Spectrum vs. Frontier

Compare Spectrum and Frontier head to head

Spectrum and Frontier primarily address two different markets: Spectrum provides cable internet and Frontier supplies mostly DSL internet. If you have access to both, Frontier would be your cheaper, slower option unless you have access to the company’s fiber internet service.

Pros and cons: Spectrum vs. Frontier

Jump to: Plans and pricing | Extra fees | Customer ratings | Bundles | Internet connection types | Data caps | Contracts | Installation | Availability

Jump to:

• Plans and pricing
• Extra fees
• Customer ratings
• Bundles
• Internet connection types
• Data caps
• Contracts
• Installation
• Availability

Plans and pricing: Spectrum vs. Frontier

Spectrum plans and pricing

Spectrum has the upper hand in offering faster speeds on its most basic plan. But Frontier’s DSL internet is accessible in rural areas where Spectrum doesn’t reach.

Spectrum’s Internet Ultra and Internet Gig plans compete with Frontier’s Fiber Internet 500 and Fiber Gig plans. Frontier’s fiber internet is still relatively scarce, though, so Spectrum may be your only high-speed option until Frontier brings fiber internet to your area—if at all.

Spectrum is the more expensive provider of the two for the long term. Frontier doesn’t have discounted pricing, so you’ll pay $59.99 per month for at least three years for up to 500 Mbps. Spectrum’s 400 Mbps plan increases to $94.99 after 12 months, so you’ll get more for less with Frontier. But again, Frontier’s fiber is so scarce that comparing the two seems like a moot point.

But while Spectrum may be more expensive after the first year, it doesn’t enforce contracts. Frontier doesn’t have a contract with its DSL service, but you must sign a one-year contract if you want Frontier’s fiber.

Frontier plans and pricing

When comparing Frontier’s lowest-tier plan with Spectrum’s base plan, Frontier is expensive at first glance. For instance, Frontier’s DSL internet plan supports up to 115 Mbps for $49.99 per month, while Spectrum’s cable Internet plan supports up to 200 Mbps for $49.99 per month for the first 12 months. After a year, Spectrum’s plan increases to $74.99 per month—the same price you’d pay for Frontier’s Fiber Gig plan.

Frontier’s Fiber Gig matches Spectrum’s Internet Gig service in speed, but it’s $15 cheaper during Spectrum’s promotional period and $40 cheaper after a year. Even Frontier’s Fiber Internet 500 plan is faster and more affordable than Spectrum’s Internet Ultra plan.

Of the two providers, Frontier has the fastest plan with its Fiber 2 Gig service. Unfortunately, Frontier’s fiber network is still highly limited in availability, but the company plans to reach at least 10 million locations by the end of 2025.³

Keep in mind that Frontier’s fiber plans require a one-year contract, whereas Spectrum’s cable plans do not. An early termination fee applies if you decide to cancel Frontier’s fiber service before the year ends.

Extra fees: Spectrum vs. Frontier

Other than the WiFi charge, Spectrum doesn’t tack on a lot of extra fees. Even if you cancel your service before the 12-month promotional pricing period ends, Spectrum won’t penalize you with an early termination fee.

Frontier offers free activation for now, which normally costs up to $85. There’s also no equipment fee—Frontier raised the prices to cover the cost. New to Frontier’s list of other fees is the monthly charge for a paper bill, which began in April 2022.

Customer ratings: Spectrum vs. Frontier

Spectrum ranked lower in our annual customer satisfaction survey than it did in the previous year. Its largest declines were in speed satisfaction and reliability. However, 87% of those surveyed confirmed that their speeds usually or always met their needs. On reliability, 67% of respondents said they “never” or “not often” experienced outages.

Our survey for 2021 didn’t have enough respondents to add Frontier to the list. However, Frontier did well in the previous year, scoring 4.0 in speed satisfaction and 3.8 in reliability, outranking Spectrum’s current scores. Both providers saw low scores in pricing no matter the year, indicating that customers weren’t completely satisfied with the price of their internet plan or bundle.

