EarthLink vs. Xfinity Internet Providers Compared

Earthlink will charge you more initially, but prices may be similar to other ISPs by the second or third year

Many internet service providers will offer you a great promotional price for a year or two, but then raise prices much higher. Earthlink will not offer you initial promotional prices, so their plans may initially give you sticker shock. For initial prices, Earthlink will charge you more for every type of internet service: fiber, fixed wireless, satellite, or DSL. But in some cases, over the course of a few years, you may even end up saving a little money with Earthlink. Only a head-to-head comparison of specific providers in your area will tell you, so check out our price plan comparisons using your zip code. It's inevitable that Earthlink’s prices will be different from region to region and service to service. They are selling a variety of internet offerings from other ISPs. As the “middle man,” they must change their prices for consumers based on whatever they’re paying their many partners. Here’s an example of the kind of price difference you may encounter. Many fiber internet providers will offer you an initial first-tier promo price of about $50/month. With Earthlink, you may pay $60-70/month for the same fiber internet speed. You will also have a one-year contract and an early termination fee if you cancel your contract early. But you won’t have a big increase in fee after the first year, whereas most other ISPs will raise their prices after a year or two.

Pricing will also vary significantly based on your internet connection type

The biggest difference between Earthlink plans is whether your chosen plan has a data cap. Earthlink Fiber internet and DSL won’t have data caps. Earthlink satellite internet and fixed wireless (4G LTE or 5G) will have data caps. If you have a plan with data caps, you may end up having to buy extra data at the end of the month. Because of these unpredictable charges, satellite pricing and fixed wireless pricing for Earthlink are less stable than for their other plans. This pricing is standard for the industry, as satellite and fixed wireless plans typically have data caps. But here’s an unusual benefit of Earthlink Wireless Home Internet. Most Earthlink plans require a one-year contract at minimum, but Earthlink’s Wireless Home Internet plans do not require a contract [2].

Xfinity stands above the pack for its low initial pricing, but pay attention to the later price hikes and fees

Xfinity is the largest internet service provider in the United States, with 32 million broadband subscribers [1]. Xfinity is a subsidiary of cable giant Comcast. Company size and strength gives Xfinity the ability to offer very low promotional prices to consumers for a year or even two years. Xfinity’s promotional plans begin around $30/month, where most other companies start their prices at $50/month. Here's the kicker: after a year (for first-tier plans) or two years (for higher-priced plans), your promotional rate will end. At that point, your rate can go up by anywhere from $25 to $50 per month. And Xfinity pricing varies all over the country and is pretty complex in how it changes from plan to plan. By our evaluation standards, this lack of simplicity in pricing hurts Xfinity’s rating despite its great initial promotional rates. And that doesn’t account for two more factors: data caps and equipment fees.

Xfinity and 1.2 TB data caps

Xfinity’s plans have data caps that apply under certain conditions. The data cap is 1.2 TB (terabytes) per month, which is enough to cover many households’ monthly usage without any trouble. However, the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society analyzed data from OpenVault to show that 14.6% of homes used more than 1 terabyte per month, and 2.4% used over 2 terabytes per month [2]. Applying this data, 1 in every 7 homes that would run a risk of exceeding the Xfinity data cap. Comcast/Xfinity claims that it does not throttle internet and slow it down, however, Xfinity will charge you overage fees if you exceed your data cap [3]. Those fees can go up to a maximum of $100/month [4]. To sum it up, odds are that you won’t exceed your data cap. But if you have lots of real-time gaming or heavy streaming in your household, the extra cost for data overage could really add up.

Xfinity and equipment fees

Many of Xfinity’s plans will charge you fairly high equipment fees ($15-25 after your promotional period), which is part of why your price goes up. In exchange, with several of the top plans you will get unlimited data. If you use your own router and modem to avoid the equipment fee, you will have to live with the 1.2 TB data cap. Without getting into even more varying details about pricing and equipment fees, we want to point out that Xfinity’s pricing is complicated and changeable. An ideal internet pricing plan will be simple and easy to predict for the consumer. We can’t give a top score for a pricing plan as hard to pin down as Xfinity’s. Still, it’s hard to ignore those low promotional rates. Are you willing to sign up for a year or two to get those great promotional rates, then decide whether you want to switch providers later, when the rates go up? That’s your choice with Xfinity.

