My 90 year old Mom has used WOW for years - it is horrible. She only gets mail 2 times per week. She sent a check to WOW on 6/22/2022. They shut off phone service because her check did not make it in time. I spoke with a supervisor, they have no safety nets in place to help the elderly. They will not place my name on file, no one bothered calling her to let her know they'd be shutting off service. This is egregious. My Mom has paid her bills all her life in a timely manner. Missing a payment should not leave my elderly Mom without communication! Shame on you Wow. Speaking with a supervisor got me no where - and I was on hold for over an hour just to get her account rectified. read more

I've been a customer for about 15 years and they started out real good but during the last year or so they went downhill. Back then their customer service was top notch, now it is very bad. I've been on hold with them sometimes for nearly an hour just to talk to the "right" department. We had a power outage recently and lost power for 2 days but we were without internet & phone for about 5 days. All of the Comcast/Xfinity people around us had internet. It's in the best interest of my family that I have a working phone in case of emergency. Didn't want to do it but had to make a change to Xfinity. Also, I'm going to save about 40 bucks a month now! They exhibit all the signs of a cheap company that has cut to the bone but is still going under. read more

I had been a customer since 2003. Since January there had been frequent outages. Getting 2Mbps for a service of One Gig paid....Techs are sitting in Philippine and are clueless and unable to help ... that is after one hour of hold and another hour of incompetence....2 hours wasted two days in a row ....not worth my time or energy. This is the straw... Time to switch to comcast/xfinity. read more

Wide Open West - Television Service Providers Near Me - Naperville, Illinois

Switched from AT&T to WOW (long story). Spotty internet and I've actually spent over an hour doing online chat to resolve a problem they caused. I purchased my own modem (listed on their website) instead of renting from them and am now told that's the problem with my connection. Internet speeds average about 450MBS instead of close to 1GBS (I know, first world problems), but with routine outages, I can't afford to keep them as I work from home. I'll pay another $10 and go with AT&T Fiber. read more

Crappy, spotty wifi. Way too expensive for what you get. Customer service is non existent and sucks when you get anyone on phone.. They have no clue how to fix s*** read more

When I purchased my first home, I called to transfer my service and found that I had moved just outside the service area. I didn't want to, but I told them I would have to cancel my service. The rep told me that I would be charged a $225(!!!) early termination fee. I told her it was not my fault they didn't service my new home and she told me that my contract specified that moving out of the service area did not waive the fee. I spoke to four different people and none would do anything to work with me on this. So for my $39.99/mo service, I paid $225 to cancel due to their limited market area. Be aware of their shady business practices and tell those door-to-door salespeople to take a hike. read more

The company's customer service is very good. I have never had an issue getting someone on the phone, or a technician to my home, and they have all been uniformly polite and professional. Good people. BUT: their internet service is crap. My internet drops out regularly, multiple times per day. 3 technician visits and one new modem later, and it is still happening. And not only is the issue still happening, they CHARGED me to have the technicians come out and work on the issue. So not only is their service broken, I have to pay for them to fix their own problems. Are you $!~@*$ kidding me right now? Thankfully, I have Spectrum available in my area as well, and will be switching to them next week. If you have any choice in the matter, I would avoid WOW like the plague. Pick a different provider. read more

Why would this company issue modems in which users cannot change the passwords? Now it's all handled by somebody in India. Does the idea of somebody knowing your password make you feel comfortable??? read more

Wait. You're a cable company, right? First you quote a 1 hour window for service, THEN you show up within that same hour? And, if that's not enough, you actually fix the problem, no charge? Great service Wide Open West. Comcast, are you paying attention? read more

