Verizon Fios Home Internet Review: Simply the Best?

Unavailable in Provider unavailable in 90001

Edit

... Starting at $50

Or call: Or call to learn more: (855) 379-7064

Verizon Fios home internet rating

How we calculated our rating

7.6/10

CNET Score

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.

Read more

7.6

/ 10

SCORE

Speed

7.5/10

Value

7/10

Customer Care

8/10

Pros

• All Verizon Fios plans are 100% fiber, with symmetrical download and upload speeds
• No data caps or allowances on any plans
• No term agreements necessary on any plans

Cons

• Low fiber availability for a national company
• While Fios and 5G are affordable, LTE and DSL options are pricey

See more pros and cons

Verizon Fios, the company's fiber-optic internet service, announced in late October 2023 that its network would expand to over 2,000 more customers in Delaware and select areas would have access to the provider's Fios 2 Gig plan. This is the latest expansion for an internet service that has captured the top spot in multiple customer satisfaction studies for many years since it launched in 2004 -- but it's available in only eight states and the District of Columbia. Verizon unveiled its 5G Ultra Wideband network early in 2022, a move to unlock more of the full potential of 5G and help it expand its home broadband footprint. 

Verizon offers home internet via DSL for many of its coverage areas, primarily for those in the Northeast who are outside its Fios network. Verizon LTE Home Internet service is an option in 200 markets, not to mention the now 900 cities where Verizon 5G Home service is currently available.

All of that makes for a complicated coverage map, meaning there's a lot to consider before signing up for Verizon Fios based solely on the glowing reviews. Note that prices listed on this page reflect available discounts for setting up paperless billing. If you decide not to go with automatic monthly payments, your price will be higher.

If you live within Verizon's East Coast coverage area and Verizon Fios is available at your address, its internet service is tough to beat. If you're outside that area, you may have some form of Verizon home internet service available, but you'll need to make some tough side-by-side comparisons to find what's truly best for your address. Keep reading because we can help with that. 

Slow Wi-Fi? This Might Be the Problem See at Cnet

Where can you sign up for Verizon Fios?

Verizon Fios is available solely in eight eastern states -- Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia -- and Washington, DC. You can use the Verizon availability checker to see if Fios is available at your address.

Additionally, Verizon aims to expand its 5G home internet service availability across the country. Verizon 5G Home is available in approximately 900 cities and over 40 million households.

Verizon's available internet connections

• Verizon Fios, which is 100% fiber-optic, offers three different plans.
• Verizon High Speed Internet, a DSL service, still exists, but is no longer available to new customers.
• Verizon LTE Home Internet is available in select markets in 48 states.
• Verizon 5G Home Internet is available in over 900 cities across the US.

Verizon's Fios service is the easiest to understand. There are four tiers: 300, 500, 1 Gig and 2 Gig. Many providers offer a promo rate that expires after 12 months, causing your bill to go up, but Verizon doesn't do that. Depending on your chosen plan, there's a 2- to 4-year price guarantee. That's a good, straightforward approach.

Also, as Fios is a fiber-optic network, it delivers near-symmetrical download and upload speeds, meaning you will get close to the same upload speeds as your downloads. If you're more accustomed to asymmetrical cable internet (where the upload speeds on a 300Mbps plan might only go as high as 10Mbps), you know how dramatic a difference that can make, particularly for videoconferencing and transferring large files.

Verizon's LTE Home Internet uses the Verizon 4G LTE cellular network to connect to the internet in areas where no other Verizon broadband options -- Fios, DSL or 5G Home Internet -- are available. Currently, per Verizon, that's 189 markets in 48 different states.

With LTE Home Internet, customers should expect to see download speeds of 25Mbps to 50Mbps, with approximately 4-5Mbps upload, per the Verizon LTE FAQs.

Verizon LTE Home Internet includes a wireless router, while Verizon LTE Home Plus includes a Wi-Fi extender, Verizon Cloud Unlimited and extra perks.

Verizon's 5G internet service, which uses ultrawideband 5G technology, is available in 900 cities across the country. It advertises max download speeds of up to 1 gigabit and an average 300Mbps. Upload speeds, however, are not symmetrical, typically topping out around 50Mbps, depending on one's location.

Verizon 5G Home Internet pricing is $50 a month for a two-year price guarantee or $70 a month to lock in the rate for three years and secure additional perks and benefits. Either way, it's an all-in price that includes equipment. Also, like all other Verizon plans, there are no contracts or data caps. Finally, you can slash additional monies off your monthly bill with a qualifying Verizon 5G mobile plan.

