Cox Internet Service 2021 Review

Cable internet is a tried-and-true means of delivering fast download speeds to people's homes, and Cox Communications is available to more than 20 million people in the US. Billing itself as the largest private telecom provider in the country and boasting nearly $12 billion in annual revenue, Cox serves more than six million residential and business customers and offers cable internet in 19 states and Washington, DC.

If you live within that Cox footprint, there's a good chance you've at least considered it -- especially if faster fiber plans from other providers aren't available where you live. In cases like that, Cox's cable speeds are likely the next best thing and certainly faster than what you'll get from DSL, satellite or a fixed wireless connection. 

That said, Cox plans skew toward the pricey side, with a higher cost per megabit than other cable providers (including Xfinity and Spectrum). What's more, Cox's pricing structure will try to push you into a more expensive plan each year. You'll also need to contend with a monthly data cap -- though, fortunately, Cox's data usage policies are about as reasonable as you could hope for. 

All of that makes Cox a middle-of-the-pack option for getting connected at home. But there's a lot you should consider before you sign up. Here's a full rundown on everything from prices and plans to terms, fees and the company's customer service track record.

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Cox's home internet footprint is smaller than other cable providers, and concentrated in key cities and regions throughout the continental US.

Where does Cox Communications offer home internet service?

Along with the majority of Rhode Island, Cox's network covers parts of 19 states and the District of Columbia, with service most prevalent in areas around the following cities:

According to data collected by the Federal Communications Commission, Cox's home internet footprint reached just under 7% of the US population as of December 2020. That's tens of millions of people, but it's short of Comcast and Charter Spectrum, two larger cable internet providers that each offer service to roughly one-third of US households.

Cox's more focused footprint also shows that it isn't a top pick for rural customers, as most of its cable infrastructure is located in dense urban areas. Other providers are better positioned to offer service outside of America's cities. If that's what you're looking for, be sure to check out our top rural internet recommendations.

How does cable internet stack up these days, anyway?

Pretty well, as a matter of fact. In addition to the fact that it's easy to bundle cable internet with cable TV and other services, most cable providers can offer download speeds of up to 940 megabits per second or higher. That's much better than what you'll get with DSL, satellite internet or fixed wireless, and it's competitive with a lot of the country's top fiber providers.

That said, a good fiber connection will offer concurrent upload speeds just as fast as the downloads -- and this is where cable internet falls short. Even with near-gigabit download speeds, you'll likely be stuck with upload speeds in the double digits. For instance, with Cox, the fastest plan (940Mbps) comes with upload speeds of 35Mbps, while the four plans beneath it offer max uploads that range from 3Mbps to 10Mbps. That might cause a crunch if you've got multiple people in your house making Zoom calls, gaming online or doing anything else that requires you to upload lots of data to the cloud in short order.

And hey, speaking of those plans... 

Cox internet plans, prices and terms

Cox offers a variety of plans with a variety of speeds at a variety of prices, and there are a lot of important ins and outs to consider. Let me start with the one that's so critical, I'm going to write it in big, bold letters for you.

Your bill will go up after Year 1, no matter what

Cox offers promotional rates on its plans and those promo rates will each knock $10 off the price of your monthly bill for the first year. The catch is that you have to agree to sign a one-year service contract to get the discount. That's fine: One-year contracts are typical in the ISP industry.

What's less fine is that your bill will shoot up at the end of that year, in some cases by as much as $26. That's not outrageous -- Spectrum's cable internet plans go up by $25 or $30 after the first year, and Xfinity cable internet plans come with an average increase of $40 in some regions -- but keep in mind that Cox plans start out more expensive than those of its competitors. And while Cox's website doesn't do a great job of making this clear, you'll see that price increase regardless of whether you accept the promo rate.

So, let's say you want to sign up for Cox's Preferred 150 internet plan, which nets you download speeds of 150Mbps. You can sign up at the regular rate of $70 per month with no contract, or you can accept the one-year service contract and bring the monthly cost down to $60. Either way, when that first year is up, your bill will go up to $84.

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Here's how the promo trap works. You sign up for service and then your bill goes up after a year (orange arrows). You call to complain, and the "best value" offer is the promo rate for a more expensive plan (green arrows). The cycle repeats, and your bill keeps getting higher.

At this point, there's a good chance you'll call Cox to complain or try and renegotiate. Cox does not have an incentive to lower your costs. Instead, there's a good chance the clever salesperson will tell you that they can't offer you the same promo rate again, but they can offer you the promo rate on a faster plan. After all, you want a better deal, right? As it just so happens, you could be getting speeds of up to 500Mbps for $80 per month -- $4 less than you're paying right now for 150Mbps. Doesn't that sound good to you?

Here's the thing. That's another promo rate -- a fresh bait-and-switch -- and if you take it, the cycle starts all over again.

Look for yourself. It's no coincidence that each of those Year 2 rates shoots up to a monthly fee that's greater than or equal to the promo rate for the next most expensive plan. Like the nauseatingly busy carpets at a casino that nudge dizzy gamblers into stopping and sitting at a slot machine, the price structure is carefully constructed to confuse you into spending more money. Whenever someone with an expired promo rate calls to complain about their bill, it's easy for Cox to guide them into an even more expensive speed tier at a new promo rate. Doing so locks them in as a customer for another 12 months, and it dooms their bill to increase even more after that.

If you don't want to tumble down that slippery slope, then you'll need to accept that Year 2 rate and stick with it. That's a tall ask, given that Cox prices are on the high side. Take that 150Mbps Preferred plan, which costs $84 after Year 1. Cable competitor Xfinity offers a 200Mbps plan for $70 out of contract, and Spectrum offers a 200Mbps plan that costs $75 per month after the promo period expires. Both plans offer faster speeds for less per month than Cox.

What else do I need to know about Cox?

Cox's lineup of home internet plans gets confusing fast, and not just because of the promo shenanigans. Other fine print to consider includes contract quirks, extra fees, data caps, and more. Isn't shopping for an internet plan fun?

Additional fees

You can use your own modem and router, or you can rent Cox's modem and router gateway device for $13 a month.

Though Cox doesn't specify the actual cost anywhere on its website that I could find, you'll need to pay an installation fee of $100 if you want a technician to get your home's internet connection up and running. You can skip this fee by ordering an

Cox also charges an extra $13 each month if you use its to pair with your Panoramic Wi-Fi modem and router at a one-time cost of $130 per pod. Cox also commits to keeping your system's hardware and software up to date.

You can skip that $13 fee by using your own