Latest news with #broadband
CNET
7 hours ago
- Business
- CNET
My Week With AT&T Internet Air Left Me Bummed
With all the talk of a possible recession, tariff uncertainty, the high price of eggs and market fluctuations, it can be challenging to part with your money. Once you decide to spend a bit, you want that purchase to be worth it. If it isn't, falling short of what you hoped for can be especially frustrating. When it comes to home internet, I often say that the best broadband connection is one you never notice. With steady buffering and long load times, AT&T's 5G internet offering, AT&T Internet Air, never let me forget that I was using it. Seemingly overnight, we've seen a rise in 5G home internet popularity. One report found that 89% of new broadband subscriptions in the past two years came from just two 5G providers: T-Mobile and Verizon. So when AT&T launched AT&T Internet Air late in 2023, I was excited to see how it compared. I was quickly disappointed. I have as friendly a testing environment as you'll ever find for an internet provider. I live alone in a one-bedroom apartment, and the list of connected devices I own is shockingly short: Just my iPhone SE, Apple TV 4K and a MacBook Pro that I use to work from home. That's not much strain to put on a Wi-Fi network, but even so, AT&T Internet Air couldn't handle it. That's why I have a hard time recommending the service to anyone. AT&T's wireless internet connection consistently delivered download speeds below 10 megabits per second -- a far cry from the 90Mbps to 300Mbps it advertises. That said, wireless internet speeds are more dependent on location than wired options like cable and fiber, so your experience may be much better than mine was. (Subscribers on AT&T's subreddit reported speeds in the 150Mbps to 300Mbps range.) Locating local internet providers There were things I liked about AT&T Internet Air -- namely, the easy setup and useful app -- but that's like saying I like everything about a car except the fact that it can't go above 25 miles an hour. Internet providers have one job -- to deliver a fast, reliable connection -- and on that front, AT&T Internet Air was an unequivocal bust. Read more: My T-Mobile 5G Home Internet Experience: What I love and What I Wish Were Better Joe Supan / CNET Setting up AT&T Internet Air All in all, it only took me 11 minutes to set up AT&T Internet Air. It truly couldn't have been simpler. The box only comes with two items: A gateway device and a power outlet. I followed the instructions in the box, downloaded AT&T's Smart Home Manager app and scanned the QR code on the device. The app suggested that I place the gateway device near a window and facing west if possible. I was able to find a spot that checked both boxes near my desk, where I'd need the strongest internet speeds possible. Once I'd landed on a location, the app ran a quick test and gave me the approval. I was now ready to test out the connection. AT&T Internet Air speed and reliability There's no way around it: AT&T Internet Air's speeds were incredibly disappointing, and the speeds I was getting would be basically unusable for most people. It boils down to the advertised speeds versus the actual speeds you get. After dozens of speed tests throughout the week, AT&T Internet Air averaged a download speed of 5.86Mbps and 9.87Mbps upload in my apartment. The highest download speed I got at any point was 10.63Mbps, while upload speeds peaked at 14.38Mbps. At the same time, my $50 Connect More plan through Xfinity -- advertised as 300Mbps download -- returned average speeds of 321/109Mbps. AT&T Internet Air's latency was also very high, with an average ping rate of 298ms. That's bad news if you plan on doing any online gaming, where 40ms or lower is considered ideal. AT&T says that users typically experience download speeds between 90Mbps and 300Mbps and upload speeds between 8Mbps and 30Mbps. My upload speeds fell within that range but I never came close to 90Mbps download. The highest I got was 14.38Mbps. (I used Ookla for all of my speed tests, which is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.) Wireless internet like AT&T Internet Air or T-Mobile 5G Home Internet is inherently more erratic than a wired connection like cable or fiber. Because it transmits data wirelessly from a cellular tower, it's more vulnerable to network congestion and weather disruption. That's why router placement is particularly important -- if you don't have a clear line to the nearest tower, your internet connection will suffer. But I did have a clear line. I could find a spot for the router right against a window facing west, just as I was instructed during setup. The problem didn't seem to be the location of my home, either: AT&T's coverage map shows the entire city of Seattle blanketed in 5G Plus speeds, which it describes as its fastest tier. AT&T's coverage map indicates that I should have been able to access AT&T's fastest speed tier. AT&T I tried moving the router to a few different locations over the course of testing but speeds never improved. In fact, it got even slower when I moved it to another room or away from the window. AT&T recommended calling customer support to help determine the best spot for the device based on where the closest cell tower is. Wireless internet providers like AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon all include a caveat in the fine print that says they may temporarily slow your speeds if the network is congested. That might explain my test results if they were all happening at 'internet rush hour' -- the hours between 7 