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Optimum vs. WOW Internet Providers Compared

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Optimum Vs WOW

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Rosslyn Elliott

Written by Rosslyn Elliott - Pub. Jul. 27, 2023 / Updated Oct. 9, 2024

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Optimum Vs WOW

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Plans starting at: $40

Popular Package: 1 Gig Fiber Internet

Download speeds up to: 1 Gbps

Connection Types: Fiber & Cable

Call today & find the best Optimum internet deals
1-833-337-0356

Plans starting at: $25

Popular Package: Fiber 5 Gig

Download speeds up to: 5 Gbps

Connection Types: Fiber & Cable

Call today & find the best WOW internet deals
1-833-864-0259

Optimum Staff rating

3.5

Optimum features good speeds but poor customer satisfaction scores

Optimum is a major national cable internet provider. Most of Optimum’s 4.3 million subscribers receive cable internet service. But the ISP is also adding some all-fiber connections in select markets. Optimum is the internet brand name of Altice USA, which rolled the company formerly called Suddenlink into the Optimum brand in 2022 [1]. Altice/Optimum is the 6th-largest ISP in the nation [2]. Optimum seems to check off all the right boxes for many of its offerings. You will have no data caps and no required contracts with Optimum internet plans. You will also get free equipment rental included with your monthly plan price. And Optimum’s prices are good (at least while the promotions last). So why are Optimum’s national customer satisfaction scores so low? We’ll check into that as we give you an overview of what to expect from an Optimum internet connection.

PROS

Gigabit download speeds No data caps or contracts 2-year price guarantee

Cons

Poor customer satisfaction scores Slower upload speeds for cable than all-fiber Price hikes after promo rates
Call today & find the best Optimum internet deals
1-833-337-0356

WOW Staff rating

4.0

WOW! delivers fast, reliable internet with attractive pricing

WOW! (WideOpenWest) serves customers in 6 states—Michigan, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida [1]—and is the smallest cable internet provider on our list [2]. WOW! serves over 2 million residential, business, and wholesale consumer subscribers, which is still a smaller base compared to industry cable internet giants like Xfinity and Spectrum [3]. Notably,  it serves 470,400 high-speed data subscribers as of December 31, 2024 (down from 490,100 in 2023). But WOW! provides a model of good internet performance, operational success, and general customer satisfaction. In August 2025, WOW! (WideOpenWest) agreed to be acquired by DigitalBridge Group and Crestview Partners in a $1.5 billion transaction valued at $5.20 per share [4]. WOW! uses a hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) network, like the biggest national cable providers. That technology allows WOW! to provide up to 1,200 Mbps download speed and 50 Mbps upload speed. WOW! also features very low introductory plan prices, far lower than most cable internet providers. Though prices will rise after the first year, you’ll still pay about $20 less for most WOW! plan speeds than you would with Spectrum or Xfinity.  And WOW! scores above average for customer satisfaction too.

PROS

Best prices for cable service Good customer satisfaction Gigabit download speeds

Cons

Limited area of coverage Data caps Slower upload speeds
Call today & find the best WOW internet deals
1-833-864-0259

Optimum Pricing

3.0

Good initial prices followed by price hikes

Cable internet is the chief type of connection that Optimum provides its customers. Because of improvements to cable internet technology, you can get gigabit download speeds from many cable internet companies like Optimum. You just won’t get the same upload speeds from cable as you will from an all-fiber connection [3]. Whether you get the usual cable service or all-fiber, you will get good prices from Optimum, and those prices will be locked for 2 years. Here’s an example. You’ll pay $40/month for Optimum’s first tier plan, which is up to 300. That is a good price for these speeds. The catch is that after those two years, standard prices will take effect, which will spike your bill higher. That may be why Optimum is seeing year-over-year declines in its cable customers [4]. The price hikes may be pushing people to other options at the end of their two-year promotion.
Call today & find the best Optimum internet deals
1-833-337-0356

