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Our Lumos internet review
Jun 20, 2023 | Share
Lumos offers fiber internet service across North Carolina and Virginia. The friendly local provider has competitive prices and incredibly fast speeds—including 1 Gbps and 2 Gbps plans. Its plans come with unlimited data and don’t require contracts, making for straightforward billing every month. And Lumos’ customer service team is readily available via phone or live chat to address questions or concerns.
Pros
- Fast speeds for low prices
- Symmetrical upload and download speeds
- Great fiber deals in North Carolina and Virginia
- Great customer service
Cons
- Limited availability 2 Gbps plans
- Price increase after one year for promotional plans
Jump to: Plans and pricing | Speed and data caps | Fees | Installation, equipment, and contracts | Customer ratings | Lumos vs. the competition | Bottom line | FAQ
Jump to:
Compare Lumos internet plans and pricing
| Package | Price | Speed | View on Lumos site |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200 Mbps | $40.00/mo.* | 200 Mbps | Shop Plans |
| 500 Mbps | $50.00/mo.* | 500 Mbps | Shop Plans |
| 1 Gig | $70.00/mo.* | 1,000 Mbps | Shop Plans |
| 2 Gig | $100.00/mo.* | 2,000 Mbps | Shop Plans |
Lumos speeds: What’s best for you?
All Lumos’s internet plans give you fast speeds—it’s just a question of how fast you want your internet to be.
The 200Mbps plan is best for small- to mid-sized households in which just a handful of people are sharing the same Wi-Fi. For an extra boost, 500 Mbps supports more devices and better handles complex tasks like watching Netflix in 4K UHD, livestreaming, and making video calls on multiple devices at the same time.
The 1,000 Mbps plan is great for connected families and homes outfitted with a high number of smart-home devices, where 10 or more users are often online at the same time. The 2,000 Mbps plan isn’t necessary for most people, but it lets you take care of high-bandwidth tasks while sharing Wi-Fi with great number of fellow users.
Pro tip:
All of Lumos’s plans come with symmetrical upload speeds, ensuring a robust connection for video calls, social media, working over the cloud, and using VR applications.
Lumos data caps
Lumos doesn’t have data caps on any of its plans. You can stream, download, make Zoom calls, and play online games all you want. You don’t have to worry about exceeding a data limit or paying overage fees.
Our favorite plan: Lumos’ gigabit plan gives you the best bang for your buck. It costs $70 a month, making it cheaper than similar plans from major competitors like Spectrum. And it comes with symmetrical upload and download speeds, giving you a massive boost for many work-from-home activities and other bandwidth-heavy undertakings like livestreaming and multiplayer gaming.
Lumos deals and promotions
All Lumos plans come with promotional prices for the first year. So you get a discount of $10 to $20 per month for 12 months before your plan reverts to the normal monthly rate.
Lumos internet fees
| Fee | Cost |
|---|---|
| Total Home Wi-Fi access point | $10.00/mo. for one, $3.00/mo. for each additional access point |
| Installation | $75.00 (free installation for 500, 1, 2 Gig) |
| Regulatory fees | $0.70/mo. |
| Early termination fee | None |
| Data overage fee | None |
Data as of 11/8/2022.
Lumos has fairly standard fees in addition to your monthly bill. You may pay a one-time fee of $75 for professional installation when you sign up. This is waived with some higher-speed promotions, though.
If you want to rent a router from Lumos, then you pay $10 a month for Total Home Wi-Fi and an additional $3 per month for more access points (although you typically don’t need them unless your home is over 3,500 square feet). Lumos Total Home Wi-Fi includes management of your Wi-Fi equipment through a custom app and professional installation to ensure Wi-Fi connectivity in every room of your home.
Your monthly bill also includes a small monthly “regulatory fee” that covers taxes and standard maintenance of Lumos’ network.
Lumos internet installation, equipment, and contracts
When you order internet from Lumos, the provider sends a professional technician to your home to set everything up. Fiber internet isn’t widely available in the United States, so most homes need a pro to lay cabling and set up an optical network terminal. Installation costs a one-time fee of $75, but some plans waive the installation fee.