Earthlink’s performance depends completely on the networks of major partners

One of Earthlink’s claims to fame is having “the largest network,” because Earthlink serves 90% of the United States [1]. The reality is that Earthlink does have a very large coverage area, but Earthlink does not own the networks in those areas. Differences between Earthlink’s partner networks will mean that your internet speed and performance will vary if you sign up with Earthlink. Just like Earthlink’s pricing, the quality of the service they can deliver depends on other providers. Most of the time, this works out fine because Earthlink partners with reputable ISPs. But Earthlink does not have control over your service, and that can be a disadvantage if something goes wrong. Earthlink Wireless Home Internet (WHI) and satellite internet service will have data caps ranging from 100 to 300 GB/month depending on your plan selection. Earthlink’s site describes this cap fairly accurately as follows: 300 GB/month is good for a household of two people who are occasional gamers. 300 GB will also allow regular movie nights, but not Ultra HD streaming. Standard definition would work better. Binge gamers or daily binge TV streamers will not be happy with the data caps, nor will large families [2]. If you get Earthlink Fiber, you are probably going to be happy with your speed and reliability. Fiber is known for these advantages. Earthlink DSL will be unaffected by weather but will often be too slow for data-intensive activities such as real-time gaming or videoconferencing. Reliability issues are going to be more likely with Earthlink’s satellite internet or Wireless Home Internet. Both satellite and wireless internet can be affected by weather. Fixed wireless can also slow down at peak times when thenetwork is congested with more traffic. Satellite internet tends to have high latency, which means a slight lag in the transmission of a signal. Latency is not noticeable for many internet activities but may affect real-time data transfer for gaming and videoconferencing.

Xfinity’s hybrid fiber/coaxial cable supplies gigabit download speeds but slower upload speeds

Though Xfinity has advanced cable technology and good speeds, their network seems to be more prone to outages than users would like [5]. That’s the major reason Xfinity gets a lower rating for performance, in addition to the intrinsic differences between cable speed and all-fiber speed. Xfinity uses technology that is mostly fiber but uses coaxial cable for a short stretch of your internet connection. This type of connection is known as hybrid fiber/coaxial cable, or HFC. An HFC internet connection is better than older cable technologies because it can supply download speeds up to gigabit speeds. HFC will give you faster, more reliable internet service than DSL, satellite internet, or fixed wireless internet. And for streaming in HD, this hybrid fiber- cable internet will certainly be able to support multiple devices. The major difference between HFC and an all-fiber internet connection is upload speeds. Xfinity can give you over 1000 Mbps of download speed through an HFC connection on the Gigabit Extra plan, but your upload speed will be no faster than 35 Mbps. An-all fiber connection, by contrast, will give you the same upload speed as your download speed. Your upload speed will affect activities such as gaming, videoconferencing and large file uploads. The good news is that if you have an upload speed of 35 Mbps, you’re still going to be able to upload pretty quickly. For most average households, 35 Mbps is enough. But if you have four or more people in your household streaming HD, playing games, working from home, and videoconferencing simultaneously, you’re going to want all-fiber internet, or what is often called “fiber to the home” (FTTH). Xfinity does have one all-fiber connectivity option that is full FTTH. If your household’s location is eligible, Xfinity will install an FTTH connection for their Gigabit Pro plan with 6000 Mbps download/6000 Mbps upload. 6000 Mbps is far more speed than most residential customers will ever need, and you will pay top dollar for the plan. But if you have exceptional internet needs or you just want the best, Gigabit Pro is up there with the fastest high-performance fiber plans on the market.