Most amazing service company I have ever dealt with. Anytime I had a problem WOW was always out to help me out no matter what. They have the best prices , no one else can compare. They're always out to save me money. I'm on the basic TV plan ( my family hardly watches tv, we rely on the internet), 15/2 internet plan, and advanced phone. They may not have best tv (on demand) but it gets the job done. I know they have a new advanced home dvr/cable box system though. Everything works wonderfully. If there is a problem it would be the rare occurrence of an internet outage. WOW always has the customer in mind, they rely on internet and vocal feedback to improve there services. They have a rep on the website DSL reports that relays and reports information back to the WOW team. Noticeable things they have done are : giving two free cable adapters, and allowing QAM tuner tv's not require the digital adapter. Bottom line is if you're looking for a reliable company and amazing prices with outstanding customer service, Wide Open West is the company for you. Edit: I have had a recent span of outages that has lasted a while. read more

Contracted technician couldn't fix my tv cable connections. The technician Mr. Zdragic, got frustrated when I asked if he could call someone else to help fix it. He looked at me and said, "why don't you F'in fix it yourself! I am a customer of 20+ years, paying the highest fee for monthly services, and this is how they treated me. Needless to say, I am switching to Xfinity or Comcast next week. So disappointing. All I can say is WOW! read more

The internet service in my area (Northbrook/Glenview) is very good. It's never been down for any extended period that I know of in the past several years. And the speed is exactly what you paid for. I have the 30Mbps plan (no longer available... I think they have faster plans now.) It almost always comes in at 30Mbps when I test it. When my promotion ends later this year I'll switch to a higher speed like 50 or 100 that I now see on their web site. But even at 30, WOW's network handles a family of five without issue. I do use my own wireless router though. WOW's router had bad range. I disconnected it and use my own. Much better. Cable TV: WOW's TV picture was clearer than Comcast's (which I used to have.) But the price had been going up like crazy, so I canceled the TV portion of my WOW package. WOW still costs less than Comcast, but the box charges, the unavoidable (and unmentioned) "sports & local channel" fees and taxes add around $40 to the base package cost that they lure you in with. So for example, if they offer you internet and cable for $90, expect your bill to be $130. Ridiculous. Comcast follows the same practice so it can't be avoided. Therefore, ADIOS CABLE TV! But for internet, WOW can't be beat around here. . read more

As someone who deals with all the Chicagoland ISPs on a regular basis for various customers, I can say I like dealing with WOW best. They run a tight little network, let you use your own equipment, etc. I don't have any complaints besides they not being available everywhere. For pricing, they are competitive with comcast, but don't change the bill on you every few months. Also, they guarantee 80% of your advertised speed rates, while comcast and At&t technically promise you nothing. This isn't to say WOW is perfect, but they are the best you can hope for around here currently, and at least contacting them isn't painful. read more

Sadly, WOW has deteriorated tremendously since we first signed on with them in 2009. WOW's greatest asset has been their customer service. However, when you call now, your calls are routed to Zimbabwe, or Yugoslavia or to Honduras just like with all major U.S. corporations. The customer service reps do their best American accent impression, but have no idea what you are saying to them and do their best to fake it until the call is ended. WOW's internet service has become extremely unreliable with short outages as many as 20 times daily. Their prices continue to climb right along with the other large cable companies they compete against and the whole thing is just a huge disappointment. However, as a single family homeowner, we are pretty much stuck until Google Fiber comes to Chicago and to our neighborhood, or Verizon rolls out FIOS in our area. We are considering a switch to Comcast for internet and cutting the cable cord completely in favor of a digital antenna. We don't watch much live TV anyway and those channels which we do watch like HGTV and ESPN can be seen using SlingTV, etc. read more

Wow... more like, Wow, has their reliability gotten crappy. Every morning, between the hours of 8 and noon, our connection drops at least a dozen times, for a minute or two at a time. Not good when I work from home, and my office line is VOIP. Each time I call, the techs are unable to tell me if there is a problem in my area. Every time I call, they tell me "Oh, I can see there is some maintenance going on there, maybe that is what is causing the issue?" This most recent time, the outages have been happening for about two weeks. This isn't the first time this has happened either. It seems to happen every month. Today when I called and told them to tell me why I shouldn't press "Submit" on the Xfinity order form I had open, they told me they would send a tech out to my location. Seems odd that they have absolutely no data on the health of their network, and they need to send a tech out to my location to figure out if it was an issue on their end. Anyway, they couldn't send someone out until next week. I could get Xfinity installed sooner than WOW could send a tech out to keep a customer. The rep said she would try to get someone out today, and that she would call back within 30-40 minutes with that information. Never called back. Xfinity, here I come. read more

