Windstream vs. Metronet Internet Providers Compared

Kinetic by Windstream offers fast, reliable fiber

Kinetic by Windstream currently serves about 1.2 million customers in 18 states [1]. Kinetic provides fiber internet with blazing-fast, symmetrical speeds that will equip you for anything you want to do online [2]. Kinetic’s fiber internet offerings regularly go to speeds  up to 2000 Mbps, which is far faster internet speed than most households need! In select areas, the speeds even rise to 8000 Mbps. Kinetic by Windstream also offers decent prices given the high speeds you will get from their fiber connection. Most customer reviews online indicate that users are pleased with their Kinetic fiber service.

Pricing is simple and transparent for fiber plans from Kinetic by Windstream

Kinetic’s fiber internet prices are posted clearly for the whole world to see on their website. As soon as you click through to the state you live in, you will see prices posted, and those prices are consistent across states. We appreciate this transparency in pricing, which is not common among internet providers. Kinetic by Windstream does not set data caps or require you to sign annual contracts for internet plans. That means you will not face unexpected overage charges or early termination fees. The first tier plan starts at 24.99 for 100. Kinetic’s monthly plan prices are not as low as those offered by some other fiber providers, but many customers will be willing to pay for these symmetrical fiber upload and download speeds. There is an equipment rental fee, but you may use your own router instead. You also have the option to purchase an additional advanced internet security plan, but the purchase is not required.

Metronet’s prices start good and stay fair, but there’s a hidden fee

Metronet offers very attractive promotional pricing on the low end of industry rates. Their first-tier plan is only $34.95/month for the first year, a good 20% lower than some competitors. True, the plan’s speed is slower at 150 Mbps than some rival plans. But with fiber’s symmetrical download and upload speeds, you’re already going to have a lot more speed even than you’ll get from many cable or DSL providers. Two or three other national fiber internet providers offer promotional prices this good. The difference is that Metronet will not raise its prices dramatically when the first year is over. Metronet’s prices will rise only about $10/month at the 12-month mark. There’s just one catch. Unlike many of the other ISPs, Metronet does not offer free tech support. In order to get tech support, you will have to pay $12/month for their program called TechAssure. The fee is not optional. The positive is that all of your technical needs will be taken care of. You will get full service, including any house calls or equipment repair. The negative? Adding $12 to your monthly bill wipes out some of the benefit from Metronet’s low pricing. In Metronet’s favor, the tech support fee will be the only unusual fee on your monthly bill. Because Metronet has no data caps or contracts, you won’t get any surprise overage charges or an early termination fee if you have to cancel your service.

Windstream offers multigigabit fiber speeds

Fiber internet will give you the fastest and most reliable internet connection on the market, hands down. Windstream even has an 8 Gigabit (8000 Mbps) option available to over 400,000 households [3]. The question is, who exactly needs 8 Gigs of symmetrical internet speed? Right now, 8 Gigs is excessive speed for most residential internet users. 1 Gig will more than supply all the bandwidth that most homes need. Even very large households with multiple devices all streaming or gaming simultaneously don’t usually need more than 1 Gig, thanks to the symmetrical speeds of fiber internet. For now, then, 8 Gigs may not be a speed that gets a lot of takers. But in the future, as virtual reality (VR) and assisted reality (AR) become more common, that massive bandwidth may be more useful.

It’s all-fiber for the win with Metronet

There’s no getting past the fact that an all-fiber connection will give you much more speed and reliability than a cable or DSL internet connection. One of the great advantages of Metronet is that they deliver all-fiber service, every time. The fiber will run from their main network to the wall of your home. You will get symmetrical speeds, so your download and upload speeds will be the same. For any activities involving streaming, real-time gaming, and large file uploads, fiber is unbeatable. Fiber offers even more speed and bandwidth for the future. As technology continues to advance with developments such as Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR), we will begin to need the kind of bandwidth that only fiber offers. Some fiber providers are already beginning to provide 8 Gigs and 10 gigs for residential customers. Though Metronet still tops out at 5000 Mbps, their all-fiber connection will be able to meet your future speed needs. Fiber has some other benefits too. Fiber connections don’t weaken or slow in bad weather the way satellite or fixed-wireless connections do. And fiber connections are much harder to hack into or tap than a copper cable.

Equipment fee is optional, installation is free

Kinetic charges about $10 a month to rent a Kinetic router, with free installation included. But you can also use your own router if you want to skip the fee. Just make sure that if you buy your own, though, the router is compatible. Be aware that ISPs also cannot provide tech support for customers’ personal routers. Kinetic also offers a Wi-Fi management tool for their own gateway that will allow you to change your settings without all the hassle of logging in to your router online. A Whole Home Wi-Fi tech installation comes free with all the fiber plans.

No equipment rental fees, low-cost installation with Metronet plans

For all plans up to 2 Gigs, Metronet will provide you with an eero wireless router at no charge [3]. If you are lucky enough to be able to get a 3-5 Gig plan, you will have to provide your own router to handle that level of speed. Metronet suggests a 10GB WAN/LAN compatible router such as the TP Link Archer AXE3000 [4]. Standard installation will only cost you $25 when you order a Metronet fiber internet plan. While this isn’t as good as free installation, it’s a lot cheaper than the usual $99 fee you’ll pay for installation from many ISPs.

Kinetic by Windstream improves its customer experience

Kinetic scored just lower than average for customer satisfaction on the 2023 J.D. Power Residential Internet Service Provider Satisfaction Study [4]. However, the five-year trend for Windstream shows a general upward trend in customer reviews and scores. It’s not completely surprising that Kinetic by Windstream would rise rapidly in the ratings since they switched their technology to 100% fiber internet. In general, fiber providers rank highest in customer satisfaction. Kinetic by Windstream also offers all the usual amenities of a major ISP for customer service. Customers can chat online with a rep or call by phone for billing or technical support. Phone hours are open six days a week for billing support and seven days a week for tech support [5]. Overall, we recommend fiber internet from Kinetic by Windstream. This provider will give you a reliable, strong, and super-fast connection.

Metronet customers are usually happy with their internet service

Metronet is another ISP that is too small to qualify for major national surveys of customer satisfaction. That means that estimating customer satisfaction is more an art than an exact science – or at least more qualitative than quantitative. The good news is that on the whole, online user reviews for Metronet are much more positive than for ISP competitors who offer cable or DSL service. You don’t see some of the angry rants online about Metronet that you will unfortunately see for cable internet and DSL internet. That’s not to say that cable and DSL providers don’t frequently provide good service, because they do. It’s just statistically more likely that you will see customer rants thrown in the mix. That’s the advantage of all-fiber internet that Metronet is reaping. Again and again, companies that move toward fiber service seem to have happier customers because the networks are newer and the technology is more reliable [5]. And for that reason, we’re going to award 4 stars to Metronet’s customer satisfaction.