Spectrum Internet vs. Verizon Fios: Which Provider Has the Best Deals?

Verizon Fios Home Internet uses an infrastructure of fiber-optic cables to deliver fast and reliable plans for heavy and casual users alike. The company’s symmetrical download and upload speeds make it one of the best options on the market, where it’s available.

Spectrum, meanwhile, offers much better overall availability than Verizon Fios. Its cable internet plans are similar in price, but their speeds and customer service might not live up to Verizon’s.

We’ll go over everything you need to know about Verizon Fios and Spectrum Internet in this review, including prices, plans, speeds, availability, perks, fees, and customer service. Read on to figure out which one is right for you.

Verizon Fios and Spectrum Internet each offer a low-, mid-, and high-speed plan at comparable prices. Verizon also offers an ultra-fast, 2 gigabit plan that’s great for huge families, home businesses, and apartment buildings.

Let’s dig in deeper to see what each plan will actually get you. 

Verizon Fios offers 4 basic plans that are likely to meet the needs of every type of home internet user. Whether you’re a working professional, PC gamer, Netflix binge-watcher, or all of the above, one of these plans is sure to get the job done.

Though we wouldn’t call them cheap, these plans are competitively priced, especially for what you get. Here’s how it all breaks down.

One big perk of Verizon Fios Home Internet is that it offers “symmetrical'' upload speeds, meaning you can upload as fast as you can download. For instance, the Internet 500/500 plan offers both 500 Mbps download speed and 500 Mbps upload speed.

Those fast upload speeds are essential for posting content online, video conferencing, and high demand gaming. Having fast upload and download speeds means that you can also have more connections downloading/uploading content at the same time.

The mid-range Internet 500/500 plan will probably be enough for the average family of casual internet users. But if you have a serious streamer or gamer in the home, you might want to upgrade to the Internet 1 Gig plan, which only runs $30 more per month.

On the higher end, the Internet 2 Gig is some of the fastest home internet available in the country with download/upload speeds up to 2,300 Mbps. This option is perfect for busy professionals or any highly connected family who wants a seamless online experience.

Internet 300/300 is an affordable option for those who don’t need a lot of speed. Verizon has also recently launched a 5G Home Internet program that provides similar speeds, but is available in different areas.

Verizon Fios Home Internet comes with no strings attached. This means no annual contracts or monthly price increases. You can even order online to waive the $99 one-time setup fee.

Anyone who’s been stuck in an annual contract with hidden fees and price hikes will breathe a sigh of relief knowing that with Verizon Fios you get exactly what you pay for.

In summary, Verizon Fios is a great option for:

• Anyone who works from home and needs fast, reliable connectivity
• Families with gamers, streamers, YouTubers, TikTokers, or online influencers
• Cord cutters who want to stream their tv and sports online
• Those who value pricing transparency and good customer service

Spectrum offers low, mid, and high speed plans at identical price points to Verizon. Maximum download speeds range from 300–1,000Mbps, with prices from $50–$90 per month for the first 12 months.

Notably, Spectrum does not offer an equivalent to Verizon’s 2 Gig Internet plan.  However, the company does offer a 100Mbps plan to those who qualify for the Affordable Connectivity Program.

These plans may seem very similar to Verizon’s, but there are a couple of big differences. Spectrum’s cable internet infrastructure does not support symmetrical upload speeds, meaning its upload speeds range from only 10–35Mbps. This is on par with other cable internet providers, but does not hold a candle to the upload speeds made possible by fiber-optic technology.

Another difference is Spectrum’s pricing model, which is based on a 12-month promotional period. This means that after a year, your monthly rate is likely to go up. Luckily there are no contracts and you can cancel your service at any time without penalty.

Overall, we think the Spectrum Internet plans will appeal most to:

• Families that like to use music and video streaming on multiple devices
• Casual gamers and work-from-home professionals who need average upload speeds
• Households in areas where fiber internet services are unavailable

As we’ve mentioned, most of Spectrum’s plans use cable technology. Meanwhile, Verizon Fios’ network is mostly fiber-optic. This is the biggest difference between the two companies in terms of speed and performance.

Cable internet, like Spectrum, can give you really fast download speeds, which are perfect for binging TV shows or going down a YouTube rabbit hole. But cable connections don’t have lightning fast upload speeds, which means it isn’t the best option for serious gaming, video conferencing, or uploading large files.

Fiber internet networks support the same super-fast download speeds as cable, but they also support fast upload speeds. That means you’ll have speedy response times for gaming, a clear signal for video conferencing, and the capacity to upload large files in the blink of an eye.

Neither Spectrum nor Verizon Fios has data caps, which means you can get the most out of your speeds. You could stream every single game on FuboTV without any data usage penalties or slowdowns. Nice.

In short: Verizon Fios Home Internet provides a faster and more reliable internet experience overall, but Spectrum will still work fine for those that don’t need super fast upload speeds.

Maybe the biggest difference between Verizon Fios and Spectrum is their availability. Verizon Fios Home Internet (and Verizon Fios TV) can be found in various metro and suburban areas of the mid-Atlantic, including Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Virginia.

You can see the full coverage map below or use this helpful tool to see exactly which providers are available in your area.

Meanwhile, Spectrum Internet is available in a whopping 42 states, so chances are quite good it's available near you. This is especially true if you live in the northeastern U.S., where Spectrum’s presence is most highly concentrated.

To get a better idea of where Spectrum can be found, check out our Spectrum availability map below.

Anyone who’s spent an hour or two listening to hold music knows the bar has been set pretty low for customer service, especially when calling an internet service provider (ISP).  So you might be surprised to hear that Verizon Fios Home Internet scored higher than all but one other ISP in a 2023 customer satisfaction survey.¹

In that same study, Spectrum scored right near the middle. Spectrum’s customer service ratings have steadily improved over the years, but they remain pretty average according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index’s annual list.²

Asking for technical support is never fun, but if you do run into problems, you’ll probably be happier chatting with Verizon Fios than Spectrum.

If both services are available in your area, you’ll get more bang for your buck with Verizon Fios.  But if you live outside of Verizon’s coverage area, Spectrum Internet will get you good download speeds at a competitive price.

If you’re still on the fence, here’s a quick recap of the main points we covered in this review.

• Plans and prices: Both providers offer high-speed plans from $50–$90 per month. Neither service has contracts or hidden fees, though Spectrum’s monthly rates might increase after a year. 
• Speeds: Both companies offer super fast download  But Verizon’s upload speeds are 20–30 times faster than Spectrum’s.
• Availability: Both providers are available in parts of the same 7 mid-Atlantic states.  However, Comcast is available in 35 additional US states from coast to coast.
• Our Takeaway: Verizon Fios’ fast speeds, competitive prices, and impressive customer service are sure to please nearly everyone. Spectrum offers plans with some of the same benefits, but to a wider geographical area.

We want every review that we write to be informative, easy-to-read, and accurate so that you know exactly what to expect from your internet service. In order to best serve our readers, we did a lot of research before we even began writing this Verizon Fios Home Internet vs. Spectrum Internet review.

We considered all of the available information on both ISPs, including plans, prices, performance statistics, customer reviews, and third-party evaluations. We even dug into the fine print to compare their policies on fees and cancellations.

We tried to convey everything we learned in this article. Ultimately, our analysis and recommendations were based on what we thought different kinds of users would find useful in their home internet service. If you have any questions or if you think we got something wrong, feel free to reach out to us! 

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