An Honest Verizon Fios Home Internet Review: Is It Worth It?

Verizon Fios Home Internet gets you stellar fiber internet speeds at competitive prices

Verizon
Verizon Fios Home Internet
4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5
Catherine McNally
Nov 09, 2023
Icon Time To Read10 min read

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If we had to choose an internet service provider (ISP), Verizon Fios Home Internet would be one of our first choices. Why? It consistently tops the charts for fast download speeds, competitive prices, and good customer service.

We think you’ll get a fair deal from Verizon Fios without having to sign an annual contract. Plus, it offers fully fiber internet and continues to expand its 5G and 4G LTE Home Internet options in other locations—including some cities where you can’t get Fios Home Internet service.

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Find out if Verizon Fios Home Internet is available near you.

Verizon Fios Home Internet prices and plans

Verizon Fios Home Internet is competitively priced, and your bill may not go up anytime soon

Verizon Fios Home Internet gives you a handful of internet speed options to choose from, and we’re happy to see they’re all competitively priced.

The higher-speed packages cost between $20-$50 more a month than the lowest-speed package. That price comes with varying differences in download speeds. The Internet 300/300 offers 300 Mbps of download speed where you'll get upwards of 940-2300 Mbps with the higher-speed plans. 

How much is Verizon Fios Home Internet?
Plan
Price
Download speed
Details
Internet 300/300$49.99/mo.*300 Mbps
Internet 500/500$69.99/mo.*500 Mbps
1 Gig without mobile plan$89.99/mo.*Up to 940 Mbps
Internet 2 Gig$84.99/mo.Up to 2300 Mbps
* Price per month with Auto Pay & without select 5G mobile plans. Fios plan prices include taxes & fees
Available in select areas only. Price per month with Auto Pay & without select 5G mobile plans. Fios plan prices include taxes & fees

We usually like to see some low-cost, low-speed internet plans when reviewing an ISP. But we have to admit that the low starting price for the Internet 300/300 plans make them a fairly reasonable choice for even a small family that doesn’t have multiple devices connected or don't spend much time online.

On the note of slower internet speeds, Verizon does offer a DSL internet plan in Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington DC.

Verizon High-Speed Internet DSL plan
Plan
Price
Download speed
Details
Verizon 5G Home Internet$35-$70300-1000 Mbps
w/ Auto Pay. Available in select areas.

Data effective 11/9/2023. Offers and availability vary by location and are subject to change.
*for 1 year plus taxes, equip. charges & other fees. Verizon home phone service required.

One big perk to Verizon Fios Home Internet is that your price doesn’t automatically go up after a year. While Verizon doesn’t necessarily promise to keep your monthly bill the same forever, it’s nice to see that a price hike isn’t automatically baked in.

Where is Verizon Fios Home Internet available?

Verizon Fios Home Internet (and Verizon Fios TV) can be found in metro and suburban areas of the mid-Atlantic, including Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Virginia.

A map of the US showing Verizon Fios service in several Northeastern states

Data effective 4/14/2022. Availability varies by location and is subject to change.

If you don’t call the northeastern US home, don’t hang your head just yet. Verizon also launched 5G Home Internet service in quite a few cities across the US, including San Jose, CA, and Chicago, IL. And it’s expanding a Verizon 4G LTE Home Internet service to more rural areas that may lack much choice when it comes to internet service.

Still not sure whether Fios is available in your town? Your best bet is to enter your address into Verizon’s availability checker. Or you can give our zip code checker a test drive to see all the internet providers available in your area.

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How does Verizon Fios Home Internet compare to Optimum, Xfinity, and others?

You won’t pay much more for Verizon Fios Home Internet service than you would if you grabbed a slower plan from another large ISP.

Here’s a quick look at Verizon Fios Home Internet’s slowest and fastest plans and how they compare to other ISPs in the same areas like Optimum, Xfinity, and Spectrum.

