WOW Web Overview: Plans, Pricing, Velocity and Availability In contrast

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Execs

• Among the best pricing for a cable ISP
• No contracts
• 30-day money-back assure
• Limitless knowledge on all plans

Cons

• Restricted availability, simply six states
• Service interruptions generally is a bit too frequent, relying on location

WOW web overview

No, my caps lock did not get caught. WideOpenWest, which prefers to go by WOW, is a cable and fiber web service supplier that operates in 16 markets within the Midwest and Southeast US. Based on the corporate’s newest quarterly report, WOW’s service is on the market to almost 2 million houses. Protection extends throughout six states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, South Carolina and Tennessee.

WOW presents prospects a hybrid coaxial cable/fiber-optic web reference to obtain speeds starting from 100 megabits per second to 1.2 gigabits (1,200Mbps) with plans to proceed increasing its fiber community. Final month, WOW introduced that an all-fiber connection is now out there in 5 new cities in Central Florida. Residents of Longwood, Sanlando Springs, Lake Mary, Winter Springs and Sanford can now entry blazing symmetrical obtain and add speeds.

In the event you’re residing in one of many six states the place service is on the market, WOW often is the most suitable choice at your tackle. Initially, the value is correct: WOW is likely one of the extra reasonably priced cable suppliers within the US, with comparatively well-priced plans that simply exceed broadband speeds. On high of that, WOW will not lock you right into a long-term service contract, and your connection comes with a 30-day money-back assure. If a fiber connection is on the market at your tackle, that is nonetheless the best way to go, however in any other case, there’s quite a bit to love about WOW’s house web service. Let’s discover.

Word that each one costs mentioned within the chart embody the $10 autopay low cost included in WOW’s plan; when you select to choose out of WOW’s autopay pricing, your month-to-month price will likely be larger.

Finest WOW web plans and pricing

Supply: CNET evaluation of supplier knowledge

You’ll be able to select between 4 of WOW’s important choices, all of which function an asymmetrical hybrid fiber-coaxial cable connection. The reliance on coaxial cable infrastructure implies that your obtain speeds will likely be a lot larger than the add speeds.

The beginning plan options obtain speeds of 300 megabits per second and 20Mbps in add. Cable giants like Spectrum and Xfinity provide comparable plans however fall quick on add speeds, coming in at round 10Mbps.

Our high choose is WOW’s gigabit plan as a result of it presents the very best worth. The gigabit plan contains a price per Mbps of 5 cents, which is the most cost effective compared to the opposite velocity tiers. Whichever plan you select, you’ll be able to anticipate simple service phrases: no knowledge caps, gear charges or contracts.

WOW Web sits in a candy spot, with an excellent number of plans however not so many who issues get complicated. Much more importantly, the pricing of these plans is very aggressive. WOW’s plans are extra reasonably priced than comparable plans from bigger cable suppliers like Xfinity, Spectrum and Cox. They’re a greater worth than what you will get from AT&T, Verizon and Frontier, too.

WOW would not at the moment provide introductory pricing on its plans in the intervening time, only a $10 low cost for autopay enrollment. Nevertheless, WOW reserves the best to alter costs at its personal discretion, so if you would like to keep away from that, WOW additionally presents a “value lock” for $10 additional a month, to make sure you pay the identical value so long as you are enrolled.

The place are you able to get WOW Web?

You’ll be able to at the moment discover WOW house web service in 16 markets amongst six states throughout the US.

Main cities in that protection map embody: 

It’s also possible to discover WOW’s web service throughout cities like Auburn, Alabama; Dothan, Alabama; Panama Metropolis, Florida; Pinellas, Florida; Fort Gordon, Georgia; and Mid-Michigan, Michigan.

WOW’s web velocity

As we talked about above, you will discover asymmetrical obtain and add speeds with WOW web plans. In sensible phrases, your connection will not be as strong as a whole fiber-to-the-home connection for duties that contain importing a number of knowledge to the online. That features many frequent duties necessary for the work-from-home or remote-schooling life — corresponding to importing massive information, hopping on Zoom calls or FaceTiming with research buddies.

