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

Compare Optimum and Verizon head to head

Optimum and Verizon primarily offer two different types of internet: Optimum supplies mostly cable and some fiber, while Verizon provides mainly fiber and some DSL. If you have access to both fiber networks, we suggest Verizon because it’s your cheaper option for the long term. If you can’t get fiber, Optimum’s cable internet is your only alternative of the two.

Pros and cons: Optimum vs. Verizon

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: Optimum vs. Verizon

Optimum plans and pricing

Optimum is mostly a cable internet provider with some fiber. Parent company Altice USA rebranded its other Suddenlink network as Optimum, so the brand now covers most of the US. Suddenlink was best known for cable internet in rural areas, while Optimum focused on cable and fiber in the New York tri-state area.

With both networks combined. Altice USA condensed its cable and fiber plan lineup. The starting prices are lower than Verizon’s, but Optimum’s prices increase substantially after the first year. For example, the 300 Mbps Internet plan costs $109.99 per month after the first year, making Verizon a better deal for the long term.

Verizon plans and pricing

Verizon now has a smaller footprint when you compare it with Optimum. However, its fiber-to-the-home service is now considerably larger than its DSL service (which new customers can’t get), with 6.9 million fiber connections as of July 2023. In contrast, Optimum has around 1.2 million fiber connections in the same area.

Verizon’s Internet 2 Gig is hard to get, too, just like Optimum’s 5 Gig Internet plan, offered only in small parts of New York City.

Extra fees: Optimum vs. Verizon

*With online order

Verizon is the clear winner here with a cheaper late payment fee and waived setup charge if you order online.

But we give Optimum kudos for making its fees transparent on its website. According to the list, Optimum’s TV broadcast fee is cheaper than what we see with other providers, costing just $15.00 per month.

Customer ratings: Optimum vs Verizon

Verizon has the second-highest rating for overall customer satisfaction among 15 national internet providers in our latest customer satisfaction survey. In fact, it ranks within the top three across the board, with reliability and speed satisfaction as its strongest points. You simply can’t go wrong with Verizon’s fiber internet.

We can’t paint the same pretty picture with Optimum. It has rock-bottom scores in customer satisfaction and price, the latter of which isn’t surprising given Optimum’s steep price hikes after the introductory pricing. It ranks slightly better in reliability, speed, and overall satisfaction, but not by much. Verizon’s fiber is by far the better pick if you can get it, hands down.

Best TV and internet bundles

Optimum’s four TV and internet bundles are based on its Core TV service with 220 channels, and its Premier TV service with 420 channels. Optimum pairs these TV services with its 300 Mbps Internet and 1 Gig Internet plans. Three of the four bundles include cable or fiber internet, while the 300 Mbps Internet + Core TV bundle is fiber only.

Optimum also provides six additional bundles if you need phone service, too, starting at $34.99 per month.

Verizon has only four Mix & Match options starting at $134.99 per month. The cheapest bundle includes 125+ channels and 300Mbps fiber internet speeds. For $20 more, you can double the bandwidth to 500Mbps, depending on where you live.

Internet types: Optimum vs. Verizon

DSL internet sends electrical signals over copper telephone wires. It’s the slowest of the three connection types, supporting up to 140Mbps.

Optimum uses copper coaxial cable lines to deliver internet over unused TV channels. Cable provides more bandwidth than telephone lines, supporting up to 10,000Mbps download speeds thanks to the DOCSIS 3.1 and 4 standards.

Fiber internet uses LED and laser pulses to deliver data across glass filaments at speeds up to 10,000Mbps. It’s the most reliable of the three types and supports symmetrical speeds—unlike cable and DSL—making it your go-to choice if it’s available in your area.

Data caps: Optimum vs. Verizon

There’s nothing to report here. Verizon and Optimum don’t enforce data caps, so there are no overage fees or a hidden “unlimited data” charge on your monthly bill. By comparison, Xfinity caps data at 1.2 TB unless you opt for the $30 monthly charge to remove the data cap.

But Optimum does have an excessive use policy. If a subscriber’s data consumption is “wholly uncharacteristic of a typical user,” such as excessive peer-to-peer application use or large FTP uploads and downloads, Optimum will throttle the bandwidth.

For you, that means Optimum won’t punish all customers with data caps. But if you become an excessive data hog, expect your connection to slow substantially.

Contracts: Optimum vs. Verizon

Both Verizon and Optimum do not enforce annual contracts or early termination fees. However, Optimum drops its discounts when your service reaches its 13th month.

Installation: Optimum vs. Verizon

*With online order

With Optimum’s standard installation, a technician will install up to two outlets and set up one wireless device. The premium installation includes up to three outlets, setting up all wireless devices, and connecting one wired (Ethernet) device: smart TV, game console, computer, or alarm system.

Availability: Optimum vs. Verizon

Optimum has wider availability now that Suddenlink is part of the Optimum brand. It covers 21 states, from California to Texas to North Carolina to New York. Most of what it offers is cable internet, with some fiber in the New York tri-state area and in small spots across the nation—around 2.66 million fiber connections as of Q2 2023. Around 72% of its “Optimum East” footprint has access to multi-gig speeds, the company claims.

Verizon’s residential fiber service is available in key metro areas in Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington, DC. The company reported 17.1 million fiber connections in Q1 2023.

Final call: Optimum vs. Verizon

Pick Verizon if you want affordable fiber internet. It has a wider reach with more than 6 million homes versus Optimum’s over 1 million. Verizon is slightly more expensive at the start, sure, but it becomes your cheaper option for the long term once Optimum’s promotional period ends.⁵

If there’s no fiber internet in your area and you need lots of download speed, Optimum’s cable internet is the only option of the two providers—Verizon doesn’t offer DSL service to new customers.

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.

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