Optimum home internet review

Best Optimum plans for your home

About Optimum internet plans

Optimum’s internet plans are pricier than average, but they’re a decent option for households that require a lot of bandwidth. Just be prepared for your bill to triple in price after 12 months. 

We graded Optimum internet on a scale of 1 to 5 across four major categories. To learn more, read about our review methodology.

Optimum internet rating

Allconnect Rating

3.56 / out of 5 stars

This score is based off of the 3 plans Optimum has available

Rating breakdown

• Affordability

  2.89 / 5

• Performance

  4.25 / 5

• Value

  3.96 / 5

• Customer satisfaction

  3.53 / 5

How we calculated our rating

If you’re shopping for internet service in the greater NYC area, it’s likely that Optimum internet will be an option. In New York, you’ll find Optimum internet service in The Bronx, Brooklyn, Long Island, Poughkeepsie and Yonkers, among other NY cities. Optimum is available to over 12 million people. Coverage also extends to western Connecticut, eastern New Jersey and parts of rural Pennsylvania.

Optimum has both cable and fiber internet plans available, and it’s been rapidly building its fiber network in recent years in order to reach more homes. But no matter what’s available to you, Optimum’s internet plans are known for high speeds and high prices.

The slowest speeds you can get are 100 Mbps — a high starting point compared to other internet providers. But you will pay more for those speeds. While Optimum’s rates are pretty affordable when you first sign up, they increase by $75 to $95/mo. after one year. Most internet providers raise prices, but that’s significantly more than anyone else.

That doesn’t necessarily mean Optimum is a bad deal. It has one of our highest scores of any provider for value, which measures how much speed you’re getting for the price. But it’s important to be aware that you’ll be paying a lot more than what you signed up for at some point. 

How we scored internet providers

We evaluate broadband providers in four categories: affordability, performance, value and customer satisfaction. Each category contains multiple sub-factors, all of which are weighted differently to impact the provider’s overall score. For each sub-factor, we score all providers on a continuous scale of one to five, relative to the industry as a whole. Because the average download speed in America is currently 180 Mbps, for

We evaluate broadband providers in four categories: affordability, performance, value and customer satisfaction. Each category contains multiple sub-factors, all of which are weighted differently to impact the provider’s overall score.

For each sub-factor, we score all providers on a continuous scale of one to five, relative to the industry as a whole. Because the average download speed in America is currently 180 Mbps, for example, we assigned all plans with download speeds between 100 and 299 Mbps a score between three and four. Xfinity’s 200 Mbps plan received a 3.50 score for download speed, while Spectrum’s 400 Mbps plan got a 4.16.

We only considered standardized data points in our scoring system. More abstract data like consistency of service and brand reputation is still part of our analysis, but we opted to let our writers address them in the context of each review.

Learn more about our methodology

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Best plan: Fiber Internet 1 Gig

Optimum internet plans, pricing and speeds

Which Optimum internet prices and plans are available to you depends on your location. We’ve listed some popular Optimum plans below, but the best way to get accurate plan information for your address is to call and speak with our internet experts.

*Pricing per month plus taxes for length of contract. Additional fees and terms may apply. Pricing varies by location and availability. All prices subject to change at any time. May or may not be available based on service address. As of 03/07/22

Right now, Optimum’s fiber plans are only available to around one million homes in the U.S. Generally, it’s always a good idea to go with fiber over cable, as it’s less prone to traffic congestion.

That said, Optimum’s 500 and 940 Mbps plans are well above what most households need — 500 Mbps would be enough to stream Netflix in 4K on 20 TVs at the same time. If you need to work from home or video conference, pay special attention to the slower upload speeds on the non-fiber plans. If work is a priority for your home internet needs, consider the fiber plans.

The other thing to be aware of with Optimum is the price increases, which are the highest of any provider we’ve seen by far. No matter which plan you choose, your bill will go up by $75 to $95/mo. after 12 months. The only provider that received a lower score for affordability in our analysis was Suddenlink. 

Optimum speed averages

In general, what you pay for is what you get with Optimum. According to the FCC’s most recent Fixed Broadband Report, Optimum customers on average received 114.21% of the speeds that they were advertised. In other words, Optimum actually over-delivers on speed. 

That doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to get faster-than-advertised speeds all the time — things like router placement, time of day and the number of connected devices can all impact internet speed — but it’s still a mark in Optimum’s favor.

Discounted internet for low-income students, seniors and veterans

In addition to the plans listed above, there is also a discounted option called Optimum Advantage Internet for select groups. This plan costs just $14.99/mo. and gets you up to 50 Mbps speeds, free installation, free equipment and no data caps or contracts. Here’s who qualifies for Optimum Advantage Internet:

• Households with students: Your household must qualify for or participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Optimum Advantage Internet is also open to New York City residents attending a New York City public school.
• Seniors: You must be 65 years or older and eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
• Veterans: You must be a veteran and receive state or federal public assistance.

In addition to the discounted internet, Optimum Advantage customers can also purchase a refurbished Chromebook laptop for just $149.

