Windstream vs. EarthLink Internet Providers Compared

Pricing varies widely for internet plans from Kinetic by Windstream

Kinetic by Windstream currently has about 1.2 million customers in 18 states [2]. Kinetic’s prices vary a great deal by location across this wide coverage area. In some areas, you will get their DSL for a promotional price of $30/month for a year, which is much less expensive than most DSL plans. But at the end of the first year, the price will revert to a standard fee of $55-85/month. And in many locations, the starting rate will be $60/month instead for the first year. Fiber prices also vary along with speeds. The one guarantee is that you’ll get more speed for your dollar with fiber. But mostly, Kinetic’s prices are in line with industry averages. Your standard Kinetic rates for fiber will vary from $65-200 for speeds from 300-2000 Mbps. Kinetic’s 1 Gig starts at a $70/month promotional rate for a year, then goes to $95/month. These rates are about average industry rates for fiber internet at the speeds delivered. On the bright side, Kinetic does not set data caps or require you to sign annual contracts for internet plans. Kinetic by Windstream also participates in the Affordable Connectivity Program from the FCC. This federal program offers payment assistance of up to $30/month for qualifying lower-income households. If you live on qualifying tribal lands, you may be eligible for an assistance payment up to $75/month.

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].

Windstream unveils new 8-Gig access to claim largest 8-Gig provider title

Windstream recently announced that as of July 2023, the company will have 8-Gig internet speeds available to 400,000 households across their 18-state coverage area [1]. 8-Gig internet speeds are at the fastest end of residential internet speeds, and with this achievement, Windstream is making its bid to win some of the internet speed wars. The question is who exactly needs 8 Gigs of symmetrical internet speed. At the moment, 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. Even half of 1 Gig (500 Mbps) is usually capable of supporting a five- or six-person home and all the devices in it. 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. DSL performance will vary as it always does by location. But Kinetic’s DSL speeds reach the FCC’s standard for high-speed internet (25 Mbps/3 Mbps) for over 85% of its customers [3]. That speed is better than the average speed of broadband for DSL providers.

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.

Equipment fee is optional, but Kinetic activation fee is required

Kinetic charges about $10 a month to rent a Kinetic gateway (modem/router combo). You can also use your own modem/router. If you buy your own, though, you will need to make sure it is compatible. ISPs also do not provide tech support for customers’ personal modems and 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. The activation fee is $60 most of the time when you have to pay it. However, many times, you will get a credit for online orders or other promotions that will offset the fee. The website’s small print reveals that for some DSL “extended installations,” you may need to pay a $750 advance fee to proceed with the extended copper line burial. We assume this is not common. While you might choose to pay that high fee in some cases to get wired internet service, you certainly would have to consider your other options as well.

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.

Kinetic by Windstream improves its customer experience

Kinetic scored just slightly lower than average for customer satisfaction on the 2022 J.D. Power Residential Internet Service Provider Satisfaction Study [4]. But the good news is that in 2022, Kinetic’s score absolutely soared compared to its performance in the previous two years of the survey. Kinetic’s 2022 score was 720, about 40 points above its 2020 and 2021 results [5]. Kinetic now ranks third in the South, behind only AT&T and Xfinity. This is great news for customers. It’s possible that some of this meteoric rise might be explained by fiber buildout. In general, fiber and cable providers rank highest in customer satisfaction, DSL follows, and satellite and fixed wireless service bring up the rear. So, it’s not completely surprising that Kinetic by Windstream would rise rapidly in the ratings as more of their customers begin to use fiber instead of DSL.

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.