Optimum Internet Review: Pricing, Speeds and Availability

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Optimum home internet rating

How we calculated our rating

Pros

• High speeds with competitive pricing
• No data caps, no contracts
• Fiber service available to 2.7 million homes
• 60-day money back guarantee for fiber customers

Cons

• Low customer satisfaction score
• Slow upload speeds for cable internet customers
• Price increase for all plans after first year

Although Optimum is traditionally a cable internet provider, it has arguably the largest fiber-optic internet network of any cable-first ISP. The Altice USA company, formerly known as Suddenlink and rebranded in 2022, has a fiber network that extends to approximately 2.8 million households, according to Optimum's latest quarterly report.

Optimum Internet offers high-speed internet with its fiber network, competitive introductory pricing and straightforward terms of service -- void of any hidden fees or suspicious fine print. Optimum raises prices by $15 year over year, so if you decide to stick with this provider in the long-term you could end up with a hefty monthly internet bill. Let's get into the weeds with Optimum's plans and pricing and see how this provider stacks up to competitors.

Optimum internet plans and pricing

Fiber internet will always be a faster and more efficient connection due to its symmetrical upload and download speeds, better reliability and more high-speed internet options, but it has limited availability, especially compared to a cable connection. Optimum's fiber internet offers multi-gig plans up to 8,000Mbps in select areas, with 5,000Mbps and 2,000Mbps plans in addition to its standard 1-gig plan. Its cable offerings, on the other hand, while more ubiquitous, aren't nearly as fast, maxing out with 1,000Mbps in downloads and 35Mbps in uploads.

Optimum's multi-gig plans range between $120 to $280 a month. Such prices for home internet can understandably feel a bit steep compared to other internet plans, but if you compare the cost per Mbps, those plans are more cost-efficient than they seem -- especially when compared to competitors. AT&T Fiber, for example, has higher pricing on its 2-gig and 5-gig plans, while Frontier Fiber starts its 2-gig plan at $100 a month. Once the promo period ends after the first year, whichever plan you choose with Optimum, your monthly bill will increase by $15 yearly. Optimum's multi-gig plans price competitively in the first few years, but that will inevitably change as your bill goes up.

Optimum fiber internet plans

Optimum cable internet plans

No data caps, no contracts

Optimum's terms of service are refreshingly straightforward. All internet plans are free of data caps and contracts, regardless of the service type. That's a nice contrast to rival cable internet providers like Cox and Xfinity, which charge overage fees up to $50 or higher for going over your data allowance.

The no-contract requirement is another nice perk compared to Cox and Xfinity, which both typically require term agreements of at least one year to get the lowest pricing. 

Optimum Wi-Fi equipment and fees

The Optimum device you get depends on the plan you choose and the network type (cable or fiber). Optimum either uses a Wi-Fi 6 gateway or a Wi-Fi 6E gateway plus extenders. Your first extender is included at no extra cost (a nice deal) and any additional extender costs an extra $3 a month. All gateways come with 24/7 tech support but the Wi-Fi 6E devices offer better Wi-Fi performance than older routers, so you may have a better experience with your Optimum equipment than others depending on the device you get.

As for installation, a standard install is included at no extra cost when you order online. If you'd prefer professional installation, including Wi-Fi configuration on up to six devices and hardwiring on one device, that cost will come out to $100.

Using your own equipment

Optimum is one of several providers that allow you to use your equipment. If you go that route, you'll need to have a compatible modem and router ready at the time of installation. Keep in mind that using your own equipment will limit service upgrades and technical support. 

Optimum home internet availability

Optimum covers two boroughs in the greater New York City area -- Brooklyn and the Bronx. Serviceability runs from Dutchess County, New York, to Toms River, New Jersey. Optimum is also available throughout Long Island and in parts of Connecticut, Pennsylvania and along the New Jersey border.

Since parent company Altice united Suddenlink and Optimum coverage areas under the Optimum brand, coverage has expanded to include 21 total states. Outside of the greater New York City area, Optimum is now available in parts of Arizona, Arkansas, California, Idaho, Kentucky, North Carolina, Texas and West Virginia, among others. 

It's primarily cable, with some fiber mixed in

As mentioned above, Optimum primarily uses a cable or cable hybrid network to deliver service. Cable isn't necessarily bad, as it can offer gigabit download speeds, but the technology fails to compare to the speed and consistency you get with a fiber connection.

