Consolidated Communications Internet Availability

Good smoothies can contain all kinds of strange things (ever had a cauliflower smoothie?). Blend those ingredients up, and you may arrive at a delicious drink that gives you a boost. Similarly, more than 5 million people in a service area covering 24 states can get an internet speed boost by downing Consolidated Communications’s blend of fiber, fixed wireless, cable, and DSL services. Based on the infrastructure where you live, you might have access to one, two, or multiple connection types from this provider.

Overall, the current availability of different connection types for Consolidated Communications breaks down as follows: DSL covers about 4.4 million people, making Consolidated Communications the sixth-largest provider of DSL in the U.S., fiber service connects approximately 1.4 million people, and cable links just 200,000 people to the internet.

Internet speeds at Consolidated Communications top out at 1 Gbps, while Fidium, Consolidated’s fiber-optic company, delivers symmetrical speeds up to 2 Gbps. In terms of price, plans vary widely based on speed, connection type, and service area.

Consolidated Communications Connections

Consolidated Communications Internet Contracts and Data Caps

You’ve got to give something to get something, right? Some politicians out there might beg to differ, but internet companies like Consolidated Communications certainly don’t. When you sign up for an internet plan with Consolidated Communications, you don't have to sign a contract, as all plans are contract-free!

Another pesky condition that often winds up in service contracts with internet providers is data caps. Imagine all the amazing content and data out there on the internet like an all-you-can-eat buffet. Data caps are like the owners of the buffet, limiting the number of plates you’re allowed to use. Sure, it might prevent someone from hogging all of the lobster tails or slowing down the line, but it does make things inconvenient. 

Luckily for all of us, Consolidated Communications doesn’t have data caps on any of its plans. So, internet speed willing, you can stream to your heart’s content. Here, you’ll find these data caps from Consolidated Communications summarized in a neat and easy-to-use table: 

Consolidated Communications Data Caps

Consolidated Communications Internet Customer Service

When buying internet service, we tend to focus on speed and price while forgetting about customer service. But the truth is that you do so at your own peril. If internet service was ice cream, then customer service would be the cone. If that cone is leaky or falls apart, your sweet treat becomes an unruly, soggy mess.

Unfortunately, Consolidated Customer Support has an F rating for customer service from the Better Business Bureau, with an added alert saying it has “received a pattern of consumer complaints alleging inferior service, billing issues, delays in responding to consumers and poor customer service.” Ouch. 

Does this report mean that you shouldn’t sign up for service with Consolidated Communications? We don’t think so. Because Consolidated Communications offers so many different kinds of internet connections in different areas, it’s best to look at what’s available to you and the kind of support there is locally. In fact, when you go to the Contact Us page on Consolidated’s website, you’ll be prompted to put in your ZIP code to get location-specific contact information.

As an additional note, we haven’t found any major complaints about Fidium yet — the newer fiber-optic branch of Consolidated. Overall, Fidium seems to be more customer-oriented than its parent company, and we believe it will be receiving substantial praise for customer service in the future.

The Value of Consolidated Communications Internet

We’ve come to the end, and it’s time to decide whether or not you want to go with Consolidated Communications as your internet provider. If you’re still not ready to pick up the phone and commit, we get it. There’s a lot of info to sort through. To help you out, we put together the pros and cons of doing business with Consolidated Communications for you: 

All in all, we think that Consolidated Communications makes a valiant effort to provide different internet connections to very different markets from cities and suburbs to rural areas. While this something-for-everyone approach does have a downside in terms of customer service, Consolidated does offer some deals on internet that are hard to beat. Moreover, if you have access to one of the states with Fidium, we recommend giving them a chance. While Fidium is a newer internet provider from Consolidated Communications, it has the makings of being one of the best.