Broadband

Ron got a notice that DSL Extreme is canceling his internet service in November. They're offering him a service that is more expensive and requires him to subscribe to their internet service. He's currently using DSLExtreme. Leo says that AT&T has to provide DSL Extreme broadband service and it sounds like DSLExtreme is signing off. But Leo says the good news is that there are other options out there, including Starlink. Google Fiber. And others. Check out DSLReports.com for choices in the area.

Pam just bought a house in Arizona and the area doesn't have the best internet service. How can she improve the speed? Leo says most have two choices ... the phone company or the cable company.  Anything else is wireless. T-Mobile is offering cellular internet home access, though. It's a bit more expensive, but if her cellular is good in the area, it's an option. WISP is an option. But the newest, hottest option is Elon Musk's Starlink service. But it's not cheap. $99 a month plus $500 for equipment. She will need a clear view of the entire sky for it to work.

Mike's mother doesn't have the ability to get internet other than a cellular option through Verizon. Leo says that Verizon has a home internet package, as does T-Mobile. But if her Verizon is good, it'll be costly but it's doable. The other option is satellite. With Elon Musk's Starlink service, she can get 100-200 Mbps download. And it'll keep getting faster as more satellites come online. The downside is the price. $99 a month plus $500 for the equipment. 

Roz is having issues with her internet service. She uses DSL Extreme through AT&T, and the service has been down for two months. Leo says that DSL is reliant on the phone lines put in by the phone company decades ago. AT&T claims the internet lines are down, but Leo says they use the same phone lines as the phone service. So that's nonsense.

Chris wants to know if Starlink is good for a boat. Leo says that they want you to stay on land with it. But there may be plans in the future, according to The Verge. Wild Blue's Exceed is supposed to be better, but you're moving around with a boat, which means constantly realigning the satellite signal. So the problem is likely going to be the same. Since Chris is mostly in a sound with his boat, cellular may be a better option.

Sam wants to know if you can bond multiple modems to create faster broadband. Leo says that's called "modem bonding" and usually requires multiple internet connections to make it work. There are also special routers that do the same thing: Zeisel makes them.

Jerry has had an issue with his modem, and he finally got Comcast out to investigate it. They found that all the wiring was so old, it was fouling up the signal. They then replaced all the bad wiring and connectors. Everything works great now. Leo says that's a happy ending.

Terry is a cord cutter and he doesn't think that he gets actual high-speed internet with Frontier. Leo says it's been proven that Frontier goes out of its way to keep bandwidth speeds slow for its customers to keep them from using too much. Leo also says that Frontier is being investigated by states for their terrible customer service and rampant internet outages. And they aren't alone. The US has the worst broadband of any country in the developed world. Leo says that one solution is Elon Musk's Starlink system, but at $100 a month, plus the cost of equipment, it's not cheap.

Lynn would like to get better internet service. Spectrum is terrible. Leo says that wireless internet is about to take off. Elon Musk's Starlink is a bit expensive at $99 a month, but it's going to get faster over time. Cellular internet is the next big thing, and T-Mobile is leading the way there. And it would be ideal for Lynn since he lives in a rural area. Not much competition on the cellular tower. So if you want to give it a go, it may be worth trying. 

Paul is spending up to $75 a month for internet access. He's getting a notice for an alternate service for $60 a month, called WOW, and they are offering an Eero router to boot. They also promise 80% bandwidth speeds, or 800MB down. Leo says it's about right to have a 20% loss over time. But he gets a warning from his alarm service that it goes out. Leo says that Paul is using Ooma, and it could be that there's a thruput issue when balancing your ISP and your internet phone service, which your alarm uses.