When will Verizon 5G be available to me?

Beyond the Verizon Fios services available in its Northeast market, Verizon is also carving out other options for customers nationwide. In 2021, Verizon promised its 5G home internet service would be available to 15 million homes. In January of 2022, it surpassed that number when Verizon flipped the switch on 5G Ultra Wideband. The company aims to expand its fixed wireless internet services to 50 million by 2025.

Other aspects to know about Verizon Fios

No contracts are required for any Verizon plans. There are no data caps, either. But just as your mom taught you to always look under the hood, it's never a bad idea to dig in a bit to get a better idea of what you're buying before committing to any possible internet service.

Any additional monthly fees?

As mentioned above, Verizon Fios customers don't have to pay for their equipment rental, as everything comes included in the monthly price.

One-time installation fee

Again, your setup charge will depend on the Verizon plan you select. If you choose Fios, your setup charge will be $99, which is waived if you order online.

No Verizon Fios data caps

Unlike Cox, Hughesnet, Xfinity and some other ISPs, Verizon does not place a data cap on customers. Therefore, you won't need to worry about overage fees or slowing your data once you hit a certain threshold. 

Promos and perks for Verizon Fios

Verizon Fios can lean into the fact that you're not required to sign a term agreement, which means no early termination fees or getting stuck with a service you've either outgrown or need to downsize. But many offers also help sweeten the deal for potential customers.

First, Verizon has a discount of $25 per month on all its Fios home internet offerings for new customers who also enroll in the company's premium 5G mobile plans. 

New Verizon Fios subscribers will receive a price-lock guarantee -- two years for the 300Mbps plan, three years for subscribers of the 500Mbps tier and four years for the one- and two-gigabit plans. New Verizon Fios customers will also receive a Target gift card -- $50 for Fios 300, $100 for Fios 500, $200 for 1 gigabit and $300 for the 2-gigabit plan. Fios Gig and 2 Gig subscribers will also get a free, six-month subscription to Disney Plus and 2TB of Verizon Cloud storage.

Lastly, Verizon also offers Fios Forward, making the same Fios plans available to households who qualify for financial assistance (for example, those enrolled in the federal Lifeline program). Through this program, customers might be able to save $20 a month on Fios plans. Also, customers participating in the Affordable Connectivity Program may be eligible to receive free internet -- a 300Mbps plan, including all fees and router costs -- through Fios Forward. You must be a Fios Mix & Match customer and approved for the ACP to qualify.

Verizon Fios garners high marks in customer satisfaction

Verizon Fios has consistently been at the top of customer service metrics for most of the last decade. When you look at the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index numbers for ISPs, it might not seem so, as Fios came in fourth place among fiber ISPs. However, it scored three points above the 72 points out of 100 it scored in 2022, which was just a tick above its 2021 numbers. That marks three years running that Verizon has increased its score near the top of the ACSI's ISP benchmarks.

In addition, Verizon currently holds the top overall average score in J.D. Power's latest ISP customer satisfaction ranks. However, it's worth pointing out that Verizon was only scored in one of four regions. In that region, the East, Verizon finished commandingly in first place, scoring 760 on a 1,000-point scale. That put the company well above the region's average of 709, earning it the second-highest score nationwide. Indeed, Verizon has captured the top spot in the East region of J.D. Power's study for 10 years.

The speed-testing website Ookla tracks ISPs based on a scoring system that looks at both download and upload speeds. Based on the most recent Ookla tests from the fourth quarter of 2024, Verizon landed in seventh place behind Cox, Spectrum, AT&T, Xfinity, Frontier and Optimum. This is a little surprising until you realize these numbers include DSL and LTE service, not just the faster Fios.

Verizon took first place for the lowest latency among top providers during that same period. However, it came in fifth place for Ookla's Consistency Score category, which measures how often an ISP delivers broadband speeds to its customers.

The bottom line on Verizon Fios? It's pretty good

Verizon can boast that its Fios service is 100% fiber -- and as internet connection types go, it's tough to beat fiber. Additionally, Verizon can point to its high customer satisfaction ratings and shout about its consistency at the top of those charts. All true. But the availability of Verizon's fiber plans is mainly limited to those in the Northeast. The company's DSL plans are nothing exceptional, and there's still a large portion of people across the country for whom Verizon isn't available. 

Verizon's 5G and LTE home internet expansion aims to bridge that gap and is worth keeping an eye on, especially as things are moving relatively fast now that 5G Ultra Wideband has been unveiled. Until then, Verizon Fios is a top-notch option for getting online in the Northeast.

Verizon Fios FAQs