High Speed Internet - I have options!

[PaunchyPirate]

my bil got windstream and is happy with them. he has the fiber connection. when you check the incoming speed on the modem it says 1000mbps, but the modem slows it down to about 50mbps, which is plenty for him. I just wonder why the modem slows it down so much? settings on the modem or just need a different one? thanks

When you say "the modem slows it down"... is your BIL using WiFi? or is his computer connected to the router via an internet cable.

My new download speeds are testing as about 730mbps download to the router, using the software provided by Windstream. I only paid for the 500mbps plan, so they are exceeding that "just in case". So I agree that I am getting what I pay for. However, when I test my various download speeds on various devices around various locations in the house, I get speeds ranging from about 150mbps to 480mbps. These type of reductions are just the nature of using WiFi. So I'm not bothered. Wifi will always be slower than the speeds to the router itself.

In your BIL's case, the router may not be providing the latest WiFi standard. The devices he uses may be in locations in the house that do not strongly receive the router's signal. His devices may be older and not support the latest Wifi standard. And there may be walls/objects obstructing his Wifi signal between his router and his devices.

In my case, I know that my home has some areas that just don't get the strongest signal from my router. Unfortunately, my office is one of them. But it's all about location and those pesky walls (and fireplace) between my office and the router.

If your BIL connects his computer (and it's not an overly old computer) directly to his router and sees those speeds. Then I would be calling Windstream and asking about it.

 

[ncbill]

my bil got windstream and is happy with them. he has the fiber connection. when you check the incoming speed on the modem it says 1000mbps, but the modem slows it down to about 50mbps, which is plenty for him. I just wonder why the modem slows it down so much? settings on the modem or just need a different one? thanks

Is he paying for a gigabit connection?

Could be he's paying for a 50 MBps connection so the profile on the modem has been programmed by his provider to downgrade to that speed.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

I just called and cancelled the old cable internet. It's with a smaller, regional company named Armstrong. I had to chuckle at their effort to "save" me as a customer.

I told the agent that I had already connected the Windstream fiber yesterday. He asked why I chose to change. I told him cost was the primary factor. He asked if I had tried to call Armstrong and ask for a discount. I told him that I chose to not do that because I didn't think I should have to do that.

His reply was "you don't need to call and beg to get a discount. You already earned it! I can see you're a longtime customer and have earned a significant discount. I could have given you a great price because you earned it."

I guess even though I "earned it", they didn't feel compelled to decrease my price without me calling to collect my earnings. Ha.

He also asked if I knew that Windstream was in bankruptcy. They actually exited bankruptcy in 2020.

I didn't give in. If I have to use Armstrong again, I will. But I guess my accrued "earnings" will have reset back to zero if I do.

 

[Qs Laptop]

... I recently upgraded from 300mbps speed to 800mbps speed but my modem was only rated for 300. I ended up needing to buy a new modem.

Again, where would you see the difference between 800 and 300? Why did you "need" a new modem?
-ERD50

The 300Mbps speed was a typo. My old modem was a Motorola Surfboard SB5101. It's speed is actually "up to 30Mbps."

I've got two 4K TV's and watch a lot of 4K content. I addition I also have 3 PC computers, 2 laptops, 2 phones, a PS4, an AVR, a thermostat, and 2 tablets connected. I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

I have Comcast coax internet service. That means my speed can slow down if my neighbors, who are also on Comcast, are putting a heavy burden on their internet usage at the same time I am. This is likely, especially at night when people fire up their TV's.

Replicate my usage patterns to my neighbors, most of which are younger than me and likely have more connected devices and you have a potential for the dreaded "Buffering" wheel spinning on your TV screen. And yes, before I got 800 mbps service I would often get buffering problems, but not anymore.

Do I notice the difference in speed when using my computer? It seems that pages open faster but that could be a mirage. Everything seems a bit snappier. All I know for sure is since I went to the faster connection speed I've never seen a "buffering" time out on my TV's.

 

[mpeirce]

I can see where faster upload speeds could be helpful to someone who routinely is uploading videos to YouTube or something. But other than that, I can't imagine many cases at all where even 300Mbps would be a limiting factor.

For lots of people the highest speeds are certainly overkill, but there are some other use cases where the extra capacity is useful.

For example, we sometimes have a large group of people at our house. Sometimes in the evening or other times the TV is streaming 4K *and* there are more than a few other people (kids!) streaming to their own phones or iPads. Plus other data uses.

 

[frank]

Could be so many things. Hard to troubleshoot at a distance. Could be the WiFi connection (or is he direct wired?). Is the modem model supported by the internet company? If he's renting it, check with them.

