Mediacom Internet Review: Plans, Pricing, Speed and Availability Compared - CNET

Mediacom's Xtream Internet offers gigabit speeds and fast uploads for a cable provider, but it's not CNET's first choice among ISPs. We'll explain why.

Article updated on October 20, 2024 at 5:00 AM PDT

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We score internet providers for speed, value and customer care. Our data sources include the FCC, J.D. Power, The American Customer Satisfaction Index and extensive in-house research.

Despite Mediacom's recent improvements to speeds and terms of service, you may be better off getting internet from other midsize providers like Optimum and WideOpenWest. Mediacom offers speeds of up to a gigabit for most households, but your monthly bill will increase significantly in the second year, which could make you want to consider some things before signing up. If Xtream is your only option over DSL or satellite offerings, here's everything you need to know before signing up.

Mediacom is the fifth-largest cable internet service provider in the U.S., available predominantly in the Midwest and Southwest across 22 states. Xtream, Mediacom's home internet service, competes with the likes of Astound, Cox, Spectrum and Xfinity for internet customers, boasting speeds up to 1 gigabit at competitive prices. With plans that offer upload speeds up to 50Mbps, Xtream beats out the 35Mbps or so offered by cable giant Spectrum.

Mediacom continues to compete against larger internet provider companies, announcing the launch of Mediacom Mobile in July 2024, a mobile virtual network that uses Verizon cell towers to offer phone service for an additional $15 to $40 a month in rural areas. In May, Mediacom announced higher speed tiers and higher data caps, aiming to deliver on a promise to provide consistent, quick speeds to its customers in rural areas. Additionally, Mediacom replaced its Connect2Complete Plus plan with Xtream Connect, an affordable broadband option for families participating in the National School Lunch Program. Your household can apply for the program if you participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program, Medicaid, SSI and other federal programs.

Locating local internet providers

These are all positive developments, but here's why we think Xtream isn't perfect. For starters, the price of the fastest plan doubles with an increase of $70 after the first year. Additionally, Mediacom consistently ranks poorly in customer service surveys. In the latest J.D. Power customer satisfaction index, Mediacom ranked at the bottom for the North Central region. The latest American Customer Satisfaction Index data tells a similar story, with Mediacom ranking well below the industry's ISP average with a decreased score from the previous year. That might be due to Mediacom's monthly data caps, which are a tight 400GB for the 250Mbps speed tier.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data

Locating local internet providers

With Mediacom's Xtream Internet, you can choose between four contract-free plans. Mediacom recently rolled out its 2,000Mbps tier, though it's available to only a select few. Most customers will only have access to Xtream's 1,000Mbps plan as the fastest speed. Unlimited data is available only for the 1,000Mbps tier, while lower tier plans have monthly data caps of 400GB to 2TB.

Mediacom features a one-year price lock for most plans, the exception being the Xtream Connect plan, which has a fixed rate of $15 a month. For all other plans, you can expect your monthly bill to double once the promo period ends.

CNET's top pick is the Xtream Internet 500 plan because it offers faster download speeds and fast upload speeds for a cable provider with a more generous data cap than Xtream Internet 250. In addition, there's only a one-cent difference in the cost per Mbps between the 500Mbps plan, at 9 cents per Mbps, and the 250Mbps plan, which is 8 cents. After a year of service, your monthly rate will increase significantly. For instance, the fastest plan will increase from a cost per Mbps of 6 cents to 13 cents in the second year.

Mediacom's internet coverage extends across 22 states.

As the nation's fifth-largest cable provider, Mediacom's home internet service is available to 1,500 communities nationwide. Coverage includes 22 states, primarily in the Midwest and concentrated in Iowa and northern Indiana, but also has availability in a smattering of regions in the Gulf Coast, the Eastern Seaboard, California and Arizona.

Major metro areas in that coverage map include:

You'll also find Mediacom's Xtream internet services across a wide range of rural pockets near places like Apache Junction, Arizona; Clearlake, California; Decatur, Indiana; Elizabeth City, North Carolina and Murray, Kentucky.

According to the founder, chairman and CEO of Mediacom, Rocco B. Commisso, the company's mission is to "Deliver faster internet speeds, build larger fiber networks and offer superior products and services at an affordable price."

