Cable One
available in - 100% money back guarantee
- Contract-free
- Download speeds up to 1,000 Mbps
- Upload speeds up to 50 Mbps
Data effective 10/15/19. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
Sparklight pros and cons
Are you looking for Cable One internet or TV? It’s now known as Sparklight, and true to its new name, speeds are bursting ahead faster than ever before.
Thanks to good ratings, fast internet service, and affordable cable TV packages, Sparklight is a good choice for most customers. One of the things we like about Sparklight (formerly Cable One) is that there are no contracts.
Sparklight also offers a 100% money-back guarantee, which is rare in the internet industry, and they have a high customer satisfaction rating.
Pros
- No contract required
- Affordable prices
- Highest customer satisfaction ratings
- No standard price increase on internet packages after the promo period
Cons
- Modem lease required
- Activation fee ($40) and first month’s payment required at signup (deposit required in some locations)
- Slow upload speeds
- Price increase on bundle packages after promo period
Sparklight (Cable One) internet, TV, and bundles
Internet
- $30–$125/mo.
- 15–1,000 Mbps
- No contract required
TV
- Cable TV service
- $40–$84/mo.
- 20–100+ channels
Bundles
- Start at $79.99/mo.
- Up to 260 channels and 1,000 Mbps
Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. Pricing as of 10/15/19.
*Bundle pricing has an introductory price for first six months. Prices rise in month seven.
Sparklight internet
Our pick:
Starter Plan
Speeds up to
100
Mbps download
100
Mbps download
From
$5500/mo
$10 charge for each add’l 100GB; Up to $50/mo.
Sparklight internet service (formerly Cable One) is available in 21 states, with a heavy concentration in the south. Sparklight is the tenth-largest internet service provider in the US.
Sparklight internet plans don’t have a price increase, which is an advantage. It’s easy to sign up for services at the promotional rate and not notice the price hike.
All services offered through Sparklight are delivered through a coaxial cable network, which is perfect for TV and home phone but does cause some internet limitations.
Data limits
Cable internet often has data limits, and Sparklight is no exception. Pricing varies not just by speed, but by how much data you can use each month. If you hit your data allotment, you’ll be charged $10 for 50 GB of additional data. If you use up that 50 GB, you’ll be charged again. You can be charged up to $50 in data overage charges before you reach the unlimited level.
Slow uploading
Another disadvantage to cable internet service is the upload speed. Cable can give you really fast download speeds, but it can’t deliver fast upload speeds due to limitations in the infrastructure. So if your Sparklight (Cable One) internet package has a download speed of 200 Mbps, you may have an upload speed of only 20 Mbps.
For many people, this won’t matter much. Most online activities involve downloading and viewing content. You will get slowed down by cable internet if you upload videos to YouTube, send huge files to clients, upload lots of photos, or play fast-paced shooter games online.
| Plan | Prices from* | Download speeds up to | Upload speeds up to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lite Plan | $30.00/mo | 15 Mbps | 1 Mbps |
| Starter Plan | $55.00/mo | 100 Mbps | 10 Mbps |
| Streamer & Gamer Plan | $65.00/mo | 200 Mbps | 20 Mbps |
| Turbo 300 | $80.00/mo | 300 Mbps | 30 Mbps |
| GigaONE | $125.00/mo | 1000 Mbps | 50 Mbps |
| View Cable One Internet Plans | |||
Data effective 10/15/19. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
How much speed do I need?
Browsing
1-3 People:
5 Mbps
4 - 6 People:
10 Mbps
Streaming Music
1-3 People:
5 Mbps
4 - 6 People:
25 Mbps
Online Gaming
1-3 People:
25 Mbps
4 - 6 People:
100 Mbps
Video Streaming
1-3 People:
SD Video: 10 Mbps
HD Video: 50 Mbps
4 - 6 People:
SD Video: 50 Mbps
HD Video: 100+ Mbps
Sparklight (Cable One) TV
Our Pick
Sparklight (formerly Cable One) TV service offers a wide variety of entertainment options, dozens of HD channels, and a variety of add-on packages you can use to customize your experience.
You might notice that prices are lower than competition, but that’s partly because they don’t include sports, kids, or movie channels in the basic selection. To watch Sunday football games, you’ll need to add the $15 per month Digital Value Pack (which includes NFL RedZone), which can be added to any package.