and 11 p.m. when traffic is highest. But I tested AT&T Internet Air at various times throughout the day and never saw much of a difference. How was it using AT&T Internet Air? If anyone can get by with slow internet speeds, it's me. I live alone and I don't do any bandwidth-stressing activities like online gaming and the only devices connected to the internet are my phone, laptop and streaming device. But even with that minimal setup, AT&T Internet Air struggled to pull its weight. Zoom meetings at work were reliably unreliable, to the point where I had to switch back over to my Xfinity connection several times. Working in Google Docs, the connection would routinely drop out, causing me to wait a few seconds before I could continue writing this review. AT&T Internet Air's range was basically limited to the room with the router. When I ran speed tests in my bedroom -- one wall away from the router -- my connection slowed to a mere 1Mbps in download and upload speed. It was a frustrating experience. I found myself switching back over to Xfinity or cellular data on my phone every time I wanted to do something like watch a YouTube video from the group chat or take a FaceTime call. I don't need gig speeds -- I probably don't even really need 100Mbps speeds -- but I do need at least 15Mbps, which is what Netflix recommends for streaming in 4K. Unfortunately, AT&T Internet Air failed to clear even that low bar. How does AT&T Internet Air compare to other 5G internet providers? 5G home internet has taken off in the past few years and AT&T is later to the party than competitors T-Mobile Home Internet and Verizon 5G Home Internet. In general, using 5G technology for home internet has been an unequivocal success. A survey from J.D. Power released last summer found that customer satisfaction is higher for wireless customers than cable or fiber, even though it received lower performance scores. 'A lot of the concerns I had heard about fixed wireless access were that it's just never going to be as fast as fiber,' Carl Lepper, senior director of the technology, media and telecommunications intelligence practice at J.D. Power, told me at the time. 'But for a lot of people, affordability trumps that. And it's not often that you need superfast speeds, depending on how you're using your internet.' 5G home internet often reaches rural households where cable and fiber aren't available and it's a significant step up from the satellite or DSL service that those internet users are typically stuck with. And because 5G providers are cellphone carriers first and foremost, they offer significant savings when you bundle home internet with a cellphone plan. Provider Monthly price Advertised download speeds Advertised upload speeds AT&T Internet Air Read full review $60 ($47 with an eligible AT&T wireless plan) 90-300Mbps 8-30Mbps T-Mobile Home Internet Read full review $50-$70 ($30-$50 with cellphone plan) 87-415Mbps 12-56Mbps Verizon 5G Home Internet Read full review $50-$70 ($35-$55 with qualifying Verizon 5G mobile plans) 300-1,000Mbps 20-75Mbps Show more (0 item) Shop providers at my address Those savings aren't quite as significant with AT&T as they are with T-Mobile and Verizon, but paying $47 a month for home internet is still a solid deal. If you're not bundling with a cellphone plan, AT&T Internet Air is on the expensive side and there's no guarantee that it will make up for it with faster speeds -- as my week with AT&T showed. The final verdict: AT&T Internet Air could still be useful for some After those disappointing results, you might be surprised to learn that I still wouldn't swear off AT&T Internet Air completely. Other customers have clearly gotten faster speeds than I did -- Reddit users regularly report speeds north of 700Mbps -- and there's a chance my apartment is just in a particularly bad location for the service. Unlike T-Mobile 5G Home Internet, AT&T Internet Air does not offer a free trial, so you'll be out at least $60 if you sign up and find out the speeds aren't fast enough. I'd still recommend going with T-Mobile or Verizon first if you want to try out 5G home internet, but AT&T Internet is still worth a shot if you're stuck with limited options. I tried AT&T Internet Air for a week FAQs: What is AT&T Internet Air? AT&T Internet Air is a 5G fixed wireless connection that offers a singular plan. Pricing starts at $60 monthly or $47 if you bundle it with an eligible AT&T wireless plan. In areas where AT&T's faster fiber service is unavailable, this fixed wireless option could be an alternative for some. Is AT&T Internet Air fast? AT&T Internet Air advertises download speeds of 90Mbps to 300Mbps and upload speeds of 8Mbps to 30Mbps. However, after conducting a dozen speed tests at home, my actual speeds were significantly lower than what was advertised. The highest speed I was able to reach for upload was 14.38Mbps, which is on the lower end of that range. With AT&T Internet Air, I only averaged 5.86Mbps download and 9.87Mbps upload. Compared to other 5G providers, Verizon and T-Mobile advertise much faster speeds, topping out at 415Mbps and 1,000Mbps, respectively. However, it's worth noting that even if you get faster speeds at your home with a 5G fixed wireless connection, your speeds can be temporarily slowed down during network congestion. In addition, AT&T's latency is very high, which can be pretty bad if you're a gamer. The average ping rate that I received at home was 298ms. For online gaming, your ping rate should be 50ms or lower.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Better broadband is now in Bolton!
