Ziply Fiber Internet Review

Ziply Fiber brings some of the fastest internet speeds you can get to Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. The provider offers good introductory prices for its fiber plans between 100Mbps and 5Gbps speeds, but after 12 months the plan increases by $25 or $35 more per month, according to Ziply Fiber’s website. This regular rate is typical for fiber providers, so the jump seems more drastic than it is because the promotional rates are so low.

A great feature of fiber plans are the symmetrical speeds, which means both upload and download speeds are the same. Most internet plans give you upload speeds that are much slower than download speeds, so having boosted uploads means you get much more bandwidth to support Zoom calls, 1TB hard-drive backup, exporting a video file from Final Cut Pro, and the ability to livestream seamlessly.

All plans come with unlimited data and the option to rent Ziply Fiber’s router for $12 a month. (No need to pay that fee if you bring your own router.) You can catch the latest shows or your old favorites by bundling your plan with streaming services or fiber TV network channels in select areas. You can also add home phone services to your internet plan for $20 per month.

What you see is what you get with Ziply Fiber–there are no confusing hidden fees tacked on to the service (beyond the usual government taxes and fees). There are also no credit checks required for residential plans. “We pride ourselves on offering great value for our services,” says Dan Miller, spokesperson for Ziply fiber.

Many customers in the Northwest have eagerly anticipated the arrival of fiber internet on their blocks. This is especially true for Dann Cutter, a city manager who signed up for 2Gbps service as soon as it became available in his neighborhood near Oregon State University.

“The area around campus was somewhat of an internet dead zone up until Ziply offered fiber service,” Cutter says. “You basically only had one option, Xfinity, which due to the density of students would often slow to a crawl during any major streaming event, like a football game or soccer match.” Even though his Xfinity cable plan performed relatively well with fast download speeds, he wanted higher upload speeds for backing up data online, syncing his photo library, and keeping his home security cameras online.

Now with Ziply Fiber, Cutter is happy to have symmetrical speeds. “There’s rarely anything I can do that is going to create a bottleneck on the download or on the upload,” he says.

While multi-gig speeds aren’t necessary for most households, it is impressive that the actual experienced speeds match the advertised speeds. “It’s an extremely fast and reliable fiber service. All my friends are extremely jealous of my [5Gbps] connection,” says Reddit user amiralisaeedi, who lives in Bellevue, Washington.

On the other hand, some customers may find that they compete for bandwidth with their neighbors. “It does tend to slow down sometimes,” says Flynn Thurston, whose kids also notice slower internet when they’re playing Roblox or Elden Ring. “​​There are times it works just fine, but other times it’s particularly laggy, usually later in the evening.”

Thurston has also noticed that he has also experienced slower internet when he’s streaming live sports on Hulu. “We watch a lot of golf right now, and it cuts out alot.”

Thurston’s wife, Meghan, thought it was unusual that she had to create a new account and pay the installation fee when she was switching ownership of her family’s account to her name after the account holder moved out.

“They told me that they had to do an entirely new set up,” she says, even though she already had Ziply Fiber installed at her house, and her family had been using it for several years. “I asked customer service, ‘Can’t you just start it back up? It’s all already here,’ But they said no.” Ziply Fiber wasn’t able to have a technician come out for a week, so the family went without internet for a week. “It was a little frustrating,” she says, “but it worked out.”

Ziply Fiber offers a ridiculous 50Gbps plan that takes the title of “America’s fastest home internet.” Yes, you read that right—it delivers 50 gigabits per second download and upload speeds.

All addresses that can get the other fiber plans are eligible for the 50Gbps plan. “It’s truly available anywhere we offer fiber, just not in areas of our footprint where we have yet to convert to fiber,” says Dan Miller, spokesperson for Ziply Fiber.

However, the majority of regular households that stream, play games, work from home, and even upload YouTube videos don’t need speeds beyond 1Gbps. Even Ziply’s spokesperson agrees that this plan is a bit over the top. “While many people may not need 50 Gig today, this speed tier is also a nod to the future,” says Miller. “Our investments in fiber deployments are helping ensure this infrastructure can serve communities for generations to come.”

Even if the plan isn’t necessary for the average customer, Ziply Fiber just wants you to know what’s possible. “We build the pathways to enable the creativity and capability for [customers] to do what they want,” Miller says.

Ziply Fiber is headquartered in Kirkland and Everett, Washington. The provider originally started when it took over the Northwest operations of Frontier Communications. Now, Ziply Fiber services Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. Enter your zip code below to check if it’s available in your area.

Ziply Fiber selects rural and underserved areas to build out their fiber networks, so you can most likely find that there are only cable, 5G, or DSL providers as alternatives.

Spectrum and Xfinity are some of the top cable providers available in the Northwest where Ziply Fiber is also available. You get a good range of speeds that are compatible with most regular household usage, but they won’t have the same reliability as Ziply Fiber.

5G home internet is also an option–T-Mobile 5G Home Internet Unlimited is a home internet plan that works off of 5G mobile networks. It’s widely available across the U.S., and has a simple set-up process with no professional installation needed. It does however have fluctuating download speeds between 72–245 Mbps.

Ziply Fiber is likely to be the only fiber provider in your area, if available. Check if it’s in your neighborhood in our zipchecker below.