Sparklight Internet Review: Get All The Details on Sparklight Internet Plans, Prices, Bundles, and More
Let us tell you all you need to know about Sparklight's four internet plans.
Is Sparklight internet worth it?
Sparklight’s no-contract plans and high download speeds make it look like an ideal internet provider. However, if you plan on using the internet, you can’t get away with signing up for Sparklight’s cheapest plan.
Sparklight’s Freedom Connect 300 and up plans will provide you with high speeds for relatively low prices. Watch out for those price hikes, though.
Regarding customer satisfaction, Sparklight internet faired pretty well, coming in at 9th place out of 25 providers in our 2024 customer satisfaction survey.
If you’re in need of an internet and TV bundle, we suggest you look elsewhere. Sparklight’s TV plans are ridiculously overpriced for their low channel counts, and their small bundle discounts don’t make up for that in the slightest.
Don’t expect much in the way of fancy deals, great bundles, or extra internet features, but if you simply need basic internet service, you’ll find a lot to like with Sparklight.
Compare Sparklight internet to the competition
Prices starting at
$39.00/mo.
Max download speeds up to
1000 Mbps
Service Type
Cable
Prices starting at
$50.00/mo.
Max download speeds up to
1,200 Mbps
Service Type
Cable
Pricing, speed and availability not guaranteed. Subject to change.
Sparklight isn’t offering any big deals or perks right now. We’ll update this when that changes.
Sparklight internet plans are good deals, but watch out for price hikes
Top Sparklight (Cable ONE) internet packages
| Package | Price | Download speeds up to | Upload speeds up to | Data cap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Connect Internet 100 | $39.95/mo.* | 100 Mbps | 20 Mbps | N/A | View plan |
| Freedom Internet 300 | $44.95/mo.** | 300 Mbps | 20 Mbps | N/A | View plan |
| Freedom Internet 500 | $49.00/mo.** | 500 Mbps | 50 Mbps | N/A | View plan |
| Freedom Internet 600 | $44.95/mo.** | 600 Mbps | 30 Mbps | N/A | View plan |
| Freedom Internet 1 Gig | $69.00/mo.** | 1,000 Mbps | 50 Mbps | N/A | View plan |
| Freedom Internet 2 Gig | $99.00/mo.** | 2,000 Mbps | 50 Mbps | N/A | View plan |
* for 12 months with Auto Pay and Paperless Billing
** for 24 months with Auto Pay and Paperless Billing*, plus free Wall-to-Wall WiFi for 24 months.
Sparklight’s internet plans offer solid performance and steady value for potential shoppers. The Freedom Internet 300 package is a good choice if you stream TV online. Your home will have enough data to stream full HD shows up to 10 hours a day, plus do other fun things like check social media and play video games.
Keep in mind that if you have a lot of people at home or if you stream 4K movies, you might want to upgrade to Freedom Internet 600 or Freedom Internet Gig. Both plans come with Sparklight’s best upload and download speeds, so you’ll be set for any internet task. And if your home simply needs budget-friendly internet service, Connect Internet 100 offers steady 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload speeds.
Thankfully, Sparklight has dropped its data caps on its Freedom plans. But as with many providers, it comes with a little bit of fine print—all of Sparklight’s plans technically have unlimited data, but if you exceed 5TB of monthly usage, Sparklight reserves the right to temporarily slow your internet speeds for network management. In practice, it’d take a lot of of internet usage to hit the 5TB mark and although we’re never fans of fine print shenanigans, it’s better than dealing with pricy data overage fees.
Sparklight internet and TV bundles are overpriced for what they offer
Data effective as of publish date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
Sparklight TV packages are relatively straightforward if overpriced. For example, Sparklight’s Standard Cable TV plan offers 100 channels for over $100 per month—in comparison, you could get almost 200 more channels from DISH for over $10 cheaper per month.
We do appreciate how bundling Sparklight internet and TV can save you some cash. The Standard Cable with Connect 600 bundle will save you $5 per month compared to what you’d pay for the services separately. However, the low channel counts and higher TV prices don’t make it worth it.
For more info on Sparklight’s TV plans, visit our Sparklight TV review.
Sparklight keeps on raising its fees and I still get times where service is lost for a few hours and later restored. I cannot see how they can raise their prices if they cannot provide sufficient service. I only purchase their internet, as their TV plans are outrageously priced and I'm retired with a limited income and don't waste monies.
