Which one should you choose?
Frontier TV delivers low-cost packages and excellent TV coverage, like DISH bundles if you prefer that provider to Frontier. Frontier's internet plans aren't as impressive as we'd anticipate from a fiber provider—in short, we'd expect better speeds from a fiber provider. However, the rates are very reasonable, with most packages costing less than $100 a month. Sadly, a reputation for bad customer service and excessive installation costs mars the overall experience. Frontier is also a good option for good TV service and decent fiber-optic internet.
Mediacom has some of the fastest internet packages available, with speeds up to 1 Gbps. Although the TV selection isn't great, the low package pricing makes up for it. Plus, the DVR is a TiVo, is also one of our favorites because of its cross-platform compatibility. Spotty customer support and a slew of small fees bring the experience down a notch, but if quick internet is what you're after, Mediacom has it in spades.
Quick Glance:
Fiber
Channel Count
385+ channels
Price
$30.00–$100.00 per month
Equipment Fees
$15 per month
Installation Fee
Starts at $80
Contract
None
Customer Satisfaction
2.98/5
Need Frontier Cable?
Cable
Channel Count
170+ channels
Price
$49.99–$79.99 per month
Equipment Fees
$14.95 per month
Installation Fee
Starts at $49.99
Contract
2 years
Customer Satisfaction
2.70/5
Need Medicom Cable?
Frontier
Pros:
Fast fiber-optic network
No contract required
Good pricing
Cons:
Limited fiber availability
Spotty reliability
Poor customer service ratings
Mediacom
Pros:
Affordable pricing
Wide availability
Fast internet speeds
Cons:
2-year contract required
Poor customer satisfaction scores
Lots of additional fees
Frontier:
Frontier is close to the bottom of our poll when it comes to installation, and the hefty installation fees aren't helping matters. For internet-only installation, you'll pay $80, plus a $69.99 activation fee, and for Quantum TV, you'll pay $89.99 plus a $69.99 activation fee. All of this adds up to some of the industry's highest fees. On the plus side, depending on the services you request, you may be able to get your activation fees waived. It's never a bad idea to inquire!
Mediacom:
As a result of its high fees, Mediacom ranks even lower than Frontier in this group. The fee begins at $49.99 and rises for each additional service you order, reaching $99.99 with three services installed (like a standard Triple Play, which includes TV, internet, and phone). Depending on the equipment ordered and the work required at installation, there are also $10 activation fees and a number of other potential costs. It's difficult to justify fees of over $100 when companies like DISH provide free installation.
Frontier:
Frontier may not have the best channel range in the industry, but it is substantially better than Mediacom. About 400 channels are available on Frontier FiberOptic TV, which is a good range that should satisfy most people. In Connecticut, Frontier also provides Vantage TV, and if you want, you can bundle DISH satellite TV with Frontier internet. DISH has the fewest channels of the lot, with 290+. DISH, on the other hand, has all of your favorite premium channels, including HBO.
Mediacom:
Mediacom Channels: 225+
Frontier:
Frontier may not have the best channel range in the industry, but it is substantially better than Mediacom. About 400 channels are available on Frontier FiberOptic TV, which is a good range that should satisfy most people. In Connecticut, Frontier also provides Vantage TV, and if you want, you can bundle DISH satellite TV with Frontier internet. DISH has the fewest channels of the lot, with 290+. DISH, on the other hand, has all of your favorite premium channels, including HBO.
Mediacom:
Mediacom is rated very poorly on reliability. In fact, we gave it the “Greatest Decline” award in this category in our 2017 Customer Satisfaction Survey. Users report numerous signal issues, including pixelation and outages. Since cable is normally considered a very reliable technology, this is disappointing to note.
Frontier:
We talk about it a lot, but it needs repeating: no provider has a high billing score, so don't let that deter you. Frontier's packages are actually very inexpensive. This is particularly true in the case of the bundles. For just $70 a month, you can get Frontier FiberOptic 50 Mbps + FiberOptic TV Prime HD + Digital Voice, which includes 315+ channels, 50 Mbps internet, and unrestricted nationwide calling. That's a great deal.
