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Sparklight vs. Verizon: Which Internet Provider Is Best for You?

Verizon brings rock solid fiber and 5G connections, while Sparklight packs in a ton of value with its new Freedom Connect internet plans.

  • Best for Variety
    • Customer rating: 3.8
    • Price: $34.95–$99.00/mo.
    • Speed: 100–2,000Mbps
    • Internet type: Cable
    • Data cap: 700GB–unlimited
    • Contracts: Month to month
  • Best for Speed
    • Customer rating: 3.9
    • Price: $49.99–$109.99/mo.† w/ Auto Pay
    • Speed: 300–2,300Mbps
    • Internet type: Fiber, 5G fixed wireless
    • Data cap: Unlimited
    • Contracts: Month to month

Compare Sparklight and Verizon head to head

Sparklight and Verizon are both great internet service providers, but Verizon pulls ahead with top-notch fiber internet service, excellent customer ratings, and perks like unlimited data. You may be able to get a great deal from Sparklight, too, but plans go up in price after a year and you have to factor in extra charges for Wi-Fi equipment.

Pros and cons: Sparklight vs. Verizon

Pros:

  • No contracts
  • Unlimited data
  • Inexpensive installation
  • Pay-as-you-go options

Cons:

  • Regional plan differences
  • Sudden price hikes
  • Monthly equipment charges

Pros:

  • Unlimited data
  • No contracts
  • Symmetrical speeds (fiber only)
  • High customer ratings

Cons:

  • Limited fiber availability
  • Expensive install (waived if ordered online)

What Sparklight or Verizon plans are in your area?

Take a look by typing in your zip code below.

Plans and pricing: Sparklight vs. Verizon

When comparing the value between these two providers, it all depends on how much speed you need. For the cheapest plans, Verizon offers more for the money. Beyond that, it gets more confusing.

Some Sparklight plans offer low prices, great speeds, and unlimited data. Others have higher prices. To muddy the water even further, Sparklight’s plan offerings change depending on where you live.

Also, keep an eye out for Sparklight’s tiny promotional period; some plans see big price hikes in as little as three months. We list starting prices, but you should look for your broadband nutrition label during checkout to see what your post-promo price will be.

Verizon has a more straightforward pricing scheme, offering both fiber and 5G fixed wireless internet plans—all with unlimited data.

Sparklight plans and pricing

PackagePriceSpeedData capDetails
Connect Internet 100 $39.95/mo.*
for the first 12 mos.
Up to 100MbpsUnlimitedView Plans
Freedom Connect 300 $39.95/mo.
for the first 12 mos.
Up to 300MbpsUnlimitedView Plans
Freedom Connect 500 $49.00/mo.
for the first 24 mos.
Up to 500MbpsUnlimitedView Plans
Freedom Connect 600 $54.95/mo.§
for the first 12 mos.
Up to 600MbpsUnlimitedView Plans
Freedom Connect Gig $69.00/mo.
for the first 24 mos.
Up to 940MbpsUnlimitedView Plans
Freedom Internet 2 Gig $99.00/mo.#
for the first 24 mos.
Up to 2,000MbpsUnlimitedView Plans
300 Mbps $99.00/mo.#
for the first 24 mos.
300Mbps700GBView Plans
600 Mbps $44.95/mo.††
for the first 12 mos.
600Mbps1,500GBView Plans
1 Gig $59.95/mo.‡‡
for the first 12 mos.
Up to 940MbpsUnlimitedView Plans

Sparklight’s best deals are, without a doubt, its Freedom Connect internet plans. Our favorites are the Freedom Connect 600 and Freedom Connect Gig. Each offers a lot of bandwidth for the money and unlimited data.

Verizon plans and pricing

PackagePrice*SpeedView on provider site
Fios 300 Mbps $49.99/mo.
w/ Auto Pay
300MbpsView Plan
Fios 500 Mbps $74.99/mo.
w/ Auto Pay
500MbpsView Plan
Fios 1 Gig $89.99/mo.
w/ Auto Pay
Up to 940MbpsView Plan
Fios 2 Gig $109.00/mo.
w/ Auto Pay
Up to 2,300MbpsView Plan
5G Home $60.00/mo.
w/ Auto Pay
Up to 300MbpsView Plan
5G Home
with select 5G mobile plans
$35.00/mo.
w/ Auto Pay
Up to 300MbpsView Plan
5G Home Plus $80.00/mo.
w/ Auto Pay
Up to 1,000MbpsView Plan
5G Home Plus
with select 5G mobile plans
$45.00/mo.
w/ Auto Pay
Up to 1,000MbpsView Plan
LTE Home $60.00/mo.
w/ Auto Pay
Up to 50MbpsView Plan
LTE Home Plus $80.00/mo.
w/ Auto Pay
Up to 50MbpsView Plan

Verizon offers fiber and 5G fixed wireless internet. We recommend going with fiber if it’s available because it’s the fastest and most reliable internet connection you can get. Verizon’s Fios 300 Mbps plan packs the most bang for your buck, with triple the speed of similarly priced Sparklight plans.

If you can’t get Verizon fiber internet, its 5G Home Internet plan is a good option, which delivers the same fast speeds and unlimited data as the Fios 300 Mbps plan. You don’t get the symmetrical bandwidth of fiber—in exchange, you get the convenience of a completely wireless internet setup.

HSI badge deals

Deals and promotions: Sparklight vs. Verizon

Get an Amazon.com gift card loaded with up to $200 when you sign up for a qualifying Fios or 5G Home Internet plan.