Lumos installation and equipment
While you can buy your own router to use with Lumos’ internet, you can also rent a router from Lumos if you don’t feel like shopping around and just want your internet straightaway.
The provider’s Total Home Wi-Fi mesh system works similarly to Google Nest Wi-Fi or Eero Home Wi-Fi systems; it uses one or more “Wi-Fi access pods” deployed around the house to expand the reach of your home Wi-Fi signal. Most customers need only one access point, but it’s worth getting additional access points (for $3 a month each) if you live in a large home and have trouble getting Wi-Fi reception in every room.
Extra Wi-Fi access points also let you expand Wi-Fi to your backyard, including structures like a gazebo or pool house that might need it.
Lumos’ Total Home Wi-Fi also allows you to manage your connections and devices through the Lumos Wi-Fi app.
Lumos internet contracts
Lumos doesn’t have annual contracts for any of its plans—you can cancel any time without paying early termination fees. Phew!
How Lumos compares to the competition
| Provider | Plan price range | Speeds (range) | User rating* | Order online |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spectrum | $49.99–$89.99/mo. | Up to 1,000 Mbps (wireless speeds may vary) | 3.7/5.0 | View Spectrum Plans |
| Xfinity | $30.00–$120.00/mo. | 75–2,000 Mbps | 3.7/5.0 | View Xfinity Plans |
| CenturyLink | $30.00–$75.00/mo. | 100–940 Mbps | 3.6/5.0 | |
| Verizon | $49.99–$94.99/mo. | 300–2,300 Mbps | 3.9/5.0 | |
| AT&T | $55.00–$250.00/mo. | 25–5,000 Mbps | 3.7/5.0 | View AT&T Plans |
*According to our annual customer satisfaction survey.
Data as of 02/14/2023. Prices and availability may vary by area and are subject to change.
Lumos has clearly done its homework because the provider holds its own alongside much bigger rivals in Virginia and North Carolina. The biggest internet provider in the region is Spectrum. Lumos’ gigabit plan costs $20 less per month than Spectrum’s, and its basic plan costs $10 less per month. Spectrum’s cable connection also can’t get you symmetrical upload speeds like Lumos can.
Major providers like Xfinity, AT&T, and Verizon—which also have big footprints in this part of the States—all boast multigigabit plans, some of which breeze past Lumos with top speeds ranging from 5,000 to 6,000 Mbps. Nobody really needs internet that fast, but if you do want multigig speeds for whatever reason, Lumos can deliver the goods with 2,000 Mbps capabilities. And it costs $20 less per month than Verizon’s similarly-paced 2 Gbps plan, so that’s cool.
Is Lumos internet right for you?
It’s always tempting to stick with major brand names when choosing an internet plan, but Lumos is a regional provider that ticks off all the boxes and then some. The fiber provider gives you the same speeds, reliability, and competitive prices of the nationally recognized providers while adding in symmetrical upload speed that cable providers can’t. They also have regular promotions and locally based customer service. With prices starting at just $40 a month, Lumos is the right pick whether you’re looking for something basic or a bit more deluxe.
FAQ about Lumos
What are the best routers for Lumos internet?
You can’t go wrong with Lumos’ Total Home Wi-Fi program, which costs a standard fee of $10 per month for its Wi-Fi router, professional setup, and more.
But you also have the option to get your own router to use with its service. The Google Nest Wi-Fi System is a great pick. It’s easy to set up, supports fast speeds, and provides mesh networking for large homes and wider spaces (like a backyard).
Here’s some other resources to find the best router for you:
- Best Wi-Fi Routers
- Best Routers for Parental Controls
- Best Long-Range Routers
- Best Routers for Online Gaming
Methodology
Our HighSpeedInternet.com editorial team bases our analyses on customer input from our annual customer satisfaction survey, results from our speed test tool, and proprietary internet provider data on speeds and pricing. To strengthen our research, we look closely at provider contracts to get hard-to-find information on price hikes, data caps, and extra fees, and we keep tabs on the latest news reports and online reviews. When applicable, we also rely on our personal experiences testing these services.
Disclaimers
*Limited time offer; subject to change or end without notice. Offer is available to new residential accounts in all Lumos markets where fiber is available only.
