We score internet providers for speed, value, and customer care. Our data sources include the FCC, J.D. Power, The American Customer Satisfaction Index, and extensive in-house research.
You can choose between four plans with Sparklight. All have unlimited data available and no contracts. Many internet service providers increase the monthly rates after a year of service, and Sparklight isn’t an exception. Still, with Sparklight you can expect solid cable-internet offerings. The entry-level tier features download speeds of 100 megabits per second and 20Mbps in upload. Other cable providers like Cox offer a similar plan but fall behind on upload speeds, coming in at only 10Mbps. Locating local internet providers CNET’s pick for Sparklight’s best plan is the Connect Gig tier because you would get a bigger bang for your buck. The cost per Mbps of the top-end plan is a very cheap 7 cents per Mbps (compared to 35 cents for the Connect 100 plan, 17 cents for the Connect 300 and 10 cents for the Connect 600). You may be less familiar with Sparklight because it used to be called Cable One. The corporate parent company is still Cable One, but its residential internet service was rebranded as Sparklight back in 2019. Locating local internet providers Two things stand out right away with Sparklight. First, its prices are competitive among internet service providers and easy to understand; there’s very little fine print surrounding the monthly cost and data caps. Second, there are no contracts, so you don’t have to fear a long-term commitment. There’s a lot to like.
Sparklight offers unlimited data on all plans, but there is a soft cap included on all tiers. If you reach a certain threshold, your data will be throttled. Overall, Sparklight is a viable cable internet provider and an especially compelling option if you live in some of the more rural and suburban areas it services. Sparklight Internet boasts about “fiber-rich” plans throughout its site, but don’t be fooled. Like other cable internet providers we’ve covered, its internet infrastructure is a hybrid fiber-coaxial cable connection, not a 100% fiber network. What does this mean in practical terms? Like any cable internet hookup, your download speeds will be much higher than your upload speeds. Most of us gave this little thought, as download speeds cover most of our streaming and surfing needs. When the pandemic hit and more people needed to do work or schooling at home, upload speeds (necessary for tasks like uploading large files or hopping on video classes and meetings) became more important. An all-fiber plan might not be a pipe dream for this ISP, as Sparklight is expanding its fiber footprint in select areas. For example, in Payson, Arizona, residents can expect symmetrical speeds of up to 5 gigabits by the summer of 2025. Sparklight’s cable coverage spans across 21 states in the US. Sparklight internet is available in 21 states across the country: Source: CNET analysis of provider data Among those states, the largest markets Sparklight covers include: Sparklight features four plans ranging from 100Mbps to 940Mbps with the top-end gigabit plan priced at $70 a month. After 12 months expect that price to jump to $90 a month. Depending on your chosen plan, expect for your monthly bill to increase by $15 to $20 a month after the promo period ends. When comparing Sparklight internet upload speeds with other cable ISPs, it fares better than most, with its uploads topping out at 50Mbps on the gigabit plan. The upload speeds on similar plans from Comcast, Cox, Spectrum, and Optimum all max out at 35Mbps. Only Mediacom and WideOpenWest match Sparklight with top upload speeds of 50Mbps. At first, I was slightly thrown off when examining Sparklight’s internet prices. It’s unusual to see an ISP with so few bells, whistles, promos, and exceptions to decipher. So, for the most part, what you see now is what you’ll pay for later. Sadly, that kind of clarity around your internet bill is usually hard to come by. You could quibble that Sparklight’s promo — a $20 discount on the Connect 300 plan — lasts for just six months. Many of Sparklight’s cable competitors provide discounted rates for two or even three years. This is true. When you look at the standard rate’s average cost per megabits per second (24 cents across all four plans), Sparklight’s service is more affordable than Optimum’s and Spectrum’s. Only WOW can boast lower standard rates across all plan tiers of the cable providers we’ve reviewed. That’s pretty good. However… In an effort to promote transparency across major ISPs, the FCC is mandating the use of broadband nutrition labels. Unfortunately, one of the first things I noticed is that Sparklight fails to mention its data cap on these labels. It’s only in the fine print that you’ll see that each plan comes with a soft cap of 5TB. Data caps are not a necessary evil. While many ISPs have them — including Hughesnet, Viasat, and cable competitors Cox, Mediacom, and Xfinity — others do not. It’s not a given that you’ll have to face a data cap just because you’re a cable internet customer. Not all data caps are the same. As you can see in the plans and pricing chart, all plans feature a 5TB data cap, which isn’t bad. Why do I say that? According to OpenVault’s Q1 2024 report, the average home uses approximately 606GB of data per month. Most US households