Mediacom:
Despite giving reasonably priced packages, Mediacom still receives a low rating. $99.98 a month gets you 225 channels, 100 Mbps internet, and unlimited calling. We attribute the low rating to the possibility of additional charges for activation, installation, and equipment.
Frontier:
Frontier has a reputation for poor customer service. In our poll, it came in third-to-last place. Frontier earned a 60 on the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), which rates businesses across a range of sectors. This is lower than the industry average of 64. Problems changing packages, poor customer service, and billing problems are all common complaints.
Mediacom:
Mediacom is even worse than Frontier, with a score of 56 from ACSI and a last-place finish in our poll. However, every year that Mediacom has been included in ACSI's benchmarks, it has increased, which is a positive sign for the future. According to the comments on its Consumer Affairs website, the provider also seems to be excellent at dealing with customer concerns.
Frontier FiberOptic Multi-room DVR
Simultaneous Recordings: 12
Storage: 200 hours of HD
Price: $15 per month
Approximate Dimensions: 12.6″ x 9.1″ x 2.6″
# of TVs per DVR: 3 (more with mini clients)
Additional Features: Play, pause, and rewind live shows on any connected TV; includes interactive media guide.
Mediacom TiVo DVR
Simultaneous Recordings: 6
Storage: 150 hours of HD
Price: Starts at $14.95 per month
Approximate Dimensions: 16.5″ x 9.7″ x 2.4″
# of TVs per DVR: N/A (need a separate mini box for each additional TV)
Additional Features: Play, pause, and rewind live TV; compatible with any provider.
Frontier provides two types of internet service: Frontier FiberOptic and a more commonly accessible Digital Subscriber Line (DSL). Because of the design of the infrastructure, the fiber service is more costly but much faster. It also has the benefit of having similar upload and download rates, which is exclusive to fiber because of its extremely high bandwidth. It's also worth mentioning that Frontier's internet plans have no data limits, which is fantastic. That means you can download and stream as much as you like without worrying about exceeding your monthly data limit.
DSL plans provide speeds of 6 Mbps, 12 Mbps, or 24 Mbps, while fiber offers speeds of 30, 50, 75, or 150 Mbps. At this time, there is no gigabit alternative. This is surprising given that many fiber networks and even cable providers, including our rival, Mediacom, provide Gigabit options. Frontier Internet is still cheap, the rates are reasonable (just $30 for 50 Mbps and $50 for 150 Mbps), and those who post a lot of media online would appreciate the higher upload speeds.
Mediacom's cable internet service is fast and inexpensive, with speeds ranging from 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps, though Gigabit speeds will be limited to Iowa, Alabama, and Missouri. Even if you can't get the Gig service, Mediacom provides a 100 Mbps plan, so you can still get fast speeds. For most people, that should be sufficient speed.
In terms of costs, Mediacom offers a 100 Mbps option for $49.99 per month if you just need internet. However, there are data limits in place with Mediacom, and there are fines for exceeding them. Plans have different data limits, ranging from 400 GB on the 100 Mbps plan to 6,000 GB on the Gigabit plan. The penalty is $10 for every 50 GB of excess data. Although we aren't fans of data limits on internet plans in general, these are at least fair, so we can't really complain.
More about them:
Frontier:
Frontier Communications is a telecommunications corporation headquartered in the United States that primarily serves rural areas but has recently expanded into broader markets. It is the United States' fourth-largest DSL provider. The company bought Verizon's Fios operations in California, Florida, and Texas in 2015 and started offering those services to consumers.
Mediacom
Mediacom is a cable television and telecommunications company based in the United States that primarily serves small markets in the South and Midwest. About 1.3 million customers are served by Mediacom, which operates in fourteen states.
Optimum internet plans offer 1000 Mbps of ultra internet speed with Altice Fibe. You will be able to enjoy 420 plus channels in 4K ultra HD. Optimum is the fourth-largest cable provider in the United States.
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