What do you mean by "check the incoming speed on the modem it says 1000mbps" - how do you check the incoming speed of the modem?

But as you say, 50 Mbps is plenty, so if it is consistent and not a sign of another problem that might take it down completely, then if he didn't test it, he wouldn't even know. Sometimes ignorance is bliss!

-ERD50

I can access the settings on the modem on the internet and check to see what the incoming speed is to the modem, but you are probably right about the modem being the problem because it is an old centurylink modem that I had at my house that was compatible with windstream, so I gave it to him so he wouldn't have to pay the monthly fee. also as you said he doesn't know the difference so ignorance in this case really is bliss. thanks

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

I can see where faster upload speeds could be helpful to someone who routinely is uploading videos to YouTube or something. But other than that, I can't imagine many cases at all where even 300Mbps would be a limiting factor. Even with my ~ 60 Mbps speeds, if I go to download a large file, it seems the limitation is on the server end, I may only get 10~20 Mbps, so I'm not being limited by my end (speed tests show a consistent ~ 60 Mbps).

-ERD50

I do nightly incremental backups of my laptop with well north of 2TB of data, and new full backups 2x monthly. These are encrypted locally and then sent to the cloud (multiple One Drive accounts).

My limiting factor is upload speed. If I don't let the system stay up overnight, it can't keep up especially when a new full update is being done. I take my laptop to w*rk (college), and their upload speeds are great...and the backups get done there.

So having higher upload speeds does have its uses.

 

[Qs Laptop]

I do nightly incremental backups of my laptop with well north of 2TB of data, and new full backups 2x monthly. These are encrypted locally and then sent to the cloud (multiple One Drive accounts).

My limiting factor is upload speed. If I don't let the system stay up overnight, it can't keep up especially when a new full update is being done. I take my laptop to w*rk (college), and their upload speeds are great...and the backups get done there.

So having higher upload speeds does have its uses.

Yes, I forgot about the importance of upload speeds. Unfortunately, with Comcast cable internet access, while the download speeds might be blazingly fast speeds of 800Mbps, I'm lucky if I get 25Mpbs upload speeds. I "only" backup about 500MB per day so not really an issue, although I typically upload my backups just prior to shutting down and have to sit and wait for a while for the upload to complete.

My son is on fiber and gets 950Mbps up/down. He's a big gamer and claims he "needs it".

 

[mpeirce]

Yes, I forgot about the importance of upload speeds.

This was reinforced to me on our cruise this winter.

While the internet speeds or OK on Viking Ocean for web browsing and such, they are nowhere near what they need to be for uploading photos to my iCloud library.

I took lots of pictures/videos and it pretty much choked while restricted to onboard WiFi.

Thank goodness most of our ports had very good 5G internet. Uploads worked fine on shore.

 

[Palmtree]

Two things to know about Windstream.
1. Don't EVER use a @windstream.net email address. If or when you want to cancel the service, there is no email only option. My FIL is paying around $100 a month (yes really) for several months just to access his email account as he transitions to a gmail account.

2. If or when you decide to change your internet provider, Windstream will require you return their modem/router even if it's 10 years old, or charge you a hefty fee.

 

[isisdave]

Only have one choice, Spectrum at 100 Mbps for $59.99. 300 Mbps for $20 more.

Wow (Literally -- formerly WOW, now Astound) and Spectrum are our providers currently in Evansville.

Spectrum is charging 19.95 for 300/10 via cable; Astound wants $25, also for 300, delivered by cable but I think fiber to the box.

Is this incredible rate just because there are two providers?

 

[PaunchyPirate]

Wow (Literally -- formerly WOW, now Astound) and Spectrum are our providers currently in Evansville.

Spectrum is charging 19.95 for 300/10 via cable; Astound wants $25, also for 300, delivered by cable but I think fiber to the box.

Is this incredible rate just because there are two providers?

I would think so. Competition is generally good for consumers. Monopolies are not.

 

[Retch The Grate]

I miss Sonic, but they just resell AT&T's fiber, so they can't offer me a speed boost over what AT&T offers here, which is 768Kbps. Yes K. So I use Comcast for 1200Gbps instead, which has been mostly fine despite their reputation. If I can ever go back to Sonic, I will, I don't think their support is as good as it was in the old days where they'd escalate me to techs who could talk pings and traceroutes with me when we were debugging what was going wrong specifically, but I still miss them.

