Staff rating

4.2

Customer rating

4.0

(13)

Plans starting at $19.99

Download speeds up to 1200 Mbps

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Staff rating

3.8

Plans starting at $65.00

Download speeds up to 1000 Mbps

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Staff rating

3.7

Customer rating

4.2

(110)

Plans starting at $50.00

Download speeds up to 182 Mbps

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Staff rating

4.2

Astound Broadband offers very inexpensive internet at fast speeds

Top-notch customer service and shockingly low intro pricing make switching to one of Astound’s brands (Wave, RCN, Grande, or enTouch) an easy choice. Astound Broadband offers internet speeds varying from 300 Mbps to 1,500 Mbps. You can lock in a very low introductory rate for one to three years, starting at around $20 a month! Astound Broadband often offers extra perks when you sign up, like an Amazon gift card, a month of free service, and 50% off installation.

What we like

Award-winning service and speed
Low introductory prices
No contract required

What we dislike

Price increase after intro period

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

Check deals

Staff rating

3.8

Strong value and performance from a smaller brand

Overall, we like Clearwave Fiber. It’s a speedy fiber provider with decent pricing and good customer service. Our main complaint is that it’s just not as competitive on the pricing as it could be. In general, though, we think people will be happy with Clearwave Fiber.

What we like

Symmetrical speeds
Unlimited data
No contracts

What we dislike

Price hikes after 12 months
Relatively new, unproven company

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

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Staff rating

3.7

Inexpensive high-speed internet with no contracts

T-Mobile provides an inexpensive 5G internet plan with no contract and decent speed, but not a lot of choices or professional installation.

What we like

One low price
No commitment
Relatively fast

What we dislike

Not widely available
No professional installation available
Inconsistent speeds

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

Check deals

Value

4.5

Lock-in a low price for 1–3 years

Astound Broadband offers very inexpensive DSL, cable, and fiber internet plans with at least three plan options and no data caps in most areas. Nearly all plans are priced under $50 for the first year.

For many Astound Broadband internet plans, you can get speeds up to 300 Mbps for as low as $20 a month with a three-year price lock. For speeds up to 1,000 Mbps, you may be eligible to get a deal for $20 a month for six months, and then $55 a month with a three-year price lock. Even after price increases, that's a deal. National benchmarks for similar plans are in the $130 range, so you’ll be getting a great deal. (1)

You can make the most of Astound Broadband's internet offers in a few ways. One, sign up for Astound internet online. Astound Broadband offers some deals exclusively online. Two, sign up for autopay and e-billing with Astound. When you use an automatic bank account, you'll save the most. You'll save a little less when you use an automated credit or debit card. Three, look at current deals Astound is offering. You can often find offers that include an Amazon gift card, one month of free internet, or 50% off installation, depending on your eligibility.

Pricing details vary by location. Visit

Astound Broadband's website

or call 1-844-443-5172 to speak with a rep.

See pricing

Value

3.5

Solid value and transparent pricing

Clearwave Fiber fares decently overall in the value department, in large part because fiber just tends to be a good value. With faster plans, like Fiber 1 Gig, Clearwave is competitive and the performance is excellent. This package offers 11.75 Mbps per dollar spent, compared to the Fiber 500 plan at 6.67 Mbps per dollar. Although the latter is cheaper per month, you can clearly see how you get more for each dollar spent with the top-tier plan.

However, compared to competitors like AT&T, Clearwave is definitely more expensive. This difference is more pronounced with the lower-tier packages, where you get a lot more for your money with other providers.

It’s not all bad news, however. You do get unlimited data on all the plans by default—some providers, notably Xfinity, charge quite a lot for this. The equipment costs are also low, at $10 per month.

Additionally, while the price does increase after 12 months, the bump is relatively small at just $15 per month. Clearwave is very up front about this, which is a refreshing change—normally we have to dig to find out how much a plan’s price will increase after promotional periods end.

Pricing details vary by location. Visit

Clearwave Fiber's website

or call to speak with a rep.

See pricing

Value

4.0

One plan, one very low price

T-Mobile 5G Home Internet comes in one download speed (182 Mbps), which is fast enough for a lot of people but slower than most cable plans (up to 1 Gbps) and fiber plans (up to 5 Gbps). The good news? T-Mobile’s plan includes unlimited data, but there may be slowdowns when the network is congested. It’ll cost you $50, which is $0.50 per Mbps, and about right for 5G plans. However, overall, 5G internet is super cheap compared to other kinds of broadband internet. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) benchmarks similar broadband plans at $105.67/month, (1) which comes out to more than a dollar per Mbps!

Even better, if you’re already a T-Mobile customer with a qualifying Magenta plan, your rate is $25/month. If max download speeds of 100 Mbps works for you, T-Mobile 5G Home Internet is a pretty sweet deal, especially if you’re already a customer. But if you’re looking for more plan options, you won’t find them here.

