Internet Service Providers do not rank high on consumers’ favorite list of companies. There are even more unloved customers than airlines, social networks, and the US postal service: the entire industry, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, is in last place.
Much of that dissatisfaction arises from the pricing structure that accompanies internet plans. I’ve been covering home internet for five years, myself, and it sometimes takes me an effort to discern what you’re paying each month with some providers.
“Some of the bills we collected are incredibly complicated but the ten above are the easiest to distinguish by color,” said Jonathan Schwantes, senior policy counsel at Consumer Reports, who contributed to identifying over 22,000 internet bills. “In retrospect, it is nearly impossible for people to determine what they are charged, what the additional charges entail or even where to find the price of internet service.”
Some of that confusion was addressed this year when the US Federal Communications Commission made the internet providers display to the customers, the information in the form of broadband nutrition labels with every plan that is offered. Even with these new requirements, one cannot be very sure of how much (and when) their bill is going to rise.
But you do not have to worry about that, as we have done your homework for you. The following are the firms that increase their charges more than anyone else in the market ranging from the worst to the best.
How much does each Internet Service Providers charge?
Mediacom prices are charged
Mediacom increases its price for internet service Providers by at least $30 to $65 within the first year of using the service. It also imposes one of the highest charges for equipment rental at $14 per month and the basic plan comes with data limits that are very restrictive hence a possibility of incurring very high expenses for the exceeding limit.
Medium Mediacom’s price increase: to $50 per month after 1 year
Spectrum prices are charged
Even Spectrum, which only recently increased the current price in all its internet plans, also adjusted the rates for all consumers annually or bi-annually. As for how long the promotional price will be available, it again depends on where you live as well as the specific plan that you are using. Spectrum’s prices also vary widely by location: I observed that prices for its Internet Gig plan ranged from $60, $70, and $80 when I keyed in the addresses in various cities. If you want unlimited text, DataPro comes with an extra charge of $10 per month, to be added to your bill when the promotional period elapses; Meaning, your bill shall rise between $25 and $50 when subscribing to DataPro plans.
Medium Spectrum prices increase: $37.22 per month after 1 or 2 years
Cox prices are charged
Cox’s price increases do not start until year 3 of a subscription, although when they come, it can be rather brutal if one is on the faster tiers. For example, since your rates increase by $50 from one month to another, on the Go Super Fast plan your bill is going to be higher than the previous month. Each of the plans that you get with Cox comes with a 1.25TB data cap as well.
Medium Cox price increase: $28 per month after two years
Xfinity prices are charged
The three regions in America that Xfinity works in have its unique price plan and all three regions have a watered-down price hike. However, it’ll be a far cry from the ‘starting’ prices listed above for your bill unless indeed you are on one of the multi-gig plans. In most cases, this does not commence until the third year. Only the cheapest Xfinity plans: Connect and Connect More – are more than twice as expensive after the 12 months.
Medium Xfinity price increases: $26/month after 1 or 2 years
Hughesnet prices are charged
Hughesnet is a satellite internet service provider company mostly employed by areas that do not have other alternatives. The prices begin on the higher end of the spectrum, and go further up after a year, although to a lesser extent compared to some other providers in this list. However, there are other undesirable conditions which are, a $15 equipment fee monthly, a low data limit, and a two-year contract among others.
Medium HughesNet price increase: $25/month after 1 year
Optimum prices are charged
Optimum internet service is provided through cables and fibers throughout the United States, but cable internet plans are more accessible than fiber ones. That offer is perhaps a side bait because, when you subscribe to one of Optimum’s cable plans, your bill rises $30 in the second year of the deal. The fiber plans are not as extreme — most increase by only $10 monthly.
Medium Optimum price increase: $19/month after 1 year
Sparklight prices are charged
It is rather a pity that Sparklight is one of those few internet providers that can increase your rates without waiting for at least a year. Even more shocking is that if you subscribe to the Connect 300, or the Connect 600 package, your bill will rise after half a year only. However, as to how much more it raises, it’s not that much which is within the range of $15 to $20 only a month.
Medium Sparklight price increase: $18.75 per month after 1 year
Ziply fiber prices are charged
Ziply Fiber is the leader when it comes to the high internet speed of any national provider in the country at a whopping 50,000Mbps and their prices are not horrible. Of course, that is equally true even after its price hikes that set in after the first year as well.
Medium Zipply price increase: $14/month after 1 year
Metronet prices are charged
It is a cable internet service provider that operates in 15 states across the nation and is also quite affordable. For the second year, every plan increases its price by $10 monthly; there are no contracts, and equipment costs are included for all but the high-speed plan.
Medium Metronet price increase: $10 per month after 1 year
Wow prices are charged
Despite being mostly a cable company, WOW has entered some parts of the South and Midwest to offer cable internet plans where all its service plans are priced $10 higher than the aforementioned rates advertised. Still, that’s not too awful when you take into account that WOW has equipment in the price and unlimited data on every.
Medium WOW price increase: $10 per month after 1 year
Astound Broadband prices are charged
While these providers do not participate in the promotion of an introductory price that will be hiked once the year is over, that is not to say that your price is safe from an increase. All of them have small print that in effect means that they can adjust the prices whenever they feel like it. For example, a company like T-Mobile used to incorporate a plan that allowed customers to lock in their prices for all plans but discontinued that practice for new customers early this year, and made the rates higher.
There are neither monthly nor annual automatic price spikes with these Internet Service Providers.
Nevertheless, three built-in price increases are better than nothing. A few of them such as Verizon Fios and Quantum Fiber offer firm price lock assurances. These are the ISPs that won’t raise your rates automatically after a year or two: These are the ISPs that won’t raise your rates automatically after a year or two:
- AT&T
- Frontier Fiber
- Optical fiber cutting
- Google Fiber
- Quantum Fiber
- Starlink
- T-Mobile Home Internet
- Verizon 5G Home Internet
- Verizon Fios
- Viasat
What do you do in the face of rising prices?
Surely you get angry (and that is quite justified) when the price of the internet increases from the previous amount you expected to pay. It might seem like there’s nothing you can do in these situations, but there are a few things you can try to lower the price you’re paying: It might seem like there’s nothing you can do in these situations, but there are a few things you can try to lower the price you’re paying:
- Negotiate with your internet provider: It is, in fact, possible to explain that sometimes, to return for a certain period to the previous price, it is enough to call the provider and know whether one can return to another promotion. When you want to haggle your internet bill, ensure you have some details about the other available packages they offer or the prices being offered by other ISPs within your region. A few customers have also complained that they receive better results when physically going to a store to complain than when trying to reach a human being on the phone.
- Purchase your equipment: The last thing that you may wish to do after receiving an enormous internet bill is invest even more but, purchasing your modem or router can prove to be more economical in the long run. These fees typically cost around $10 a month and are added to your bill.
- Switch providers: This is probably the final solution in the hierarchy of options. Of course, I know switching Internet providers is a pain in the neck. Most likely you will need to return equipment, schedule the new installation, and even possibly be without Internet for quite some time. However, you could be able to save hundreds of dollars per year by getting another promotional offer. Use your address on the broadband map by the FCC, and you might discover what other choices you have available.
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