What's your Internet Speed and how much speed matters? (1 Viewer)

[DaveF]

If I was paying $75/mon for 3Mbps and there were other providers, I'd be shopping post haste.

We've got 50/50, cable, phone for $110/mo + taxes. We're at the top end of what I should be paying; in two years I've got to plan for shopping around. Comcast's new-customer 2-yr contract for similar plan is $90/mo.

My stumbling block is my contract ends around New Years, and I don't remember to plan on shopping for an ISP in December.

 

[Clinton McClure]

AT&T has started sending me adverts for 18Mbps AT&T Internet (formerly U-verse) where I live. Checking online, I qualify for it but neither of my next door neighbors do. I'm thinking database error so I chatted with an AT&T rep and made my doubts known but she assured me it was available so I scheduled an install for tomorrow morning. We'll see tomorrow if it's actually available.

 

[Johnny Angell]

AT&T has started sending me adverts for 18Mbps AT&T Internet (formerly U-verse) where I live. Checking online, I qualify for it but neither of my next door neighbors do. I'm thinking database error so I chatted with an AT&T rep and made my doubts known but she assured me it was available so I scheduled an install for tomorrow morning. We'll see tomorrow if it's actually available.

18mbps is the max available in my neighborhood. I recently got them to lower the price to $30 a month. That might be because I have DTV, but you might call ATT and ask for that price if you didn't get it already.

 

[Clinton McClure]

It's supposed to be $50/mo which is half what I'm paying for 6Mbps through a local ISP. They tried to get me to switch from Dish to DirecTV and I told them no way.

I asked the online rep if the installer would do a site survey and perform a line test to make sure I could actually get internet at close to the advertised speed (or at all) before beginning the install and she said they should so I'm gonna really press the installer to do that before running wire and unboxing equipment.

 

[Johnny Angell]

You're paying a $100 for 6mbps? Holy crap! Are you getting a free install? If the speeds don't match what they guarantee should be able to get a discount. Even if you only get 12mbps you have twice the speed at half the price.

 

[Clinton McClure]

I'm having to pay for the install but even if I can only get 12 I won't complain.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I'm having to pay for the install but even if I can only get 12 I won't complain.

Yes, you will be better off then what you've got. If you don't get the promised 18mps you should complain and tell them you should get a discount. If ATT doesn't deliver on the speed, they should charge less.

 

[Clinton McClure]

The install tech just called and said it must be a database error because they don't offer U-Verse anywhere in my city so I am going through the motions of cancelling the install order and making sure they don't try to stick me with the bill. Oh well...

 

[RolandL]

The last time I checked it was around 90 download and 12 upload. It would be faster but I have an old PC. Comcast says it would be around 200 if I had a faster PC. I pay $240 for Xfinity Triple Play - cable all channels and four boxes, phone and internet.

 

[Clinton McClure]

I was able to get the install order cancelled and they assured me I would not be billed for monthly service. I asked if they could give me a projected timeline for broadband availability (if ever) since they've been promising us we would have it since the early 2000s. Crickets...

 

[sidburyjr]

Comcast (sigh) ~200/month for deluxe cable/phone/150 internet. Just checked (middle of the day on the east coast) and got between 175 and 180 down and between 20 and 25 up.

 

[Johnny Angell]

The install tech just called and said it must be a database error because they don't offer U-Verse anywhere in my city so I am going through the motions of cancelling the install order and making sure they don't try to stick me with the bill. Oh well...

Aw crap!

 

[Clinton McClure]

I thought the same thing but I really wasn't surprised that it's not available here. For several years, AT&T thought my house's address was an apartment complex and it took a site visit by a service tech to straighten that out. I'm baffled how cable and telephone companies are so astonishingly bad at things like this.

 

[satcomm302]

AT&T gigabit has been in here for months now and I see a lot of folks getting installs on my street lately, so I signed up. 1000 down and up, $80/month. Fiber install set for Thursday.

Same deal I got. You can get another $10/mo off if you have an existing AT&T service and bundle it. Welcome to the club. You're going to love it.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Its great! Due to an older laptop the high speeds I see on my wifi connection are not astronomical, but it is way more consistent speed wise. Im generally seeing 200 down and 230 up, and if I connect to the ATT modem via cat 6, its about 800 down and 900 up.

I think even though I have much higher headroom and speeds, just the stability so far seems better. With the mediacom connection the speed was pretty good, but would be all over the place.

Using the netflix app on my UHD blu-ray player to test my cable speed, it was generally around 40mbps. The ATT gigabit reports back 180mbps LOL. The other cool thing is while streaming UHD Netflix I get the same speed on a speedtest on my phone, when Netflix is off. Lets me know we can do multiple things at once without concern, and the upload speed will be GREAT when I have photos and videos to put up.

 

[DavidMiller]

I pay like $160 a month with Comcast for TV/Internet

 

[gadgtfreek]

What is that service supposed to be, like 150/15 or something?


What I have noticed is, as you get over 100mbps down many devices can only use so much of it.

As with my old laptop, it just cant go as high as my iphone unless I plug it in with cat 6. It is nice to know you have all that headroom.

We were watching some UHD last night on Netflix, and I intentionally started a large download on my laptop and updated office apps on my phone (about a 600mb) download. The Netflix never even stuttered from 2160 and the downloads were blazing.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Just called Verizon Fios and upgraded my Internet speed to 300/300

Since I committed to a new 2-year package deal, the cost is less than $10 more per month than what I was paying for 75/75.

 

[DaveF]

Just called Verizon Fios and upgraded my Internet speed to 300/300

Since I committed to a new 2-year package deal, the cost is less than $10 more per month than what I was paying for 75/75.

I think that's cool and glad to hear 100+Mbps service is becoming a residential reality.

What I'm wondering is what you're doing with it? Or, how are folks benefiting from speeds about 25/25 or so?

As for me: the 50/50 I've got now helps when it's time for an iOS or macOS update, getting those multi-gigabyte downloads faster. I don't need that much speed for Netflix but it helps guarantee that streaming HD video will be highest quality.

But the two of us, we're not yet streaming multiple 4K steams with video games going on that would consume 100Mbps.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I have appreciable differences between my home and work experiences.

18/1.2 at home (Time-Warner basic service. Maybe I need to upgrade that.)

95/98 at work (Big organization. Not sure who provides what.)

But that's a big difference for me and it shows itself plainly.

Just got back from my local cable provider storefront (Timer-Warner, which is currently transitioning to Spectrum).

I talked with the rep about my cable speeds. He looked them up and grimaced and moved me into a new service (dropping my monthly charge to boot!)!

And I just checked again using Ookla and now have 48/6. Woot!