Ziply Fiber Review

Our Take

Ziply Fiber is the Pacific Northwest fiber story most people outside the region don't know. In 2020, a private investor group bought former Frontier territory in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana and rebranded it as Ziply. They invested aggressively in fiber buildout, modernized customer service, and rolled out some of the cheapest fiber pricing in the country. By 2026, Ziply is the dominant fiber alternative to cable across most of the four-state region.

In 28 years of installs, regional ISPs rarely live up to their marketing. Ziply does. The pricing is real — $30/month for 100 Mbps symmetric is genuinely the cheapest fiber-class internet I've ever seen at scale. Customer service is responsive and pleasant compared to the national ISPs. Install crews are on time and competent. The network itself is solid fiber with all the symmetric-speed benefits of fiber elsewhere.

The catch is geographic — Ziply only exists in WA/OR/ID/MT. Outside that footprint, none of this matters. Inside the footprint where fiber is lit, Ziply is the obvious choice over both Quantum Fiber (often more expensive entry tier) and Spectrum cable (more expensive, asymmetric upload).

The biggest daily frustration — the legacy DSL pocket

Every ISP has one. Ziply's is the leftover DSL footprint they inherited from Frontier. Some markets — generally smaller rural towns and edges of the four-state region — still get DSL service under the Ziply brand. The DSL product is bad in the same way every DSL product is bad: slow, asymmetric, dated.

This catches new customers who assume the Ziply brand means fiber. It doesn't always. Verify the offer at your specific address shows symmetric speeds before signing up. If it shows 50 down / 5 up or similar, that's DSL — and even though Ziply's brand experience is better than Frontier's was, DSL is still DSL.

When Ziply Fiber is the right call

• You're in the WA/OR/ID/MT footprint with fiber lit at your address. This is the entire pitch. Inside the footprint, on fiber, Ziply is among the best-value fiber products in the US.
• You want the lowest fiber entry price in the region. $30/month for 100 Mbps symmetric is genuinely the cheapest decent internet I've seen at scale. For households with light usage and tight budgets, this is the best deal.
• You're paying $80+ for Spectrum or Comcast and want symmetric speeds. Switching to Ziply Fiber Gig at $65 saves $15+/month vs cable and gives you symmetric upload — a real upgrade for video calls and cloud uploads.
• You value customer service that responds quickly. Ziply's customer service ratings are among the highest in the residential ISP category. If you've ever spent hours on hold with Comcast, switching to Ziply is a quality-of-life upgrade.
• You want a no-contract product. Ziply doesn't lock you in. The pricing is honest, not a promo trap.

When to consider another ISP

• You're outside the WA/OR/ID/MT footprint. This isn't an option.
• Your address only gets the Ziply DSL product. Walk away. Cable internet, T-Mobile 5G Home, or Verizon 5G Home are all better than DSL.
• You want a price-for-life guarantee. Ziply doesn't have one. Quantum Fiber does. If long-term price stability is the priority, Quantum is the better play.
• You need TV service from the same provider. Ziply is internet-only. Pair with YouTube TV or another live-TV streaming product.

Key features (and what they actually mean for you)

The technology — fiber-to-the-home

Same FTTH model as the other fiber ISPs. Fiber from street to ONT on the house, Ethernet to gateway inside.

🧠 In plain English: Real fiber, real symmetric speeds, real low latency. Same physical technology as AT&T and Verizon Fios. The differentiator is regional aggressive pricing and better-than-average customer service.

Speed tiers — among the cheapest in the country

💡 In plain English: Fiber 100 at $30/month is the cheapest credible internet plan I know of. Fiber Gig at $65 is among the cheapest gigabit fiber anywhere. Multi-gig tiers exist for households that genuinely need them.

The gateway — functional, fine for small homes

Standard Wi-Fi 6 gateway, basic management. Adequate for small to medium homes. Bridge it for serious Wi-Fi.

Install — pro install, 5–14 day lead time

Pro install via Ziply tech. Generally on-time and competent. Some markets offer self-install for pre-wired addresses.

Data — no caps, no throttling

Every Ziply Fiber tier is unlimited data. Same as the other major fiber ISPs.

The gateway — fine, bridge it if you have mesh

Reliability, support, and outages

The fiber network is reliable. Outages are rare and typically upstream. Resolution is usually fast.

Support is the standout — Ziply's customer service ratings are consistently in the top tier of US ISPs. Tier-1 phone reps are domestically based, generally helpful, and willing to escalate. Field techs are competent and responsive.

This support quality is one of the main reasons households in the footprint switch from Spectrum or Comcast to Ziply.

The real monthly cost

💡 The math that actually matters: Ziply Fiber Gig at $68 all-in beats Comcast or Spectrum at $110+ by $42+/month, ~$500+/year, $2,500+ over 5 years. The savings are real.

The three real options compared

Inside the Ziply footprint where Quantum is also available, the choice usually comes down to entry price (Ziply wins) vs price-for-life guarantee (Quantum wins).

What's missing

• A national footprint. Ziply only exists in four states. Outside the footprint, this isn't an option.
• A price-for-life guarantee. Pricing is stable but not contractually locked.
• TV bundling. Internet-only. Pair with YouTube TV, Hulu + Live, or DirecTV Stream.
• Coverage in some smaller rural pockets. DSL still exists in some markets. Verify fiber availability at the specific address.

Who Ziply Fiber is best for

The right household: in the WA/OR/ID/MT footprint, fiber lit at the address, values aggressive pricing and good customer service over premium-brand recognition. For these households, Ziply is the obvious pick over both cable and Quantum.

The wrong household: outside the four-state footprint, or stuck on the legacy DSL portion of Ziply's network. The DSL product is not the fiber product — verify before signing.