Verizon vs. Cox Internet Providers Compared

Verizon Fios delivers lightning-fast speeds and competitive, straightforward pricing

Verizon Fios is the premium all-fiber internet service that Verizon offers to its customers, in addition to its well-known mobile and fixed wireless networks. The all-fiber-optic network of Verizon Fios is popular in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Though Verizon is the 4th largest internet service provider in the nation, Verizon Fios is currently only available in 9 states and the Washington DC area [1]. It’s quite a claim to fame that Verizon took the #1 spot in customer satisfaction in the J.D. Power national survey for its region [2]. What’s more, Verizon beat the competition by a large margin. Verizon Fios offers superfast, symmetrical multi-gigabit speeds up to 2000 Mbps in select areas. Offering a choice of several plans and attractive, low prices, Verizon Fios is one of the best internet plans you’ll find on the market today.

Verizon Fios offers great prices for cutting-edge, all-fiber internet with no hidden fees

Verizon Fios offers three all-fiber internet plans in most of its service areas. The first-tier begins at $34.99/month for up to 300 Mbps. Those fiber speeds are symmetrical, which means that upload and download speeds are equal. No other internet technology offers equal speeds. So you will get a lot more speed for your money with fiber than with any other type of internet connection. Verizon Fios gives you stable prices from the beginning, not introductory prices that will jump up much higher after a year. Here at CompareInternet.com, we give our best ratings to providers whose prices are not only low, but also clear and consistent for customers. Verizon Fios ranks at the top of the industry for its simplicity of pricing. Another major plus of Verizon Fios is that their plans don’t impose data caps. Even with a large household of internet users streaming in HD or gaming, you won’t have to worry about your data usage. Finally, Verizon will give you the option to bundle your cell phone service and your TV. You can get very low combined deals by bundling that can save you a lot of money compared to typical cell phone plan pricing. Many customers do choose to bundle because Verizon phone service is known for its high-quality signals.

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.

Verizon Fios performance is best-of-the-best with all-fiber speeds, but make sure you’re getting Fios

It’s really hard to beat all-fiber internet. If you’re getting a Verizon Fios plan, you’re going to have enough bandwidth for practically everything you need to do in your home. Fiber speeds are so fast that numerous people could be streaming or gaming at once in your home, and your connection would not slow down or glitch. Bandwidth is just not an issue for most households once you get internet speeds up past 200 Mbps. You will avoid ISP throttling and any of the other speed issues that happen with slower internet technologies. There’s just one issue to be aware of. Only 50% of Verizon’s wired network is Verizon Fios [3]. The rest is Verizon Internet, which is DSL-based. As you probably know, there is a vast difference between the speeds you get with all-fiber internet vs. DSL internet. Verizon also offers fixed wireless internet plans under LTE and 5G. And while all these plans can still give you high-speed internet, none of them will give you the premium performance of Verizon Fios. So when you’re signing up for Verizon Fios, make sure you look for the Fios all-fiber brand name. If only Verizon DSL or fixed wireless is available in your area, those can also be good options depending on what else is around. But you’ll want to check out your complete list of internet choices by entering your zip code here on our website.

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.

Verizon Fios includes a free router with your monthly plan fee

Fios offers what we consider the best possible equipment option: no extra equipment fee. Your router is included with the basic charge for your plan [4]. You get a simpler, more predictable price because your equipment is included in your monthly fee. The other benefit of getting a router directly from your ISP is that their tech support will be better able to help you if you ever need troubleshooting. Verizon charges a $99 installation fee, but the fee may be waived with some promotions. You can also self-install Verizon Fios if there is already a Fios Optical Network Terminal in your home from previous Fios service.

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.

Verizon Fios ranks first in customer satisfaction

In the Eastern region of the United States, Verizon tops the J.D. Power customer satisfaction survey for residential internet providers. Not only that, but Verizon has ranked first in that survey for nine years, far outscoring the competition [2]. This is especially impressive because that ranking includes Verizon’s DSL service as well as Fios. Usually, DSL providers rank much lower in customer satisfaction. Yet even with a network that includes DSL, Verizon is clearly doing customer service very well. Verizon has all the usual perks of customer service from a large internet provider: phone help, tech support, and a mobile app called My Fios to manage all aspects of your account. If you are lucky enough to be in the coverage area for Verizon Fios, you are going to be very happy with your hyperspeed internet connection, its low price, and with strong customer support from Verizon.

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.