How Optimum Online Stacks Up Against Cox Cable

You have probably been wanting to see how Optimum Online stacks up against Cox’s broadband service. These are two leading media/broadband providers out there that people have trouble choosing between. In this post, we will be comparing them based on basics in the three key areas: broadband internet, digital cable, and home telephone. Hopefully, that will help you decide which is a better fit for your home.

Internet

One thing about Optimum Online that is hard not to love: they give full disclosure on their speed rates. This approach holds tremendous weight with a majority of customers. Essentially, it presents a view of their triple package in terms of download and upload speeds ranging from 3 Mbps/ 768 Kbps to 15 Mbps/2 Mbps. Also, you get real world speed with time estimates when doing movie downloads, video game demos, software downloads, etc. The 50 Mbps/8 Mbps connection is aimed at smaller businesses, so it is not there in that lineup.

Cox’s internet service is even faster, with peak speeds of up to 55 Mbps. But they don’t make it easy for the consumer to gauge actual download and upload speeds. If fast connections (barring the ‘up to’ clause) are what make Cox appealing, Optimum’s transparency places the two services on an even keel.

Digital Cable

This is the staple of modern media providers. To this space, Optimum brings an impressive lineup of 125 HD channels. Cox outdoes that with varying offerings, which comprise an average of 250 channels from all groups. Note that many of the latter are doubles of non-HD channel offerings, and that being the case, it is not just the numbers you should be looking at.

Both companies give out carefully devised channel lineups with great value. Cox provides international programming focused in the Philippines, while Optimum has packages catering to specific interests, such as animation and science. With overall advantage in numbers, Cox still gets soundly beaten in terms of selection.

Digital Telephone

With internet calling on the boom, fewer people appreciate using a landline these days. You also have unlimited cell phone plans causing pretty much the same effect. But home phones are still here for some reason and customers prefer quality local calls and international packages at affordable rates. Cox has a bigger range of plans than Optimum, but that often counts for little when you consider bigger services like Vonage.

Verdict

Both of these companies provide premium features at affordable prices. You have high-speed services and quality digital media available in most parts of the country. Cox scores higher, if you are looking for security and home integration – they offer a unique security suite. However, if you are biased towards a value channel lineup at a more affordable rate, Optimum is by no means a shabby choice.