That mentioned, WOW Web options larger add speeds than most cable web suppliers. For instance, its Web 600 plan options add speeds as much as 50Mbps. For context, Spectrum’s 500Mbps plans max out its add speeds at 20Mbps.

Uploads apart, the extra excellent news is that the least costly plan WOW presents comes with obtain speeds of as much as 300Mbps, which is far sooner than the introductory plan of most ISPs and nicely above the Federal Communication Fee’s broadband definition of 100Mbps obtain and 20Mbps add.

Additionally, it is price noting that for less than an extra $15 a month, prospects can double their velocity with the Web 600 plan.

Simple service phrases for WOW Web

No contracts, nice pricing and the 30-day money-back assure all in all probability leap off the web page if you first have a look at WOW’s web presents. There’s extra to consider, although, so let us take a look at a few of the particulars.

Further charges

WOW Web contains the rental price of a modem in your month-to-month payment in most cities, however you’ll be able to nonetheless purchase your personal appropriate system, although WOW recommends a DOCSIS 3.0 or 3.1 modem.

There’s additionally a cost of $10 a month if you wish to add “Complete-Dwelling Wi-Fi” to your plan by way of mesh router rental. Particularly, this contains two of Amazon’s Eero mesh units. Any extra Eero units will add one other $6 a month per system to your invoice. That is solely so-so so far as worth is worried — a two-piece Eero system prices $140, so you would be higher off simply shopping for the router for your self when you plan on conserving your connection longer than a yr and a half. What’s extra, there are different mesh routers we like higher.

30-day money-back assure

It is a customer-friendly choice that WOW offers, particularly when you think about that the corporate would not maintain you to a contract and the ominous menace of heavy cancellation charges that comes with it.

This assure has a number of small-print particulars, as you may think. It doesn’t lengthen to taxes, charges paid or any gear expenses you incur. Additionally, to say the money-back assure, you can not reestablish service with WOW Web inside 180 days.

Perks and promos

WOW presents a free self-install equipment to all new prospects. It’s also possible to get a Visa Pay as you go Reward Card when you join the 1.2 gigabit tier. WOW additionally presents a bundle with YouTube TV for purchasers of any velocity tier. For 12 months, you will get $10 off the common month-to-month payment for YouTube TV. Prospects who select to bundle YouTube TV with an web plan can save $50 off NFL Sunday Ticket.

Limitless knowledge on all plans

At current, WOW presents limitless knowledge on all its plans which implies that prospects haven’t got to fret about paying data-overage charges.

Again in 2021, the corporate launched usage-based billing, cough — knowledge cap? The info cap ranged from 1.5 terabytes to 3TB and limitless knowledge for the 1.2 gig plan. WOW CEO Teresa Elder was requested why WOW was introducing knowledge caps. “We have launched usage-based billing, which does not actually create knowledge caps,” mentioned Elder. “It creates totally different tiers of pricing.”

That looks as if extra than simply semantics to me. Fortunately, that concern appears to be moot as WOW has gone again to limitless knowledge with its plans.

WOW vs. rivals: First rate buyer satisfaction, with some caveats

The 2024 American Buyer Satisfaction Index for ISPs doesn’t single out WOW for a person rating. Our ACSI contact confirmed its inclusion within the complete numbers however mentioned there’s “too little market share to be measured by identify.” General, as an trade, we all know that ISPs are typically among the many lowest-ranked within the ASCI rankings, so total scores being in keeping with earlier years would not inform us a lot. 

Over within the 2023 J.D. Energy US Residential Web Service Supplier Satisfaction Research, WOW Web had a really respectable exhibiting within the North Central area. It captured a 694 rating on a 1,000-point scale and landed fifth place. Whereas this may appear promising, WOW landed beneath the area’s common of 701 and got here in brief compared to its rating final yr, at 712. Nonetheless, it completed forward of Spectrum, Cox, Frontier and Mediacom in that very same geographical space.

What is the backside line on WOW web?

WOW presents a few of the most reasonably priced broadband plans you’ll find from a cable web supplier within the US. It additionally options some admirable customer-first options, together with no knowledge caps, no contracts, and money-back ensures. However its attain is not far and huge. That makes it a smaller participant on the planet of cable web, however WOW nonetheless deserves robust consideration for the enticing costs and phrases if it is out there at your tackle.

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