Cox has varying upload speeds among their home and business internet plans. These upload speeds are as low as 3.0 Mbps. And high as 35 Mbps. Learn what you can do with these speeds and whether you can get faster plans.
I want to find an internet plan that offers the best value. Upload speed is part of what gives a plan value. I’ve aggregated information from many sources regarding Cox’s upload speeds.
In this guide, you’ll find the following information:
- Upload speeds for home internet
- Business plan upload speeds
- What you can do with Cox’s upload speeds
- Ways to make their upload speed faster
- Where you can get Cox internet
- How their upload speeds compare to the competition
Let’s fire away.
Upload Speeds for Cox Home Internet Plans
Here are the upload speeds for all Cox’s residential internet plans.
| Plan | Speed (Mbps) | Speed (MBps) |
| Essential 100 | 5.0 Mbps | 0.59 MBps |
| Preferred 250 | 10 Mbps | 1.0 MBps |
| Ultimate 500 | 10 Mbps | 1.0 MBps |
| Gigablast | 35 Mbps | 4.0 MBps |
| StraightUp Prepaid | 5.0 Mbps | 0.59 MBps |
| ConnectAssist | 3.0 Mbps | 0.35 MBps |
| Connect2Compete | 3.0 Mbps | 0.35 MBps |
Cox flip-flops on their information regarding upload speeds.
I’m going to trust the landing page’s upload speeds. Their speed and data policies page states their Gigablast plan can have 940 Mbps upload speeds depending on your network’s architecture [1].
What architecture?
Who knows.
They also state that you may have 10 Mbps upload speeds in certain areas during “increased usage.”
Ultimate internet supposedly offers 500 Mbps upload speeds, depending on the network architecture. Preferred apparently has 30.
Here’s why I don’t trust their data policies page. This information seems outdated. A news article surfaced in 2021 that mentions that Cox lowered 30 Mbps upload speeds from many plans to 10 Mbps [2].
While this information seems irrelevant, I mention it to prevent confusion in case you find similar research during your research.
Why did I mention ‘Mbps’ and ‘MBps?’
File sizes use megabytes per second (MBps). Megabits per second (Mbps) is what internet service providers use to measure their provided speeds.
When trying to figure out the time it’ll take to download a file, you’ll need to consider how many megabytes when shopping for a plan.
Cox Business Upload Speeds
Cox’s business internet upload speeds are as follows:
| Plan | Speed (Mbps) | Speed (MBps) |
| Small Business Internet | 35 Mbps | 4.0 MBps |
| Fiber Internet | 2.0 Gbps | 238 MBps |
| Dedicated Internet | 100 Gbps | 11,920 MBps |
Cox business internet upload speeds.
Cox’s business internet plans offer symmetric internet speeds. But you’ll need a 3-year contract with every package.
Cox Communications doesn’t specify pricing for their business internet plans. These likely depend on your business’ size and other factors.
You’ll want the 100 Gbps internet speeds if you have an establishment with 100 employees who need to upload and download large file sizes. Because that means each person gets at least 1 Gbps of bandwidth.
These plans work significantly better for remote professionals who work from home. I’ll cover upload speed use cases in the next section.
What You Can Do With Cox’s Upload Speeds
The online tasks you can do with Cox upload speeds vary by plan. For instance, their 10 Mbps plans could only support 2 home security cameras.
These require at least 4.0 Mbps upload speeds each.
Here are other online tasks and their upload speed requirements [3, 4]:
| Task | Upload Speed (Mbps) |
| Online Browsing | 1.0 Mbps |
| Competitive Gaming | 10 Mbps |
| PlayStation 5 Gaming Online | 0.05–3.0 Mbps |
| Twitch Livestreaming (720p 60 FPS) | 5.6 Mbps |
| Zoom Conferences (720p) | 1:1 chat: 1.2 Mbps;Group sessions: 2.6 Mbps |
| Ring Doorbell | 2.0 Mbps |
| Nest Cam IQ (1080p Footage) | 4.0 Mbps |
Online tasks and their upload speed requirements.
With the Essential Internet and low-income plans, you could run a couple of Ring Video Doorbells simultaneously. Or 1 Nest security camera.
I don’t recommend livestreaming on any of these plans except Gigablast. Unless you don’t want anyone else in your home to do anything online.
The same goes for competitive gaming.
If you want to call people on Zoom with 1080p resolution, you’ll need 3.8 Mbps for group and one-on-one calls.
Video editors or those who manage home- or cloud-media servers will want to search for a different provider. Like AT&T Fiber or Verizon Fios.
Uploading massive video files will take you forever with Cox.
Imagine this scenario.
Your household has 10 Mbps upload speeds. And you need to upload an hour-long 4K 30 FPS video from an iPhone (10.3 gigabytes) [5].
You have a Ring video doorbell running 24/7. And someone else in your home is on a video call with their uncle. That leaves you with 6.8 Mbps of available upstream bandwidth.
You’ll waste 3 and a half hours uploading that file. If your client’s in a rush, you’ll have to tell them to buy you faster internet. And that probably won’t end well.