An Optimum spokesperson tells CNET that Optimum FTTH service is already available to more than 2.7 million homes, around a tenth of those serviceable for Optimum internet, with more to come as "fiber deployment continues at a rapid pace."

How does Optimum compare?

In the greater New York City area, there is a little overlap between Optimum and cable providers Spectrum and Xfinity. For the most part, Optimum has lower introductory pricing than both, and the lower pricing comes with faster speeds. Optimum and Verizon Fios are more closely matched and share a much larger coverage area.

Optimum vs. Verizon Fios

Optimum and Verizon Fios share much of the same service areas in greater New York City, so pricing, speeds and service terms stay relatively competitive between them. Note that Verizon Fios has a much bigger footprint than Optimum's fiber network, so your chances of getting a fiber connection with Verizon are better than Optimum.

Optimum has the advantage of lower plan pricing, at least until the standard pricing kicks in. After the first year, Verizon Fios is likely to be the cheaper option.

Neither Optimum nor Verizon burden customers with equipment fees, data caps or contracts.

All things considered, Optimum and Verizon Fios are closely matched. If introductory pricing drives your decision, Optimum is likely to be your better option, but if standard pricing, fast upload speeds and high customer satisfaction are more of a concern, you may want to consider Verizon Fios.

Optimum versus ISPs in other service areas

A good rule of thumb is that fiber internet is better than cable and cable is better than DSL. If you have a fiber service from AT&T, Quantum Fiber, Frontier, Kinetic or others available at your address, the speed, reliability and overall value it presents is probably higher than what you'll get from Optimum's cable internet.

On the other hand, if the competing provider to Optimum in your area only offers a DSL connection (many of the aforementioned fiber providers also have large DSL networks), Optimum is likely to be the better choice for speed, reliability and value.

The wild card here is 5G home internet, which has recently added some much-needed competition to the broadband space, thanks to providers like T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T Internet Air. Although maximum speeds are currently a bit lower with 5G home internet compared to cable, the pricing and service terms are as good as you'll find.

If you're looking for alternatives to Optimum and fiber isn't available in your area, I'd recommend checking to see if your address is serviceable for 5G home internet.

About that Optimum customer satisfaction...

Optimum checks just about every box when it comes to what we at CNET look for in a quality internet provider, but there's one box that consistently remains blank: customer satisfaction. Despite the competitive pricing, fast speeds and other perks, Optimum lingers at the bottom of customer satisfaction reports from sources like the American Customer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Power.

The ACSI first started dividing its results by fiber and nonfiber providers in 2023, but 2024 was the first to include Optimum as a fiber provider. It did not impress, earning a score of 66 out of 100, a full 10 points below the category average and six points below the next-closest ISP (Kinetic, 72).

Considering this is Optimum's first ACSI appearance as a fiber provider, I'm tempted to cut the company some slack, but it's hard to get past the ISP's history of poor customer satisfaction.

As a nonfiber provider, Optimum had the lowest ACSI score (58/100) of any major ISP in 2023. Although the provider did manage to improve in 2024, its new score of 63 still falls well below the category average (68) and the scores of competing cable providers including Cox, Spectrum and Xfinity. Mediacom was the only cable ISP to receive a lower score than Optimum.

Optimum also did not fare well with J.D. Power's 2024 customer satisfaction survey, which gave the provider a score of 471/1,000 in the East and a score of 496 in the South. Again, both scores fell short of the industry average and Optimum landed last in the East region and second to last in the South region.

Why the low customer satisfaction?

The ACSI and J.D. Power both rate ISPs on a variety of customer experience indicators, such as speed, performance during peak hours and call center satisfaction. The reports do not show how each provider scored in each category, so it's difficult to tell exactly where Optimum showed the biggest needs for improvement.

A brief look at the Reddit page for Optimum discussion hints at issues ranging from high prices and unclear billing to poor customer support and substandard equipment. Many comments on sites like Reddit should be taken with a grain of salt, but they may help shed some light on common pain points Optimum customers experience.

What's the bottom line on Optimum internet?

If Optimum is available in your area, it's likely to be one of your better internet options, at least on paper. Optimum offers a variety of download speeds from 300Mbps to 8,000Mbps in select areas, for introductory pricing lower than or about the same as you'll find from most competitors with similar speed tiers. Optimum's fiber offerings are probably the best all-around when it comes to speed and value. Still, perks like unlimited data and free equipment rental make any Optimum plan worth considering.

Just keep in mind: there's probably a good reason (or two, or three) that the ISP has not fared well in customer satisfaction in recent years. 

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