Pricing details vary by location. Visit

T-Mobile's website

or call 1-833-922-2124 to speak with a rep.

See pricing

Performance

4.5

Award-winning speed

Astound Broadband is very fast. That said, as with most ISPs, you may not experience the speeds advertised for your plan because speeds fluctuate based on numerous conditions.

With Astound, the speed on your plan is the “average” that customers see, so your speeds will vary depending on the gear you’re using, time of day, how many devices are using your Wi-Fi, and more. If you see persistent speed issues, Astound encourages you to call customer service to get help figuring out the issue.

Available speeds vary by location. Call 1-844-443-5172 to speak with a Astound Broadband rep or

go to its website.

Performance

5.0

Fast fiber speeds and unlimited data

Clearwave Fiber does better in the performance department. Speeds are fast—up to 1 Gbps—and all the fiber plans offer symmetrical speeds. This means the download and upload speeds are the same.

With something like cable your upload is normally about 10% of your download speed, if that. This helps a lot with live streaming, video calls, and sharing large files like videos.

As for reliability, fiber is generally pretty solid. However, Clearwave is a newer company, so it’s hard to say how well the service will hold up. Here’s what we can say: in some markets, Clearwave has taken over Hargray’s fiber services, which we have found to be somewhat unreliable in the past. Hopefully Clearwave makes improvements for customers going forward.

Available speeds vary by location. Call to speak with a Clearwave Fiber rep or

go to its website.

Performance

3.0

Faster than advertised, but awkwardly unpredictable

As with any fixed wireless internet provider, speeds fluctuate widely and can be affected by weather, terrain, peak hours, and more. That means you’ll rarely get a steady 100 Mbps. T-Mobile says you’ll likely see anywhere from 33 to 182 Mbps for download and 8 to 25 Mbps for upload. (2) But we think T-Mobile should toot its horn a little louder. Independent research shows speeds average out to around 119 Mbps for download and 16 Mbps for upload—both of which leave other wireless ISPs in the dust. (3)

Generally, 5G internet isn’t as fast as cable internet (up to 1,000 Mbps, or 1 Gbps) or fiber (up to 5 Gbps). But for most people, it’ll feel pretty zippy. Unfortunately, if you’re using your connection for gaming, the inconsistency could cause unpredictable, frustrating lags.

Available speeds vary by location. Call 1-833-922-2124 to speak with a T-Mobile rep or

go to its website.

Equipment and installation

3.5

DIY or professional installation

You can rent a modem and one of two Wi-Fi routers from Astound, bringing your total monthly equipment costs between $17 and $27. For most people, the Whole Home Wi-Fi router option will be the right choice. It includes an eero mesh router and an extender, and you can add more extenders to ensure coverage throughout your entire home. This is a reliable Wi-Fi router that supports fast internet speeds, up to 1,500 Mbps!

You can get fancier equipment yourself, if you are a power internet user. Gamers and other heavy streamers can consider the Nighthawk Pro gaming router to reduce lag spikes and achieve more consistent speeds. This router can support speeds up to 5,400 Mbps! That's way more than what the typical household needs, but it's an option for tech heads and gamers.

To save money on equipment fees, you can use own gear or use Astound’s free self-setup option, which is available in most areas. Using DIY install, you'll pay just $10 to activate your service. Astound Broadband even offers detailed online instructions and videos to make it easy to DIY install. If you do want professional help or your home isn’t already properly wired, professional installation starts around $80, which is about average.

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Equipment and installation options can vary widely depending on

Astound Broadband plans

available in your area.

View plans

Equipment and installation

3.5

No surprises here

Clearwave Fiber offers what it calls the Clearwave Fiber Router. Combined with a whole-home Wi-Fi system and a smartphone app, customers are promised wall-to-wall coverage and a slew of features to help make the experience better. These include individual profiles for people and rooms, bandwidth tests, guest networks, and parental controls. That’s a pretty solid package for $10 per month.

Installation is the typical fiber deal—you’ll need a tech to come out and install the Optical Network Terminal (ONT), which is basically the modem for your fiber network. After that, you can either use Clearwave’s router or bring your own. There’s a $99 installation fee, which is pretty standard.

Equipment and installation options can vary widely depending on

Clearwave Fiber plans

available in your area.

View plans

Equipment and installation

4.0

You’ll need an app for that

T-Mobile uses a 5G gateway (included at no additional cost) to turn cell signal into Wi-Fi for your home. It’s strong enough to send signal about 30 feet away, depending on how many walls are in the way. It’s compatible with most mesh network extenders. Plus, you can create up to four separate networks, so you can create one for Airbnb guests or your least favorite roommate.

According to T-Mobile, installation should take around 15 minutes—if you have an Android or iOS phone and can download the T-Mobile internet app. If that doesn’t work out, you can call T-Mobile customer service and someone will help you get set up. If you don’t get cell signal or a landline at home, though, you’re going to have a rough day.