Verizon Fios Home Internet 300/300 plan comparison
Service
Plan
Price
Download speed
Connection type
Details
* Price per month with Auto Pay & without select 5G mobile plans. Fios plan prices include taxes & fees
^ For 1 yr. w/Auto Pay & Paperless Bill plus taxes w/Unlimited Mobile plan. ($40/mo. without Unlimited Mobile plan.) Terms apply. Wired connection. WiFi speeds may vary. Not available in all areas.
° For 12 months when bundled. Limited time offer; subject to change; valid to qualified residential customers who have not subscribed to any services within the previous 30 days and who have no outstanding obligation to Charter.
** For 24 months with 1-year term contract. Includes $10/mo automatic payments and paperless billing discount. Taxes and equipment not included. Prices may vary by location.

Verizon Fios Home Internet’s price for its Internet 300/300 plan is about $10–$25 more than what other ISPs are charging, and you even get a slight edge in speed from Optimum's 300 Mbps plan for a lesser price.

But Verizon's internet service is a fiber internet connection and comes with no annual contract, which makes it a better deal than Xfinity and Spectrum—and likely a more reliable internet connection too. Cox's gig plan offers similar speeds to Verizon's gig plan, but you'll have a one-year contract and pay $30 more.

Fios Gigabit Connection plan comparison
Service
Plan
Price
Download speed
Connection type
Details
* Price per month with Auto Pay & without select 5G mobile plans. Fios plan prices include taxes & fees
†† For 1 yr. w/Auto Pay & Paperless Bill w/Unlimited Mobile plan. ($80/mo. without Unlimited Mobile plan.) Terms apply. Wired connection up to 940 Mbps. WiFi speeds may vary. Not available in all areas.
‡‡ For 12 months when bundled. Limited time offer; subject to change; valid to qualified residential customers who have not subscribed to any services within the previous 30 days and who have no outstanding obligation to Charter. Spectrum Internet® Gig promotion price is $89.99/mo; standard rates apply after yr. 1. Taxes, fees and surcharges extra and subject to change during and after the promotional period; installation/network activation, equipment and additional services are extra.
^^ For 36 months. No term contract. Includes $10/mo automatic payments and paperless billing discount. Taxes and equipment not included. Prices may vary by location.
°° for 12 months with 1-yr. term agreement

When it comes to gigabit (or near-gigabit) speeds, the price for the Fios Gigabit Connection plans aren't the cheapest, but they're not the most expensive either.

But Verizon Fios Home Internet plan with download speeds up to 940 Mbps is still a good deal. 

If you’re still not sure whether Verizon Fios Home Internet offers the best deal for you, stick around for our take on its internet speed, customer service, and data caps. Or you can check out some of our other ISP reviews:

Verizon Fios Home Internet is one of the best large fiber internet providers
Megaphone

Verizon Fios Home Internet earned top marks in our best fiber internet review for its full-fiber to the home connection, wicked fast speed score, and rave customer reviews.

Is Verizon Fios Home Internet cheap?

We’d say Verizon Fios Home Internet offers good value for your money. Its prices are cheaper or right in line with other internet providers in the area. Plus it doesn’t require an annual contract or automatically jump in price after a year.

You might be able to find the rare internet plan that’s a better deal, like the Optimum 1 Gig, but we’d say Verizon Fios Home Internet prices are hard to beat.

  • Compared to Optimum: You tend to get more speed at a lower price from Optimum, but its cable connection likely isn't as reliable as Verizon's fiber connection. So if you work from home or upload to YouTube regularly, go with Verizon Fios Home Internet.
  • Compared to Spectrum: Spectrum's prices are a bit steeper than Verizon Fios Home Internet's, especially when it comes to gig speeds. We say go with Verizon over Spectrum.
  • Compared to Xfinity: Comcast Xfinity matches Verizon Fios Home Internet prices at almost every turn. But you might need to sign a contract to get a competitive price from Xfinity, while Verizon Fios Home Internet has no annual contract.

View Verizon Fios Home Internet Plans | View Verizon Fios Bundles

Verizon Fios Home Internet speed and data

Thanks to its fiber network, Verizon Fios offers reliably fast download and upload speeds

Verizon Fios Home Internet comes with symmetrical download and upload speeds starting at 300/300 Mbps and going all the way up to 2300/2300 Mbps.

