Frontier vs. Cox Internet Providers Compared

Frontier has the same split profile as other internet providers that offer both fiber and DSL. Frontier's fiber internet offerings are outstanding across the board for both performance and pricing. But their DSL internet speed and cost will be mediocre compared to Frontier Fiber. Nearly 70% of Frontier customers can now access fiber internet, with average speeds of 6,394 Mbps for both download and upload [1]. In September 2024, Verizon announced a definitive agreement to acquire Frontier in an all-cash transaction valued at $20 billion [2]. The deal received FCC approval in May 2025 and is expected to close by February 2026 [3]. Currently, Frontier has 7.2 million fiber locations and 2.2 million fiber subscribers across 25 states, with plans to build out an additional 2.8 million fiber locations by the end of 2026. All these fiber connections are FTTP (fiber-to-the-premises), meaning all fiber-optic line, all the way to your home. That's good news, because the difference between DSL and fiber is night and day. Fiber internet will be much faster and more reliable, and you'll get much more internet speed for the price you pay. The pending Verizon acquisition is expected to accelerate fiber expansion and bring Frontier's fiber services into Verizon's broader network of approximately 7.4 million Fios connections.

Frontier will give you a good deal on fiber, but DSL varies widely Frontier's main distinction among fiber internet providers is competitive pricing on high-speed plans. Fiber internet plans range from $19.99 to $109.99 per month with Auto Pay and Paperless Billing [4]. Current promotional pricing includes Fiber 200 at $39.99/month, Fiber 500 at $29.99/month, and Fiber 1 Gig at $49.99/month—all offering symmetrical upload and download speeds.  With router rental included and no data caps, Frontier Fiber offers the kind of simple, clear pricing that earns high ratings from us. Frontier offers significant sign-up incentives, some of which has included a $300 Visa Reward Card with Fiber 5 Gig and 7 Gig plans, a $200 Visa Reward Card with Fiber 2 Gig, and $10/month off YouTube TV for 12 months. Be sure to check Frontier’s official website for current promotions. The only drawback is that Frontier Internet (the name for their DSL plans) does not provide the same kind of bargain. Frontier's single DSL plan costs $64.99 per month with variable speeds depending on your location. Plus, the DSL speed you will be able to get at your address will vary depending on infrastructure, with customers receiving average download speeds of 30 Mbps and upload speeds of 2 Mbps [5]. Average DSL pricing in the industry is not a great deal for customers compared to cable and fiber pricing. That's why Frontier and many other providers are moving away from copper-based service in favor of fiber.

Be aware of price hikes and data overage for heavy-streaming households

Cox offers a first-tier plan at $55/month for up to 300 Mbps download speeds. That's about $.18 per Mbps, which is on the higher end of the pricing scale. 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 of $13, 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 1.25 TB [4], so many households will never exceed it. It's worth noting, though, that the share of U.S. broadband subscribers using at least 1 TB of data per month has risen to nearly 25% in Q4 2024 [5]... up from 14% in 2022 [6]. And if you do exceed your cap, you will face overage charges [7]. 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.

Frontier Fiber offers speed and reliability, but their DSL lags behind Just like pricing, performance for Frontier plans is heavily split depending on whether you get fiber or DSL. With Frontier Fiber, you can get multi-gigabit speeds up to 7,000 Mbps. That's right up there with the top few providers in the fiber internet business, with Frontier customers receiving average fiber speeds of 6,394 Mbps for both downloads and uploads. Frontier's fiber network delivers true symmetrical speeds—meaning your upload speed matches your download speed—which is particularly valuable for video conferencing, cloud backups, and content creation. These multi-gigabit speeds will be more than sufficient for very large households with many devices all streaming or gaming simultaneously. Even 500 Mbps is still a lot of speed and will be more than capable of supporting a five- or six-person home and all the devices in it. The pending Verizon acquisition commits to completing Frontier's planned expansion to 10 million fiber homes by 2026, ensuring continued network investment and reliability improvements.

DSL performance will be unpredictable, with customers receiving average download speeds of just 30 Mbps and upload speeds of only 2 Mbps. The only constant is that it will not deliver fiber-like performance. If you're lucky, you'll get a speed above 25 Mbps download. With that speed, you'll be able to do most standard internet activities such as streaming and browsing, though you'll have to watch how many devices are online at once. But if you get a speed that's 10 Mbps or lower, you may find your service glitching or freezing during heavy-data tasks. Frontier is actively phasing out DSL in favor of fiber networks, with former CEO Nick Jeffery indicating full copper decommissioning is expected within a three- to five-year timeframe [6].

Years of solid operations equip Cox with reliable infrastructure

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 18 states. Cox Communications remains a major U.S. broadband provider with around 6–6.5 million residential and commercial customers under its own brand. With its 2025 proposed merger with Charter Communications, the combined company would serve roughly 35.9 million broadband subscribers — making it, if approved, the largest cable/broadband operator in the United States [8]. 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 [9]. Download speeds with Cox’s cable internet will go as high as 2,000 Mbps in some areas, and upload speeds will top out around 200 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 1.25 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. You can get Cox plans with unlimited data, but only by paying more each month for an unlimited plan.

Installation fees waived for fiber, included router varies by plan Frontier currently waives installation fees entirely for all fiber plans, while DSL plans have a $100 installation fee that you can avoid by doing self-installation. Every Frontier Fiber plan includes a premium Wi-Fi router at no charge, with the specific model depending on your speed tier. Plans from Fiber 200 through Fiber 2 Gig come with a free Amazon eero Pro 6E router, while Fiber 5 Gig and Fiber 7 Gig plans include the more advanced TP-Link Archer AXE300 6E router. For customers choosing the top-tier 5 Gig plan, Frontier also includes a three-year new tech upgrade guarantee. However, there are some important fees to be aware of if you decide to cancel service. Frontier charges a $100 early termination fee if you cancel within the first 12 months for all fiber plans except the Fiber 2 Gig plan, which has no early termination fee. Additionally, if you fail to return equipment after terminating service, Frontier may charge for non-return equipment fees. There's also a $50 restocking fee if you decide you no longer want your Frontier Fiber 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 [10]. 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.

Frontier Fiber shows strong performance in customer satisfaction Frontier's reviews have improved greatly with increased fiber service. In the 2025 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) report, Frontier scored 71/100 for its fiber service—a significant improvement over its 58/100 score for non-fiber internet [7]. While fiber ISP satisfaction scores tend to run lower industry-wide, with AT&T leading at 78/100, Frontier's fiber performance places it competitively among major providers. Recent customer feedback reinforces these improvements. One Reddit user wrote that their “newly installed 2 Gig fiber [is an] awesome experience so far” [8]. That said, reliability might depend on where you reside, as another Reddit thread had commenters praising their service in Plano, TX, but also reporting outages and inconsistencies in speeds [9]. Frontier's sharp rise in rankings is a promising sign that if you get Frontier Fiber, you will be happy with your choice. The fiber service has earned an overall rating of 3.83 stars specifically, compared to just 2.55 stars for DSL service, highlighting the dramatic difference in customer satisfaction between the two technologies.