Equipment and installation options can vary widely depending on

T-Mobile plans

available in your area.

View plans

Customer experience

4.5

Award-winning customer service

Astound has (sorry in advance) astounding customer service. This company won fifth place in PCMag's Reader's Choice award in 2022 (2), and before it consolidated them under the Astound brand, Grande, Wave, RCN, and WOW! were all recognized in 2021 (3) and we can see why Astound is a fan favorite. You don't have to sign a contract if you don't want to, your plan comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, and if your technician is late for your appointment, Astound will pay you $20 for the inconvenience. Put it all together, and you get a top-notch customer experience.

Visit Astound Broadband's website

or call 1-844-443-5172 for more information on contracts and money-back guarantees.

Go to provider

Customer experience

3.5

Quick and helpful service

Since Clearwave is fairly new, the customer experience is a bit of a question mark. We’ve not seen a ton of user comments about the provider, but the few we have seen have been generally positive, citing good reliability, lack of data caps, and local customer support. This includes both former Hargray customers as well as new Clearwave customers.

Additionally, while the company’s website lacks self-help options, we chatted with customer service reps several times and were able to consistently get a response within a minute or two. The reps were direct, helpful, and friendly, and we appreciated the speed of the responses.

Visit Clearwave Fiber's website

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

Go to provider

Customer experience

4.0

Award-winning customer service, but a lackluster guarantee

T-Mobile is fairly new to providing home internet, but it has a solid track record of providing great service to its mobile customers. Both contract and non-contract customers see the best service in the industry, according to J.D. Power. (4)

We don’t like T-Mobile’s short 15-day money-back guarantee, which doesn’t give you much time for a test drive. (We much prefer Starry’s 30-day guarantee.) Even worse, your countdown starts when T-Mobile ships your 5G Gateway, not when it arrives. If there are any shipping delays or it takes you a day or two to get set up, you’ll run out of testing time fast.

Visit T-Mobile's website

or call 1-833-922-2124 for more information on contracts and money-back guarantees.

Go to provider

Made up your mind?

Find out what providers are available near you.

Astound Broadband

4.0

(13)

5 Star

23%

4 Star

54%

3 Star

23%

2 Star

1 Star

Paulfrom Catasauqua, PA

Astound Broadband Customer for 4+ years

Reviewed on: 6-24-2022

I think they charge much too much for their dservice. Lower prices

Juliefrom Passaic, NJ

Astound Broadband Customer for 8+ years

Reviewed on: 6-24-2022

I hope the Internet speed is faster and the price is lower

Margaretfrom New York, NY

Astound Broadband Customer for 1+ years

Reviewed on: 6-17-2022

Astound 5G wifi have increased the speed from my previous internet. I was very happy with the promotion price at $39.99 but when my contract expired my payments doubled. With the spottiness and occasional dropped connections each month, I don't see the value I am paying for.

Lynfrom Somerville, MA

Astound Broadband Customer for 1+ years

Reviewed on: 6-17-2022

I am satisfied with my Astound (formally RCN) service. The signal is consistent. I have no suggestions for improvement.

Clearwave Fiber

0.0

(0)

5 Star

4 Star

3 Star

2 Star

1 Star

T-Mobile

4.2

(110)

5 Star

43%

4 Star

41%

3 Star

14%

2 Star

1 Star

Jordanfrom Atlanta, GA

T-Mobile Customer for 1+ years

Reviewed on: 6-17-2022

For the price I’m paying, I would say my internet is fairly good and is fast and reliant.

Ceciliafrom Hoboken, NJ

T-Mobile Customer for Less than a year

Reviewed on: 6-17-2022

Have been with tmobile 20+ years with cell service

Theresafrom Austin, TX

T-Mobile Customer for Less than a year

Reviewed on: 6-17-2022

Was previously with Sprint. Not too familiar with T mobile

Joefrom Hewitt, NJ

T-Mobile Customer for Less than a year

Reviewed on: 6-17-2022

it is a seamless experience

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Endnotes and sources

“2022 Urban Rate Survey – Fixed Broadband Service,” FCC. Accessed 9 December 2022.
“Readers’ Choice 2022: Your Favorite ISPs for Any Type of Broadband,” PCMag. Accessed 9 December 2022.
“Readers’ Choice 2021: Internet Service Providers,” PCMag. Accessed 9 December 2022.

Endnotes and sources

1. “2022 Urban Rate Survey – Fixed Broadband Service,” FCC. Accessed 12 December 2022.2. “Policies, Open Internet,” T-Mobile. Accessed 12 December 2022.3. “USA 5G Experience Report October 2021,” Opensignal. Accessed 12 December 2022.4. "Wireless Customer Care Satisfaction Declines as Staff Turnover Rises, J.D. Power Finds,” J.D. Power. Accessed 12 December 2022.