An Honest Sparklight Internet Review: Is It Worth It?

Sparklight is typically dependable and offers 12-month deals to rural customers

Sparklight
Sparklight
3.8 out of 5 stars
3.77
Starts at$50.00/mo
  • Icon Blank

    4.25/5 - Speed and reliability
  • Icon Blank

    3.0/5 - Dollar value
  • Icon Blank

    4.0/5 - Customer experience
Catherine McNally
Jun 26, 2025
Icon Time To Read6 min read

Sparklight Internet offers a steady cable or fiber connection for rural customers, and its prices start extremely low.

“Sparklight is reliable for everyday use,” shares Alex Thompson, a Sparklight customer of over five years.

But after price hikes, Sparklight isn’t the most cost-effective internet service, and the customer service interactions don’t leave the best impression.

“Don’t expect stellar customer service,” Thompson warns.

But even with its flaws, after doing intense research and speaking with current customers, I still recommend that rural folks in Sparklight service areas consider this internet service provider. Let’s talk more about why.

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Get to know Sparklight: Plans and pricing

Plan
Price
Download speed
Details
Connect Internet 100$39.95/mo. for the first 12 mos.*Up to 100 Mbps
Freedom Connect 300$29/mo.Up to 300 Mbps
FlexConnect 300$45/mo.Up to 300 Mbps Mbps
Freedom Internet 500$49/mo.Up to 500 Mbps
Freedom Connect 600$39/mo.^Up to 600 Mbps
Freedom Connect Gig$59/mo.°Up to 1 Mbps Gbps
FlexConnect 600$75/mo.Up to 600 Mbps Mbps
Freedom Internet 2 Gig$99/mo.**Up to 2 Mbps Gbps
Fiber 300 Mbps$39.95/mo.^Up to 300 Mbps
Fiber 600 Mbps$49.95/mo.††Up to 600 Mbps
Fiber 1 Gig$59.95/mo.‡‡Up to 1 Mbps Gbps
Fiber 3 Gig$105/mo.^^Up to 3 Mbps Gbps
Fiber 6 Gig$155/mo.°°Up to 6 Mbps Gbps
* for the first 6 mos. w/ Auto Pay & Paperless Billing*. $55/mo. Reg price.
for the first 12 mos. w/ Auto Pay & Paperless Billing*. $60/mo. Reg price.
for the first 24 mos. w/ Auto Pay & Paperless Billing*. Reg price: $74/mo. + $14.99/mo. modem + eero Wi-Fi device lease.
^ for the first 12 mos. w/ Auto Pay & Paperless Billing*. $70/mo. Reg price.
° for 24 months with Auto Pay and Paperless Billing*, plus free Wall-to-Wall WiFi for 24 months.
** for the first 24 mos. w/ Auto Pay & Paperless Billing*. Reg price: $124/mo. + $14.99/mo. modem + eero Wi-Fi device lease.
†† for the first 12 mos. w/ Auto Pay & Paperless Billing*. $80/mo. Reg price.
‡‡ for the first 12 mos. w/ Auto Pay & Paperless Billing*. $90/mo. Reg price.
^^ for the first 12 mos. w/ Auto Pay & Paperless Billing*, $10 off reg price (13-24). $130/mo. Reg price.
°° for the first 12 mos. w/ Auto Pay & Paperless Billing*, $10 off reg price (13-24). $180/mo. Reg price.

Sparklight Internet offers both cable and fiber internet services, but you don’t have your pick—you have to take whichever is available where you live. (In general, I recommend getting a fiber plan if you can. Fiber internet is extra fast and dependable.) The exact Sparklight plans, prices, and sometimes even plan names vary based on location.

Sparklight offers heavily discounted promotional prices on most plans for the first 12 months. For instance, in some areas, the promo price for the Freedom Internet Gig plan is $60 a month—cheaper than even Google Fiber. But after that first year, the monthly payment jumps by at least $26.

Depending on location, you may also have the option of signing up for a FlexConnect plan, starting at $45 per month for 300Mbps. The prepaid plans cost a little more than the regular cable or fiber plans, so unless they’re the only Sparklight option in your area, signing up for one probably doesn’t make sense.

Some Sparklight plans come with unlimited data. If yours doesn’t, you can pay $40 a month to get it (although your data will slow down after 5TB, an extraordinary amount you’ll probably never exceed anyway). Some higher-tier plans in certain locales also include a modem at no additional cost.