Those symmetrical, or matching, download and upload speeds are unique to fiber internet. And that’s a huge deal for videographers and photographers who upload a lot of huge files—or for anyone who works with large files in their home office, for that matter.

Verizon Fios Home Internet advertised download speeds and upload speeds
Provider
Download speeds
Upload speeds
Details
Internet 300/300300 Mbps10 Mbps
Internet 500/500500 Mbps500 Mbps
1 Gig without mobile planUp to 940 Mbps10 Mbps
Internet 2 GigUp to 2300 MbpsUp to 2300 Mbps

Data effective 11/09/2023. Offers and availability vary by location and are subject to change.

You may have noticed that Verizon Fios Home Internet’s speeds top off at up to 940 Mbps download speeds and up to 880 Mbps upload speeds for its 1 Gig plan and up to 2300 Mbps download speeds and up to 2300 Mbps upload speeds for its 2 Gig plan.

While its 1 Gig plan is not as symmetrical as, say, 300 download and 300 upload, but you’ll see these speeds paired together with other fiber internet providers too. We’d say those speeds are close—and fast—enough that you won’t even notice that slight difference in download and upload speed.

What internet speed do you need?

Verizon’s got speeds that keep pace with even the fastest NASCAR or F1 drivers, but you might not need to spend as much on the fastest speeds possible if you only stream The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu with your partner.

Check out our guide to how many Mbps you need to find out the right internet speed for you.

Data caps

Verizon Fios Home Internet plans have no data caps or allowances on any plans, so you can use the internet as you will. And unless you hear otherwise, you’ll be good to stream movies for your weekend date night or download patch updates for your game.

Most other internet providers in the Northeast also offer unlimited data, including Optimum and Spectrum. But while Xfinity did turn tail and run from its former plans to limit data usage to 1.2 TB in the Northeast, it may downgrade you in the future.1

View Verizon Fios Home Internet Plans | View Verizon Fios Bundles

Verizon Fios Home Internet contracts, equipment, and fees

Verizon Fios doesn’t tack on surprise fees or lock you into annual contracts

Along with no annual contracts, Verizon Fios’s prices don’t come with surprises.

That means no surprise monthly fees—you’ll just pay for your internet plan and equipment rental. (But if you grab Fios Gigabit Connection, your equipment fee is included too.) Even your $99 installation fee is waived if you order your internet online.

This is probably the simplest contract, equipment, and fees review we’ve ever written for an ISP. We’d like to give Verizon Fios a standing ovation for keeping things simple.

Installation

You have the option to order the equipment and get everything installed on your own, but the YouTube video explaining the process feels fairly difficult. If the YouTube video goes over your head, you can get a technician to come and set everything up for you for $99.

Equipment

With Verizon's 5G Home and 5G Home Plus plans, you won't have to pay extra to rent equipment.

Each plan includes a Wi-Fi 6 router and 5G Ultra receiver. You can choose to supplement your equipment for $15 to $25 more a month if you're interested in having more tech support and digital security tools. 

  • Home Device Advisor: $15/month
  • Verizon Home Device Protect: $25/month

Service fees

Service fees, who needs ‘em? We love that Verizon Fios doesn’t bombard you with handfuls of random service fees like some other ISPs do.

You might pay a $99 installation fee if you don’t order online, but you won't have to pay for your 5G Internet Gateway equipment. So you won't have to deal with something like a “Wi-Fi activation fee” or monthly charge to keep any service technician visits from blowing up your wallet. (Both of these service fees exist out in the wild. You’ve been warned.)

  • Installation fee: None if you order online, otherwise a set-up fee of $99.00.
  • Equipment rental charge: Included
  • Early termination fee: Verizon Fios has no annual contracts, so no early termination fees.

Verizon Fios customer service

Every Verizon Fios Home Internet customer we’ve talked to had glowing remarks about customer service

Here’s one thing you should know about fiber internet: it uses something called an optical network terminal (ONT) instead of a traditional modem.

The Verizon Fios ONT can be installed on the outside of your house or inside in places like your garage, a closet, or your basement. The ONT converts the light signals that fiber internet uses into copper and electrical signals your router can understand.