Sparklight internet is reliable enough for the typical home internet user
| Test | Score |
|---|---|
| Average latency | 31.11 milliseconds |
| Internet reliability approval rating | 71% approval |
| Internet speed approval rating | 75% approval |
Sparklight’s reliability score in our annual Internet Customer Satisfaction Survey was a very solid 71%, ranking in the top ten only below fiber ISPs. Sparklight, a cable ISP, can never be as reliable as fiber internet, whose underground fiber networks are better protected from storms and inclement weather, both common causes of internet outages.
Sparklight’s customers are also still quite happy with the quality of their service, specifically Sparklight’s internet speeds—75% of respondents said they were completely or very satisfied with Sparklight’s internet speeds.
Latency is a big factor in calculating our reliability rankings. BTW, latency refers to how long it takes for data to physically reach your computer—the lower the number, the better.
According to our friends at HighSpeedInternet.com, Sparklight internet customers had an average latency of around 31 milliseconds. 31 milliseconds is a solid speed that will be plenty sufficient for your streaming, scrolling, and gaming needs.
Although there can be outages at times (that is something that goes with any service and) they are not excessive. It would be silly to say there are not any, because when you are dealing with cable/streaming there are going to be some. It just goes with the territory. Overall I am very pleased with Sparklight.
Sparklight internet comes with no contracts and some key features
From no contracts or data caps (rejoice!) to only sometimes-included equipment (boo!), let’s break down what all comes with Sparklight internet service.
Sparklight equipment
A big plus in our ISP book is free equipment, and Sparklight delivers—with some catches.
Sparklight’s higher-tier internet plans include both a free modem and a Wall-to-Wall WiFi eero PRO 6E router. But if you want Connect 100, their cheapest internet plan, you’ve got to either lease a modem from Sparklight for $12.50/mo., or buy a compatible one yourself.
Find a list of Sparklight-compatible modems here.
Sparklight availability
Sparklight offers cable internet, television, and home phone services across 19 U.S. states.
Check out the drop-down below to see a list of those 19 states, or use our zip tool to enter your zip code and see if Sparklight is available near you.
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New Mexico
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Tennessee
- Texas
No contracts
Contract-free internet is becoming the norm these days, and we are here for it. No one wants to be stuck in an internet plan only to pay hefty early termination fees if you choose to move, switch providers, etc.
Luckily, with Sparklight, you’re not tied down to a contract. Feel free to jump ship anytime, whether it’s only been two months or it’s been a full year (and those Sparklight second-year price hikes have set in.)
What do real Sparklight customers think of Sparklight internet?
Sparklight’s overall customer satisfaction ranking—taken from our annual customer satisfaction survey—is a very respectable 71%. A cable internet provider like Sparklight’s ranking in the top ten overall ISPs is quite impressive given the dominance of fiber and 5G home internet in our survey, and definitely not something to be overlooked.
Sparklight’s bang for your buck was one of its lowest showings, with just 52% of customers saying they were satisfied with how much they pay for Sparklight given the quality of its service.
On the flip side, Sparklight had high customer loyalty and retention, with 73% of respondents saying they were completely or very likely going to continue subscribing to Sparklight’s internet service.
We have recently had some problems with our internet going out. One customer service rep hung up on my husband, but the next one was very nice and did what she could to help us out. Thus, I have mixed feelings about Sparklight.
Sparklight (Cable ONE) internet FAQ
What kind of internet is Sparklight (Cable ONE)?
Sparklight, previously known as Cable ONE, sells cable (or broadband) internet, which uses coaxial copper cables to deliver your cat pictures and memes.
What is Sparklight’s (Cable ONE’s) internet speed?
Depending on the package you get, you can get up to 2,000 Mbps download speeds with Sparklight internet.
Does Sparklight have unlimited data?
Sparklight technically includes unlimited internet data with its packages, but if you exceed 5TB of monthly data, Sparklight may slow your connection for the rest of the data cycle.
Does Sparklight (Cable ONE) throttle internet?
Sparklight claims not to throttle internet connections. But if you use over the 5 TB in a data cycle, Sparklight will slow your connection to around 10 Mbps until the next data cycle begins.
Why you should trust us
To find out how Sparklight stacked up against the competition, we broke down Sparklight’s internet plans in areas including price, download speeds, and upload speeds. We also used our annual internet customer satisfaction survey to see what real Sparklight internet customers thought about the ISP.
To learn more about our methodology, check out our How We Rank page.