If your plan doesn’t come with a modem, unless you buy your own Sparklight-compatible equipment, hardware costs an additional $12.50 a month. And professional installation and activation are $90 and $100, respectively, although Sparklight says you can choose to set up your equipment for a “reduced activation fee.”

Once you add everything up, Sparklight can get a bit expensive. But the service has no contracts and no termination fees, so whatever plan you sign up for, you can leave at any point.

Which Sparklight plan is right for you?

For cable plans, I recommend the Connect 300 plan. It’s widely available, not outrageously expensive, and provides enough speed for most online activities and household sizes.

Even if you barely use the internet, I still recommend Connect 300 over Connect 100. In most markets, Connect 300 is cheaper than Connect 100, so downgrading won’t save you money. Might as well opt for the higher speed.

And for those lucky enough to live in a Sparklight fiber service area, I suggest the Sparklight Fiber 300 Mbps plan. It’s the slowest fiber plan, but it’s also the cheapest, and many households don’t need more than 300Mbps, even (especially) not with a fiber connection.

Sparklight fees for modem and installation

Equipment rental fee

$12.50/mo.

Installation free

Up to $90 one-time fee

Activation fee

Up to $100 one-time fee

Data as of 03/13/2025.

What makes this review legit?

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, I spent four-plus months looking for Sparklight customers to speak with (and finally found two), tracking down the most current price list, and even calling Sparklight customer service myself.

how we review products and services

The rundown: Sparklight by our criteria

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 Sparklight stacks up? See our full take below.

Overall score: 3.77/5

Speed and reliability

internet speed
4.25/5.0

How fast and reliable is Sparklight, anyway? The service is decently quick, according to Reviews.org speed test data. Sure, it doesn’t place in our top five fastest providers, but its average download speed is 181.14Mbps and its average upload speed is 28.81Mbps. That’s downright impressive for a rural provider.

“The speed tests are fairly consistent and speeds are good,” confirms a Sparklight customer of three years in Boise, Idaho, who wishes only to be known by MsMcSlothyFace.

And while rural internet providers aren’t always the most steady due to infrastructure issues, I’ve heard good things about Sparklight’s dependability. “Sparklight is reliable for everyday use,” says customer Alex Thompson. HighSpeedInternet.com backs up his experience—in its 2023 survey, Sparklight scored right on the average for reliability.

Dollar value

dollar value
3.0/5.0

Sparklight Internet initial prices are quite good—$29 a month for 300Mbps is almost unheard of. After the price hike, things get more expensive (not to mention the big chunk customers shell out for installation and activation). Either way, Alex Thompson feels he could get more for what he pays.

“I feel like I’m getting a fair deal considering my speed needs and the limited options here, but I’d appreciate better support,” Thompson shares, noting that he’s experienced unnecessarily long wait times with customer service personnel.

And MsMcSlothyFace feels far less satisfied with the value of her Sparklight service. “The price seems outrageous,” she says. (To be fair, her Sparklight internet price is significantly more even than the current cost post price hike: 100Mbps at $78 a month.)

Customer experience

customer experience
4.0/5.0

Survey (literally) says that Sparklight customer service is slightly better than expected—the service scored higher than average on HighSpeedInternet.com’s customer satisfaction report. But the customers I spoke with showed a bit less enthusiasm.

“My experiences with customer service have been frustrating at times. Once, I was on hold for nearly an hour for a simple billing issue,” Thompson recalls.

But while Sparklight has its failings, I’ve seen the company engage with customers in a surprisingly empathetic way. For instance, when the ACP ended, Sparklight released the following statement: “We recognize the significance of the ACP in ensuring affordable internet access for individuals and families in our communities. While Sparklight is not authorized to provide a Lifeline discount, we remain committed to providing fast, reliable, and affordable internet plans tailored to households of all sizes and connectivity needs.”

How long it took to get a real human on the phone: Never happened. Sparklight’s surprisingly efficient phone tree asked for an account number 30 seconds in.

How the chat service is: The chat service robot is actually … good? It responded to me with pertinent information immediately. Eventually, I ran up against the account number barrier, but color me impressed from what I saw.

