Optimum vs. Internet Providers Compared

Optimum features good speeds but poor customer satisfaction scores

Optimum is a major national cable internet provider. Most of Optimum’s 4.4 million subscribers receive cable internet service [7]. But the ISP is also adding some all-fiber connections in select markets--most prominently in the Northeast [8]. Optimum is the internet brand name of Altice USA, which rebranded the company formerly called Suddenlink into the Optimum brand in 2022 [1]. Altice/Optimum is the 6th-largest ISP in the nation [2]. Optimum seems to check off all the right boxes for many of its offerings. You will have no data caps and no required contracts with Optimum internet plans. You will also get free equipment rental included with your monthly plan price. And Optimum’s prices are good (at least while the promotions last). So why are Optimum’s national customer satisfaction scores so low? We’ll check into that as we give you an overview of what to expect from an Optimum internet connection.

Good initial prices followed by price hikes

Cable internet is the chief type of connection that Optimum provides its customers. Because of improvements to cable internet technology, you can get gigabit download speeds from many cable internet companies like Optimum. You just won’t get the same upload speeds from cable as you will from an all-fiber connection [3]. Whether you get the usual cable service or all-fiber, you will get good prices from Optimum, and, on select plans, those prices will be locked for 5 years (as of January 2026) [9]. Here’s an example. You’ll pay $40/month for Optimum’s first-tier plan, which is up to 300. That is a good price for these speeds. The catch is that after the promotional period ends, standard prices will apply, which will increase your bill. That may be why Optimum is seeing year-over-year declines in its cable customers [4]. The price hikes may be pushing people to other options at the end of their promotional period.

Cable and fiber both provide fast download speeds, but cable's upload speeds are slower

With hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) technology, Optimum gives its cable customers gigabit download speeds but much slower upload speeds. That’s typical for cable internet service. Optimum is comparable to other major cable internet providers such as Spectrum and Xfinity, offering upload speeds at a maximum of around 35-50 Mbps. Optimum differs from the cable internet competition because it is also launching into the all-fiber internet market. As of November 2025, Optimum has over 3 million fiber passings and continues to expand [10]. Fiber internet’s most striking advantage over cable internet is its symmetrical upload and download speeds. This is a game-changer for online gaming, videoconferencing, and large homes with multiple devices. When Altice merged Suddenlink into the Optimum brand, the company had two distinct “footprints” from where the former Optimum and Suddenlink coverage had existed. Suddenlink’s coverage area had been primarily in the South and West. Optimum was strong in the Northeast, and particularly in the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Now, the fiber buildout is fastest in that tristate area [1]. Your chances of getting fiber internet from Optimum is better if you live in the tri-state area.

No equipment rental fees, free installation with Optimum plans

Optimum will provide you with a WiFi 6E gateway as a part of your monthly plan fee, with no extra rental charge [9]. If you would rather use your own modem and router, Optimum will allow it. Just be sure to check for compatibility with their specs. Standard installation is free with most Optimum plans.

Optimum customer satisfaction: the big question mark

With so many seemingly good points to its service and pricing, why has Optimum’s customer satisfaction scored significantly below average according to J.D. Power? [6] A sampling of online user reviews suggests two major complaints. The first is outages and failure of technical response. The second is a more general dissatisfaction with the phone system: being transferred to different departments and receiving contradictory responses from different phone reps when trying to resolve billing issues. Because this is a fairly even distribution of complaints, it’s likely that Optimum is not responding quickly enough to customer concerns, whether they are technical or billing-related. We can’t know the reason for this dysfunction. Often, these kinds of responsiveness issues happen when companies are understaffed or have high staff turnover in their customer service. But until Optimum improves its ratings, we have to give it only 3 stars for customer satisfaction.