I've had WOW for years with no problems. Then a few months ago we upgraded to HD, they installed the new "gateway" and boxes for each TV--service then went down hill. Some days are ok, many days it will go out 20 times in a day, or just be out all day. Some of the people in the call center are helpful, others are clueless. (Is your equipment unplugged?!) I have spent hours on the phone, while they check things remotely, usually with no results. They have been out at least six times, check all the equipment, and the technician always says that the problem is with their wires, not in the house. Today, another hour on the phone, and no results. Reboot everything, several times, and the gateway can't talk to the cable boxes. Don't know what to try next. But we will be done with WOW soon. read more

Update: I called again, since it's been a week and no one ever called me back. This time I was able to speak with a supervisor, she resolved the issue, apologized for the problems, and put a note in the file in case any follow up is needed. I've upped the rating to 3 stars instead of 1 because of this good experience. It would have been higher if this had happened on the first call. ---------------------------- Rarely have I encountered such horrible customer service and business practices. After first assuring me I would not be charged, you then do work without indicating anything has changed as far as payment, and then when it's all done you say you've now decided I have to pay for it? Oh and sorry, the supervisor is not available. You'll get a call back from them sometime, but we can't guarantee how long it will take. "Wow" is right. read more

I am now using wow for WiFi only. The WiFi has some issue about once a week. WOW doesn't change WiFi charges every month either. Would not recommend wow to a new customer read more

So after being a loyal customer for 3 years I pay 61$ a month for 3.5MB(28Mbps) and a new customer pays less for 12.5MB(100Mbps), after 2 years they still pay less for 12.5MB then me at 3 years for 3.5MB...wtf. So wow charges its loyal customers more for less service than a 2 year customer with better service.......Honestly companies like this and comcrap should be under legal recourse for stuff like this, its out right criminal. They have you by the balls and you can't do a darn thing about it. At this stage with the infrastructure we have in the State's there is no reason AT ALL we should be paying such high prices for such low speeds....and crappy service. I would also like to add to anyone that is in customer service stop saying "I understand". It's condescending, rude and arrogant to assume you know jack squat about my life, my bills or what/why I need the internet... P.S. I am also not happy I had to make a yelp account just to vent my frustration after a 1 hour phone call that ended in pretty much a "Tough cookies for you, I understand". read more

Don't believe them when they say they have high speed internet. I signed up for a new offering of "up to 500mbs download speed". The operative phrase is "up to" meaning, don't count on actually having that on a regular basis. On occasion I will get super fast speeds, but by and large, I'm lucky to hit 15-50mbs. When I complained about it, they would try resetting the modem and when that wouldn't work, they'd send someone out to the house. And charge me for them to come up, switch out a few connectors and think they had solved the problem. When I voiced my displeasure at the lack of success in fixing the problem, they say their equipment is working as expected and any issue with the speed is out of their control. read more

WOW abruptly shut down my email account with no warning. After pleading with the Customer Service department to restore my service, they still declined even though I was a customer for 10 years. In summary, if you are contemplating this provider based on customer support, you should look elsewhere--Lousy Customer Service. read more

Wideopenwest is the "Donald Trump" of cable/internet/telecom companies...they boast about being the greatest but totally suck. I mean really bad. They are deceptive as well. I would write a book about all the trickery they pull. Mostly they quietly jack your rates...but if you can and get tough with them, they lower the rate, then like Trump...go back on their word. The service is the worst. The absolute worst. WOW is about as useful as a degree from Trump University. Totally worthless. read more