For an internet provider known for its cable internet offerings, mentioning fiber in a mission statement is surprising. Mediacom's Internet infrastructure consists almost entirely of cable connections, offering about 2.153 unit coverage per the latest data from the Federal Communications Commission. It does have a small fiber network, about 0.003% of unit coverage.

According to the Federal Communications Commission, Mediacom's internet infrastructure consists almost entirely of cable hookups.

"Across all areas, network engineers and their tech teams have been adding nodes, building out more fiber and expanding capacity," a Mediacom spokesperson explained when I asked about the company's plans for fiber. That's more about bolstering the existing cable connections than establishing new, dedicated fiber connections. Still, Mediacom adds that genuine fiber-to-the-home hookups are in the works "for some projects that build to new communities."

In September, the company announced that it had expanded its fiber network to over 250 homes in Grand Ridge, Illinois. Moreover, residents in LaSalle County can access download speeds of up to 2 gigabits per second for a promotional price of $85 (which jumps to $160 after one year).

At any rate, as a cable internet provider, Mediacom does impress by offering customers gigabit download speeds as high as 1,000Mbps (1Gbps), much faster than you can expect from DSL providers, satellite or fixed wireless internet. Unlike fiber, your upload speeds will be much, much slower with a cable connection, which can be noticeable if you're trying to upload large files to the web or join a high-res video call. Mediacom is one pace ahead of competing cable providers by offering upload speeds of 50Mbps and 100Mbps for its 1-gig and 2-gig plans. Spectrum and Xfinity have some catching up to do in that regard.

Mediacom's Xtream internet offerings are simple and relatively straightforward, with mainly four plans from which to choose. The price of most plans doubles after one year; although most cable providers have price increases after a promotional period, Mediacom has a pretty high one. The exception is the Xtream Connect plan, which has a standard rate of $15 per month (if you use your own modem) or $29 monthly if you decide to lease a modem with Mediacom.

The further price increase means the gigabit plan goes from a cost-per-Mbps of 6 cents during your first year to 13 cents after 12 months with a price jump of $65 in the second year of service. On top of that, Mediacom's Xtream internet plans come with additional monthly fees, but we'll discuss those more later.

The pricing is roughly on par with Mediacom's biggest rivals in the cable category. It varies by region, but Comcast Xfinity's gigabit plan goes from 7 cents per Mbps during year 1 to 10 cents after year 2. Meanwhile, gigabit service from Cox and Spectrum rings at around 12 cents per Mbps after the one-year promo rates expire. The other midsize cable providers of note, Optimum and WideOpenWest, offer gigabit plans at better prices than Mediacom, with WOW's gigabit plan coming in at $70 per month after the promo rate expires. That's 7 cents per Mbps and a superb value for a regular price for cable internet.

Mediacom's plans in the middle offer questionable value as well. Take the Internet 250 plan, which offers download speeds of up to 250Mbps and uploads up to 20Mbps for $20 per month during your first year and $50 per month after that. The pricing's not bad, but I must note that the 250Mbps plan comes with Mediacom's most restrictive data cap -- 400GB per month.

Depending on where you live, a 150Mbps cable plan from Xfinity might cost you $56 per month after the promo rate expires, but with a much more reasonable 1.2TB data cap. Meanwhile, WOW Internet offers a 300Mbps plan with a cheaper standard rate in comparison to Mediacom's lowest plan; on top of that, WOW Internet offers unlimited data.

Admittedly, you can't really comparison-shop between cable providers; you're usually limited to what provider offers service in your area. Still, after looking at the numbers, it's clear that Mediacom's prices run on the higher side. If it were my provider, I'd be prepared to point out the gulfs in pricing with its competitors when I would inevitably call to try to negotiate a better deal.

Mediacom's service includes data caps but no contracts are required. If you look closer, there are a few other details that you should be aware of before signing up. Let's examine further.

Mediacom enforces data caps for most of its Xtream internet plans. The specific, monthly data allotment varies from plan to plan, and if you exceed it in a given month, you'll start incurring penalties.

With the gigabit plan, you get unlimited data, so customers don't have to worry about paying data overage fees for this particular plan. Meanwhile, the Internet 500 plan brings the cap down to 2,000GB (2TB), but that's still quite generous and more than enough for most households.

