Cox internet comes from a company that has grown to serve over six million customers. Cox internet has made it onto our list of the best internet providers for its overall provisions but deserves a special mention for helping underprivileged children, first through its Cable in the Classroom program and now with its participation in EveryoneOn.org.
Cox internet comes in several forms including 1Gbps fiber high-speed internet at the top end and more affordable but slower deals below that level. But more on all that below. There are data caps, but they're very high, and real world speeds have proven to be impressive in many cases.
Cox internet: Pricing and plans
Cox internet comes in several forms starting at the very low end of 10 Mbps which means you can get involved for as little as $29.99 for the first 12 months of service. This puts it well below some of the bigger providers, like AT&T Internet.
The next step up is to the 50Mbps line which is charged at $39.99 per month. Followed quite closely by the 150Mbps option at $59.99 per month. These are both for 12 months in a term agreement.
Then you hit the power options with a 500Mb line at $79.99 per month or the top-end 940Mbps at $99.99 per month. These are both for 36 months but no annual contract is required.
The catch for all of these? There is a data cap. But at 1.25 TB it's unlikely anyone will need much more than that in a month as that's over 400 hours of HD video streaming. For clarity, if you were to watch all nine seasons of an average length show that would take you about 75 hours.
Cox internet: Features
Cox Communications provides internet, phone and TV services in select areas of 19 states, including California, Arizona, Oklahoma, Kansas, Florida, Georgia, Ohio and Virginia. Since the company only offers services in targeted areas, it was only able to provide services to one of our eight random test addresses, but overall Cox provides cable internet to just short of four million customers. It's one of the smallest providers in our list, so if you can't get connected, try the likes of HughesNet, which is widely available throughout the States.
With your internet plan, you also receive 10 email addresses with 2GB of space, the Cox Security Suite powered by McAfee, anti-spam software and cloud storage. With the Ultimate plan, you receive 10GB of email space rather than two. You also get access to over 650,000 nationwide WiFi hotspots.
All plans come with the Cox Security Suite Plus that can protect up to five PCs and the McAfee Family Protection program for three home computers. This added software includes a personal firewall, parental controls, the McAfee site adviser and up-to-date virus protection. Cox Communications also offers other types of services including cable TV, phone and business services. In terms of packages, it isn't as expansive as Comcast Xfinity, but offers value and customer service as its main selling points.
You can contact Cox Communications by phone, email or chat. The company provides round-the-clock toll-free technical support in some areas, but in most locations, it offers only regular business hours. You can also visit Cox service centers to test products, pick up, drop off hardware or make payments. The website contains helpful information such as FAQs and tutorials. Generally, we noticed fewer customer complaints about Cox technical support than other ISPs; however, we had to wait over 13 minutes for chat support to respond in the middle of the workday, which was frustrating.
When looking for the best ISPs, we looked for companies that can provide consistently fast connection speeds balanced with responsive customer support. Cox Communications surpassed most of the competition in both areas. Cox continues to deliver fast internet speeds and manages to maintain a better service reputation than most internet companies do. We also like that Cox continues to invest in the communities it serves. Cox does not provide services to as many areas as some other ISPs, but if it provides fast internet options in your area, it is well worth contacting for services.
Cox internet: Speeds and performance
The range of speeds for Cox are 10-940 Mbps for downloads and 1-35 Mbps for uploads. According to the Netflix ISP speed index rating Cox comes in pretty high up in fifth place over all for the US. That said this has seen a drop as it was in second place previously.
However, Cox can be faster than advertised. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) found that during peak periods those using the 100 Mbps line were actually achieving speeds of 104.8 Mbps. That said, the 150 Mbps line hit real world speeds of 147.98 Mbps. So still very good then.
Cox internet: Customer reviews
According to ConsumerAffairs Cox internet has a three and a half star rating out of five based on 529 customer reviews in the last year. One positive review, from George of Green Valley, AZ, said: "Cox provides excellent service here, fast, consistent speeds with minimal down time. Customer service isn't great but it's decent — high praise when compared with the dismal support from many other organizations."
A negative review, from Holger of Dana Point, CA, said: "Sadly, this is the only fast internet option available. Cox takes advantage of this by charging high prices and providing bad service. Their Gigablast plan has acceptable download speeds of up to 950 Mbps (Speedtest.net measured 870 Mbps), but the upload speed is only up to 35 Mbps (Speedtest.net measured 37 Mbps)."
Broadbandnow customers reviews rate Cox internet at 3.76 out of five based on 1,306 reviews with a positive review, from Madison that said: "Transferring my service to a new address and was confused by the email confirmation they sent me so I called in and spoke with their customer support who is amazing. She got it all taken care of! Very knowledgeable, quick, and extremely nice!" But a negative from Hyong Pae that said: "Several reps that I first contacted failed to resolve the issue. These reps were rude, kept pushing unneeded upgrades, then shut off internet connection eventually right after one rep hung up on me."
Should you get Cox internet?
Cox internet is a great option for anyone that wants to get the high-speed internet of a big name brand with the safety of knowing that'll be backed by personal customer care.
Speeds are decent on the whole with high top-end options and although there are data caps these are so high it shouldn't be an issue for most people. There are more expensive options out there and even faster ones - like Verizon Internet - but for an all round performance backed by decent bundles, this is a good option.