WOW Pricing

4.0

WOW’s prices are so low they’ll WOW you

If there’s any way that WOW! can claim to have truly earned its name, it’s with low pricing. The first-tier plan will give you 300 Mbps download speed for only $25 a month. That's on the very low end of cable ISP pricing—less than $0.10 per Mbps. A lightning-fast, 1 gigabit speed from WOW! will run you $50. That’s considerably cheaper than several other major cable providers’ multi-gigabit speed plans. WOW!’s lower-speed plans do have a couple of drawbacks that may increase their otherwise excellent prices. Those drawbacks are data caps and a $14/month modem rental fee [5]. Fortunately, the equipment rental fee is optional, meaning that you can skip it if you provide your own modem/router instead. And the data caps are fairly high for the lowest-tier plans (1.5 TB/month) and very high for the 500 Mbps (2.5 TB) and 1 Gig (3 TB) plans [6]. The high caps for the faster plans make it very unlikely that you will exceed your data caps. So, just don’t go overboard and have 40 gamers playing at your house for a month. The vast majority of households will never get close the limits of a 2.5+ TB data cap.
Call today & find the best WOW internet deals
1-833-864-0259

Optimum Reliability and Performance

4.0

Cable and fiber both provide fast download speeds, but cable's upload speeds are slower

With hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) technology, Optimum gives its cable customers gigabit download speeds but much slower upload speeds. That’s typical for cable internet service. Optimum is comparable to other major cable internet providers such as Spectrum and Xfinity, offering upload speeds at a maximum of around 35-50 Mbps. Optimum differs from the cable internet competition because it is also launching into the all-fiber internet market. Optimum’s current fiber internet customer base is small but has doubled in the last couple of years from around 100,000 to over 200,000 subscribers [4]. By 2025, Optimum plans to create over 6.5 million fiber passings [5]. Fiber internet’s most striking advantage over cable internet is that fiber offers symmetrical upload and download speeds. This is a game-changer for online gaming, videoconferencing, and large homes with multiple devices. When Altice merged Suddenlink under the Optimum brand, the company had two distinct “footprints” left from where the old Optimum and Suddenlink coverage had existed. Suddenlink’s coverage area had been primarily in the South and West. Optimum was strong in the Northeast, and particularly in the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Now, the fiber buildout is fastest in that tristate area [1]. Your chances of getting fiber internet from Optimum in the next year or two will be better if you live in the tri-state area.
Call today & find the best Optimum internet deals
1-833-337-0356

WOW Reliability and Performance

4.0

WOW! cable delivers gigabit downloads but asymmetrical upload speeds; fiber offers symmetrical multi-gigabit service

WOW's hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) cable network delivers download speeds up to 1,200 Mbps across approximately 99% of its service footprint [7], matching the technical capabilities of national cable providers such as Spectrum and Xfinity. Upload speeds on cable plans are capped at 50 Mbps regardless of download tier. This asymmetrical speed structure is standard for cable internet technology and sufficient for typical household activities including streaming multiple 4K devices and online gaming.

WOW's cable plans provide adequate performance for households with average internet usage patterns. The 1,200 Mbps top speed on cable supports simultaneous streaming, video conferencing, and gaming across multiple devices. However, the 50 Mbps upload limitation presents constraints for specific use cases. Users who regularly upload large files (such as video content creators), operate cloud-based backup systems, or require symmetrical bandwidth for enterprise-grade applications will experience performance bottlenecks with cable service.

In select Greenfield expansion markets, WOW offers all-fiber service with symmetrical speeds up to 5,000 Mbps for both downloads and uploads. Fiber service is currently available within 5.7% of WOW's total coverage footprint [8], concentrated in newer markets including Central Florida, Hernando County (Florida), Greenville County (South Carolina), and select areas in Michigan and Alabama [9]. The symmetrical nature of fiber service eliminates the upload speed constraints present in cable plans, making fiber suitable for bandwidth-intensive applications, heavy content creation, and households with 10+ simultaneous high-bandwidth users.

