Which ISPs Don’t Have Data Caps?

With everyone practically working from home, adapting a homeschooling setup, or trying to stave off cabin fever thanks to coronavirus restrictions, it’s not surprising that people are maximizing the use of their internet connections. Unfortunately, the imposition of a bandwidth or data cap can be an annoying inconvenience for many users and a costly one. Some internet service providers (ISPs) charge additional fees for what they refer to as excess data.

As a result, numerous ISPs throughout the country are modifying their service packages to suit the needs of these unusual times. This includes taking off data caps to ensure unhampered net access for their customers. While these services are not available throughout all 50 states, the removal of data caps for subscribers in coverage areas ensures that users can work or watch without further interruptions.

What ISPs Don’t Have Data Caps?

Cincinnati Bell

• Areas Covered: Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio

• Average Cost: Current promotional price at $ 39.99 monthly for 12 months for new subscribers. The standard subscription is $ 99.99 monthly. Note that this does not include taxes or surcharges
• Cincinnati Bell is an internet service developed with residential and individual users in mind. Cincinnati Bell’s Fioptics 1Gb internet is considered one of the fastest for downloads, uploads, and streaming for those within its coverage. Its standard package enables users to download or stream multiple HD/rich media files, upload and send several large files, and support several mobile or desktop devices all at once. All subscriptions include access to ESPN3 without additional charge.

Consolidated Communications

• Areas Covered: Available in 23 states, but service is highly stable in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont

• Average Cost: Ranges between $ 34.95 for 100Mbps to $ 73.85 for 1Gbps a month with a lock-in period of two years  
• The seventh-largest residential DSL provider in the United States is, as of today, available to over 4.5 million people. Download speeds range between 1.5Mbps to 1GBps, making it an excellent choice for people who need strong connections for online meetings and classes.

Frontier

• Areas Covered: Offers internet-only plans in Indiana, Oregon, Texas, South Carolina, Florida, California, and Washington

• Average Cost: Plans start at $ 20.00 monthly
• Essentially a rural internet provider, Frontier offers connectivity for those who live far from the everyday conveniences of city life. It enables farmers and their communities to reach out to fellow agriculturists and potential markets. Likewise, it helps local students do more extensive research for their schoolwork.

Google Fiber

• Areas Covered: Offered across nine states, with the most robust coverage in Kansas, Missouri, and Texas

• Average Cost: Plans start at $ 50.00 monthly
• The 2020 Readers’ Choice awardee for best ISP offers a lag-free browsing experience that users can maximize when it comes to entertainment sites, online/network gaming, and social media. Google Fiber also provides connectivity for multiple devices. Likewise, there are no annual fees or lock-in periods; subscribers can opt-out at any time.

Optimum

• Areas Covered: Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and parts of Pennsylvania

• Average Cost: $ 65.00 monthly, excluding taxes and service fees  
• Considered one of the fastest ISPs in the industry, Optimum currently offers three packages pegged at 300Mbps, 500Mbps, and 1Gbps each. Its use of mesh technology allows for seamless coverage within households.

Spectrum

• Areas Covered: Available in 42 states, including California, Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and New York 

• Average Cost: $ 49.99 monthly  
• With speeds ranging between 200 and 940Mbps, Spectrum offers fast downloads and smooth browsing experience. Outside the home, users can maximize their usage thanks to over 500,000 hotspots nationwide.

Verizon Fios

• Areas Covered: Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, and Washington DC

• Average Cost: Internet-only packages start at $ 39.99 with 200Mbps and also includes a year’s subscription to Disney+  
• Consistently stable and reliable, Verizon’s fiber-optic internet service has become the ISP of choice for many cord-cutters, or people who shun cable and landline subscriptions in favor of the convenience of broadband connectivity. Even its smallest package can easily stream media for up to five devices while still enabling desktop users to browse the net without lags. Note that all Fios packages carry the Disney+ subscription.

Windstream Kinetic

• Areas Covered: Available in Georgia, Arizona, , Iowa, North Carolina, Nebraska, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, South Carolina, Texas

• Average Cost: $ 60.00 monthly  
• Speeds run from 200Mbps to 1Gbps, making it an ideal choice for residential users. It ensures a smooth browsing experience within the home and is excellent for family entertainment as both streaming media and online games play without pixelation or lags. For families within the coverage area, it is also the most prudent choice – more so if they have young or school-aged children – as it has a specialized service called Kinetic Secure. This service has built-in protection against access to potentially dangerous sites, along with solutions against malware and identity theft.

Wow

• Areas Covered: Selected cities in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, South Carolina, and Tennessee

• Average Cost: $ 34.99 monthly  
• While it offers excellent browsing speeds and streaming quality with its more reasonably priced packages, Wow’s best-value package is also its most expensive as it costs $69.99 monthly. But it’s quite a deal as it offers whole-home internet connectivity, a landline phone plan, service protection plan (for an additional five dollars monthly), and a choice from several streaming TV subscriptions.

• Xfinity from Comcast

• Areas Covered: Cap-free data services are only available in Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, and Washington DC
• Average Cost: $ 65.00 monthly without term agreement  

• Xfinity gives its subscribers maximum flexibility in terms of the add-ons they want for their subscriptions. One of its biggest draws is its Xfinity Stream mobile app, which brings streaming televisions services to subscribers on the go, as well as local news and weather updates. Some subscription packages offer access to Peacock Premium, NBC Universal’s blockbuster streaming service, while reasonably priced prepaid kits are available for students.