Mediacom Internet Review 2022

Considering Mediacom internet? It offers low prices and some zippy speeds to homes in the South and Midwest.

But here’s the dirt: it also has a tiny data cap on its 60 Mbps plan, plus yearly price hikes and not-so-great customer service. So is Mediacom a good internet service provider (ISP)? Let's dig into the details and find out.

When it comes to speed, Mediacom has a respectable spread of options.

There’s a 60 Mbps plan, perfect for couples who just want to binge The Great British Baking Show. In the middle of the pack is a 200 Mbps plan with enough power to keep the kids distracted on Netflix while dad goes wild on Call of Duty after a day of working from home.

There’s even a gig (1,000 Mbps) plan that offers more than enough bandwidth for you, your kiddos, and your gamer buddies to all hop online at the same time.

But all those plans with tantalizingly low prices come with a caveat. After one year, Mediacom ups your monthly bill every year until you're paying the standard rate. 

To be fair, this is what pretty much every ISP does after you've been a customer for so long. Mediacom just happens to be more transparent about it.

Still, just because everyone's doing it doesn't mean Mediacom has to follow suit. And we sure do hope it decides to soften the blow with smaller price hikes—or better yet, do away with price hikes altogether.

The price hikes get a little confusing since they don't happen all at once. (Hey, we're not complaining about that so much . . .) Here's a quick example:

Let's say you grab the Internet 100 plan at a starter price of $39.99 a month. Everything's fine and dandy until a year later when Mediacom bumps up your monthly bill by $30. 

When your third year of Mediacom service rolls around, your bill goes up again. Now you're paying the standard rate of $79.99 a month, and what seemed like a sweet deal to begin with is now a pretty high price to pay for 500 Mbps of download speed.

Mediacom’s promotional prices are similar to what other cheap internet providers charge, including CenturyLink.

However, CenturyLink’s competitive edge is its unlimited data plans that come with whatever internet package you purchase. Another perk is its contract-free subscription process, which means you don’t have to pay an early termination fee (ETF) if you choose to switch providers at any point during your agreement.

If you’re looking to avoid monthly overage costs, or would like the option to try out a new internet service provider (ISP) without having to worry about financial penalties, CenturyLink might be a better choice than Mediacom.

Mediacom serves smaller towns, like Soldiers Grove, WI, and Wilmer, AL, in the Midwest and South. All in all, you can find Mediacom internet in more than 20 states.

To double-check that you can get Mediacom internet at your address, just enter your info below.

But how do those speeds hold up when you're actually using the internet? Pretty well, it seems.

Mediacom offers a wide range of download speeds, from 60 Mbps all the way to 1,000 Mbps. That covers just about anyone's internet speed needs, from a solo, casual web surfer all the way to a home business hustler working alongside a house full of streamers.

Unfortunately, Mediacom does have data caps ranging from 400 GB to a jaw-dropping 6 TB.

In the last few decades, the internet has gone from being a fun novelty to being an essential utility. So having a data cap on your internet can feel like there’s someone threatening to turn off your electricity if use it too often.

But we don't think many of us will go over that 6 TB data cap on Mediacom's 1Gig plan. (If you do, we're in awe.)

If you exceed your data cap with Mediacom, you’ll be charged $10.00 for every additional 50 GB increment (meaning that if you use 51 extra GBs, you’ll have to pay $20).

Mediacom requires a contract for its internet service, which may be one, two, or even three years. A three-year contract? Now that's a long-term commitment when it comes to internet.

• Installation fee: $109.99, but you might get lucky and land a deal for free installation.
• Xtream Wi-Fi 360 Extender installation: $29.99
• Activation fee: $10.00
• Early termination fees: Up to $240.00 for a two- or three-year contract, or up to $120.00 for a one-year contracts.
• Internet surcharge: $15.00, and Mediacom says this applies to customers who get only internet service.
• Wi-Fi certification: $49.00. What is this? Mediacom doesn't explain, and we've not seen a similar fee from other ISPs.
• Service call fee: $49.00

You’ve got a computer, a cable line, and an internet plan. Now you just need a modem, which you can rent from Mediacom for $12.99 a month or buy outright for almost $200. (We wouldn't advise that, since you can probably buy your own router for much less.)

Along with a modem, Mediacom also offers its own Xtream Wi-Fi 360 mesh system. This is a good option for larger homes or anyone who has trouble getting their Wi-Fi to reach every corner of the house. Right now, Mediacom lets you rent the Xtream Wi-Fi mesh system for free for three months, after that it's only $5.00 a month.

• Modem rental fee: $12.00 a month
• Modem purchase cost: $199.00
• Xtream Wi-Fi 360 mesh system rental fee: Free for the first 3 months, $5.00 a month after that.

If you’d like to avoid that fee (and who wouldn’t, honestly), then you can buy your own modem or mesh Wi-Fi system.

We recommend checking out the TP-Link model AC1750, available on Amazon, which works as both a modem and a Wi-Fi router. And you can check out our Google Nest Wi-Fi review to see why we recommend it as a mesh Wi-Fi solution.

It’s ironic that telecommunications companies have a reputation for being bad at—well, uh—communication. But that’s just the way it is, and Mediacom doesn’t buck the trend.

They aren't at the bottom of the bucket when it comes to customer satisfaction, but they are pretty low with a score of just 60 out of 100 in the American Customer Satisfaction Index’s latest report.³

That doesn't make us hopeful when we pick up the phone to call Mediacom. But sadly, it's pretty much the same story for every internet provider.

If you do have to call Mediacom, we have some tips for surviving your customer service call without gaining 10 new gray hairs. Just be warned that you'll likely need to sign into your Mediacom account if you try to get support on its website.

• Mediacom customer service phone number: +1-855-633-4226
• Twitter:@MediacomSupport
• Facebook: @mediacomcable

Who it’s best for: Single professionals and small families

Why we picked it: This is one step up from Mediacom’s lowest speed tier, but for that extra $10.00 a month, you’ll get upload speeds that are twice as fast (going from 5 Mbps to 10 Mbps), and your data cap more than doubles (going from 400 GB to 1,000 GB).

Who it’s best for: Huge families, home businesses, and multi-family homes

Why we picked it: If you’ve got a lot of people using the internet at once, you don’t want to be competing for bandwidth. With 1 Gbps speed, you’ll never need to worry about that. Just watch out for that data cap.

If you live in Mediacom’s service area, it’s a decent option for casual internet users. But don't expect them to go the extra mile when it comes to customer service, and prepare your budget for the yearly price hikes.

• Internet 60: $19.99/month,* 60 Mbps download speeds, 200 GB data cap
• Internet 100: $39.99/month,* 100 Mbps download speeds, 1 TB data cap
• Internet 1Gig: $69.99/month,* 1,000 Mbps download speeds, 6 TB data cap

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