Call today & find the best WOW internet deals
1-833-864-0259

Optimum Equipment, Installation and Bonus Features

4.0

No equipment rental fees, free installation with Optimum plans

Optimum will provide your modem/router as part of your monthly plan fee, with no extra rental charge. If you have a compatible cable plan, you may even get a Wi-Fi 6 router, which will give you higher speeds for multiple devices than Wi-Fi 5. Fiber internet plans from Optimum will often include the Wi-Fi 6 gateway as well. If you would rather use your own modem and router, Optimum will allow it. Just be sure to check for compatibility with their specs. Standard installation is free with Optimum plans.
Call today & find the best Optimum internet deals
1-833-337-0356

WOW Equipment, Installation and Bonus Features

4.0

Equipment rental fees are optional, self-installation is free for WOW!

All WOW! plans come with a free self-installation kit. If for any reason you’re not comfortable with self-installation, you can get pro installation for $50. Though most plans will allow you to rent a modem/router from WOW! for about $14/month, you also have the option to supply your own equipment (which removes that fee). This choice may be better for your budget if you plan to have service for more than a year. Just make sure you check with WOW! to be sure your router has compatible specs.
Call today & find the best WOW internet deals
1-833-864-0259

Optimum Experience & Support

3.0

Optimum customer satisfaction: the big question mark

With so many seemingly good points to its service and pricing, why has Optimum’s customer satisfaction scored significantly below average according to J.D. Power? [6] A random sampling of online user reviews seems to indicate two major complaints. The first is outages and failure of technical response. The second is a more general dissatisfaction with the phone system, being transferred around to different departments, and getting contradictory responses from different phone reps when trying to solve billing issues. Because this is a fairly even distribution of complaints, it’s likely that Optimum is just not quick enough in responding to customer concerns, whether they be technical or billing-related. We can’t know the reason for this dysfunction. Often, these kinds of responsiveness issues happen when companies are understaffed or have high staff turnover in their customer service. But until Optimum gets better ratings, we have to give them only 3 stars for customer satisfaction.  
Call today & find the best Optimum internet deals
1-833-337-0356

WOW Experience & Support

4.0

WOW! maintains above-average customer satisfaction despite declining subscriber base

WOW scored 733 out of 1,000 in J.D. Power's North Central region study [10] and outperformed larger ISPs including Cox in the 2023 U.S. Residential Internet Service Provider Satisfaction Study [11]. This positions WOW above the cable industry average of 68 out of 100 on the ACSI scale [12], though below top fiber providers like AT&T Fiber (80) and Verizon Fios (77) [13].

Despite these satisfaction ratings, WOW's subscriber base declined 5% year-over-year from 490,100 to 470,400 as of December 2024, with revenue decreasing 8.1% to $630.9 million. These declines reflect competitive pressure from expanding fiber networks and 5G wireless alternatives rather than service quality issues.

WOW provides 24/7 telephone support and online chat daily from 7:00 AM to 11:45 PM EST [14], plus an online account management portal, and has been named a "Best & Brightest Company to Work For in the Nation" 12 times, including 8 consecutive years as of 2025.

Ultimately, WOW's regional focus enables more personalized service than national cable giants.

Call today & find the best WOW internet deals
1-833-864-0259

Optimum FAQ's

To order or learn more, call the number on this page or visit OptimumSavings.com.
No, Optimum does not impose data caps on any of its internet plans. You will have unlimited data on both cable internet and fiber internet plans from Optimum.
Optimum offers a free internet speed upgrade service to loyal customers, providing faster speeds and better value without changing the current price.
Optimum provides two options for renting a modem: one includes tech support and equipment replacement, while the other option is for purchasing a compatible modem.
To explore different speed options for your Optimum Internet service, you can enter your zip code here at CompareInternet.com to see what plans are available in your area.
Optimum offers savings on monthly bills through their Internet + Mobile Savings program, allowing customers to save up to $30/month by combining Optimum Internet and Optimum Mobile services.
Only Optimum Mobile and Optimum Internet customers are eligible for the Internet + Mobile Savings program offered by Optimum.
Call today & find the best Optimum internet deals
1-833-337-0356

WOW FAQ's

WOW! does not provide a static IP address for your home internet account. But WOW! does offer home business accounts that can provide you with a static IP address.
WOW! offers security on a network level, which means you don’t have to manage it yourself. Network Security helps guard your internet connection against phishing, viruses and malware.
WOW! Internet and WOW! Whole-Home Wi-Fi can be self-installed.
Yes, you can. As long as a technician has completed the outside installation or there is an existing WOW! connection, you will be able to install and activate service using your own modem.
Take our internet speed test to find your actual upload and download speed.
The eero devices that support your Whole-Home Wi-Fi provide up to 1500 square feet of coverage per device.
Call today & find the best WOW internet deals
1-833-864-0259