As for routers, you’ll likely receive the Fios Router G3100, which features new, faster Wi-Fi 6 technology. 

You also have the option to buy your router outright, which might give you better speeds and features. (Some of the official Verizon Fios routers, like the G3100, go on sale on Amazon for cheaper than the Verizon buyout price.*)

On top of that, you can grab a Wi-Fi extender from Verizon too. Wi-Fi extenders are perfect for stretching your wireless connection to those hard-to-reach spots in a large house—or if your wireless router has to sit in a far-away corner.

Here’s a quick look at Verizon Fios rental fees:

  • Fios Router G3100: $399.99 buyout or $18.00/month rental
  • Fios Extender (#E3200): $199.99 buyout or $10.00/month rental

Verizon’s well-known for taking care of its customers, which is no small feat in the internet industry.

Most of us dread the thought of picking up our phone and calling our ISP. But Verizon Fios Home Internet earned top marks in HighSpeedInternet.com’s customer satisfaction survey.2

Verizon Fios Home Internet customer service rating
Rating
Score
HighSpeedInternet.com customer satisfaction 3.8 out of 5

A buddy of ours in Virginia swears by his Verizon Fios Home Internet service and recommends it to anyone who asks. He told us he rarely has to call customer service despite using the internet almost constantly (he’s a gamer and streamer). And when he does, he’s promptly taken care of, he said.

If you do need to get a hold of a Verizon Fios customer service rep, there are a few ways to do that:

Is your Verizon Fios Home Internet slow or not connecting?

We might be able to help before you call customer service. Check out these tips for fixing your internet and our guide to speeding up your internet.

Recap: Is Verizon Fios Home Internet good?

We like pretty much everything about Verizon Fios’s internet service: fast speeds, decent prices that can include your equipment and setup charges, no annual contracts, and excellent customer service.

We do wish Verizon Fios Home Internet offered service in more areas of the US, but overall, we’re pleased with what it’s got going on.

  • Prices and plans: Prices for Verizon Fios Home Internet are on par or lower than what you might see from competitors. And it offers quite a few different speeds to choose from, so you’re more likely to find a plan and a price that fit your needs.
  • Speed: Verizon Fios Home Internet regularly earns top marks when we analyze speed tests from around the US. If we were betting people, we’d wager you’ll get the speeds you pay for.
  • Contracts, equipment, and fees: No annual contracts and no hidden fees are a big win. Verizon Fios does have a monthly equipment charge for all but its Fios Gigabit Connection plan though.
  • Customer service: We consistently hear praise for Verizon Fios customer service, and that’s quite an achievement for an internet provider.

How much is Verizon internet by itself?

Data effective 11/13/2023. Offers and availability vary by location and are subject to change.
*w/ Auto Pay + taxes & equip. charges.
**w/ Auto Pay.

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Methodology

Our team regularly conducts speed testing of on our own home networks and we reach out to other folks residing in other locations to evaluate ISPs that may not be readily available to us.

In addition to our direct testing efforts, we get info from an extensive dataset generated by Reviews.org internet speed tests performed nationwide. When users perform speed tests on our website, we record their results, and organize the speed tests by the specific ISP used during the test. Over the years, we've accumulated a huge database, comprising millions of data points that enable us to gauge download and upload speeds across different internet providers, including Verizon Fios.

To provide a well-rounded assessment of Verizon Fios and other ISPs, we also draw from external sources, such as the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), HighSpeedInternet.com, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

We also factor in input from reputable organizations like the Better Business Bureau, JD Power, and Consumer Affairs, along with insights gleaned from social media platforms like Reddit and Quora.

Long-story short: We balance our own proprietary data and personal experience with research from other sources.

Sources

Catherine McNally
Written by
Catherine McNally
Catherine has a degree in journalism and an MBA, and has spent the last 10+ years writing everything from Okinawa travel guides to stories on Medium. She’s been online since AOL CDs were a thing and is an unapologetic PC gamer. She believes the internet is a necessity, not a luxury, and writes reviews and guides to help everyone stay connected. You can also find her on Twitter: @CMReviewsIt.

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