Shop Optimum plans

Optimum delivers high-speed internet, TV and home phone with customizable plans.

Call to order: (844) 451-2720

Call to order: (844) 451-2720

Optimum equipment, installation, data caps and contracts

Like all internet providers, the price that’s advertised to you is usually quite a bit lower than what you’ll actually pay each month. We combed through the fine print to find all of the fees you can expect to see with your Optimum Wi-Fi plan. 

Optimum equipment 

Optimum charges $13.50/mo. for equipment: $10 for the modem/router and $3.50 for a “network maintenance fee.” This includes their Altice Gateway device, plus Optimum Wi-Fi service.

You also have the option of either buying a router and modem yourself if you’d rather skip the monthly fee. There are other benefits to going this route, too. Some of the most common complaints from customers are about their Optimum Wi-Fi equipment not performing as promised. In many cases, investing in better equipment can drastically improve the speeds you get. 

Free Wi-Fi extender

In some areas, Optimum is throwing in a free Wi-Fi extender with some plans. This device can be placed in another area of your home so that your Wi-Fi connection reaches every corner of the house. You’ll get one included for free, but you can also add extras for $3/mo. each for extra coverage.

Installation fee

Optimum charges a $59 one-time fee for standard installation on most plans, but it is increased to $99 on some internet and TV bundles. Self-installation is always free, though.

No data caps

There are no data caps on any Optimum internet plans, so you won’t have to worry about cutting back your streaming or gaming habits. 

Contracts

Optimum doesn’t require contracts on any of its plans. If you want to switch service or move, you can do it at any time without incurring any early termination fees.

Allconnect Rating

3.61 / 5

Optimum home internet compared to other providers

Optimum might not be the only internet option in your area. In the four states that Optimum has service — New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut — there are several other providers available. Here’s how it compares to some of its biggest competition:

*Pricing per month plus taxes for length of contract. Additional fees and terms may apply. Pricing varies by location and availability. All prices subject to change at any time. May or may not be available based on service address. As of 03/07/22.

If you can get fiber optic service from Verizon Fios in your area, it’s a better service for most people. Optimum vs. Frontier is more of a toss-up: Frontier is more affordable, but it has significantly lower customer satisfaction ratings. 

Speeds from all three providers max out at 940 Mbps, but you won’t have to deal with the same price hikes from Frontier and Verizon. Frontier only raises prices by $10/mo. in the second year, while Verizon’s price doesn’t increase at all. By the time you get to year two, you’ll pay $140/mo. for Optimum’s gig plan, compared to $80/mo. with Verizon and $90/mo. with Frontier. 

That said, Optimum has much higher customer satisfaction ratings than Frontier, which has had a number of issues as it navigates its bankruptcy. According to the Better Business Bureau, Frontier has a “high volume of serious complaints” about “customer service issues, missing appointments, decline in services previously handled by other providers who Frontier has assumed, billing issues including additional service charges for periods once the consumer has cancelled services.” 

Optimum is known for being slightly more reliable, especially when it comes to providing fast internet service. If you are a current Optimum customer, you can check your internet speeds through Allconnect to determine if you are getting the speeds you paid for.

Even though Optimum’s customer satisfaction scores aren’t exactly stellar, it’s probably a safer bet than Frontier. For comparison, Verizon had the highest customer satisfaction scores of any provider we reviewed.

Bundle Optimum internet with cable TV

There are four Optimum TV packages that you can add to your internet service, but you won’t save very much compared to purchasing standalone TV service somewhere else. While these bundles are usually pretty affordable in the first year, you can expect to pay quite a bit more in year two, although it’s unclear exactly how much. Optimum simply says, “As of 13th mo. service will be billed at regular rate and is subject to change.”

Learn more about Optimum’s bundles

Optimum Stream device

Optimum is now offering a streaming device called Optimum Stream for free with its Gig plan, or $5/mo. with all other plans. It works like a Roku or Amazon Fire TV — just plug it into your TV and you’ll immediately have access to thousands of streaming apps like Netflix and HBO Max (although you’ll still have to subscribe to them separately). The remote is also built in with Google Assistant, so you can use your voice to search for shows and movies.

Optimum internet customer satisfaction

Although Optimum normally ranks right in the middle in customer satisfaction compared to other providers, in 2021 its ranking dropped considerably. The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) gave Optimum a 60/100, which is 5 points lower than its score in 2020 and 5 points lower than the average ISP score.

Consumer Reports readers also had a negative view on Optimum. It received just a 54/100 overall score, which was ahead of only Frontier and Suddenlink, which is run by the same parent company as Optimum, Altice. Complaints with the company generally center around missed appointments with technicians, unexpected charges and frustrating customer service experiences.  

Optimum internet and Wi-Fi FAQs

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Written by:

Joe Supan

Senior Writer, Broadband Content

Joe Supan is the senior writer for Allconnect and MyMove. He has helped build the proprietary metrics used on Allconnect’s review pages, utilizing thousands of data points to help readers navigate these comple… Read more

Edited by:

Robin Layton

Editor, Broadband Content

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