Hidden Cox Fees for Cable and Internet (2024)

Before you sign up for a Cox Communications high-speed internet and cable TV plan, keep an eye out for Cox fees. On top of your regular monthly payments, you may run into overage fees, late fees, and early termination fees. Plus, your Cox internet service cost will increase after twelve months—up to $40 per month.

Our experts have the low-down on how much these fees cost and how you can avoid them.

Jump to:

• • Cox plans and promotional prices
  • Cox TV hidden fees
  • Cox internet hidden fees

When you sign up for your Cox TV plan, you’ll pay at the current rate for 12 months. There’s not a set jump, so if Cox doesn’t raise its prices after your first year, you’ll keep paying the same price.

But these prices are subject to change at any time, so we can’t guarantee your Cox TV plan will have the same price once your promotional period is over. It’s still nice to know how things are looking right now, though.

Unless you have the Cox StraightUp Internet plan, your monthly bills will rise somewhere between $20 and $40 in your second year, depending on your Cox internet plan.

The Go Even Faster plan has the biggest price hike. Consider upgrading to a faster plan after your first year to get more bang for your buck.

The monthly payments on your Cox TV and internet bundle will increase in your second year. To see what the increase looks like, add up the ongoing prices from your internet and TV package in the previous tables, or look for examples in the table above.

If you’d like to add home phone service to any of these plans, that will cost you an additional $20 per month (with no extra price hike on the phone after twelve months).

Cox Communications communicates about as clear as mud when it comes to installation fees. You may pay a different amount based on where you live and which package you sign up for, so pay attention to that during your checkout process.

However, when our Cox tester got her Cox subscription, her self-installation and TV Easy Connect Activation came free with the service.

But make sure you’re cautious about when you schedule a professional installation. Canceling that appointment could cost you $100. That’s a simply ridiculous amount of money to reschedule a technician who could arrive any time between 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Although many of the fees in the chart above are based on extenuating circ*mstances (like if you forgot to pay your bill or your check didn’t go through), you’ll have to pay broadcasting fees and regional sports fees every month.

Since TV providers have to pay your local networks and regional sports networks to use their channels, they pass those costs on to you with these underhanded surcharges.

Thanks, Cox. Those fees are the worst present we’ve ever received.

If you miss your Cox TV monthly payment, Cox will charge you an additional $8.35. The price might vary depending on the laws about late payments where you live.

Other payment charges to look out for include the returned check fee, which can run up to $50 per bounced check. And you’ll want to make sure you keep your credit card info updated if you use AutoPay because a denied credit card could cost you $25.

If Cox has to send a collection agency after you (yikes), that’s another fee up to $25. And if your service gets disconnected due to falling behind on payments, you’ll pay $20 per service to reconnect TV or internet (so that’s $40 for TV and internet) and $25 to connect your home phone service.

Cox TV offers six different add-on packs to spiff up your channel line-up. Each costs either $10 or $12 per month, but if you get the Sports and Info Pack, Sports Pack 2, Movie Pack, or Variety Pack, you’ll get the Bonus Pack included at no extra cost.

If you want every channel pack, consider upgrading to Contour TV Ultimate, which includes all premium channels and every pack but the Latino Pack (an extra $10 monthly).

Getting the best TV out there will cost you a bit extra. Cox rounds up its Max (formerly HBO Max) price to $16.00 per month, as opposed to its online price of $15.99 per month.

However, Cox TV will give you your choice of Max, CINEMAX, SHOWTIME, or STARZ for your first 12 months with a new TV plan. Or you can snag all four of those for $20.00 per month with Contour TV Preferred.

And all the premium channels come included with Contour TV Ultimate, which seems to us a pretty good reason to upgrade.

With Cox TV equipment, your first Contour HD Box comes included, but you’ll pay $8.50 per month on every box after that.

And if you’ve got your own DVR, like a TiVo, you can get connected with a CableCARD for $6.00 per month. We think that’s a nasty high price for a tiny piece of hardware. But since CableCARDs have never really taken off, this isn’t a fee most folks will have to worry about.

DVR service costs extra, on top of your TV equipment charges. You can choose from one of Cox’s four DVR service plans:

• Starter DVR service (free for 12 mos., $5.00/mo. after): Record 1 show at a time with 50 hours storage
• Essential DVR service ($10.00/mo. for 12 mos., $13.50/mo. after): Record 2 shows simultaneously with 250 hours storage
• Preferred DVR service ($20.00/mo.): Record 6 shows simultaneously with 250 hours storage
• Ultimate DVR service ($30.00/mo.): Record 24 shows simultaneously with 1,000 hours storage

You can save money each month by buying a Cox-compatible modem, but renting Cox’s Panoramic Wifi Gateway instead will cost you $14 per month.

With or without a Cox gateway, you can pay another $10 per month and get Cox Complete Care (24/7 advanced tech support) for two years.

While we’re still sick to our stomachs about how much Cox charges for its TV broadcast and regional sports fees, at least the Cox internet fees aren’t too spooky. Keep yourself informed about the charges that will show up on your Cox monthly bill so that you can rest easy at the end of the day with your chosen TV and internet package.

And hey, if you’re wondering if the grass is greener with another TV and internet provider, we can help you out there, too. Just enter your zip code below so we can find you all the providers in your area.