Get the Deal

What plans do Verizon and Sparklight offer in your area?

Take a look by typing in your zip code below.

Extra fees: Sparklight vs. Verizon

Equipment feeInstallation feeLate fees
Sparklight$14/mo.$30.00 (activation fee)$8.
VerizonInlcuded$99.00 (waived if ordered online)1.5% of the overdue balance or $7 (whichever is greater)

The biggest difference between Sparklight and Verizon fees is the installation cost. Technically, Verizon’s installation is much more expensive, but it’s easy to avoid by simply ordering your services online. Sparklight’s activation fee is the opposite: It’s not very expensive, but there’s no getting out of it. Sparklight does say it’ll reduce the activation fee if you opt for self installation, but you won’t know if that’s an option until you order your service.

Verizon’s router rental is also a bit more, however, this only applies to its fiber plans. Verizon’s 5G Home Internet comes with a free rental gateway.

Customer ratings: Sparklight vs. Verizon

Overall RatingSpeedPriceReliabilityCustomer service
Sparklight3.83.93.23.73.8
Verizon3.943.643.9

Verizon is one of the top-performing providers in our annual customer satisfaction survey—its reliability ratings have topped the charts for two years in a row. And overall, Verizon customers rated it the second-highest.

That isn’t to say Sparklight didn’t receive good feedback: It consistently placed in the top half of every category. From a customer satisfaction standpoint, both providers are safe bets.

Best TV and internet combos

Internet speedTV channelsPriceView on provider site
Sparklight
Internet 300 Mbps + Standard Sparklight TV Plus
300MbpsUp to 100 channelsStarting at $196.75/mo.*View Plans
Verizon Fios + Fios TV300–2,300Mbps325+ channels$159.98/mo.
combined w/ Auto Pay
View Plan

Verizon doesn’t offer a traditional discount when pairing services. Instead, you can add TV, streaming services, and other perks to your internet service at any time. Verizon’s list of perks includes a Walmart+ membership (with Paramount+), Unlimited Cloud Storage, and more.

Like its internet plans, Sparklight’s bundles vary considerably, depending on your location.

Internet types: Sparklight vs. Verizon

Internet typeView on provider site
SparklightCableView Plans
VerizonFiber, 5G fixed wirelessView Plans

Verizon offers fiber and 5G fixed wireless internet, which are very different. Fiber internet runs over fiber-optic cables. It’s capable of faster speeds (especially upload speed), lower latency, and better reliability compared to cable internet. But it’s also harder to find. Fiber infrastructure is expensive, so its availability is limited.

Verizon’s 5G fixed wireless internet runs via cell towers. Because the service is completely wireless, fixed wireless internet is easy to set up and maintain—you can usually set it up yourself without much trouble. Additionally, fixed wireless internet received the highest ratings in our annual customer satisfaction survey.

Sparklight provides cable internet, which is the primary internet type in the U.S. It’s also very fast and reliable, and because it uses the same infrastructure used previously for cable TV, it’s widely available.

All in all, you probably wouldn’t notice a big difference between any of these three internet types, but if you have a choice, fiber is the best and most robust type of internet connection you can get.

Data caps: Sparklight vs. Verizon

Data CapView on provider site
SparklightUnlimitedView Plans
VerizonUnlimited*View Plans

You won’t be counting gigabytes whether you go with Verizon or Sparklight. Both offer unlimited data on all plans. 

Contracts: Sparklight vs. Verizon

Contract lengthView on provider site
SparklightMonth to monthView Plans
VerizonMonth to monthView Plans

Both Verizon and Sparklight offer month to month contracts that you can cancel at any time, and Sparklight also offers sweet pay-as-you-go plans.

Installation: Sparklight vs. Verizon

Installation optionsView on provider site
Sparklight
  • $30 activation fee (reduced for self-install)
View Plans
Verizon
  • $99 professional install (waived if ordered online)

  • Self install available for 5G Home Internet
View Plans

Verizon’s installation is more expensive, but you can order your service online, which waives the fee. Sparklight’s installation fee is technically an activation fee. You can’t get out of it, but Sparklight will reduce the activation fee if you opt for a self-installation.

Availability: Sparklight vs. Verizon

According to the FCC, Sparklight’s cable internet is available mostly in the South and the Midwest, with smaller coverage areas in the Southwest, Idaho, and North Dakota.

Verizon’s Fios Fiber Internet is limited to the north eastern parts of the U.S, with huge coverage areas in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

Verizon’s 5G Home Internet has an incredibly vast coverage area that spans across the entire U.S.

To see if Sparklight or Verizon is in your area, enter your zip code below:

Final call: Sparklight vs. Verizon

We recommend you go with Verizon Fios (fiber) internet if you can get it. There’s just too much value to ignore with its great speeds, unlimited data, and symmetrical bandwidth—all backed by a fiber connection with one of the nation’s top-rated ISPs.

The choice between Verizon 5G Home Internet and Sparklight isn’t as easy. If you can’t get one of Sparklight’s Freedom Connect plans, you’re better off with Verizon’s 5G. Sparklight’s other plans are a bit more expensive than Verizon’s 5G, but the connection is likely to be a bit more stable.

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.

Author -

Austin worked as a broadband technician installing and troubleshooting countless home internet networks for some of the largest ISPs in the U.S. He became a freelance writer in 2020 specializing in software guides. After graduating with a BS in technical communication from Arizona State University, he joined the team at HighSpeedInternet.com where he focuses on home network improvement and troubleshooting.

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