Mediacom Internet Review: Customers Call It “Fast” and “Stable”

Mediacom offers fast download speeds, but watch out for price hikes.

Xtream
Mediacom Internet
3.9 out of 5 stars
3.9
Starts at$50.00/mo
  • Icon Blank

    4/5 - Speed and reliability
  • Icon Blank

    3.3/5 - Dollar value
  • Icon Blank

    4.3/5 - Customer experience
Xtream logo in speech bubble above a cartoon man using an iPad
Kelly Huh
Jul 10, 2025
Icon Time To Read8 min read

Mediacom is a cable internet service provider in the Midwest and Southeast that offers fast speeds and good promotional prices on its Xtream internet plans.

It's a good deal to start, but after the first 12 months of service, the monthly rate for Mediacom's entry-level package jumps up $15 per month—then rises again in year three to nearly double the promotional price. On the bright side, Mediacom’s 1 Gig and 2 Gig plans come with two-year price locks, giving you a bit more stability up front. It’s not the cheapest option long-term, but if speed is your top priority, it might be worth sticking with, especially if high-speed alternatives are limited in your area.

“I know a lot of people complain about Mediacom, but if you look at the uptime we’ve had, the stability of the network actually has been pretty good,” says Nate Harvey, a Mediacom customer in Des Moines, Iowa.

Cable providers like Mediacom aren’t on the same reliability level as fiber providers Google Fiber or Metronet. However, you’re still better off with Mediacom than a 5G or satellite provider with slower speeds and more network fluctuations.

Read our review to find out if Mediacom works for you.

Another option for those in the Midwest is Nextlink Internet.

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Get to know Mediacom: Plans and pricing

Plan
Price
Download speed
Data cap
Details
Internet 300$50/mo.*Up to 300 MbpsUnlimited
Internet 1 Gig$65/mo. for 24 mos.*Up to 1000 MbpsUnlimited
* 1 year plus one-time charges, taxes and gov't fees.

Mediacom is a cable provider that offers internet with fast download speeds and bundles with TV, home phone, and a slew of smart home devices. Most households will find the 300Mbps or 1000Mbps plans work well for their needs, even with multiple users working from home, streaming 4K videos, playing Fortnite, and keeping an eye on your front porch with your Ring camera.

The introductory prices are a good deal, but after the first 12 months, plan prices increase significantly. Thankfully, all plans come with unlimited data, so you won't need to keep track of how much you use. 

Which Mediacom plan is right for you?

Mediacom's Internet 1 Gig plan for $65 per month has you covered for affordability, speed, and data. Internet 1 Gig offers up to 1000Mbps download speed. The average household uses just under 600GB a month, and Internet 1 Gig offers a little less than double that amount.

Mediacom fees for modem and installation

Modem rental fee (optional)

$14.00/mo.

Whole Home Wi-Fi with Xtream WiFi360pro (includes Eero Wi-Fi unit/s and Eero secure service) (optional)

Free for the first year with 1–2 Eero units depending on offer, then $10.00/mo. with 1 Eero unit 

Additional Eero devices (optional)

$5.00–10.00/mo.

Installation fee

$109.99

Activation fee

$10.00

Service call fee

$49.00 (each time)

Early termination fee

None

Autopay and paperless billing credit (optional)

$10.00/mo. credit for 12 mos.

Xtream Assurance (waives the $49 service call fee) (optional)

$10.00/mo.

Secure+ (Eero Secure, VPN by Guardian, Malwarebytes, 1 Password) (optional)

$7.00/mo.

Xpert Tech Advisor (optional)

$9.99/mo.

Xpert Home Office Pro (optional)

$19.99/mo.

Xpert Smart Home Complete (optional)

$24.99/mo.

Our breakdown of Mediacom Internet features

For all our internet reviews, we give a rating based on three main criteria—speed and reliability, dollar value, and customer experience—which we then average to make an overall score.

Want to know how Mediacom stacks up? See our full take below.

Speed and reliability

4/5

Mediacom delivers up to 2Gbps download speeds, a top speed that is plenty for most households who are streaming on multiple devices. The average Mediacom customer that runs the Reviews.org speed test gets download speeds of 219.28Mbps, which is impressive for a cable internet provider. On the other hand, average upload speeds are 29.06Mbps.

The lower upload speed is normal for cable providers. This usually isn’t an issue for average users, but it can be frustrating if you’re uploading YouTube videos or taking Zoom calls from home. Another downside is that 300Mbps download speed with Mediacom isn’t going to perform as reliably as 300Mbps download speed with a fiber provider, but it’s still faster than a CenturyLink DSL plan. 

Dollar value

3.3/5

You initially get a good deal from Mediacom during the first year of service with discounted rates. After that, prices double (or more) and you lose the autopay and paperless credits. This isn’t ideal, but it's a fairly common practice to get a limited term of discounted prices from any internet provider, and you still get fast speeds.

The plus side of these plans is that they now all offer unlimited data, so customers no longer have to worry about using too much data and having to pay data overage fees.