should have little problem staying under that 5TB limit. Oh, and I should mention there’s some small print here, too: you could still have your speed slowed… but only after you’ve hit 5TB of data usage within the month. To put that in perspective, you could stream 4K versions of all five Indiana Jones movies, watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy, binge all the Harry Potter flicks, download every Marvel Cinematic Universe entry and geek out on each Star Trek film (from William Shatner to Chris Pine) and still be less than 25% of the way to your limit. I’d say that’s pretty fair. While the soft data caps aren’t a deal-breaker, it’s a bit of a bummer that Sparklight has them at all. Still, on the positive side, Sparklight breaks from some of its rivals by offering plans with no contracts or term limits. This means you’re under no obligation to stick with a plan that isn’t working for you, and you don’t have to fear any early termination fees if you decide to move elsewhere. Another positive aspect that leaps off the page (and isn’t always common among ISPs) is Sparklight’s money-back guarantee for those looking to bundle their internet, which covers the first 30 days of new service. If Sparklight isn’t right for your home, you can request a full refund, including money paid for the internet service and applicable taxes and fees. That’s better than the 30-day guarantee offered by WOW, which doesn’t extend to taxes and fees. Wi-Fi One whole-home coverage is available from Sparklight for $12.50 a month. This is slightly cheaper than the typical $14 to $15 a month most ISPs charge to rent their equipment. Also, as with many other providers, customers can use their equipment and avoid this monthly charge altogether. The only requirement is that customers use a DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem and refer to Sparklight’s list of supported cable modems. You should also expect a slew of one-time fees that can rack up your bill in the first month of service. Customers can expect a one-time installation fee of $90, a one-time activation charge of $30, and a $25 deposit fee. Self-installation may be an option from Sparklight, but it’s not available in all service areas and depends on a credit check. You may bypass the credit check if you wish, but Sparklight notes you may be charged a higher deposit and/or installation fee for skipping it. J.D. Power gave Sparklight better ratings in the South than it got in 2020, but it was still a below-average score for the region. Sparklight was not highlighted in the latest J.D. Power US Residential Internet Service Provider Satisfaction Study. When you look at 2021, Sparklight showed up in two of the four regions the organization tracks. Over in the West, Sparklight scored 700 on a 1,000-point scale. That’s a drop from the 730 it earned in 2020 and below the regional average of 710. On the flip side, Sparklight did better in the South region, earning a 716 score, which increased from the preceding year. It was still below the South’s average score of 727 and squarely in the middle of the pack among 11 ISPs in the area. The most recent ISP report from the American Customer Satisfaction Index did not highlight Sparklight for an individual score among other organizations. Among Ookla’s stats for the fourth quarter of 2023, Sparklight was the fastest provider in Boise, Idaho. Finally, Sparklight also fared well in PCMag’s 2021 Readers’ Choice awards. For overall satisfaction, Sparklight ranked seventh among 24 listed providers and earned a score of 7.7, above the poll average of 7.1. Sparklight makes a compelling case for being included as one of the top cable internet providers in the country. Fiber will almost always trump cable connections, so if you live in an area like Fort Worth, Texas, you might be able to find fiber plans more to your liking. For customers in Ada, Oklahoma, to use a smaller market as an example, you’ll find Sparklight competing with DSL and satellite plans. Those are simply no match for what Sparklight can offer for speed and price.
Is Sparklight the same as Cable One? Yes. Cable One is the corporate parent company and was initially the name of the ISP as well. That changed in 2019 when Cable One announced it was rebranding its residential internet service and TV and phone offerings to Sparklight.
What type of connection does Sparklight offer? Sparklight likes to talk about its “fiber-rich” broadband infrastructure, but most of its connections are hybrid fiber-coaxial cable. This means you’ll have asymmetrical download and upload speeds. A Sparklight spokesperson said that Sparklight is investing in all-fiber networks. In March, it was announced that symmetrical fiber broadband offerings will be available to over 8,500 customers in Payson, Arizona, by the summer of 2025.
Is Sparklight participating in the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program? The Affordable Connectivity Program ended in May 2024. The ACP was a long-term initiative to help low-income households connect to crucial home broadband. It included a discount of up to $30 monthly (and up to $75 in tribal lands) for eligible households. Sparklight did participate in the program. One alternative is to look into Lifeline, a federal program that provides discounts to low-income households for their home broadband or cell phone plans.