Earthlink Internet Review: Plans, prices, and customer satisfaction

You can get three different types of EarthLink internet services: fiber internet, fixed wireless home internet, and satellite internet. That’s good news, considering EarthLink consistently ranks high in customer service polls for all its internet service plans.

On the downside, EarthLink prices tend to be higher, and because EarthLink rents its infrastructure from other internet providers, your connection reliability can be out of its hands. It’ll run as a dedicated middleman to get you back online if something goes wrong, but it’s good to know upfront.

EarthLink is a good internet service provider, especially if you’re tired of dealing with apathetic customer service agents. You have to be willing to pay for smooth sailing.

We recommend checking below to see if you have EarthLink available in your area.

Jump to: 

• Internet service types
• Earthlink satellite internet
• Fixed wireless home internet
• Fiber internet
• DSL internet
• Earthlink deals and promotions
• Earthlink vs. the competition
• Availability
• Installation
• Data caps
• Earthlink Guardian
• Is EarthLink a good deal?
• FAQ

You can get EarthLink Wi-Fi via fiber internet, fixed wireless home internet, and satellite internet.

EarthLink can offer all these different internet types by renting its infrastructure from other internet companies, the same way that MVNOs rent their networks from major cellular providers.

Because it rents the infrastructure of other internet service providers, EarthLink doesn’t always have immediate control over the infrastructure if something goes wrong. But you can also get all the power and speed of providers like AT&T and Viasat without dealing with their notoriously lousy customer service. EarthLink is at your beck and call.

But which EarthLink internet service is right for you? That likely depends on where you live and what you need, so let’s check them out in detail.

EarthLink satellite service uses Viasat internet’s geosynchronous satellites, which means you’re getting one of the best satellite internet providers in the world right now, with solid speeds and reliability, plus EarthLink’s superior customer service.

Overall, EarthLink is a solid satellite internet service, but it generally comes with the same cons of satellite internet: higher latency, slower speeds, and data restrictions. Fortunately, EarthLink plans don’t have hard data caps, but your service will still slow after you exceed your plan’s data allotment.

Satellite internet service is best if you live in rural or out-of-the-way areas that don’t have fixed wireless internet plans as an option (hint: no cell service or bad cell service in your area should tell you fixed wireless home internet won’t work well for you).

If that’s you, but you’re not sure EarthLink’s prices work for your needs, check out our Best Satellite Internet Services for more options.

Unlike EarthLink fiber internet, EarthLink wireless home internet plans all offer 100 Mbps. The price differences between plans are dictated by the data limit you set.

4G LTE providers offer a great rural internet option for people who have cell coverage in their area. If you can get fixed wireless, pick it over satellite internet. It’s a bit more reliable, faster, and has lower latency.

You can check if fixed wireless internet is available near you by using our zip check below.

If it’s available in your area, EarthLink fiber is your best internet option. Grab these EarthLink internet plans and enjoy up to 5 gigs (5,000 Mbps) and matching upload speed.

Any fiber plan from EarthLink should serve you well, though most people won’t need the sheer unbelievable power (and price) of the Fiber 5 Gig plan. That’s all thanks to the fiber optic cables EarthLink rents from AT&T. Because fiber optics are made with glass instead of copper cable wires, they can deliver the sweet download speeds you see above.

Also, EarthLink charges install fees of up to $19.95. You will also rent the router fees for all service levels, which are set at $14.95.

Unfortunately, EarthLink fiber is available in only select areas, so you’re also way less likely to have access to these EarthLink internet plans, especially if you live outside major cities.

You can check if EarthLink fiber’s near you using our zip check below. If not, don’t worry—you may have one of EarthLink’s internet services above that is better suited for North America’s rural areas.

At its peak, EarthLink was a significant DSL provider, but it no longer advertises DSL internet plans or offers them to new customers. DSL internet (where it’s still available across North America) is often slower than satellite internet, carried on archaic copper lines, and no longer reliable.

DSL struggles to even carry broadband speeds, which is just 25 Mbps, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

It’s a good sign that EarthLink isn’t trying to peddle DSL to anyone anymore. Instead, it has focused on 4G LTE home internet, and fiber internet—all of which are faster and far more reliable. So, thumbs-up to EarthLink for moving with the times.

EarthLink doesn’t offer promotional pricing or deals, which is unfortunate since EarthLink plan prices are steeper. On the upside, you’ll never experience sudden price hikes with EarthLink. Stable pricing can be its own virtue.

Viasat, Hughesnet, and Starlink are EarthLink's main satellite competitors. But you might remember that EarthLink uses Viasat’s service, so we’ll take that off the board immediately (especially since prices are equitable and EarthLink’s customer service is superior).

EarthLink satellite internet has better speeds than Hughesnet but not better data caps than Starlink. EarthLink plans rank even with Viasat Internet, which we’d put as the second-best satellite internet provider—unless Starlink isn’t available in your area yet, we recommend it.

Check out our review for more on other satellite internet services.

In the fixed wireless home internet industry, EarthLink is a David against some major Goliaths of the industry.

EarthLink partnered with UltraMobile to deliver its fixed wireless home internet service. UltraMobile, meanwhile, uses AT&T’s network. Its solid and speedy reputation should give you some confidence in EarthLink's rented infrastructure, but even AT&T’s cell network can’t quite rival the likes of T-Mobile and Verizon.

T-Mobile and Verizon would beat EarthLink to rule over all fixed wireless home internet services. But EarthLink’s customer service would still give these giants an impressive fight. If we compare EarthLink to one of its competitors like Ladybug Wireless, it’d definitely be on a more even footing.