There is also the Xtream Connect plan catered towards low-income households that need cheaper plans especially since the Affordable Connectivity Program ended. Households that qualify for federal benefits like SNAP, Medicaid, and Tribal Assistance Programs may apply for this discounted internet plan with free installation. At $14.99 per month, it’s not the cheapest low-income internet available, but it offers greater speeds and reliability than a 5G home internet plan. You can also cut down the cost with the Lifeline program. See if you qualify for Mediacom's discounted services with this guide to income-based Mediacom Internet.

Customer experience

4.3/5

Mediacom performs below average in HighSpeedInternet.com’s Customer Satisfaction Survey, and poorly in the 2024 American Customer Satisfaction Index compared to other non-fiber internet providers. The reasons contributing to these results could be the steep price hikes after the first year, the extra fees, and variable service.

“Techs sent to the hinge have always been friendly,” says Reddit user TheHillPerson, who commented on a Reviews.org post. However, the customer service phone line has left more to be desired. “When we've had intermittent neighborhood issues, I was unsure if the issues were directly related to my service or not. The techs were unable to comprehend the question of if my drops coincide with the neighborhood issues or not,” they write. “They just kept saying there's a neighborhood issue right now.”

Another customer, Nate Harvey, an operations manager in Des Moines, Iowa, has switched back to Mediacom after a two-year stint on CenturyLink, which was much slower. “Beggars can’t be choosers,” he says. Eventually, he hopes to switch to Metronet. 

When it comes to interacting with customer service, beyond the usual phone and web-based chat support, Mediacom offers a text service called Molli, a chatbot that can connect you to a live agent and answer customer service queries. “It was pretty easy. You tell Molli what you need, and eventually you get to an agent,” says P.J. Villaflor, who has previously texted Molli to get reimbursements when his service was offline, as well as when he wanted to downgrade his plan to a slower speed. “I don’t have to call or look for a number, it’s always on my phone so if I have to get a hold of someone it’s pretty swift.”

How long it took to get a real human on the phone: It took 30 seconds to get through the automated phone tree, and then immediately to a live agent.

How the chat service is: Straightforward and fast.

Overall quality: 3.9/5

Xtream
Mediacom Internet
Our Rating
3.9 out of 5 stars
3.9
Starts at$14.99/mo
Offers and availability vary by location and are subject to change. Data verified as of the article's publication date.

Mediacom is a decent cable provider, but it seems a little disingenuous to offer promotional prices that are half of the actual normal price. This increase will be a deal  breaker for some customers’ budgets, but you could downgrade speeds after the promotional period is over to save on your monthly bill. 

Overall, you get good speeds out of Mediacom, but you’d be better off with a fiber provider if one is available. If that’s not possible, make sure you buy your own router to save you from the monthly router rental fee. “The biggest thing that improved our service was purchasing an aftermarket router and a whole-home mesh system,” Harvey advises.

Mediacom: What deals and promotions can you get?

Currently, if you sign up for the 300Mbps or 1Gbps speed plans, you can get Whole Home Wi-Fi with 2 Eero Wi-Fi units and Eero secure services included for one year.

You can also get a $100 credit when you sign up for any Mediacom internet package, split over four months and 30 days after installation.

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Sign up for Mediacom and get a $100 credit

Mediacom add-ons and perks


Whole Home Wi-Fi: WiFi360pro with two Eero WiFi units and Eero secure services included for one year

Sign up for the 300Mbps or 1Gbps speed internet plan.


6 mos. of Peacock Premium for free

Must subscribe to Peacock Premium through Xumo Stream Box. $5.99/mo. (+tax) after the offer ends.


$5.00/mo. home phone service for one year

When you bundle home phone service with internet.


Get the first three months of Xpert Tech Advisor for free

Subscribe to Xpert Tech Advisor. After the promo is over, pay $9.99/mo. 


Get Total Defense Internet Security Suite

All Mediacom customers get this with their internet plan.


Hide Caret Down  Light

See all Mediacom plans and deals

What we learned from real customers

Mediacom gets mixed reviews on whether it’s worth the money, but it does deliver fast speeds. “They’ve always offered the fastest speeds,” says Nate Harvey, who pays $160 per month for the 1Gbps download speed plan but gets about 600–700Mbps in actual speed. This doesn’t feel like the best deal, especially once the introductory prices stopped.

Despite the price, the internet works well for his family with four kids who use multiple TVs, phones, and gaming systems all at the same time. “All of that is connected to the internet. I think it's gone down twice in the past year,” he says. “You’re not getting exactly what you’re paying for, but it’s still pretty impressive.”

Cable is known for much lower upload speeds, so it doesn’t work well for content creators who are consistently uploading content. P.J. Villaflor, a YouTube content creator and DJ in Des Moines, Iowa, used Mediacom for the past eight years, but has recently switched to Metronet. “There were issues where I was livestreaming a lot, and the upload speed would go from 20Mbps all the way down to 1Mbps to 5Mbps,” says Villaflor, who noticed the slow upload speeds would occur even when no one else in the household was online in the middle of the day.

