Compare introductory and regular pricing for home internet

Compare introductory and regular pricing

When we read seven public offer pages on Sep 21, 2026, the headline rate periods were far apart. Some pages said when the headline ends; several said nothing about the price after that. The full sample is in our internet bill cost study.

Read the table as three clocks. The service clock says how long the headline lasts. The later-price clock says what comes next, and it is often blank. The equipment clock can run on its own schedule. Optimum’s service lock ran five years, yet its gateway was free for only the first year. For the EarthLink offer, Check plans at your address. For Spectrum, Check plans at your address. For Optimum, Check plans at your address.

Update, Oct 28, 2026: Fetched Oct 28, 2026, EarthLink's fiber page did not show the 24 dollars and 95 cents two-month headline recorded on Sep 21. The page lists 100 Mbps, 300 Mbps, 1 Gig and 5 Gig plans and says rates stay consistent for 12 months, without a dollar amount for that rate in the text we received. A plain download of the same URL still returns HTTP 403, which is why the Sep 21 row was captured in a browser. That row stays the audit record.

Update, Oct 28, 2026: Optimum has changed this offer again since the Oct 6 note. Fetched Oct 28, 2026, its fiber page shows a promotional 500 Mbps service rate of 25 dollars a month plus taxes and fees for 12 months, then an increase of no more than 15 dollars a month per year until standard rates. It calls that a 1-year price lock. Gateway terms on the same page are not a single figure: one block charges nothing for 12 months, and another charges 5 dollars a month for 12 months, after which either can rise by up to 5 dollars a month per year until standard rates. The Sep 21 row, 40 dollars for 60 months, stays the audit record. The Oct 6 description of a price lock of up to 3 years that required SecureWifi+ is no longer what the page states.

What the broadband label must show, and the 2026 revision

Every plan comes with a broadband label. The FCC says it must show prices, speeds, fees, data allowances, and bundle, discount and introductory-rate details. Large providers had to show the label at the point of sale from April 10, 2024. Providers with fewer than 100,000 subscribers followed on October 10, 2024.

The FCC revised the rules in an order adopted July 22, 2026 (FCC 26-48). It would let providers show a link or icon at checkout in place of the full label, and list variable passthrough fees as one “up to” amount. Those label changes are delayed with no date set. Only the order’s updated definitions took effect, on Sep 14, 2026. Read the full label either way, and check each fee on the first invoice.

Build a cost sheet that survives the promotion

Make one row per offer and give every row the same months. For each offer, write down:

• The service charge now, and the date it changes.
• The later service charge, or “not stated” if the page gives none.
• Equipment and Wi-Fi charges, and when each one starts.
• Installation, activation and any deposit.
• Each discount and what it requires.
• Taxes, fees and the cancellation rule for rented devices.

Keep a bundled mobile or TV saving out of the sheet unless you would keep that service anyway.

Conditions that change the price

Four of the seven displayed rates in the same Sep 21 audit depended on how you pay. Three of them show how far the rules differ:

• AT&T required AutoPay and paperless billing for its displayed Fiber 300 rate.
• Kinetic’s displayed Fiber 300 rate already included an AutoPay discount, which a buyer could turn off at the next step.
• Optimum’s discount depended on how you pay. A checking account earned the full discount, a debit card a smaller one, and a credit card none.

Update, Oct 28, 2026: Fetched Oct 28, 2026, AT&T's fiber page shows two Internet 300 cards. The card limited to AutoPay and paperless billing, with no wireless requirement in the legal line, displays 50 dollars a month beside a 60 dollar comparison, after a 10 dollar monthly discount, plus taxes and fees, in limited areas. A second card still displays 35 dollars beside a 60 dollar comparison, and its legal line requires an eligible wireless service plus AutoPay and paperless billing. The Sep 21 row recorded 35 dollars after AutoPay and paperless billing and did not state a wireless requirement. That row stays the audit record.

Write each condition beside the price it produces. If you would rather pay by credit card, price the Optimum offer without the discount. If AutoPay fails one month, ask what that bill becomes. For the AT&T Fiber 300 terms, Order now. For Kinetic Fiber 300, Check plans at your address.

Test the answer against a shorter or longer stay

Run the total twice, once for the stay you expect and once for an early exit. A setup charge weighs heavily on a short stay. A low opening rate can lose over two years once the later rate starts.

Before you switch, rerun each total for three failures: the discount is denied, the installer cannot reach the unit, or a photo backup pushes one month past the data allowance.

Choose the constraint before the speed

A cheap plan is the wrong plan if its data runs out, its upload is too slow for work, or its install date is too late. Read how data allowances and overage work before you pick a capped plan. Paying for gigabit will not fix weak Wi-Fi in a bedroom either, so test the line and the Wi-Fi separately before you price an upgrade.

Some situations have their own worksheet:

• Internet price increase: find the line that changed first.
• You need a lower-cost plan: check Lifeline and size the speed.
• Basic prepaid internet service: price whole payment periods.
• You will stay only a few months: count the cost per usable day.
• You are replacing a provider: install and test before you cancel.

What to do next

Put two offers into the 12- and 24-month cost calculator. Leave a later price blank when the offer page does not state one: under our methodology, a missing price counts as unknown, never zero.