Astound Broadband, Powered by Grande, Internet Review 2023

Astound Broadband, powered by Grande offers low promotional prices for fast download speeds with no contract required. It also comes with unlimited data, and all this good news may leave you wondering, "What's the catch?"

Well, if you're not a resident of Texas, you won't see Astound, powered by Grande internet in your area. And those low prices don't last forever.

But if you call the great state of Texas home, let's dig into the details and find out if Astound, powered by Grande Wi-Fi internet service is right for you.

If you’re daydreaming about a faster internet connection, Astound Broadband has you covered with its cable internet plans. Even one of its lower-priced plans, Internet 400, gives you more than enough speed to stream in 4K, escort the payload in Overwatch, or binge-watch the latest season of The Expanse.

Usually, we recommend fiber internet over cable or DSL because fiber speeds tend to be more reliable. But with 300, 600, 940, or even 1200 Mbps, we think Grande's cable plans should do the trick for most anyone.

Not everybody needs more than 1 gig (in Astound's case, 1200 Mbps) speeds, so if you can save some cash by grabbing the Internet 940 or 600 plan, go for it. But that's not to say Astound's Internet 1200 Mbps plan isn't well-priced. It's one of—if not the—lowest-price 1200 Mbps data plans out there right now.

The Internet 1200 and 940 plans also come with the fastest upload speeds. That's perfect if you upload lots of photos or plan on starting a career as a famous YouTuber in the new decade.

Astound Broadbands' 300 Mbps plan is its cheapest offer out there, and it is certainly both affordable and provides enough data for most folks. 

Here's how Astound internet prices compare to Spectrum and AT&T Fiber, two other ISPs that serve the great state of Texas.

With decent download speed choices, Astound Broadband's internet plans are all affordable enough for casual users. The best part is, most of those plans are also fast enough for power-users like gamers, HD and 4K streamers, and livestreamers.

Astound's (formerly Grande) Wi-Fi internet download speeds are comparable to big names like Verizon Fios, Xfinity, and Frontier. That's good news because if you go with Astound Broadband, you may pay less for higher speeds.

When it comes to delivering the download speeds it promises, Astound does well. It ranked eighth overall and fifth in terms of large ISPs in our latest report of the fastest internet providers.

While Astound, powered by Grande's score of 42.9 out of 100 may seem mediocre, it's actually quite good. The fastest ISP scored 75.6 out of 100, and Astound's score still puts it at eighth out of the 38 total internet providers we analyzed.

We should also note that the Reviews.org weighted speed score isn't a representation of Astound Broadband's (formerly Grande) actual download speeds. Instead, it's a combination of the average download speeds, upload speeds, and latency that Astound internet users saw in more than 1 million speed tests taken in 2019.

Great news: Astound (formerly Grande) Wi-Fi internet doesn't have a data cap.

A lot of ISPs cap off your data around 1 terabyte (TB), which is plenty for most users. However, if you’re constantly streaming or downloading online games, you might hit that 1 TB cap before the month is up.

But with Astound's unlimited data, your speeds won’t be throttled and you won’t get a passive aggressive email at 2 a.m. on the 28th of the month that warns that you've almost hit your data cap.

We appreciate that Astound's (formerly Grande) internet doesn’t make you sign a long-term contract. Some ISPs go as long as 2- or 3-year agreements. And if you leave those contracts, you usually end up paying early termination fees, sometimes up to $240 or more. No thanks.

If you're unsatisfied with Astound Broadband, powered by Grande, you can tell them goodnight and go home without facing any early termination fees or other messy breakup problems. No muss, no fuss.

You can rent a modem or Wi-Fi mesh system from Astound—or you can bring your own equipment.

• Whole-home Wi-Fi equipment (non-Internet 940 plans): $9.99/mo. for one eero base and one beacon. 
• Whole-home Wi-Fi equipment (Internet 940 plan): $9.95/mo. for two eero Pro 6 devices. Additional devices cost $10.95/mo.
• Wi-Fi modem/router combo: $17.00/mo.

The monthly fee for Astound's equipment isn't bad. We’ve seen these fees as high as $20 per month elsewhere.

But you'll likely save money if you purchase your own modem and router combo.

Here's a quick look at the yearly rental cost of your Astound Broadband internet equipment compared to the cost of an Astound-compatible modem and the Amazon eero mesh Wi-Fi system.

We’re always on the lookout for fees that companies don’t include in an advertised monthly price. Fortunately, we didn’t see anything out of the ordinary with Astound Broadband, powered by Grande. You’re always subject to taxes and other weird little fees, but we wouldn’t expect these to dramatically change your price.

• Installation fees: All of the offers we came across had free installation with a coupon code. If you don't see an option for free installation, call up Astound and ask.
• Activation fee: $9.99
• Early termination fee: None, Astound Broadband (formerly Grande) doesn't require contracts.

The world of internet service isn’t great when it comes to customer service and we don’t see anything standout from Astound (formerly Grande) in that department.

It's hard to pinpoint just how bad or good Astound Broadband is when it comes to customer service since the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) report doesn't rate Astound (formerly Grande) individually. Instead, it's lumped in with a bunch of other ISPs in the "All Others" category.²

But there are some good points. The company has chat (our preferred way of handling tedious internet problems) and some basic user guides and FAQs that might get you through some tough spots.

You still have the option to call an agent, and it shouldn’t take you more than seven rings to get your problems solved. Grande has 24/7 support, which is more than you can expect from other companies.

Here's how to get a hold of Astound Broadband (formerly Grande) in case you need to get them on the horn:

• Online chat
• Phone number: (866) 2GRANDE (1-866-247-2633)
• Twitter: @grandecom
• Facebook: @GrandeCommunications

Yup, Astound Broadband, powered by Grande gets an A+ in our book, we think it's one of the better ISPs out there.

Astound Broadband's great speeds at decent prices—and without data caps or contracts, even, are what makes it such a big deal. We're just ugly crying in our corner over here because it's available only in Texas.

• Prices and plans: Astound Broadband (formerly Grande) has some of—if not the—cheapest prices for the download speeds it gives you. That's what we call a high-value internet plan.
• Speed: Astound Broadband (formerly Grande) earned a spot in the top five for the fastest large internet providers in the US. And even when you count smaller providers, it's still speedy enough to earn eighth place.
• Contracts, equipment, and fees: "No contracts" is what we like to hear. And we also love that Astound Broadband (formerly Grande) offers free installation and lets you bring your own equipment if you want to.
• Customer service: Listen, with few exceptions, internet customer service is just a mediocre experience at best. We doubt Astound Broadband (formerly Grande) is much different, though the ISP does offer online chat assistance, which we highly recommend using.

• Internet 300: $25.00/mo.,* 300 Mbps download speeds, unlimited data
• Internet 600: $39.99/mo.,* 600 Mbps download speeds, unlimited data
• Internet 940: $50.00/mo.,* 940 Mbps download speeds, unlimited data
• Internet 1200: $60.00/mo.,* 1200 Mbps download speeds, unlimited data

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