“It was frustrating whenever it would slow down.” — P.J. Villaflor, Mediacom customer in Des Moines, Iowa

Mediacom’s text-based customer service

When Villaflor reached out to customer support, Mediacom first said it was an issue with his modem. The problem persisted daily, and eventually Mediacom found out that there was an issue in the whole area. “It was frustrating whenever it would slow down,” says Villaflor. Thankfully, he was reimbursed for the time when his internet wasn’t meeting expected speeds. The refund process was swift through the Molli text service, which quickly set up a credit through his bill.

Harvey also feels that Mediacom does a good job on communicating issues through the  Molli text service. “Mediacom is pretty good at letting us know via text message what’s happening once we’ve made a call saying it's down,” he says. Harvey has previously experienced two major outages: The longest was seven hours, and the shortest was 15 minutes. “They’ll let us know ‘Hey things are looking good, it might be another hour.’” 

Need to contact Mediacom?

How we came up with our rating

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How we came up with our rating

Our fact-based research process centers on interviews with internet customers across the country, helping us understand how internet services hold up against diverse needs and challenges.

To put together this review, we spoke with customers through phone interviews and a dozen others through Reddit. We also looked over all the details of Mediacom’s plan prices, speeds, and bundles. We also checked data from our speed test, examined public surveys and customer-satisfaction reports, and contacted customer service through phone and chat to get more details on plan prices and support packages.  For a deeper look at our review process, check out how we test internet providers.

Where is Mediacom available?

Mediacom Internet coverage map

Mediacom is available in more than 1,500 communities across 22 states including Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky, Alabama, and Georgia. Check this list of Mediacom's top cities to see if Mediacom is available in your neighborhood or enter your zip code below.

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Type in your zip code and see if Mediacom is available in your neighborhood.

Mediacom vs. the competition

Mediacom is a good bet for high-speed internet when there are no fiber providers around. Fiber is always going to be faster and more reliable, and it offers symmetrical speeds for a better all-around experience, but cable is a good runner-up.

Even though you might like the consistent, affordable prices of T-Mobile 5G Home Internet Unlimited, 5G plans don’t have a good track record for reliable or fast speeds, so if you can handle the price hike and fees, stick with Mediacom.

Mediacom at a glance

Service
Monthly price
Download speed
Connection type
Details
Mediacom Internet$14.99-$65100-1000 MbpsCable
Offers and availability vary by location and are subject to change. Data verified as of the article's publication date.
For the first 12 months.

Other internet providers

Service
Monthly price
Download speed
Connection type
Details
T-Mobile 5G Home Internet$50-$160292-415 Mbps5G
MetroNet$29.95-$109.95^150-5000 MbpsFiber
CenturyLink Internet$50-$75°140-940 MbpsDSL/Fiber
Viasat Internet$69.99-$149.99**12-150 MbpsSatellite
Google Fiber$70-$150††1000-8000 MbpsFiber
Quantum Fiber$30-$165200-8000 MbpsFiber
Offers and availability vary by location and are subject to change. Data verified as of the article's publication date.
w/ Auto Pay. Regulatory fees included in monthly price for qualified accounts. See full terms.
^ Offers available to new residential customers only and may not be combined with other offers. MetroNet reserves the right to revoke or modify offers at any time. Taxes, fees, and other terms apply.
° Speed may not be available in your area. Paperless billing or prepay required. Additional taxes, fees, and surcharges apply.
** Offer available to new qualifying customers. One-time standard installation fee may be due at checkout. Minimum 24-month service term required. Equipment lease fee is $12.99/mo. Taxes apply. Service is not available in all areas. Offer may be changed or withdrawn at any time.
†† Plus taxes and fees. Upload/download speed and device streaming claims are based on maximum wired speeds. Actual Internet speeds are not guaranteed and may vary based on factors such as hardware and software limitations, latency, packet loss, etc.

Ready to sign up for Mediacom?

Mediacom offers fast speeds and better reliability than 5G or DSL connections. While you wait for fiber to come to your town, you can still get fast speeds from Mediacom to support your household’s day-to-day activities.

Mediacom Internet FAQ

Mediacom is a cable internet provider.

Mediacom will rent customers a modem and router for $14/month.

Mediacom offers internet speeds ranging from 300Mbps to 2,000Mbps, with introductory prices between $50 and $65 per month.

Kelly Huh
Written by
Kelly helps readers find the best internet and mobile services. She’s written about every major internet and mobile provider, spending many of her waking hours decoding the fine print that no one reads. She enjoys digging through statistics and user data to put together Reviews.org’s consumer research analysis and proprietary surveys. She has also reached out to real customers all over the country and talked with them over the phone to see how their services fare in reality. In addition to reviewing internet services, Kelly covers efforts to bridge the digital divide for low-income and rural households—her report on the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program was recently cited in a Supreme Court amicus brief in support of expanding internet access. Her articles have been cited by The New York Times, Fast Company, Telecompetitor, Benton Institute for Broadband, and the Federal Communications Commission. Originally from New Zealand, Kelly graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in communications and is currently pursuing an MBA at Utah Valley University. She’s based in Provo, Utah, and sometimes bakes cakes (but being in the kitchen truly stresses her out).

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