Best TV and internet bundles

Frontier currently doesn’t offer a TV service for new customers. Instead, the company partnered with DISH to provide DSL and satellite TV bundles. Both bundles include local channels and start you with a three-month trial of the DISH Movie Pack™ Online TV service, which usually costs $30 per month.

Spectrum doesn’t have discounted bundles. Instead, you can pair its TV Select service with one of its three cable internet plans. Both services have a discount for the first 12 months, but all premium channels are extra. You’ll also see a broadcasting surcharge of up to $20 per month.

Internet types: Spectrum vs. Frontier

Spectrum offers cable internet, which relies on coaxial cable that’s typically already installed in homes and apartments. Cable internet providers like Spectrum and Xfinity currently limit their speeds to around 1,000 Mbps.

Frontier’s primary market is digital subscriber line (DSL) internet, which uses telephone wires that are also typically already installed in homes and apartments. DSL can reach 115 Mbps, making it a slower and cheaper alternative to cable internet.

Frontier’s ace up the sleeve is its fiber internet service, however. While limited in availability, fiber-optic cables provide symmetrical upload and download speeds—that means you can watch a YouTube video just as fast as you can upload one.

In contrast, coaxial cable connections provided by Spectrum have fast download speeds but extremely slow uploads. If you often transfer large files to the cloud, Frontier’s FiberOptic 500 and Gig plans would be ideal.

Data caps: Spectrum vs. Frontier

With Spectrum and Frontier, you won’t see data caps like other internet providers. You get unlimited data, which translates to no monthly overage fees and no monthly charges for unrestricted access. They also don’t intentionally throttle your connection, no matter how much you download—the data spigot remains wide open every month.

Contracts: Spectrum vs. Frontier

Spectrum doesn’t enforce a contract. Instead, it offers a discount for the first 12 months. But even though prices go up after that, customers can cancel internet service after one month without penalty.

Frontier’s DSL service doesn’t appear to have a contract. However, all three fiber plans require a one-year agreement. Discounted pricing for the Fiber Internet 500 and Fiber Gig plans end after 12 and 36 months, respectively—there’s no discount with the Fiber 2 Gig plan. A two-year commitment comes into play when you bundle Frontier Internet with DISH.

Installation: Spectrum vs. Frontier

Both companies offer a self-installation option. Spectrum charges $19.99 to self-install but doesn’t charge a monthly equipment rental fee. Frontier doesn’t have a self-install charge nor does it have a monthly equipment rental fee. You can even get a free pro install with Frontier if you order service online.

For now, Spectrum encourages new customers to use the self-install kit over requesting for a pro install due to COVID-19. The pro install option is still available for new installations, rewiring, moving the router, and similar scenarios.

Availability: Spectrum vs. Frontier

Most of Spectrum’s market resides in North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, New York, and Maine. There are scattered chunks of coverage in California, Texas, Florida, and several other states. Overall, Spectrum commands a decent market in the eastern and central time zones.

Frontier’s primary target is in rural areas. Its DSL service is available in 25 states, mainly in the Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest. Its Frontier Fiber Internet is limited to portions of California, Florida, Indiana, and Texas. Frontier expects to expand its fiber-to-the-premises service in California by 350,000 locations over the next six years.²

Final call: Spectrum vs. Frontier

Spectrum provides cable internet, and Frontier supplies mostly DSL internet. If you have access to both, Frontier’s DSL internet is your cheaper but slower option. It’s ideal if you use the internet only for things like email, banking, and social media. 

If you’re streaming games or UHD content, Spectrum’s cable internet plans and Frontier’s fiber internet plans are the better options (although Frontier offers more megabits for your dollar with its fiber plans). If you need to upload large files, consider Frontier’s fiber plans if they’re available since the upload and download speeds are identical.

View Spectrum Plans

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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.

Additional resources

• AT&T vs. Spectrum
• DSL vs. Fiber Internet: Which One Is Right for You?
• DSL vs. Cable: Which Is Right for You?
• Xfinity vs. Spectrum
• Xfinity vs. Frontier

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