Earthlink’s installation fees and equipment fees vary with internet connection type

As usual with Earthlink, it’s hard to discuss any kind of consistent pricing or equipment fees because of their 3rd party seller business model. Earthlink’s lower rating from us in this category results from the lack of simple, freely available information on pricing and fees on their website, as well as their higher prices for equipment and installation. You will find that it is almost impossible to uncover where Earthlink provides satellite internet service and how much they charge for equipment unless you enter exactly the right address and zip code. Trying to find general info about coverage is looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. And Earthlink phone operators will not give you any information without a specific residential address. This lack of transparency is one of the weaknesses of the telecom industry. We recommend that Earthlink, along with other internet providers, begin to be much more straightforward about which services are available across the United States and how much they cost in each area. Earthlink installation will usually cost you $40-80. Modem/router monthly rental fees tend to run around $10-13/month. Satellite equipment will cost you considerably more if you buy it upfront, which is typical of satellite. Earthlink will offer you the option to rent the equipment if that is more feasible. Satellite equipment will come from Viasat, Earthlink’s satellite internet partner. Because Viasat’s equipment fees are $12.99/month or $299.99 prepaid, consumers should estimate that Earthlink’s fees for Viasat equipment will be similar or slightly higher [3]. Earthlink’s bonus services include Easy Tech for unlimited tech support at $9.95 a month. Earthlink Guardian provides parental monitoring, Earthlink Protect gives security protection, and Earthlink Online Backup will protect you from data loss.

Xfinity offers two different gateways and popular Flex 4K streaming TV box

For TV fans, Xfinity internet service brings the added bonus of its free Flex 4K streaming box [6]. This convenient gadget will work much like a Roku box to consolidate your streaming apps, plus give you over 10,000 free movies and shows, free channels, and a voice remote. Xfinity TV customers are not eligible for a free Flex 4K, however. For your modem and router, you will get the xFi Gateway with its multi-gig speed capability, Wi-Fi 6E, parental controls and security protection [7]. Or you can upgrade to the xFi Complete, which includes unlimited data. Both require a rental fee after the promotional period, as discussed in our pricing breakdown. You can avoid fees by using your own router and modem if the equipment is compatible. But if you don’t pay the equipment rental fee, you’ll get a data cap. And you also won’t get the free tech support that comes with your equipment rental fees. Installation fees will be similar to other providers for a technician install (around $100) but slightly more expensive for a self-install ($15).

Earthlink is known above all for superior customer service

When you research Earthlink online, you will see that Earthlink survives on its customer service. The company gets good, solid ratings for customer service, where many ISPs fall far short. That means that if you call Earthlink, odds are that you will be satisfied with what they do for you. We give Earthlink a 4.75 rating for customer service for two reasons. First, some customers report that their customer service has been routed to Earthlink’s partner providers, which removes the whole point of having Earthlink service if you’re seeking their brand of better customer service. Second, Earthlink acknowledged beginning to “reshore” its service in September 2021, which implicitly reveals that the company had offshored its customer service [4]. Offshoring customer service to foreign countries is not only potentially frustrating for the customer, but worse for U.S. workers. Many internet providers now base their customer service in the United States, and we hope Earthlink will be sure to provide its own customer support from within the country.

Xfinity Customer Service shows improvement

Xfinity has not been known for strong customer service over the years. Online reviews continue to mention some problem areas. But Xfinity has been moving up in official rankings, and for that reason, we give them 4 stars for improving their customer experience. Xfinity has customer support on its website, with 24/7 chat for help and 24/7 tech support. An online status center allows you to check for outages and troubleshoot your service. The Xfinity app will make your online customer experience more streamlined. You can also find Xfinity help communities through Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit. Customer service rankings have been climbing for Xfinity in recent years. In 2022, Xfinity ranked second in three of four regions in the J.D. Power Residential Internet Service Provider Customer Satisfaction Study (behind Verizon in the East and AT&T in the South and West) [8]. This ranking reflects Xfinity’s recent effort to improve their customer support. Though Xfinity’s customer support ratings from other sources are not always as high, overall, signs are getting better that you will be satisfied with your customer experience.