Sparklight TV pros and cons
Pros
- Affordable prices
- No contract
- Money-saving internet and cable TV bundles
Cons
- No on-demand content
- Bare-bones Economy plan that doesn’t include TV Everywhere app
- Limited sports channels
Sparklight TV packages
If you are interested in a basic cable package at an affordable price, you’ll find it with Sparklight. You don’t have to sign a contract to get service, and you have the option of adding or dropping extra channels on a month-to-month basis.
| Plan | Prices from* | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Economy Cable | $40.00/mo | ||
| Standard Cable | $84.00/mo | ||
| View Cable One Internet Plans | |||
Data effective 10/15/19. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
Sparklight (Cable One) TV packages are affordably priced, but a bit sparse when it comes to content. If you get the Economy package, you will get all the local stations (which you could probably get with an antenna) for $40 per month. Or, you can bump it up to the Standard package for $84 per month, which includes about 100 channels.
But if you want to get sports, movies, HBO, SHOWTIME, or any extras, you’ll need to select from several add-on packages, priced at $15 to $40 per month. It might be disappointing that you can’t find a package that includes every single channel. But you can build your own custom package, and the advantage to Sparklight’s approach is that they can keep prices low by not forcing you to pay for channels you don’t need.
| Premium channel package add-ons | Price | Channel count* | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Value Pack | $15/mo. | 40 channels | NFL Network, BBC America, OWN, CBS Sports, Discovery |
| CINEMAX® | $18/mo. | 8 channels | Movies, original series, comedy |
| HBO® | $18/mo. | 11 channels | Movies, original series, comedy |
| SHOWTIME® | $18/mo. | 8 channels | The Movie Channel, Flix, and more |
| STARZ® | $18/mo. | 9 channels | STARZ Encore, comedy, movies, and more |
| Español Tier | $5/mo. | 12 channels | Sports, news, series, movies |
| Deluxe Pack | $40/mo. | 36 channels | All channels in the CINEMAX, HBO, SHOWTIME, and STARZ packages |
| Premium channel package add-ons | Digital Value Pack |
| Price | $15/mo. |
| Channel count* | 40 channels |
| Highlights | NFL Network, BBC America, OWN, CBS Sports, Discovery |
| Premium channel package add-ons | CINEMAX® |
| Price | $18/mo. |
| Channel count* | 8 channels |
| Highlights | Movies, original series, comedy |
| Premium channel package add-ons | HBO® |
| Price | $18/mo. |
| Channel count* | 11 channels |
| Highlights | Movies, original series, comedy |
| Premium channel package add-ons | SHOWTIME® |
| Price | $18/mo. |
| Channel count* | 8 channels |
| Highlights | The Movie Channel, Flix, and more |
| Premium channel package add-ons | STARZ® |
| Price | $18/mo. |
| Channel count* | 9 channels |
| Highlights | STARZ Encore, comedy, movies, and more |
| Premium channel package add-ons | Español Tier |
| Price | $5/mo. |
| Channel count* | 12 channels |
| Highlights | Sports, news, series, movies |
| Premium channel package add-ons | Deluxe Pack |
| Price | $40/mo. |
| Channel count* | 36 channels |
| Highlights | All channels in the CINEMAX, HBO, SHOWTIME, and STARZ packages |
Channel count may vary based on the available channels in your location. Data effective 10/15/19. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
Sparklight (Cable One) bundles
Our Pick
Starter Internet + Standard Cable
Up to 100 channels
Speeds up to
100
Mbps download
100
Mbps download
From
$9500/mo
for first 6 months
$134/mo. after trial offer ends
Some providers don’t offer much of a discount for bundling these days, but Sparklight does give generous discounts. The only problem with Sparklight is that these discounts do end after six months, so your price will go up midway through the year.
Sparklight bundling options
Sparklight offers over a dozen bundle options. Here are some of the top picks.
| Plan | Prices from* | Download speeds up to | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter Internet + Standard Phone | $75.00/mo | 100 Mbps | |
| Standard Cable + Standard Phone | $89.00/mo | 0 Mbps | |
| Starter Internet + Standard Cable | $95.00/mo | 100 Mbps | |
| Starter Internet + Standard Cable + Standard Phone | $105.00/mo | 100 Mbps | |
| Streamer & Gamer Internet + Standard Cable | $145.00/mo | 200 Mbps | |
| Streamer & Gamer Internet + Standard Cable + Standard Phone | $155.00/mo | 200 Mbps | |
| View Cable One Internet Plans | |||
Data effective 10/15/19. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
Find a Sparklight store near you.