So what’s the takeaway? If you have T-Mobile or Verizon LTE home wireless internet services near you, they could be a better choice than EarthLink. But if you’re picking between EarthLink and another service, feel safe in this fixed wireless fighter’s care.

If you’re lucky enough to get EarthLink fiber internet, it's comparable to other fiber services in terms of reliability, download and upload speeds, and quality—it just needs to be available in your area.

EarthLink fiber is comparable to other fiber networks in terms of how limited its coverage is, too.

Because EarthLink offers satellite internet, it’s available almost anywhere in North America. This is your best option if you can’t get a cell signal where you live.

Meanwhile, EarthLink's fixed wireless home internet service isn’t nearly as all-encompassing as that, but it can still cover quite a spread of rural areas, as long as they’re in AT&T’s cell coverage zones.

And like we’ve said before, EarthLink fiber internet is the rarest service it offers, mainly concentrated around large city areas. If you can catch this unicorn, by all means, do so.

EarthLink offers professional installation—for a fee. $80, to be exact, and while it’s pretty typical for internet providers to charge for something like this, we think it’s pretty strange of EarthLink since it’s not the one installing anything.

When you make an order, EarthLink informs the service it rents infrastructure from—whether AT&T or Viasat—and sends a team to install it. So that’s just $80 you’re never getting back. But at least if something goes awry with installation, you can fume at EarthLink, and it’ll champion you to the service that got it wrong.

That’s a silver lining that’s probably not worth $80, but hey, you might enjoy having someone else there to handle your problems.

EarthLink internet equipment, much like its installation, will depend on what internet service you’ve selected and what company provides it. Do you want EarthLink satellite Wi-Fi? Viasat’s satellite dish will show up at your door with a team to install it. The same follows for AT&T and EarthLink fixed wireless and EarthLink fiber.

EarthLink's data caps depend on the kind of internet service you’re looking to get from the company.

Satellite WiFi networks have more restrictions on bandwidth and latency than other internet types, so you won’t be surprised to hear that EarthLink's satellite service comes with stricter data caps than its different services.

EarthLink's satellite data caps range from 15–300 GB; you can expect to pay more for the higher data cap you want. We’d say it’s usually worth it to get the highest data cap you can and, preferably, get unlimited data where possible.

Fortunately, EarthLink’s satellite internet service does offer unlimited data plans—but there’s a catch. You’ll still have a data cap, but you won’t lose your service after exceeding it. Instead, your speeds will slow and will be deprioritized compared to users who haven’t exceeded their data allotment.

None of that is unusual for satellite internet providers, so you won’t need to worry about getting ripped off here. But still, it pales in comparison to Starlink’s satellite internet plans with unlimited data. Now, that’s a rural internet dream.

Like most wireless home internet services, EarthLink’s plans have tight data caps ranging from 50 to 150 GB. Wireless home internet is more like satellite internet since your internet connection comes through heavily trafficked cell towers.

If you’re planning on streaming TV with your EarthLink Wi-Fi and have more than two people in your household, you’ll probably want at least 75 GB of data, but we’d recommend the 150 GB plan for most people.

EarthLink fiber has no data caps, as you might expect from the high caliber of a fiber service. Because fiber optic cables don’t have the same restrictions as 4G LTE home or satellite internet, you can use those up-to-5 gig speeds to the fullest.

EarthLink Guardian is the company’s proprietary parental control service used to protect your children’s privacy and keep them safe online from cyber bullies, creeps, and all the other internet baddies. It constantly monitors emails and the 30 most popular social media apps.

In typical EarthLink fashion, EarthLink Guardian is powered by another service—Bark. That’s a good thing; Bark is one of the most robust parental control tools available. EarthLink Guardian costs only $5 a month, whereas the comparable Bark Premium plan costs $14 a month.

So you can save some money on an award-winning parental monitoring service when you get EarthLink Guardian alongside your EarthLink internet service. Not bad.

EarthLink plans have slightly higher prices than other services but excellent customer service. We’d say that’s a good deal if you care about your blood pressure—especially if you can get EarthLink fiber internet service, which has excellent speeds and reliability.

If you can’t get EarthLink fiber, EarthLink mobile internet is still a fast option that’ll take good care of you if you live somewhere with cell tower service. EarthLink’s even got you covered if you’re in an internet desert since its satellite service comes through Viasat, which is the second-fastest satellite internet service available.

We think you’re in good hands with EarthLink. Just make sure you get the right internet service type for you.

Our SatelliteInternet.com editorial team bases our analyses on research, results from our speed test tool, and proprietary internet provider data on speeds and pricing. We dig deep to get hard-to-find information on internet plans, fees, and upcoming brand developments. We make this information easy for you to find in one place via our in-depth reviews, and we use our satellite internet industry expertise to analyze the options to help you make the most informed decision for your household.

To learn more about our process, check out our Methodology page.

Earthlink fiber internet is extremely fast—up to 5,000 Mbps. But Earthlink wireless home internet and Earthlink satellite internet speeds are around 100 Mbps.

That’s minuscule compared to 5,000 Mbps, but remember that 100 Mbps still qualifies as high-speed internet (the FCC mandates 25 Mbps or above for broadband internet), and it should satisfy most three-person households.

EarthLink isn’t owned by AT&T, but it does rent its fiber internet infrastructure from AT&T.

Earthlink was one of the dominant internet providers about two decades ago before it fell into some obscurity. But in the last three years, it’s resurged with new internet plans, internet types, and internet speeds.

Earthlink HyperLink was an old fiber-and-DSL service Earthlink once provided. It’s no longer mentioned on the internet provider’s website and seems to have been retired.