 

[Trailwalker]

I have had Spectrum internet for four years. During that time, it's been a constant fight to keep internet costs down. I negotiated $54.95 last year--only to have Charter raise everyone another $5 in my area. My $59.95 promotional rate is set to expire and go up to $64.95 and then $69.95. There has been no competition in my area.

Recently, T-Mobile added 5g service to towers about four miles away from me. I added myself to the waiting list and was recently offered their home internet for $50/month guaranteed into the foreseeable future.. I wasn't expecting much, but the speeds have been more than adequate for streaming two tv's and other routine home uses. It helps to be on a big hill. Bye bye Spectrum. I cancelled and returned my equipment today. Options are a good thing.

 

[Major Tom]

So I use Comcast for 1200Gbps instead, which has been mostly fine despite their reputation.

1200Gbps? Wow, that is SOME connection!

 

[gromit]

Early this year, my electric utility buried fiber optic cable in the neighborhood, but it isn't turned on yet.
Does anyone know whether the major ISPs share connections to the "last mile" of fiber cable so that only one fiber cable needs to be buried in a neighborhood? If they don't share somehow, then I assume multiple ISPs at some point will be digging in the neighborhood.
Thanks in advance.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Where I live Frontier Fios laid their own cable in the street so I assume that it won't be shared with other ISP's but I could be wrong. Where I live Spectrum had the monopoly before Fios arrived and now I pay a lot less than I did before.

 

[Birdie Num Nums]

Early this year, my electric utility buried fiber optic cable in the neighborhood, but it isn't turned on yet.
Does anyone know whether the major ISPs share connections to the "last mile" of fiber cable so that only one fiber cable needs to be buried in a neighborhood? If they don't share somehow, then I assume multiple ISPs at some point will be digging in the neighborhood.
Thanks in advance.

Probably varies, depending upon your jurisdiction. In my neighborhood, they completely dug out everything about eight years ago and replaced the sewer, water and storm drain pipes, and tore down the utility poles and put everything underground, with a new road and sidewalks, etc. This included putting in fiber optic. I think the govt. gave Xfinity a monopoly for a specified number of years for shouldering a lot of the cost of the new cable. After that, other ISPs can share it. I think that's how it works here.

 

[frank]

I have 4 different fibre optic lines running through my right of way and never has one of the asked If I would care to sign up. I have a price for life at 50mbps for 45. month and that is all I need. when I first got hi speed it was 1.5mbps and boy that was great after aol. I used that for about 10 years and it did everything I needed, now up to 50mbps and I don't see a lot of difference except no spooling while streaming tv series.

 

[gromit]

Thanks folks for the info. I guess it varies by locale. My electric utility has priced out the new fiber and I don't view it as the best deal for me. Its 1GB speed, $65/mo and you have to either buy your own router or pay another $15/mo to rent one from them. ATT's lowest tier fiber is 300mb for $55/mo and I think the router is included. While 300mb is slower than 1GB, I'm a 1 person household so 300mb would be plenty. I currently have a connection of only 6mb, with many smart home devices hooked up and no problem. I stream movies without buffering, but I might have a problem if i tried a 4k movie.

 

[foxcreek9]

Thanks folks for the info. I guess it varies by locale. My electric utility has priced out the new fiber and I don't view it as the best deal for me. Its 1GB speed, $65/mo and you have to either buy your own router or pay another $15/mo to rent one from them. ATT's lowest tier fiber is 300mb for $55/mo and I think the router is included. While 300mb is slower than 1GB, I'm a 1 person household so 300mb would be plenty. I currently have a connection of only 6mb, with many smart home devices hooked up and no problem. I stream movies without buffering, but I might have a problem if i tried a 4k movie.

Actually, 50mb is more than enough for a 1 person household plus handling 4k movies.

 

[steelyman]

AT&T is our only option for fiber here, I think. It’s also priced at $55/mo for 300 mbs. The “gateway” (modem/router) is free.

I have a dedicated UPS for the gateway and a battery backup for the ONT (in the garage) that keep things running during power outages. I understand that more recent AT&T gateways can be used with one backup.

I’m very happy with the service, far superior to the Spectrum cable it replaced.

 

[djsander]

We had 6 meg AT&T in Louisiana and was all we could get unless we went with the really bad cable provider. Moved to New Mexico and have 60 meg by Centurylink, a Louisiana based company! The centurylink is just over $60/month including modem rental. It’s a guaranteed price for as long as we have the service. So, they have us hooked and it’s plenty as we do stream a few 4K movies, but other than that just an occasional instructional video and internet surfing. When the kids are here they use their laptops and phones, but don’t see any difference.