Fidium Fiber Internet Review – Honest – With Unbiased Data

Fidium Fiber is the rebranded name of the fiber internet services sold by Consolidated Communications. Fidium offers symmetrical download and upload speeds of up to 2 Gbps (2,000 Mbps). This is twice the speed offered by many internet service providers. The symmetric nature of the connection also makes it a great choice for those who need faster upload speeds.

Fidium Fiber is currently available in 8 states across the United States. Coverage within each state varies by city/town. Currently, these states include California, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Vermont. Learn more about Fidium Fiber Internet coverage region.

The Fidium Fiber brand was created to differentiate the service from Consolidated Communications DSL internet.

As with most internet service providers (ISPs), Fidium has both its fair share of loyal customers and harsh critics. This is not unlike Comcast, Spectrum, Verizon, AT&T, Breezeline, and most other providers. A large number of people associate the Consolidated Communications brand with DSL service.

DSL is an older internet connection technology that does not generally offer the level of performance demanded by today’s internet activities, such as 4K streaming. DSL is also often plagued by the ancient copper phone lines that it is running over. This often means that DSL service is less reliable than other options.

On the other hand, fiber internet is generally rock solid. The service is delivered through glass cables which are not susceptible to electrical interference, unlike copper wires. Fiber is generally the most reliable internet service and also generally the fastest.

Fidium Fiber Review

Generally, Fidium Fiber internet is very reliable. Much of the infrastructure is new, largely funded by grants from the United States government aimed at expanding broadband internet into rural areas. Speeds are highly consistent and comparable to Verizon Fios and AT&T Fiber.

As a fiber-based internet service, there is plenty of bandwidth to go around, and your neighbor’s internet usage will not slow down your speeds. This is in contrast to some cable (DOCSIS) based service providers that tend to oversell their bandwidth too much in some areas. Other cable internet providers, such as Breezeline, are better about not overselling their bandwidth.

It is also in contrast to 5G home internet services from Verizon and T-Mobile. Both 5g home internet services clearly state in their terms of service that your bandwidth will be deprioritized when the cell tower is congested.

Pricing based on download speed is roughly on par with other options. Pricing based on upload speed is truly outstanding. With symmetrical speeds, even the lowest 50 Mbps service tier is faster than what is offered by services such as Comcast (Xfinity) or Spectrum. This is to be expected as Fidium is a fiber service.

Fidium Fiber Internet Speeds

 Fidium in 2022 offers ranging from 50 Mbps up to 2000 Mbps (2 Gbps). All of their plans reliably deliver the advertised bandwidth for both downloads and uploads.

If you choose to use the router provided by Fidium, you will get a modern WiFi 6 gateway and the option to expand your coverage using WiFi extenders. We will warn you that, generally, WiFi extenders are not the best option if you want max performance. Fidium also discourages people from using their own equipment. That said, using your own equipment is possible based on my experience.

Upload speeds are advertised as being equal to the download speeds of your service plan. The lowest plan offers 50 Mbps of upload speed, and the higher plan offers a whopping 2 Gbps upload speed. This is much higher than what is currently offered by Comcast (Xfinity) or Spectrum. They both max out at 35 Mbps. Breezeline is slightly better at up to 50 Mbps.

Of course, comparing upload speeds on a fiber service to a DOCSIS cable service may not be completely fair. That said, upload bandwidth is definitely one of the major selling points of fiber internet.

Fidium Fiber Latency (Ping) Performance

Latency is not an issue whatsoever with Fidium internet. Pings to Google (8.8.8.8) or to Cloudflare’s public DNS servers (1.1.1.1)  are generally under 10 milliseconds. This is a fair bit lower than what is typically seen with Comcast, Spectrum, or Cox DOCSIS based connections. It is also significantly lower than what Starlink satellite internet service offers.

If you are a gamer, the stable low latency offered by Fidium Fiber Internet is ideal. Generally, connections to popular game servers are 30 ms or less in latency. This is really important for lag-free gaming.

Fidium is also ideal for gaming because they do not use carrier-grade NAT (CGNAT) and instead gives every customer a proper publicly routable IP address. This means no double NAT issues for gaming, and port forwarding is a breeze to set up.