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Our verdict
Thanks to good ratings, fast internet service, and affordable pricing, we think Sparklight is a good choice for most customers. Even the Starter internet package delivers ample bandwidth for streaming video content, which is the biggest drive for fast internet as customers cut cable and go for streaming services.
Sparklight cable packages are about average, but they under-deliver on sports content, which is a bummer if you’re a sports fan. But on the plus side, you don’t have a contract with Sparklight and you can add or subtract premium channels (including NFL RedZone) anytime you like.
Overall, we find that Sparklight is a reliable Internet Service Provider, and it has acceptable (if somewhat bland) TV and phone service. If it’s available in your area, we recommend you check out Sparklight for internet service.
Sparklight customer reviews
What people are saying about Sparklight
(5/5)
“This service is so much faster and more reliable than any I’ve had in the past, I could not imagine wanting another provider.”
–M. Estrada
(1/5)
“I was happy with the speeds and reliability I had with Cable One. However, their pricing has gotten higher.”
–E. Rogge
(4/5)
“Speeds are OK, but upload speeds are suffering . . . Service is good, no issues.”
–M. Vincent
Write your own Sparklight review.
Have you tried internet or cable TV with Sparklight? Share your experience with Sparklight (Cable One).
Read our Cable One customer reviews.
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32 Cable One customer reviews.
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Austin F | 10-31-2018
Cable one took my money, then waited until i called them to tell me that their service ends about 50 feet away from my house ans that they would refund me. Would not recommend them to anyone. Ever.
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Kevin M | 11-24-2017
Download and Upload speeds are incredibly slow! The evenings are the worst as there is more demand on the network. Cable One is so slow my iphone will works better using cell data to play music. I am very unhappy, will look for another provider ASAP!
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Judy B | 11-03-2017
When I near, not exceed, my monthly download max level, Cable One reduces my speed significantly, so that I can no longer stream PBS or Amazon videos. e.g. .Today is an example. My usage and billing cycle doesn't end until midnight on 11/7. However, since last night around 10p, my internet wifi speed is too slow to stream PBS or Amazon video.
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Clarence S | 07-15-2017
VERY good service in the morning but it will get slower in the afternoon child is doing school work and then it will freeze up and he needs it to do his work he has adhd so we really need it.hard to pay for the service
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Mary E | 06-03-2017
CableOne internet is faster than my computer. I rarely have service issues and when I do, they repair the issue right away. This service is so much faster and more reliable than any I've had in the past, I could not imagine wanting another provider.
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Wendy M | 04-24-2017
We were forced to upgrade our internet because Cable ONE said we were going our data plan. I had cut out the cable television portion in an effort to lower my bill and now they are charging me for Gamer/Streamer plan. Received a letter stating it was the 3rd time we went over our plan without getting notice 1 or 2. We used to have "unlimited" plan and when I asked about that, I was informed there wasn't an unlimited plan for years now. Service calls are between 8-5 and once they didn't even come for the call between that time period after waiting all day. The Service people were friendly and did their job effectively. The scheduler was the problem.
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Tom M | 03-16-2017
they are the only option is this small town, so service sucks, and pricing is a lot higher than larger towns, speed is better than any other here but not on par with big metro areas
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Stephanie R | 08-28-2016
The internet speed has got to be the best that is offered in this area. What makes them so difficult to keep as the internet provider is the billing. There customer service department has not been an impressive group of people. The installation guy came, set up the line, when he was done, he didnt stay around to see if the modem was working properly. I had to hook the modem up myself without any instruction from him or yhe box the modem came in.
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George H | 08-24-2016
I requested information by email on the data speed delivered to my home. The answer was that they could not discuss account information with email. I have to assume that is to avoid having the true speed revealed in writing since knowing the true speed reveals nothing related to my account. It does reveal there may be a big difference between what is promised & what is delivered.
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Mary V | 06-27-2016
Absolutely impossible to communicate with these people. They have never responded to my emails. If I have a fast internet connection it is the slowest fast I have ever experienced. Looking, looking, for an alternative now.
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