Optimum Accolades

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1-833-337-0356

WOW Accolades

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Optimum Internet Plans

PlanService TypeDownload SpeedMonthly Price
$200 Optimum Prepaid Mastercard! Free installation!
1 Gig Fiber InternetFiber InternetUp to 1,000 Mbps Only $80
*Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
$50 Optimum Prepaid Mastercard! Free installation!
500 Mbps Fiber InternetCable InternetUp to 500 Mbps Only $60
*Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
Free Installation!
300 Mbps Fiber InternetCable InternetUp to 300 Mbps Only $40
*Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
Call today & find the best Optimum internet deals
1-833-337-0356

WOW Internet Plans

PlanService TypeDownload SpeedMonthly Price
Visa $300 Rewards Card
Fiber 5 GigFiber InternetUp to 5,000 Mbps Only $185
*Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. Read more
Visa $300 Rewards Card
Fiber 3 GigFiber InternetUp to 3,000 Mbps Only $100
*Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. Read more
Internet 1 GigCable InternetUp to 1,000 Mbps Only $50
*Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. Read more
Internet 600Cable InternetUp to 600 Mbps Only $30
*Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. Read more
Internet 300Cable InternetUp to 300 Mbps Only $25
*Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. Read more
Call today & find the best WOW internet deals
1-833-864-0259

Optimum Customers Review

3.0
Pricing
3.0
4.0
Reliability & Performance
4.0
4.0
Equipment, Installation & Features
4.0
3.0
Customer Experience & Support
3.0
3.5
Overall Rating
3.5
Cassandra K
1.0
from Sloatsburg, NY on December 2025
I hate that being a customer of theirs since the '90s means absolutely nothing to the company. Only new customers get good deals and then if you don't read the fine print couple months after you get your service All of a sudden the jack up $10 on your bill but the fact that they don't have any kind of thank you for being loyal and staying with our company you deserve a break too why did new people signing up and I have to pay for equipment but I do why do I have to and update my equipment also wtf why can't I get a break What was their answer every company does this okay cool well I'm not going to be part of this ridiculous dumpster fire circus which is basically every corporation it seems like there is no benefit for being a loyal customer to anyone and I hate the fees and all the forcing sales when they're trying to call because you have a problem what's happened to customer service common sense I don't know not happy Good luck
Brett Mcivor
1.0
on October 2025
Slow always buffering Went up to $77
Jeff Rawls
1.3
from Bellaire, TX on October 2025
Optimum is the worse I've ever dealt with, they increase your pricing and refuse to cancel service until you pay the amount that you never agreed on to begin with. Getting their equipment back to them and counting on them to stop billing will not happen. Stay away from this Company!
Helen Harvey
1.5
from Ruston, LA on October 2025
I am very unhappy with this company lately the service is terrible
Catherine Pape
2.0
from Watertown, CT on August 2025
Last dec.switched to fiber and was told there was no price increase. Went from under 200 to 282. Also they keep charging me for three tvs and I only have 2. Will not give me credit or change my bill.
Call today & find the best Optimum internet deals
1-833-337-0356

WOW Customers Review

4.0
Pricing
4.0
4.0
Reliability & Performance
4.0
4.0
Equipment, Installation & Features
4.0
4.0
Customer Experience & Support
4.0
4.0
Overall Rating
4.0
Ann Enghardt
4.0
from Warren, MI on August 2025
I pay $64 for internet per month. I would like the $30/month plan.
Vickie Eller
2.5
from Charlotte, MI on April 2025
Prices go up every month started at 50 then it went to 64.99 now it's at 83.99 I need different internet in my area
Jocelyn Peck
3.3
from Atlanta, GA on March 2022
Sonia Fry
2.8
from Warren, MI on January 2022
Tyler Martinez
4.8
from Evans, GA on November 2021
Call today & find the best WOW internet deals
1-833-864-0259