I have in the past recommended WOW, but I cannot recommend them anymore. While the service techs are friendly and professional, and for the most part the agents on the phone are good, the reliability of WOW is not good. For the first few years the signal was good. However, In the past 1 1/2 years the signal has been horrible. The picture on the TV breaks up and now recently various channels just disappear. This past week WOW has spent several hours repairing broken equipment at their box near my home. You would think the issues would be fixed. No! Once again the picture breaks up and channels disappear. WOW ...please invest in better equipment so you don't have these issues and very annoyed customers. If we weren't moving out of state in a few months, I would cancel your service. Sorry..just cannot recommend you anymore. read more

Actually sucks. Genuinely the worst ISP out there. It goes down literally once every week, on a good week. Even when it is working, its getting around 8 Megabits, which for anyone that isn't familiar might sound good, but that's just 1 megabytes. That is horrendous for anything more surfing the internet, and even then the tabs take a few second to load. Fuck you WOW. read more

Customer Service is not what they have. Price has gone almost double what I was paying in the beginning and for me to get more current faster service I have to go to Xfinity. I was willing to sign a contract for the faster speeds which are advertised on their website at $29.99 for 100mbps but they have me paying $63 with speed that is at 30mbps. read more

We had been customers with Wide Open West (WOW) since they came to our neighborhood in the 1990's. Our disappointment started in 2015 when WOW could not resolve issues we were having with their service. Our disappointment ended in October 2016 when WOW charged us $50 for a service call that never happened. Bottom line - what was once a great experience has deteriorated into: high prices, poor service, sporadic internet, very few channels, etc... We've switched to Comcast and am getting 200 more channels, faster and consistent internet speeds with no buffering, Starz and Showtime (no premium channels with WOW), all for $30 a month less than WOW. In 2015, we placed multiple calls for service, over several months, for internet issues. Each time we called, we were informed there were no issues and a technician was never dispatched to check our equipment or to see if there were any issues with our physical location. After doing some research on our own, we discovered that we were renting a modem that was more than 11 years old. That is when we realized the only way things were going to work was if we handled the issues ourselves. We bought a new modem and returned the rented modem. We also canceled the Service Protection Plan since we were not getting the service that it covered. Someone at WOW should have recognized that an ancient modem could be the source of sporadic internet issues. Once the modem was replaced, no more issues with the internet. Shockingly, after returning the rented modem and canceling the Service Protection Plan, our next bill showed us that other changes were made to our account. WOW put us in a 12-month plan that was billing us for a DVR that we did not have. Upon calling, WOW offset the charge for the DVR that we still did not have but left us in the 12-month plan. So we were expected to wait 12 months to see if the plan would correct itself. It was beyond frustrating to make so many calls for a piece of equipment that should have been updated when the technology was updated and not wait for an equipment crash to determine when to replace it. It was beyond frustrating to listen to the answers customer service was giving us for why the internet might not be working. It was beyond frustrating to be billed for equipment we did not have. Well, 12 months did not pass before the internet started acting up again. This time slow speeds based on Speedtest.net: one computer, connected to the modem with Cat5 cable, and no other internet activity in the house, were resulting in 5 - 10 Mbps download speeds and we were paying for a 110 Mbps line. Our last straw was when we placed a call with WOW for service on October 29, 2016. We were instructed that a technician would arrive between 4 pm and 7 pm, and we would receive a call an hour before they arrived. The time came and passed with no calls and no one showing up. We figured the service call was never placed and we would call again when the internet started acting up. However, when the next bill arrived, there was a $50 charge for the service call. Upon contacting WOW Customer Service, they refused to take the $50 off the bill because their GPS system showed the technician arriving at our address eight minutes (6:52 PM) before the end time that they where suppose to arrive (7 PM). The technician's truck might have been in the area based on the GPS, but no one ever came to the door or called and no service was performed. This was the final insult to our loyalty. All the years we paid for the Service Protection Plan, we never received any service, and then we get no service but are billed for $50. read more

