ConnectNYC vs Astound · verified 26 July 2026
Four numbers Astound doesn’t print.
Their ad says $30. It does not say what your upload will be, what the price becomes in month thirteen, what their two New York fees add, or that the $30 needs a bank draft. We publish all four. Here they are, from Astound’s own pages.
Check it yourself
Everything below is on their own site.
Read as of 26 July 2026. Ten seconds on their offers page confirms the first one.
1. The upload figure — there isn’t one
Astound’s cable plan card is labelled “Mbps Download.” The word “upload” does not appear on their New York offers page, their shop page, or their New York internet page. Not in the fine print, not in a spec table.
Ours is on every plan: 150/50, 300/100, 600/200. Upload is the half that carries your video call and your file out the door — and on cable it is the half that narrows.
2. The price in month thirteen
Their 12-month offers say “Regular rates apply after promotion ends.” That regular rate is not published as a number anywhere on their site. You cannot work out year two before you sign.
Ours is the same number in month thirteen as month one — $89, $119, $149 — and that is in the subscriber agreement, not a banner.
3. Two fees, amounts not stated
Their New York billing page lists a “Network Access and Maintenance Fee” and a “Municipal Construction Surcharge” among charges the company “assesses and retains.” Company charges, not government taxes. The page does not say what they come to.
We add nothing to the plan price. No fees, no surcharges, no taxes — on internet or on home phone. The price shown is the price billed.
4. What the $30 actually requires
Their fine print: the discount applies with automated bank deduction. Pay by credit or debit card and it shrinks. Enrol in no autopay at all and it disappears. The advertised number assumes you hand them your bank account.
Our price has no conditions attached. No autopay requirement, no paperless requirement, no bundled phone line.
Same tier, side by side
300 against 300.
Their cable product at the 300 Mbps tier against our Plus plan, from each company’s own advertising on 26 July 2026. Their pricing is set per address — confirm yours with them.
| At 300 Mbps | ConnectNYC Plus | Astound 300 Mbps cable |
|---|---|---|
| Upload speed | 100 Mbps, published | Not published in their cable advertising |
| Price in month 13 | $119 — same as month one | “Regular rates apply” — amount not published |
| Monthly fees added on | None of any kind | Two company fees; amounts not published |
| Conditions on the price | None | Bank-draft autopay for the full discount |
| Typical latency | About 10 ms, published | On their label for your address |
| Speed commitment | The NYC Speed Guarantee in writing, on download and upload | None advertised |
| Advertised monthly price | $119 | $30 with bank autopay, first 12 months |
| Getting started | $150 install in an apartment | “Up to 50% off installation, for eligible homes”; installation listed at $99.95 |
| Contract, termination, data caps | None, none, none | None, none, none |
| Who owns the network | We do — end to end, and we answer for it | Astound Broadband, operating in New York as RCN Telecom Services of New York, LP |
Where they win
Two things we won’t pretend about.
They are cheaper. $30 at 300 Mbps and $40 at their Gig tier against our $89. If the monthly number is the whole decision, theirs is smaller and no amount of argument changes that. They also sell download tiers above our 600 Mbps ceiling, and an income-qualified plan at $9.95 that we have no equivalent to — if you qualify for it, take it.
They reach more of the city. We serve W 57th to W 110th Street, Central Park West to the Hudson. Outside that we are not an option and they are.
Inside those blocks, the trade is straightforward: pay us more per month, and get an upload figure, a permanent price, no fees, and a number you can check before you sign instead of after.
The short version
One price. Both numbers. No fees.
Every figure that decides how a connection actually feels — download, upload, latency — is published on our Broadband Facts labels before you buy. The monthly price has nothing attached to it: no autopay condition, no promotional cliff, no fee added at the bottom of the bill.
And we own the whole path — the IP space, the transport, the radios, the cabling in your hallway. When something breaks, the company that bills you is the company that fixes it, with nobody to hand it off to. How the network is built →
Thirty seconds. Real answer.
See if your building is covered.
Live now on the Upper West Side — W 57th to 110th St.