internet access

Stacy lives in rural Michigan and she has really slow internet. Leo says that broadband companies don't want to install high-speed internet into rural areas because there aren't enough customers to justify the cost. Will satellite be a good alternative? Leo says that thanks to Elon Musk's Starlink network it will be. But it's $99 a month and costs $600 in equipment. And the more satellites they put up, the faster it will get. They've only put up 10% of the satellites they want to so far.

Another option is LTE and 5G if she's close to a tower. 

Marcy is tired of the high cost of cable after that initial bundle deal. She's ready to cut the cable. Leo says that you have to read the fine print in your bundle deal to see what the details are. Usually, they raise the rate pretty dramatically. Marcy went scorched earth and canceled her service, then waited a few months to get the next offer. Leo says you can do that, but you can also threaten to cancel and ask to speak to the retention specialist. They can give you a better bargain.

Benny's constant zoom meetings have killed his hotspot's bandwidth caps. Now he has to get internet access at home. Leo says that hot-spotting isn't meant to be your main home internet. It's only for being on the road where you have no access available. You could continue to do it and pay for more bandwidth. Your ISP may charge you less right now. But generally, cellular data costs more than standard internet access. Check out your cable provider. They may work you a bundled deal, but sometimes those aren't the best deals in the long run.

Al wants to block all internet traffic coming into his Windows 7 computer so he can use it in his local area network. Leo recommends using the Windows firewall, allowing traffic through 192 for access to your network, and block everything else. You can also do it through the router. 

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.

Nancy bought an HP Stream laptop. Is that for streaming video only? Can she only use it with the internet? Leo says that she can, sure. But if she doesn't have internet access, turn on hotspotting on a mobile device. 

Bob has a mesh network for his 2800 sq foot house, and he's having issues. There is likely a congestion problem. If Bob's accessing the internet after 6 PM, for instance, that's when everyone is watching Netflix. That can really drain that shared internet access of the ISP. It could also be that since his network is new, it may not be updated yet. So give it a few days. If it doesn't improve, it's time to contact the ISP's tech support.

Steve wants to know if there's a device that will give him internet without paying a monthly fee. Leo says that Freedom Pop promises internet, but understand it'll be filled with ads. There's also NetZero. Another idea is to spend time at your public library or local wifi hotspot. Some cities also offer free public wifi all around their municipality.

Chris' internet company offers 400 Mbps. Is that a noticeably better speed than 100 Mbps for everyday use? Leo says it probably isn't for the money he's paying. The real key is the upload speed, because if it still takes him an hour to upload something, and he's paying for download speed that he isn't really using, then what good is it?