Overall quality

overall quality
3.77/5.0

Sparklight’s speed and reliability meet most customer needs, and its customer service is in the “not bad though could be better” zone. Its main failing is its price. Once the Sparklight 12-month promotional period is over, prices get rather high for what the customer receives.

Sparklight: What deals and promotions can you get?

While Sparklight isn’t running any deals just now, you can easily add other home services—like TV or a home phone line—to your internet plan for an additional cost.

Sparklight add-ons and perks
Perk
How to get it
Internet + TV bundleAsk a Sparklight representative during internet purchase.
Internet + Phone bundleAsk a Sparklight representative during internet purchase.
Internet + TV + Phone bundleAsk a Sparklight representative during internet purchase.

What do customers think of Sparklight?

Many internet providers draw fierce ire and outrage, but Sparklight doesn't stir up the same controversy. (Great for customer service expectations; bad for me spending weeks looking for Sparklight customers to share their experience.) For the most part, Sparklight customers’ feelings run pretty mellow.

“I decided to sign up for Sparklight because it was one of the few options available in my area with decent speeds and customer reviews,” shares Alex Thompson. His investment has mostly paid off—he’s found Sparklight dependable both for working from home and streaming favorites.

Reddit user MsMcSlothyFace says that with Sparklight, she also feels she gets “fairly consistent service.”

“Sparklight is reliable for everyday use.” -Alex Thompson

But not everything with Sparklight is sunshine and roses. Thompson feels Sparklight’s public-facing interactions could use a facelift. “On the downside, customer service can really be hit or miss, and I’ve experienced long wait times,” he says.

Meanwhile, MsMcSlothyFace hasn’t ever dealt with customer service, but she feels she’s paying too much at $78 monthly for 100Mbps. “I’d probably try another ISP,” she says, if she found the right deal.

“I'd probably try another ISP.” -MsMcSlothyFace

Need to contact Sparklight customer service or tech support?

Any of these options should get you there:

Where is Sparklight available?

Sparklight Internet is available in 21 states across the Southern, Midwestern, and Western United States. Sorry, Northerners and East Coasters—you’re out of luck.

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See if you live in a Sparklight service area.

Sparklight vs. the competition

Sparklight Internet comes off well for a rural internet service. It’s a better deal than Starlink, for one—typically faster and more cost-effective. It can’t compete as well with the prolific T-Mobile 5G Home Internet, which costs much less but doesn’t achieve speeds as high as Sparklight’s.

Next to other cable and fiber providers, Sparklight doesn’t look as good. Before the 12-month price hike, its prices beat competitors (even Google Fiber). But after the price hike, Sparklight is left in the dust as providers like Google Fiber and AT&T Fiber offer much better long-term deals. Spectrum Internet, which has a similar price hike, is a more comparable service in the long run.

Compare internet providers and prices
Service
Price
Download speed
Upload speed
Details
Sparklight Internet$29-$155***1-940 Mbps1-600 Mbps
Google Fiber$70-$150†††1000-8000 Mbps1000-8000 Mbps
AT&T Fiber$55-$245‡‡‡300-5000 Mbps300-5000 Mbps
Spectrum Internet®$25-$7050-1000 Mbps^^^4-35 Mbps
T-Mobile 5G Home Internet$50-$160°°°292-415 Mbps31-56 Mbps
Starlink$50-$5000****220-300 Mbps8-25 Mbps
Offers and availability vary by location and are subject to change. Data verified as of the article's publication date.
*** Equipment, taxes, fees, and any applicable surcharge extra. Actual speeds vary and are subject to equipment limitations. Wi-Fi speeds will be substantially lower.
††† 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.
‡‡‡ Price after $5/mo Autopay & Paperless bill discount (w/in 2 bills). Plus taxes $ fees. Limited availability. May not be available in your area.
^^^ 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.
°°° w/ Auto Pay. Regulatory fees included in monthly price for qualified accounts. See full terms.
**** Plus hardware, shipping & handling fees, and tax. Fully refundable. Depending on location, some orders may take 6 months or more to fulfill.
What’s Cable One?
Pin

Cable One is Sparklight’s parent company. Other Cable One brands include Fidelity, ValuNet, Hargray, and CableAmerica.

Want Sparklight? Find it in your area

Ready to go all-in on Sparklight? First you need to see if you live in its service area.

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Look for Sparklight Internet near you.
Catherine McNally
Written by
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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