Internet Bill Skyrocketing? How to Spot These Hidden Fees and Save Money

Thankfully, more providers are moving away from this additional charge. Both AT&T and Verizon Fios — which previously charged $10 and $15 a month, respectively, on equipment — changed course in 2022 and removed those fees. Now, both providers include the equipment rental in the flat monthly cost. I suspect they may have been nudged by the aggressive, competitive approach of T-Mobile Home Internet, which took off in 2022 by leaning into the idea of « internet freedom » with its all-inclusive price. It wasn’t the first or only provider to include an equipment rental in the monthly price, but it certainly turned up the volume on it. 

And if all else fails, you can skip this charge by buying your own modem and router. 

Another tack-on item you need to evade, if possible, is the paper billing fee and automatic payment mode. Nearly every ISP includes these two elements as discounts. For example, with the $20 promotional rate, it’s assumed that you’ll nix paper billing and use the automatic payment mode (necessitating having a credit card on file). However, if you decline these (or fail to opt-in), you’ll be charged between $5 and $10 monthly. This is a fairly easy fee to avoid, but you must still know it’s lurking. Otherwise, your $20-a-month rate could jump up to $30 monthly.  

Avoid late payment fees and other penalties

Much like any other utility or service, you must pay your bills on time to avoid late payment fees. Those can add anywhere from $5 to $35 to your monthly bill. But depending on the type of internet service or plan you sign up for, you also need to be aware of other potentially stiff penalties.

For example, you signed a term agreement if your $20-a-month plan required you to ink a two-year contract to lock in that low price. If you decide to bail on your service before those 24 months are done, you’ll face an early termination fee. Depending on the provider (and how many months remain in your contract), ETFs can run anywhere from $15 to a staggering $400. That’s rough. Thankfully, many competing ISPs also offer contract buyouts, where they’ll pay your ETF if you switch to their service. Still, if possible, it’s easier to avoid signing such an agreement in the first place.

Similarly, if the $20 monthly rate comes with a data cap, you must stay within the specified limit or incur overage data charges. As you can imagine, the cost varies per provider, but generally, you’ll see a ballpark charge of an additional $10 for every 50GB over your data limit. Most providers will limit the total monthly overage charge to $100, but be sure to read the fine print — we’ve seen some that go up to $200.

Peek at an overview of major internet provider fees

We’ve talked generally about some of the hidden fees in your internet bill. Let’s look more specifically at the providers CNET has covered thus far.