Adventures With High Speed Internet Providers In My Area

When I moved to a new state, I was really unsure of what to do about my internet connection. I moved from a large metropolitan area to a quiet, semi rural coastal town. My choices were much more limited. I knew I had to do some research about high speed internet providers in my area. First, I looked up the website of my current high speed provider, Verizon FiOS, and found to my disappointment that they were not offering any service in the area I was moving to. I had become quite fond of FiOS, the high speed and the quality television selections. All thought of just picking up my modem and my DVR system vanished. I had to find a new provider, preferably one who could give me the speed I wanted and the quality, at my price.

I found websites that compared internet providers, and ran some searches there to find out if nationally known companies serviced my new area. I found that there was a cable company, AT&T, and satellite internet. Unfortunately, no one had the ultra high speed network of FiOS, as AT&T's Uverse did not reach my town. So I compared plans from what was available. I decided to choose between cable and AT&T. Satellite internet didn't seem necessary, and we wanted to have a company that was known in the area.

The cable company offered great pricing, and a fabulous bundle. Their internet speed was faster than anything AT&T offered. However, their reputation for customer service was horrible locally. The down time after a recent winter storm was a serious consideration as well. AT&T was bundling their internet service with satellite television and telephone. Their customer service is pretty good, and the likelihood of being down with a storm was far less of a problem than with cable. Nevertheless, after comparing cost, speed, dependability, and promotions, I chose the cable company. My reason was that my family need speeds, and with their highest speed service at 20 Mbps I was able to inexpensively set up a home network with a router, meaning that my wireless devices could access the internet as well. We could keep in touch with out of state relatives through webcams, enjoy digital phone, share videos, and continue to use the internet as a main source of networking and entertainment.

So far it is working pretty well. I still miss FiOS, as it was the fastest connection we ever had. But the truth is that fiber optic connections are not in many parts of the USA, so you have to choose what works for you and fits your budget. Our family stays connected with each other through Skype, Facebook, and email. We post videos online, and we exchange photos. Our entire music collection is downloaded through Amazon and ITunes. The internet is truly our connection to the outside world, so we want enough bandwidth to support all our activities. Despite being a local monopoly, the local cable company was able to give us some great incentives for signing up, keeping us from satellite and from AT&T. We chose the triple play plan, but soon upgraded to the highest turbo speed. We got a free router, free cable modem, and a great price for combining all three services. We love our digital life!

Now the challenge is to get the kids AWAY from the computer and enjoy the wonderful life of the outdoors. Even with that, we depend on internet information. We are a family who surfs the waves, and we surf the internet for weather forecasts, tide times, and to find out more about our wonderful oceans. We enjoy our time on the boat and the beach - and take plenty of digital videos to upload and share with loved ones! For us, the highest internet speed fits the speed of our lives, making so many connections available at our fingertips.

Box: Finding new internet service in a new area can be daunting, but a little research about high speed internet providers in my area really paid off. We are so connected now!