE AND INTERNET

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Endnotes and sources

(1) "Omni Fiber announces first wave of Ohio markets to be served with new 100% Fiber Network," Omni Fiber via PR Newswire. Accessed 15 December, 2022.(2) "Measuring Broadband America," FCC. Accessed 15 December, 2022.(3) "2022 Urban Rate Survey," FCC. Accessed 15 December, 2022.

Endnotes and sources

1. “2022 Urban Rate Survey – Fixed Broadband Service,” FCC. Accessed 21 June 2022.2. "WOW! Internet - Terms of Service," Wide Open West. Accessed 12 October 20223. "Price of Residential Internet Drives Customer Choice, J.D. Power Finds," J. D. Power. Accessed 7 December 2022.4. “Readers’ Choice 2022: Your Favorite ISPs for Any Type of Broadband,” PCMag. Accessed 7 December 2022.