Broadband

Ed is looking to cut the cable and is looking for options for the internet. DSLReports.com is where he can go to see what's available in the area. Leo recommends checking out AT&T U-Verse. They use fiber and it's very fast. Avoid Satellite. The latency and bandwidth caps are too great. Sadly, cable has no competition due to being granted a regional monopoly. But he can go with fiber or even wireless. DSL may be an option, but it gets slower the farther he is away from the central office.

Tom's son is moving to a rural area and they use rather slow radio-based ISPs. Leo says that the benefit of living in a rural area is the beautiful area. The downside is, that if there isn't a lot of people per square mile, broadband companies simply won't provide connectivity. So they end up with satellite, cellular, and radio-based alternatives. Cellphone internet is getting faster thanks to LTE and 5G. And it'll get faster. And thanks to Elon Musk's Starlink program, Satellite wifi is coming.

Alex wants to get Spectrum but they are pushing a bundle. Leo says that sometimes it's cheaper to get it with Phone service. But the catch is, the deal is only for the first year, and then the price goes up. So you have to call them a week before the deal expires and threaten to cancel unless they give you a better deal. They will also give you a cable modem and router and there should be an ethernet out connection that you can plug into your own router to split off the data. You want to be sure you have at least 5 MB up for video streaming.

Dan's phone contract and his FIOS contract have both expired. So he's thinking what's next. Leo says that if you get good fiber speed, there's nothing faster. It really comes down to how much they charge for the speed you want. And then how much they say it is, vs. how much you are actually getting. $49 for 200MB down is not bad. Gigabit would be even better because it's symmetric (same up/down) for about $60 a month.

Tom is worried that the Internet will become overloaded if everyone is staying at home. Leo says that it'll work just fine. Networks are engineered with overcapacity now, and there won't be an issue. What about bandwidth caps? Leo says those were more about making money than anything having to do with capability for load. Leo also says one of the problems is people who don't have internet access and rely on work, schools or libraries, will be cut off.  And he thinks the next few months will show that.

Carlos has Spectrum broadband and it starts fast but then slows down gradually to a stop. Leo says that Spectrum has a "burst mode," which is designed to fool speed tests to make you think you're getting faster service than you are actually paying for. But it shouldn't slow down to a stop. Carlos has said that they have rewired the house, checked outside, and they can't track it down. Leo says it could be a bad splice at the junction box. You can also try a new router. Really the only choice is to change providers. 

Grover isn't happy with his internet service through his cable provider. What are his options? Leo says that bandwidth is shared in the neighborhood. If he lives in an older neighborhood, the internet may be slower because there isn't enough bandwidth to go around. Newer neighborhoods may have laid down more cable and as such, faster internet. Leo recommends going to DSLReports.com and entering the zip code. This will tell not only what is available in the neighborhood, but reviews from neighbors will also show.

Matt was told by Spectrum that they'll have to trench in order to get his internet access into his office building, and it's going to take 60 days to do. It doesn't make sense why can't they just route the cable from the pole? Leo says that Spectrum is going to do what they're going to do, but that doesn't mean they're the only game in town. Look for alternatives. You can go to BroadbandReports.com and see what internet access is available in your area. Talk to your building's supervisor to see what choices are available coming into it.

Ryan got a new modem because his ISP is now giving him faster download speeds. But when he plugs in his router, it slows down to a crawl. Leo says that since the router is new, it should be fine. Try a different ethernet cable. If the cable is old, it may not handle the bandwidth. Then, try another computer and see if you can replicate the issue. If you can't, then that will point to something on your computer. It may be the ethernet port is too old. Also, update the firmware of your router.