Fidium Fiber Pricing

Pricing is what you would expect. During the promotional period of 12 months, the pricing is excellent. Pricing ranges from about $35 per month up to $70 per month during the promotional period. This is dependent on what plan you choose. Note that the 2 gigabit plan is significantly more expensive, and most people will likely want to pass on it. 1 gig speeds are more than enough for just about any home internet user.

After the promo rate expires, you can expect to see a substantial increase in their monthly bill. The pricing currently ranges from $55 – $95 per month after the promotions run out. This is slightly better than average pricing for each speed tier.

Fidium Fiber Customer Support

Customer support is a common criticism of virtually every internet service provider. Fidium is no exception. Overall the support experiences I have experienced have been better than with other providers such as Comcast, Spectrum, Breezeline, AT&T, or Verizon.

Generally, the wait times for technical support are the longest during the evening hours. If you are able to call off hours, you will generally get through to a support agent much faster.

For billing and account support, generally, the wait time to get through to an account representative is minimal. Once again, this doesn’t mean that you will not have a bad experience. I just find that the support is easier to get in contact with when compared to some other internet service providers.

Alternatives to Fidium Fiber Internet

Depending on where you live, you may have several alternatives available to you for internet service in addition to Fidium. Comcast / Spectrum / Cox are big players in the cable internet space. Many of the Fidium service regions are more rural and may not have access to many other options.

Breezeline internet is available in a portion of the Fidium service territory and offers a solid alternative as long as you do not need symmetrical upload speeds. Breezeline upload speeds cap out at 50 Mbps, and many of their plans have upload speeds as low as 10 Mbps.

DSL is an option that is generally available at most service addresses. That said, we would strongly recommend that most people steer clear of DSL, if at all possible, in 2023 and beyond.

5G home internet from companies such as T-Mobile and Verizon are also expanding in footprint. At this time, I would hesitate to recommend 5G home internet if you have access to anything better. Fidium Fiber is definitely a superior option to 5G home internet at this time. Starlink, similar to 5G, is also an option in many places but lags behind cable and fiber internet both in terms of speed and stability.

Other internet service providers that you should consider include:

• Comcast (Xfinity Internet)
• Spectrum Internet
• AT&T Fiber
• Verizon Fios
• Breezeline Internet

Other Things You Should Know About Fidium

Fidium Fiber has a few technical details that you should be aware of. Although this will not affect most users, if this information is important to you, keep reading.

Fidium uses PPPoE for authentication, this is because it shares some back-end infrastructure with Consolidated Communication’s DSL service. This is one of the reasons that they want you to use their router and not your own.

Based on my experience with Fidium and the numerous comments on Reddit, you can use your own router but need to get the PPPoE credentials from Fidium’s customer service department.

Another thing to be aware of is that your public IP address frequently changes, in some cases as often as weekly. This is not an issue for most users, but it is something to be aware of. Unlike Xfinity, which rarely changes your IP address, Fidium changes your IP frequently.

On the bright side, Fidium Fiber gives you a proper publicly routable IP address, unlike the CGNAT IP address that Starlink, T-Mobile, and some other ISPs give out. This means that port forwarding is possible and that your NAT type in games will not be strict.

Conclusion

Fidium Fiber offers broadband internet service in 8 states. They offer fiber-based internet at reasonable prices across their service territory.

For most people who live in a Fidium service area, we would highly recommend the service. it is generally faster than Comcast or Spectrum for a lower monthly price. If you value high upload speeds, the symmetrical nature of fiber internet makes Fidium a natural fit. Most people can find a Fidium internet plan that will fit their needs and their budget.

Consolidated Communications has largely been plagued by the use of aging phone infrastructure used to deliver DSL internet services. Their fiber service offerings, branded as Fidium, are definitely worth considering if they are available to you. As a company, Consolidated Communications is fine, it is the aging infrastructure that has held them back the most.

My overall rating of Fidium Fiber internet is 4.5/5 stars. This compares favorably with most other internet service options available.