Less reasonable is the entry-level 250Mbps plan, which comes with a data cap of just 400GB. While this might seem more promising than the 350GB that Mediacom used to have, 400GB still falls short of what the average home uses in a month these days. It is also more restrictive than what you'll get with any other cable plan that we've written about to date. According to OpenVault's 2024 second-quarter report, the average US household consumption has grown in the last five years from 300GB to 585GB of data per month.

Even the data caps with Sparklight's cheapest plan are more generous than Xtream's. The only data caps we've seen that are tighter than what you get with Xtream's 250Mbps plan are those on satellite internet plans from Hughesnet.

As for penalties, Mediacom will charge you $10 for every 50GB block of data used over the cap -- and unlike most providers that enforce data caps, I see nothing in the fine print that limits the total amount in penalties you can rack up in a given month.

Let's get into the fine print with an Xtream internet plan. It's a big plus that Mediacom doesn't tie you down to a contract with any of its plans, so you don't have to worry about early termination fees. There is a hefty installation fee of $110 plus a $10 activation charge when you start service. Mediacom often waives the installation fee during promotional periods but don't be surprised if you find it on your first bill.

Xtream home internet also requires a compatible DOCSIS 3.1 modem. Mediacom will happily lease you a modem/router gateway for $14 per month, but you can skip that fee if you already have one of your own.

Mediacom also supplies a Wi-Fi Extender (specifically, the WiFi360 Pro) with two Eero Wi-Fi units for one year.

If you live in a large home and need additional Eero extenders, you can add them for an additional $5 per month. Read CNET's top picks on the best Wi-Fi extenders.

Customers are also subject to late fees of $10, though that fee differs for customers from California ($6.25), Apache Junction, Arizona ($4.15) and Nogales, Arizona ($6.50).

Mediacom's Xtream ranked bottom in 2024 for customer satisfaction in the North Central.

Organizations that track customer satisfaction metrics tend to agree that Mediacom is below average in the internet provider category. That's certainly the case with J.D. Power, which tracks customer satisfaction across four regions in the U.S. According to the latest J.D. Power Survey, Mediacom scored 465 points (out of 1,000) in the North Central division. That earned it a last-place finish, 56 points below the region average of 521.

Meanwhile, the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index data tells a similar story. Mediacom scored 61 points out of 100, a 4-point drop from 2023. With its current score, Mediacom falls behind the average of an industry that struggles with low numbers as a whole.

Mediacom's Xtream home internet is a valid option for a fast connection at home, but the plans don't offer value that's as good as what you'll get from fiber or other cable providers across the country, and you'll have to put up with a data cap for most plans. You can trim down your monthly bill by using your own equipment, and Mediacom tends to waive its installation fee, but otherwise, there's not much to get excited about here.

Still, Mediacom offers gigabit speeds in many markets that don't have an abundance of other options -- and its cable plans are worth it over the likes of DSL, satellite or fixed wireless. You have to take the good with the bad with any ISP, and Mediacom is no different. It's just a shame that the plans don't come at a better value.

Does Mediacom's Xtream internet plans come with unlimited data?

It depends on the plan that you choose. Most of Mediacom's Xtream internet plans will come with a data cap that ranges from 400GB to 2TB. The exception is the gigabit plan, which offers unlimited data. Otherwise, the three plans will come with data caps, and exceeding your monthly data limit will result in reduced upload speeds or paying data overage fees.

Is Mediacom Xtream internet service cheap?

Mediacom Xtream Internet offers a $20-per-month plan for 250Mbps in the first year. Like many cable providers, once the promo period ends, its rate can increase from $30 to $60 a month in the second year. If your household participates in qualifying programs like SNAP, Medicaid or SSI, you can get Xtream Connect. It features 100Mbps of cable internet a month for just $19, including the cost of the modem rental.

Is Mediacom Xtream internet fast?

It depends on what's available at your address. For the most part, customers have access to Mediacom's Xtream internet gigabit plan, which features 1,000Mbps in download speeds and 50Mbps in upload. Unlike Spectrum's gigabit plan, Xtream internet has faster upload speeds, topping Spectrum's 35Mbps.

Does Mediacom Xtream internet offer fiber?

Yes, but its fiber network is very limited at present. In September, Mediacom made strides in continuing its fiber expansion to residents in Grand Ridge, Illinois. According to the latest data from the FCC, its fiber-optic connections reach only 0.003% of households nationwide.