An Honest EarthLink Internet Review, According to Customers

EarthLink Internet has an unusual setup. It’s like an MVNO for internet service. It pays other internet companies so it can use their infrastructure to offer plans in EarthLink’s name. EarthLink uses AT&T, CenturyLink, Frontier, and Verizon, with T-Mobile listed on EarthLink’s website as an additional “provider we trust.” (We recommend all of these providers at Reviews.org, which is a good sign.)

This unusual approach allows EarthLink  to offer a wide range of plans, including several fiber options, DSL, satellite, and fixed wireless. Unfortunately, EarthLink doesn’t publicly share speed or pricing information for its satellite or fixed wireless options, so we can’t share these plans in this review.

Unlike an MVNO, EarthLink usually costs more than the networks it uses. You typically get a better deal from the leasing providers themselves.

EarthLink plans come with unlimited data (yay, no overage fees!), but that’s where the party ends. The fiber runs expensive compared to our fave, Google Fiber—you pay $60 for 100Mbps with EarthLink but $70 for 1,000Mbps with Google. And EarthLink’s DSL is pricey compared to competitors, too, with just 18 to 75Mbps speeds for $65 a month.

Customers also have to cough up fees for installation, activation, and/or equipment rental. If you choose to prematurely cancel your contract (yes, sorry, there's a contract), you’re on the hook for up to $200 in cancellation fees.

All in all, EarthLink isn’t the best deal, which is wild since it competes against providers with the same offerings. (For instance, EarthLink uses part of AT&T’s fiber network in Fort Worth, but you can still get AT&T service there for much cheaper than EarthLink charges.)

EarthLink’s customer experience can be summed up in one word: Inconsistent.

Kasandra Grant is all about EarthLink—she feels it’s an excellent choice to keep her connected in her career in casino blogging. “There's a lot to like about EarthLink, but as an online casino player, the consistent speed and uptime are what set it apart,” she says.

Dan Fugardi, the CEO of beauty company Instyler Brands, also has only good things to say about EarthLink. “I've used EarthLink for one service or another for most of the last couple decades, and it has always served me well,” says Fugardi, who has a 300Mbps+ EarthLink plan at his home in the Los Angeles suburb of Marina del Rey. “I can't say I've ever had one of the nightmare stories that I've heard or experienced with bigger service providers.”

But Jeannie K. in Blue Ridge, Virginia, was left frustrated when EarthLink promised her DSL in an area that couldn’t receive it. A retired paralegal, Jeannie signed up for the service a few months ago, but it never worked for her. She had to contact EarthLink several times to have the equipment removed and get her money back.

“It turns out that our overhead telephone lines were no longer operational,” she says. “Shortly after, our telephone lines stopped working too.”

Leslie Aromy in Waveland, Mississippi had a similarly frustrating experience. She realized after a month with EarthLink that with only one weekday off, she couldn’t reliably contact EarthLink customer support about issues—of which she ran into many.

“I qualified for the ACP discount,” Aromy says. “The first time [EarthLink] charged my bank, they didn’t charge me the right amount, so when I tried to call them, I couldn’t get in touch with a person who could actually help me.”

After months of trying to disconnect the service and disputing post-cancellation charges, Aromy still isn’t sure whether EarthLink will try to charge her again. “So I had to get a disconnect confirmation number. I go to my bank; they put a stop with automatic withdrawal on my account. Hopefully, at least if they do it again, I have the number so the bank can dispute it.”

Because EarthLink piggybacks off existing networks, it has more location leeway than other services. You can find it throughout the Lower 48 (although not in every city).

If you’re not sure whether you live in an EarthLink area, you can check using our zip finder below.

There’s no way around it: EarthLink is more expensive than most of the competition.

EarthLink takes already high internet prices and jacks them up, ostensibly to cover the cost of renting other providers’ networks. And what do you get out of it? Good question. EarthLink offers very little that you don’t already get through its leasing providers.

However, one irreplaceable benefit of EarthLink is its availability. Because EarthLink rents networks from other companies, its presence is widespread. You can likely take your service with you when you move, even if you go from a big city to a rural area. That's a significant advantage if you want to avoid the hassle of switching internet companies.

If EarthLink sounds like your one true internet love, you can check below to see if it's available.