Frontier Fiber vs Spectrum
These two overlap in 237 metro areas and 1,779 towns and cities, so for a lot of people this is a real choice rather than a hypothetical one. The first question is not which is better. It is which of them can reach you.
Frontier Fiber vs Spectrum at a glance
| Measure | Frontier Fiber | Spectrum |
|---|---|---|
| Main technology | Fiber | Cable |
| Residential locations on that technology | 6,545,956 | 33,900,003 |
| Single technology or mixed | Mixed | Mixed |
| Full coverage detail | Where Frontier Fiber is available | Where Spectrum is available |
We do not publish speeds or prices here. Both providers change them constantly and by market, and a stale number is worse than no number. Coverage is the part that is federally reported and verifiable.
Where you can get both
Metro areas where both Frontier Fiber and Spectrum report service, ranked by how well covered the less available of the two is because that is what decides whether you genuinely get a choice.
These percentages count each operator's whole reported network. 75.5% of what Frontier Fiber files with the FCC is fiber. The FCC publishes that split nationally and never per metro, so a high number here means the operator reaches the metro, not that it reaches it on that technology.
| Metro area | Frontier Fiber | Spectrum |
|---|---|---|
| Gloversville, NY Micro Area | 64% | 87% |
| Marion, OH Micro Area | 61% | 82% |
| Norwalk, OH Micro Area | 58% | 82% |
| Crossville, TN Micro Area | 79% | 57% |
| Del Rio, TX Micro Area | 57% | 85% |
| Coldwater, MI Micro Area | 57% | 58% |
| Portsmouth, OH Micro Area | 56% | 74% |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL Metro Area | 56% | 94% |
| Jackson, OH Micro Area | 55% | 78% |
| Cambridge, OH Micro Area | 51% | 62% |
| Terre Haute, IN Metro Area | 50% | 53% |
| Madison, IN Micro Area | 50% | 70% |
| Gardnerville Ranchos, NV Micro Area | 50% | 85% |
| Wausau-Weston, WI Metro Area | 50% | 71% |
| Crescent City, CA Micro Area | 49% | 87% |
| Wilmington, OH Micro Area | 49% | 89% |
| Rio Grande City-Roma, TX Micro Area | 49% | 81% |
| Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL Metro Area | 48% | 85% |
| Columbus, NE Micro Area | 48% | 63% |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA Metro Area | 47% | 87% |
| Fairmont, WV Micro Area | 50% | 46% |
| New Philadelphia-Dover, OH Micro Area | 46% | 80% |
| Shawano, WI Micro Area | 45% | 60% |
| Rochester, NY Metro Area | 43% | 94% |
| North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL Metro Area | 59% | 42% |
Showing 25 of 237 metro areas where both operate.
Where only one of them reaches
Frontier Fiber reports service in 25 states and Spectrum in 42, and they share 23 of them. Overlap is the exception, not the rule, so if you are outside the table above this is the part that answers your question.
109 metro areas have Frontier Fiber and not Spectrum
- Bloomington, IL Metro Area 66% covered
- Fort Wayne, IN Metro Area 65% covered
- San Angelo, TX Metro Area 61% covered
- Jacksonville, IL Micro Area 57% covered
- Elkhart-Goshen, IN Metro Area 55% covered
- Fairmont, MN Micro Area 55% covered
- Logansport, IN Micro Area 51% covered
- Elko, NV Micro Area 51% covered
276 metro areas have Spectrum and not Frontier Fiber
- Kill Devil Hills, NC Micro Area 96% covered
- Jacksonville, NC Metro Area 96% covered
- Morehead City, NC Micro Area 96% covered
- Kapaa, HI Micro Area 96% covered
- Urban Honolulu, HI Metro Area 95% covered
- Racine, WI Metro Area 95% covered
- Homosassa Springs, FL Metro Area 94% covered
- El Paso, TX Metro Area 93% covered
States where only Frontier Fiber reports service: Iowa, Utah. States where only Spectrum reports service: Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire and 7 more.
Showing the eight best covered of each. Ranked by reported coverage within the metro, from the same FCC filing as the table above. Providers self report and overstate, so read these as a ceiling on where a company will sell to you, not a promise about your street.
Which should you pick?
Honestly, in most of the places above only one of them will actually reach your building, and that settles it. Where both do reach you, the useful question is the technology rather than the brand.
That is the case here: Frontier Fiber is mainly fiber and Spectrum is mainly cable. The practical difference is upload speed and consistency rather than headline download speed, we explain what that means here.
See which one reaches your address →
What we will not do is tell you one is better because it pays us more. See the affiliate disclosure for how that works.