High-Speed No-Contract Internet Guide

Tue, Sep 12, 2023 11:48 PM Internet Bundles Broadband Deals

What internet plan for no-contract is best? The best internet service you can get that doesn't require a year-long contract is Google Fiber. It's swift. They're reliable. It doesn't have storage limits. This provides you with one of the quickest connections possible. Without any surprises, Google Fiber also offers you a basic monthly rate.

Sad to say, only in a few cities nationwide is Google Fiber available. There could even be some high installation costs upfront unless you're lucky enough to live in a Google Fiber-wired home already.

There are a number of other prepaid and no-contract plans if you can't get Google Fiber, which may make more sense for your current situation. And the great thing is that, with one of these no-contract internet plans, you can still change your mind if the condition changes.

All providers listed below have broadband speeds, but there are quite a few major gaps between them. Google Fiber is 50 significantly faster than the Internet's Xfinity while costing you an extra $25 per month. Although that might sound like a great deal, with a 20 Mbps connection, if you can do anything you need online, all that extra speed will not make a very big impact and your extra $25 per month will be unused.

Transparent billing is one thing that all five of these plans have. Every month, you pay a flat rate, with no sneaky price hikes or cancellation charges. If you rent your modem from your service provider, you might get an equipment fee, but that was it.

Paying attention to the type of link you sign up for is also critical. Fiber networks are fast, reliable, and need maintenance only rarely. In some cases (such as high-traffic times on a cable connection), cable and DSL will also fall short of their advertised speeds and both need further maintenance, which can cause internet disruptions.

Best No-Contract Plan Internet Plans

Google Fiber

Google Fiber is the best no-contract internet plan available, hands down. In reality, when you sign a long-term contract or bundle several services, it also beats the discounted plans that you can offer. There are no limits on records, no secret charges. If you can get Google Fiber, there are practically no downsides.

Having it is the tricky part, of course. In the US, there are only a handful of cities with connections to Google Fiber, and even in those cities, there are areas that have not yet been reached by Google's network. After the company was forced to pull out of Louisville, Kentucky after it's new "micro trenching" technology collapsed, the expansion of Google's fiber network ground to a halt.

Verizon Fios Prepaid

Internet Prepaid for Verizon Fios is an excellent offer. There are no caps on data. It's more affordable than most plans for no-contract cable and DSL, plus it provides you with a fiber-optic connection. This means you're going to have a stable connection that doesn't slow or stop and has lightning-fast upload speeds at peak hours. This makes it great for bingeing after work on Netflix, live streaming on Twitch, or having Zoom work meetings. While that's still a much wider region than Google Fiber reaches, availability is limited to the East Coast.

The installation, setup, and hardware also have a very high initial cost. You're also allowed to set up autopay for your bill, which means that because it's a month-to-month plan without a contract before you finally cancel, Verizon will keep paying you for it.

Verizon's installation costs $99.99, plus $199.99 to buy a router. This costs a lot more upfront than other plans, but with the purchase of your router, Verizon will also give you the first month of service free, which will help offset the cost of starting up.

Prepaid plans for Verizon Fios are not quite as fast as Google Fiber, but 200 Mbps is still better than most people will use, even though at the same time you had every computer in your house streaming 4K video.

Xfinity Prepaid Internet

The greatest attribute of Xfinity is literally its prevalence. There's Xfinity everywhere. This does not necessarily sound like high praise, but given that their restricted availability is the main downside of Google Fiber and Verizon Fios, having a national network is nothing to scoff about.

Obviously, Xfinity Prepaid Internet is not the fastest package, even when compared to the other deals from Xfinity. However, Xfinity Prepaid Internet is a very convenient option if you are looking for a plan that you can set up right away without committing to a contract. To get started, you do have to buy a modem, but Xfinity provides low-cost refurbished modems for $35, which is a pretty good price.

Cox StraightUp Internet

There is the absolute lowest barrier to entry to any no-contract plan for Cox StraightUp Internet. The setup has no expense, and the Wi-Fi modem is free of charge. For the first month, the only items you need to get started are $50 and an address inside Cox's service area. You can't do much better than this if you're looking for internet access straight away with no commitment. They even guarantee the price for the next three years if you happen to stick with Cox for a while, anyway.

Cox StraightUp Internet is not the quickest internet service out there, as with Xfinity's prepaid plans. It's also on a cable network, which can slow down in peak-use hours due to traffic. Even, 25 Mbps is enough bandwidth without any major problems to connect a few devices to your home Wi-Fi network.

The best thing about Cox StraightUp Internet is its simplicity and clarity. No secret fees and no sly tricks are available. There isn't something particularly fancy about it either. For a decent price, what you get is decent internet.