Frontier vs. Cox Internet Providers Compared

Frontier has great fiber speed and pricing, but DSL will be slower

Frontier has the same split profile as other internet providers that offer both fiber and DSL. Frontier’s fiber internet offerings are outstanding across the board for both performance and pricing. But their DSL internet speed and cost will be mediocre compared to Frontier Fiber. About 42% of customers In Frontier’s coverage area are currently able to choose fiber. With an aggressive fiber buildout plan, Frontier plans to expand its fiber footprint to 10 million locations by 2025 [1]. And those fiber connections will be FTTP, meaning all fiber-optic line, all the way to your home. That’s good news, because the difference between DSL and fiber is night and day. Fiber internet will be much faster and more reliable, and you’ll get much more internet speed for the price you pay.

Frontier will give you a good deal on fiber, but DSL varies widely

Frontier is the 8th-largest internet service provider in the United States, with 2.8 million broadband subscribers [1]. The company has a total of 9.9 million copper passings and 6.8 million fiber passings. At the end of 2023, over 70% of their customers were fiber internet customers [2]. Frontier’s main distinction among fiber internet providers is that you will get faster speeds compared to the competition. For example, Frontier’s first-tier fiber plan costs about $39.99 per month at present, like many of its rivals. But that Frontier plan will give you 100 Mbps download and upload speeds, where many other fiber providers tend to start at 200 Mbps and 300 Mbps. With modem-router rental included and no data caps, Frontier Fiber offers the kind of simple, clear pricing that earns high ratings from us. The only drawback is that Frontier Internet (the name for their DSL plans) does not provide the same kind of bargain. Frontier pricing is just average for DSL in the industry. Plus, the DSL speed you will be able to get at your address will vary depending on infrastructure. (DSL usually ranges from 3-50 Mbps download and 1-3 Mbps upload.) Average DSL pricing in the industry is not a great deal for customers compared to cable and fiber pricing. That’s why Frontier and many other providers are moving away from copper-based service in favor of fiber.

Be aware of price hikes and data overage for heavy-streaming households

Cox offers a first-tier plan at $50/month for 100 Mbps download speed. That’s about the same as many other providers ask for their first-tier plans. The good news is that Cox's first-tier price is the standard price, so it won’t go up automatically after a promotional period. Unfortunately, the higher speed plans do have steep price hikes after the first year’s promotional rate. And when those price increases kick in, you’ll be paying more per month, on average, than you would for the same speeds through Xfinity or Spectrum. In addition, there’s a monthly rental fee for the Cox modem/router, though you are allowed to buy your own compatible router if you wish. Another big question about Cox pricing will be how much data you use. Cox does have a data cap. The cap is high at 1.2 TB, so many households will never exceed it. But 14% of American households do exceed 1 TB of data usage per month, according to the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society [2]. And if you do exceed your cap, you will face overage charges [3] In other words, if you are a heavy data user, you may end up with a higher monthly bill. So be aware of these data caps as a factor in your pricing if you live in a household with multiple people who stream 4K or play real-time games online every day. If your internet activities don’t include lots of HD streaming, gaming, or large file uploads, or you only have one or two household members, you are unlikely to exceed your monthly data cap.

Frontier Fiber offers speed and reliability, but their DSL lags behind

Just like pricing, performance for Frontier plans is heavily split depending on whether you get fiber or DSL. With Frontier Fiber, you can get multi-gigabit speeds up to 7000 Mbps. That’s right up there with the top few providers in the fiber internet business. And pricing for the 2 Gig and 5 Gig plans is cheaper than comparable offerings from other ISPs. These multi-gigabit speeds will be more than sufficient for very large households with many devices all streaming or gaming simultaneously. Even 500 Mbps is still a lot of speed and will be more than capable of supporting a five- or six-person home and all the devices in it. DSL performance will be unpredictable, but the only constant is that it will not deliver fiber-like performance. If you’re lucky, you’ll get a speed above 25 Mbps download. With that speed, you’ll be able to do most standard internet activities such as streaming and browsing, though you’ll have to watch how many devices are online at once. But if you get a speed that’s 10 Mbps or lower, you may find your service glitching or freezing during heavy-data tasks.

Years of solid operations equip Cox with reliable infrastructure

As the fifth-largest ISP in the United States, Cox has a thirty-year record of delivering internet access to customers. This means that when you order internet service, it will work as it should the vast majority of the time. Cox home internet serves metro areas in 19 states [1]. Cox uses hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) technology, like its major competitors Xfinity and Spectrum. Ordinarily, your internet service will be carried by fiber-optic lines along the main arteries until it gets within about a mile of your house. Somewhere near that point, the network will switch to copper coaxial cable. This structure is called Fiber-to-the-Node (FTTN). It is faster than an all-copper network, but not as fast as all-fiber, which is also known as Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH). Cox does offer a small percentage of all-fiber connections and is building out more, but for the moment, you are most likely to get HFC, i.e., cable internet service [4]. Download speeds with Cox’s cable internet will go as high as 1000 Mbps in some areas, and upload speeds will top out around 100 Mbps. Though this upload speed is far below the symmetrical high speeds of an all-fiber connection, Cox cable internet still provides plenty of speed for most households. Cox uses data caps of 1.2 TB/month on its plans. This allowance will provide plenty of data for most households. But if you have a large household and you all do unusually heavy streaming or gaming to go over 1 TB, you may incur up to a maximum of $100 in overage charges [3]. You can get Cox plans with unlimited data, but only by paying more each month for an unlimited plan.

Installation fees waived with one year of service

Frontier provides your basic modem/router at no charge when you get fiber internet or DSL. For both technology types, standard installation fee is $100, but the fee is waived as long as you keep your service for at least 12 months. So, you basically get free installation unless you cancel before the year is over, in which case you'll pay a pro-rated fee.

Cox offers optional self-installation, charges equipment rental fee

When you order Cox internet service, you will be able to select either professional installation or self-installation. Self-installation will save you about $100, as long as you’re willing to deal with instructions for connection and activation. If you want to use a Cox-supplied modem/router, you will get their Panoramic Wi-Fi gateway. Higher-tier plans will receive a Wi-Fi 6 gateway, while the lower tier of plans will have a more typical Wi-Fi 5 compatible device. All customers will pay a $13/month rental fee for the equipment in addition to their monthly plan fee. However, Cox will forego the fee if you use your own compatible modem/router, which may make it cheaper in the long run for you to buy one rather than renting.

Frontier Fiber shows strong performance in customer satisfaction

Frontier's reviews have improved greatly with increased fiber service, as is reflected in higher rankings in the J.D. Power Residential Internet Service Provider Satisfaction study [3]. Frontier's sharp rise in the rankings is a promising sign that if you get Frontier Fiber, you will be happy with your choice. In addition, Frontier outranks even strong fiber competitors in the well-regarded national survey known as Net Promoter Score [4].

Cox customer service ranks below average on national surveys

Cox gets a resounding “meh” for customer service on recognized national surveys of customer satisfaction such as the J.D. Power survey [5]. Cox ranks below average in each region where it provides service. In an industry not known for good customer service, it’s hard to split hairs about exactly what the rankings mean. Even some of the best ISPs occasionally get their share of negativity when you look up review compilation maps [6]. But because J.D. Power is widely regarded as one of the more objective rating systems, we’re going to give Cox 3 stars for customer service.