Their customer service used to be top notch. Answered by real human beings who spoke fluent English. Apparently when Comcast decided to move their customer service ops back to the USA WOW took over their call centers. Service is awful. Reps can't understand English, especially technical issues. They just keep repeating the same scripted lines. I've contacted the corporate office and no one there seems to care either. I've been a customer for over 16 years and I am done, my appointment with Xfinity is next week. I WILL NEVER GO BACK read more

I've been with Wow on and off for a few years now. I'm about to be off again, because the internet speeds are ridiculously slow. I pay $70 a month for the 30 mbps package and never experience anything higher than 12 mbps. It fluctuates all day and goes out when streaming video, just about every time. Downloading small files is a huge hassle. I've called so many times, and while their customer service people are great, it just isn't enough to keep my business. read more

So as soon as I enrolled I signed up for autopay. Then two months later I get a bill that is 10 dollars higher than it is supposed to be. I ask them about this, and they tell me that it can take a billing period for autopay to kick in (Realistically it takes 3 milliseconds) and that 's why I was charged another 10 dollars. What a sleazy thing to do. read more

I signed up for Wow 4 months ago. The price was outstanding. Guess what, it went up within 2 months. They had guaranteed that it would be set for 2 years. We called and got the increase reduced. Then 2 months later they pull 2 movie channels from our package (Starz and Encore). You want to know how they keep their prices down, they remove channels from your lineup. BTW, the interface stinks compared to Comcast. If you are looking for a cheaper option, I would look elsewhere as they do not back up their promises. read more

I have them for TV only, Well their billing is horrible and keeps going up. I have been with them for quite a few years too. Since digital TV, the signal is terrible. Certain stations keep cutting out for about 5 seconds and then come back. Of course this only happens during the most important part of the program. Then certain stations will pixelate for a few seconds also while cutting out. The tech comes out and watches TV for a while and nothing happens. So he does not know what to do. Very frustrating and it can's seem to be fixed. Would I recommend WOW. Nope. Customer service??? What customer service? read more

This has declined so dramatically over the years. I hate to say it, but Comcast is better. Years ago, My provide was Comcast. And nod they were miserable to deal with at times. I switched to WOW and it was a real refreshing change. Lower prices and tremendous service. But over the years the price has moved up and the service dropped off. And sadly both of these areas have dropped below Comcast. Not to mention the selections and internet performance of Comcast are on average better. Phone support is prompt and friendly, but field and technical assistance are scarce and ineffective. If you are miserable from Comcast, maybe it is worth a try still. At least you can hit your head with a different hammer. But if you have heard great stories in the past about WOW, I'm not sure these reflect the current company. Don't expect the breath of fresh air. Just a new bad taste. read more

0 stars! Awful cable! It always goes down and I can't get some channels. Internet is slow. Phone messes up all the time but the cable is the worst. 3 words... I hate WOW! read more

Worst service ever. Customer service over the phone is horrible; you're passed around multiple times, repeating the issue several times as no one can figure out who you actually need to speak to. The cable box cuts out every few hours. We've had it changed several times and this continues each time. You can't watch tv for more than an hr or so without your service cutting out for a few minutes. Terrible customer service and terrible equipment, all around worst cable experience. Switching to a different provider ASAP! read more

Awesome cable and price destroys Comcast to a pulp. Customer service is WOW. Equipment and tv remote is a universal! Use save 100 or 200 there. read more

