Yeah, Optimum’s cable and fiber-optic internet is good. If you live in the tristate area—Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York (the Bronx, Brooklyn, Long Island, and Westchester), think about giving them a whirl.
The company has fast internet speeds (from 200–940 Mbps) at reasonable prices with no contracts, data caps, or early termination fees. Some plans qualify for its Price for Life promotion, which means your payment won’t change as long as you have your plan.
Also, if you’re itching to leave your current provider, Optimum will pay $500 toward freeing you from your contractual shackles. And Optimum won’t trap you with its own contract.
Unfortunately, even with all its redeeming qualities, Optimum scored poorly in our 2020 customer satisfaction survey. You might wanna give that a read before signing up for service. But Optimum’s lack of contracts—not to mention that $500 buyout offer—make it a relatively risk-free commitment.
Jump to:
| Package |
| Best valueOptimum 300 |
| Best for speedOptimum 1 Gig Internet |
Data as of 05/26/2020. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
* for 1 yr. Plus taxes, equip. charges and fees.
Optimum’s base cable plan, Optimum 300, is the best value. It offers high speeds for a low price—300 Mbps will handle a ton of HD streaming and gaming. And you’ll have a tough time finding a better value from another provider.
Power users will want the competitively priced Optimum 1 Gig Internet, a fiber-optic connection plan with upload speeds 27x faster than cable. With such high download speeds, symmetrical upload speeds (a fiber-only benefit), and better reliability, this is an incredible value.
Optimum has four standalone internet plans—three cable, one fiber-optic—priced $39.99–$69.99 a month with download speeds from 300–1,000 Mbps.
| Package |
| Best for value Optimum 300 |
| Optimum 400 |
| Optimum 1 Gig |
| Best for speedOptimum 1 Gig Internet |
Data as of 05/26/2020. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
* for 1 yr. Plus taxes, equip. charges and fees.
The provider’s base plan, Optimum 300 (300 Mbps), is substantially speedier than other providers’ entry-level plans (those average 10–25 Mbps). It’s also much cheaper at $39.99 per month ($0.13 per megabit). Only Grande Cable ($0.12/megabit) beats that value. RCN ($0.12–$0.16 for 250 Mbps) and Xfinity get close—but only in certain regions.
Optimum 400 costs nearly 39% more—for only a 25% speed increase ($0.16/megabit). Fortunately, Optimum’s fastest plans, Optimum 1 Gig (cable, up to 1,000 Mbps) and 1 Gig Internet (fiber-optic, up to 940 Mbps) both cost $69.99 a month, or $0.07 per megabit.
Since fiber is a faster and more reliable connection with much higher upload speeds, 1 Gig Internet is a solid deal. Only AT&T Fiber’s Internet 1000 ($49.99 a month, 940 Mbps downstream, 880 Mbps upstream), CenturyLink Fiber Internet ($65.00, 940 Mbps both ways) and Windstream’s Tier 1 Kinetic Gig ($59.00, 1,000 Mbps) beat Optimum here.
Optimum has double-play (internet-TV and internet-phone) and triple-play (internet-phone-TV) bundles for $49.99–$129.99 monthly. The cheapest internet-and-TV bundle is Optimum Core TV + Optimum 300 ($74.99 a month for 220+ channels and up to 300 Mbps).
In Optimum’s coverage area, that’s a great deal. We recommend it—unless you live in RCN’s New York coverage area. In that case, we recommend RCN’s Signature TV + 500 Mbps bundle. It has 67% faster speeds and an additional 75 channels than Optimum Core TV + Optimum 300—and it’s $10 cheaper ($64.99 per month).
See the tables below for pricing and check out our Optimum TV Review for more information on the company’s TV service.
| Package | Price* | Download speeds up to | Channel count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Optimum Core TV + Optimum 300 | $74.99/mo. | 300 Mbps | 220+ | View plan |
| Optimum Select TV + Optimum 200 | $79.99/mo. | 200 Mbps | 340+ | View plan |
| Optimum Core TV + Optimum 400 | $84.99/mo. | 400 Mbps | 220+ | View plan |
| Optimum Select TV + Optimum 300 | $89.99/mo. | 300 Mbps | 340+ | View plan |
| Optimum Premier TV + Optimum 200 | $99.99/mo. | 200 Mbps | 420+ | View plan |
| Optimum Select TV + Optimum 400 | $99.99/mo. | 400 Mbps | 340+ | View plan |
| Optimum Premier TV + Optimum 300 | $109.99/mo. | 300 Mbps | 420+ | View plans |
| Optimum Premier TV + Optimum 400 | $119.99/mo. | 400 Mbps | 420+ | View plans |
Data as of 05/26/20. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
* for 1 yr. Plus taxes, equip. charges and fees.
Data as of 05/26/2020. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
*for 1 yr. Plus taxes, equip. charges and fees.
**Unlimited calls are to US, Canada, Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands only.
| Price | Download speeds up to | Channel count | Phone plan | |
| $74.99/mo. | 200 Mbps | 220+ | Unlimited calls** | View plan |
| $84.99/mo. | 300 Mbps | 220+ | Unlimited calls** | View plan |
| $89.99/mo. | 200 Mbps | 340+ | Unlimited calls** | View plan |
| $94.99/mo. | 400 Mbps | 220+ | Unlimited calls** | View plan |
| $99.99/mo. | 300 Mbps | 340+ | Unlimited calls** | View plan |
| $109.99/mo. | 200 Mbps | 420+ | Unlimited calls** | View plan |
| $109.99/mo. | 400 Mbps | 340+ | Unlimited calls** | View plan |
| $119.99/mo. | 300 Mbps | 420+ | Unlimited calls** | View plan |
| $129.99/mo. | 400 Mbps | 420+ | Unlimited calls** | View plan |
Data as of 05/26/20. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
* for 1 yr. Plus taxes, equip. charges and fees.
**Unlimited calls are to US, Canada, Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands only.
Okay—let’s talk toys. What kind of fancy internet boxes or other doodads come with Optimum internet and TV service? Well, Optimum has several devices for rent.
Coming up next: What’s better than toys? Discounts.
To entice new customers to sign up for Optimum internet packages, the provider offers various deals and promotions. But, unlike most internet service providers, Optimum runs promotions for its current customers too.
New customers
Current customers
Regarding the Bundle Internet & TV deal: It might have free SHOWTIME for a year, but Optimum Core TV & Optimum 300 has the same price and channel count with 33% faster internet speed. So choose the Bundle promo if you want free SHOWTIME, but if you’d rather have a speedier connection, go for Core/300.
Despite Optimum’s poor customer satisfaction scores, we like that it has no contracts (or data caps or early termination fees), Price for Life, and a $500 contract buyout. And don’t forget the generous speeds and low, low price of the Optimum 300 plan.
So if Optimum is available in your area and you’re looking to get away from your current provider—and get a better monthly payment—go for it.
Optimum’s standalone internet packages cost $39.99–$69.99 per month. The base package, Optimum 300, is an excellent deal for the speed (up to 300 Mbps for $39.99). If you’re looking for bundles, Optimum has a variety of them costing between $49.99 and $129.99 a month.
Optimum has cable speeds from 200–1,000 Mbps (download) and 35–40 Mbps (upload). It also has a fiber-optic plan with up to 940 Mbps download with equal (or close to equal) upload speeds (we were unable to confirm an exact number at the time of this writing).
You can watch your Optimum live TV channels with the Optimum App for laptop.
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