And that’s if you’re getting your maximum upload speeds. If not, you’ll want to troubleshoot with the following tips.
Ways To Make Cox’s Upload Speed Faster
There’s no way to upgrade your Cox upload speed. But if you notice slower upload speeds than advertised, you can troubleshoot.
Here are some tips to improve your Cox internet speed:
- Use an Ethernet cable: gives you a direct connection and bypasses Wi-Fi weaknesses
- Disconnect devices from your Wi-Fi network: fewer devices equals less bandwidth used
- * Manually reboot your router: hold the reset button on your router to reset it
- Change to a 5 GHz frequency: check your Wi-Fi networks for “home 5 G” and connect to it
- Disable automatic updates on apps: constantly checking for updates chews through network bandwidth
* Doing so resets your device’s short-term memory. Sometimes, they’ll accidentally store an error, which can cause sluggish internet speed.
Cox may throttle your speeds during peak hours. An earlier link I presented suggests you may have slower speeds during peak hours. But Cox Communications doesn’t admit to throttling.
In that case, you could try using a virtual private network (VPN) if you already have a subscription. Since a VPN will change your location and potentially pull you away from the area with higher data usage.
But there’s no guarantee that a VPN will bypass internet service provider throttling.
We also created a guide on how to specifically improve your network’s upload speeds.
Areas You Can Get Cox Home Internet Services
You can get Cox cable home internet services in the following states:
| Arkansas | Arizona | California | Connecticut |
| Florida | Georgia | Iowa | Idaho |
| Kansas | Louisiana | Massachusetts | Missouri |
| North Carolina | Nebraska | Nevada | Ohio |
| Oklahoma | Rhode Island | Virginia |
States that support Cox cable internet.
You’ll need to check Cox’s website to see whether they support your city. Upon following this link, enter your ZIP code and Cox will show you cities they support in your state.
Cox business internet offers availability in the same number of states. But they support 711 areas. More than the 646 areas their residential internet supports.
Cox Upload Speeds vs. Competing Plans
Here’s how Cox residential internet plans compare to competing internet service providers:
| Provider | Pricing | Upload Speed | Symmetric? |
| Cox Cable Internet | $9.95–$79.99/mo. | 3.0–35 Mbps | No |
| Xfinity Cable/Fiber Hybrid Internet | $25–$300/mo. | 10–3,000 Mbps | No |
| Verizon Fios Fiber Internet | $49.99–$89.99/mo. | 100–800 Mbps | Yes (for most plans) |
| AT&T Fiber Internet | $55–$180/mo. | 300–5,000 Mbps | Yes |
Internet service provider upload speeds compared.
Cox has no residential cable internet plans with equal download and upload speeds. And they have the lowest upload speeds among the competitors I listed.
Their prices and Xfinity Comcast’s home internet prices increase up to 65% after 12 months.
But Cox’s Essential Internet, low-income, and prepaid plans won’t increase in price. Since they don’t require contracts.
Xfinity’s Gigabit Pro plan is their only plan with symmetric speeds (6.0/6.0 Gbps).
Verizon offers symmetric speeds on almost all their plans, except for the “gigabit” internet plan. These speeds are 940/800 Mbps.
None of Verizon’s internet plans require contracts. So they won’t increase in price after a year.
AT&T fiber acts as the only plan on this list with truly equal internet speeds. But at a much higher price.
Let’s cover overlapping areas. Xfinity and Cox share most of the same places, except:
- Oklahoma (Cox only)
- Nevada (neither)
- Kansas (Cox only)
- Nebraska (Cox only)
And you can only find Verizon Fios AND Cox in these areas:
- Massachusetts
- Rhode Island
- Virginia
AT&T Fiber and Cox share availability in these areas:
- Arkansas
- Florida
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- Georgia
- California
- Nevada
- Missouri
- Ohio
Remote professionals like video editors will want AT&T fiber for uploading massive video files like videos. Meanwhile, Cox offers better plans for gamers because of the Elite Gamer add-on. It can help reduce latency by rerouting your device’s connection through various servers.
FAQs: Cox Upload Speed
Here are frequently asked questions about Cox’s upload speeds.
What Is a Normal Upload Speed for Cox?
Normal upload speeds for Cox cable plans range from 5.0–35 Mbps. Their average low-income internet upload speeds are 3.0 Mbps.
Does Cox Have Symmetric Internet Plans?
Cox does not have any symmetric (equal download and upload speeds) home internet plans. Their fiber and dedicated business internet do offer symmetric internet speeds.
Can You Upgrade Cox Upload Speed?
You cannot upgrade Cox upload speeds.
Does Cox Throttle Upload Speeds?
Cox does not state they will throttle upload speeds. However, there are many claims that the ISP throttles internet speeds [6, 7].
Wrapping Up
Cox’s residential cable internet plan’s upload speeds don’t give you much flexibility for uploading files. Except if you go for their business internet plans.
Then you’ll have some of the fastest internet speeds out there.
I get it if you don’t want to choose Cox after seeing these speeds. We’ve listed many alternative internet service providers you can choose.