I've never written a Yelp review in my life, but I got WOW internet four months ago and my experience since has been bad enough that I wanted to share. The internet service itself has been fine. I've had a few days when it was suddenly and inexplicably slow for a few hours, but that is probably more due to the fact that my apartment is in a basement than due to actual internet quality. Otherwise, no problems. However, billing and service is nightmarish, and frankly dishonest. My apartment had WOW's service advertised through one of their representatives, and offered a monthly rate of $29 and $25 credit off for setting it up through him. I called him and discussed rates and pricing. He assured me of the credit; when I asked if I would have to pay to rent my modem, he said no; when I asked if I would get penalized for breaking contract, he said no. I'm charged $10 for my modem every month, as well as assorted other minor "additional" charges of a dollar or two that no one has ever been able to explain to me. Furthermore, since my very first bill I've been overcharged an amount of about $24 for no apparent reason. Every month I have to call in and fight to have it removed; every month I'm told that the problem's been taken care of and I should have smooth sailing from there, yet every month and "overdue" charge of $24 is still outstanding from the previous month's balance. The $25 credit I was supposed to get was also never given; when it didn't show on my first bill I was told that it would take a couple months to apply, but after so much difficulty with just getting to be charged my regular billing amount, I decided not to even bother pursuing it. And I can't even drop the service and switch to another provider, since I'll get charged fines for breaking contract! I'm stuck in this ouroboros of billing hell until my contract runs out. Which brings me to the last point, the customer service. When I call WOW I always get representatives in the Philippines, and they have never been anything but polite. But it's very clear they don't really understand 80% of what I'm saying to them, which is a real hurdle when discussing anything more than yes/no questions. In summary, I'd give them 4/5 for internet service, but 1/5 for everything else, and would definitely recommend another provider over them. read more

What a nightmare!! It has been 2 months since I initiated just trying to get a simple internet connection. No cable tv or phone service. I have wasted countless hours on hold, being hung up on, lied to, promised this, promised that, had technicians come out (sometimes) when they were supposed to, had contractors drill under my driveway, tear my yard apart, pull the wrong cable company's cables, even after I told them what they were doing was wrong, they told me I didn't know what I was talking about and that they did, unbelievable. DO NOT even consider this company. I had Comcast in the past and even though their customer service and billing practices were horrendous, at least they came out and installed the cable when they promised. What a huge waste of time this ordeal has been, and they still try to pretend everything is right on schedule. Like I said a NIGHTMARE! read more

used to be customer friendly. Called their Box doesnt work. will be almost a week to get it fixed. Time to look for another provider. Rates keep rising service falling. Stay away from them. read more

The primary reason that I use WOW is because they include several TV channels that my family wants in their standard service that ATT and TWC don't. For years I have been unsatisfied with their internet service using the modem/router that they provide for $10/month, finally last weekend I went to Walmart and spent $60 on a NETGEAR C3000 modem/router. It took about 20 minutes on hold to connect to WOW technical support and another 20 to get the foreign operator to understand what I wanted to do. After that she got my new device working in about 10 minutes. Now my speed is over twice what it was before, I can connect to the websites that I want, and I don't lose my internet connection every 20 minutes. Don't even bother with the garbage modem/router that WOW wants to rent to you, get your own and you will be much happier. read more

Feeling really irritated. We have had Internet and cable since they blitzed the neighborhood years ago. A couple of years ago we added phone to the bundle. I will say that we have never had a really bad customer service experience. Most people over the phone have been very helpful. My recent issues are twofold. First off we recently purchased a new TV which made our current modem obsolete. Guy came out and seemed friendly at first then seemed irritatated that we had a few questions to ask. With this new set up we now either get a lot of pixels and the sound will drop off for a couple of seconds only to return and then do it again. At one point one station did it every other minute. We called and was told we needed a tech to come out. Tech came out and said nothing was wrong. Maybe because the ground was wet...... The other frustrating issue is that we are constantly losing Internet and phone. When we call we are always told to reset. This is happening now every few days. Today I called and was told to reset by using the straight back of an earring to stick in the back of the modem to reset it. If that didn't work I would need to move out the entire work station and basically crawl on the floor to reach the outlet. I asked what if I was elderly and unable to do this? I was told this was the procedure so sorry...yes I was able to reset just with the earring. This is getting old. Lastly it seems it is okay to keep increasing the monthly fees with tacking on special fees for sports events that we do not pay to view but a way for them to I don't know compensate for the charges they are required to pay? read more