Best TV, Internet, and Phone Bundles 2020

Triple play packages that include TV, internet, and phone service are a great way to save you time and money—everything’s included in one bill, and usually, there’s a discount involved.

Since most home phone plans include unlimited nationwide calls, we’ll mostly focus on your TV service’s channels and fees, and your internet service’s download speeds, data limits, and fees.

Xfinity: Best for most

Most people can get fast speeds and the channels they need.

As the nation’s largest cable TV and internet provider, Xfinity is available to most people. Plus, it’s a pretty good deal.

You get fast internet speeds, your favorite channels and on-demand content, and usually an option for different contracts.

What we like

Xfinity works for anyone who needs to work from home, play HD games online, or max out and relax on the couch while watching their favorite shows with their friends and family. Plus, it’s the nation’s largest cable internet and TV provider, so almost anyone has access to it.

Xfinity’s high internet speeds come at a decent price. The 275 Mbps download speed is enough for one person to surf the web or for the whole family to run multiple devices at the same time without slowing down.

Xfinity’s TV service has a great on-demand selection, high channel counts, and a pretty cool cloud DVR (the X1). The voice remote helps you quickly find NBA games or the last episode of Chernobyl or West World.

In some areas with some plans, Xfinity gives you multiple options for contracts. Just remember that most triple plays will have a contract requirement.

What we don’t like

With Xfinity, there’s often fees for equipment, HD TV, and early termination fees. If you need service to multiple TVs, these fees can add up quickly. As long as you know what you’re paying, you’ll get your money’s worth with Xfinity.

Also, be aware that your price will increase after the second year of service. Make sure to budget appropriately.

RCN: Best budget

One of the best deals in the nation.

Unfortunately, RCN has a comparatively small footprint compared to other providers, but if it’s in your area, it’s one of the best deals out there. Fast internet speeds, high TV channel counts, and all for a low price.

And RCN doesn’t have a data cap, so download those HD movies and large files without worrying about overage charges.

What we like

RCN’s price starts pretty low. It’s half or even a third of the price of some competitors. And you don’t need to sign a contract, which helps you avoid early termination fees if you need to move or cancel your service.

Its entry-level bundle plan has 25 Mbps download speeds, which means a small family should be able to stream shows and surf the net simultaneously without experiencing major buffering issues. You can get up to 1,000 Mbps in some areas (once again, for a low price).

The entry-level TV package (Digital Basic) seems a little skimpy, especially since some streaming services offer similar channel counts for less money, but the higher-tier package (Signature TV) keeps up with big TV providers like Xfinity and DIRECTV.

What we don’t like

Like we said, not everyone can get RCN. We can’t expect every provider to be available to every person. Building out networks is expensive. But we wouldn’t mind if they were in our neck of the woods.

Other than that, the only problem we see with RCN’s triple play bundles is that there are only two options for TV that are pretty different. Digital Basic TV packages are much cheaper but only have 70 or so channels. Signature TV raises the price quite a bit, but you do get 295+ channels.

Where’s our “just right” middle-ground option? Oh well—it’s still cheaper than most services and gives you a good bang for your buck.

AT&T: Best TV service

DIRECTV—enough said

AT&T gives you fast internet and pairs it with great fiber TV (AT&T U-verse) or satellite TV (DIRECTV). Unlimited nationwide calling, high speeds, high channel counts, and a decent price—we can dig it.

AT&T also doesn’t have data caps for these plans, so you can download all your Steam games and large files, and stream all the 4K HD shows and movies you want. You won’t pay overages or have your speeds throttled.

What we like

As far as getting the best TV service with your bundle, it’s hard to beat AT&T. A few other companies allow you to bundle with DIRECTV, but AT&T is by far our favorite way to bundle DIRECTV for most people.

Why do we love DIRECTV so much? Because it has all the channels anyone could want. Including NFL SUNDAY TICKET. Yes, please.

Plus, with AT&T bundles you’ll get up to 100 Mbps download speeds, which are more than enough for the family that loves to stream together—or in different rooms. Whatever floats your boat. Not to mention AT&T’s own U-verse TV service ain’t half bad either.

What we don’t like

Your second-year pricing will increase, and in some cases, pretty dramatically. AT&T isn’t necessarily cheap to begin with, so make sure you know what you’re getting into with your contract.

Speaking of costs, AT&T does tack on things like activation, equipment, broadcast, and early termination fees. Month over month, those things can add up. AT&T isn’t alone in doling out extra fees, but it doesn’t make it okay. We wish TV and internet services would advertise the full price up front.

Verizon Fios: Best internet speed

Verizon Fios feels your need, your need for speed.

There’s no getting around it, Verizon Fios Home Internet has some of the top download speeds in the country. And it consistently ranks as one of the best internet providers in customer satisfaction.¹

We don’t doubt that Verizon Fios’s TV service is also one of the best out there, and it even lets you mix and match to get what you want. (Along with some of the best prices.)

What we like

Verizon Fios Home Internet is known for its fiber plans, which give you some of the fastest speeds for both downloading and uploading. (Seriously, it even made our list of the fastest internet providers.)

Typically, providers boast high download speeds but then give you less than 20 Mbps uploads. Slow upload speeds are frustrating if you share files, stream on Twitch, or work as a videographer or anything else where you upload large files in batches.

Plus, Verizon has some of the highest channel counts out there. You can even opt for a personalized TV plan with Your Fios TV.

What we don’t like

Verizon Fios has an ambiguous data cap policy, and most of the time you can’t find it spelled out anywhere. But if the company doesn’t say it’ll charge you or throttle your speeds for going over data limits, it (probably) won’t. So we assume you can use the internet as you like.

Recap: what are the best bundles for TV, internet, and phone?

Combining a home phone plan, internet, and TV service will reduce your headaches and spare your wallet some grief.

Finding the right combo might be a little tricky, but we’d advise starting with your required internet speed. After that, look over TV packages carefully. TV packages tend to get more expensive quickly, but make sure you’re getting the channels you want—otherwise, what’s the point?

• Xfinity hits a sweet spot for most people to get the speeds they need, the channels they want, and unlimited home phone calling too.
• RCN is available in only a few areas, but if you can get it, it’s a sweet deal with excellent speeds and channel counts.
• AT&T and DIRECTV have some of the highest channel counts—but for a higher price.
• Verizon Fios is consistently one of the best providers for speeds, channels, and customer service.

Let us know if you’ve found any good bundle deals, or what you’d like to see more of in the comments below.

Sources

1. ACSI “Benchmarks by Industry – Internet Service Providers”; “Benchmarks by Industry – Subscription Television Service”