Imagine broadband that doesn't just keep up, but powers you forward. That's brsk: 100% full fibre, lightning-fast, endlessly reliable, and now available in many areas of your community. This isn't just broadband. It's the BetterNet - built for the way you live, stream, game and connect. It's the fastest, most dependable type of broadband technology available in the UK. And it's here. No more glitchy calls. No more frozen faces mid-meeting. No more spinning wheels mocking your movie night. And it's all backed by thousands of excellent Trustpilot reviews. Zero nonsense. Brsk is broadband without the bull. Power up your life. Whether you're chasing your next promotion, building a side hustle, gaming to win, or just binge-watching your favourites, brsk has a speed that fits you. From 150Mbps to 2Gbps, you choose the pace. And here's the kicker: symmetrical speeds. That means uploads are just as fast as downloads. So, whether you're sending big files or streaming in 4K, brsk doesn't flinch. No surprises. Just solid value. Great broadband shouldn't break the bank. With plans from just £24pm, brsk delivers premium service without the premium price tag. Need extras? You got it. Mesh Wi-Fi, VoIP, Static IP, TV services - and free installation as standard. And while we're at it, no mid-contract price hikes. What you sign up for is what you pay. Simple. Honest. Unchanging. Gamers. Creators. Dreamers. Doers. This one's for you. Gamers – Get every edge with low latency and full fibre speed. Turn casual play into pro-level performance. Streamers – Say goodbye to pixelated drama and buffering. Welcome crisp clarity and non-stop playback. Remote workers – Be heard. Be seen. Be productive. A brsk connection means smooth meetings and seamless uploads. Students – Study without lag. Learn without limits. Still stuck with that other provider? Let's break the cycle. Ditch the big-name providers charging more for less. Brsk will help with up to £300 in credit so you can cover the costs of leaving that disappointing contract. Just note that this particular offer is only available when calling in and not when placing an order online. Better things start with better broadband. Streaming. Studying. Scrolling. Grinding. Winning. Whatever you're doing online, it's about to get a whole lot better. Check your coverage and sign up online at Want to take up the £300 credit offer? Call the team on 0330 088 0564. £24pm for BetterNet150 (150Mbps upload and download) on an 18-month contract. 500Mbps, 900Mbps and 2Gbps connections also available. Speeds stated are experienced on average and are best achieved on a single device with a wired connection, but may be less via Wi-Fi. Add-on products available at an extra cost. For full promotional terms and conditions, visit
CNET
2 days ago
- Business
- CNET
My Internet Provider Is a Monopoly and Yours Probably Is Too. Here's What It Means For Your Broadband Bill
You know the drill. It's time to shop for home internet, but you only have one or two options, and you're not sure how to decide which one is better. You've heard the woes from friends who signed up with Spectrum and were surprised by two price increases within the same year -- and as Spectrum is one of the biggest internet providers in the country (and may soon be the biggest cable provider in the country), there's a good chance that Spectrum is one of the two options available at your address. So what can you do? First, let's do a little research If you type your address into the Federal Communication Commission's broadband map, you can pull up all of the internet providers that will service your address. If you live in an urban area, you may have as many as seven options, each an alternative to Spectrum if that's a provider you're trying to avoid. But let's say you're trying to stick to a high-speed internet option. Maybe you have a smart TV you use for streaming in crisp 4K, a roommate who games religiously in their room or you're a student who uses Zoom pretty regularly. Whatever the reason, a good rule of thumb is to aim for speeds of 300 megabits per second or higher for average internet use with multiple devices in the home. You can use the FCC broadband map to find a list of internet providers that service your address. FCC The FCC defines "broadband" as an internet connection with speeds of 100Mbps down and 20Mbps up. Using that definition, go back to the FCC broadband map and rule out each provider with advertised speeds of 100Mbps or less. Why? Even though an ISP advertises that speed, you probably won't get it consistently because of how your router and Wi-Fi work. According to the FCC, there are only seven internet providers available at my address. If I eliminate ISPs with speeds of 300Mbps or lower, there are only two. FCC For most people, at this stage in internet shopping, there are only one to three decent options left and if one of them isn't Spectrum, it's most likely AT&T, Cox, T-Mobile Home Internet or Xfinity. While I don't personally have anything against Spectrum (and CNET ranks it as one of the better cable ISPs out there), some people do. The leading cause of those frustrations is usually outages or price increases. It's frustrating not only because your bill increases while your speeds remain the same but also because not having another internet option means you can't switch. Locating local internet providers At this point, your head is probably spinning. Why is shopping for internet providers such a headache? Will those other internet options be any good? Why can't you get more than one decent option at your address? 'According to the New America Foundation, Americans pay the most for broadband [among 38 democratic nations].' Christopher Ali, professor of telecommunications at Penn State University Internet monopolies are far too common in the broadband industry Over a third of Americans only have access to one or no internet provider. According to data from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, approximately 83 million Americans have internet access through just one provider. Overall, the American broadband industry is dominated by a handful of ISPs with broad footprints: Only six ISPs cover 98% of the mobile internet market, and recent industry changes will make that number even smaller. While Xfinity currently ranks as the country's largest cable internet provider, Spectrum's recent acquisition of Cox will make Spectrum the country's biggest cable provider if the merger is approved. Similarly, AT&T recently announced plans to buy 95% of Lumen's Quantum Fiber and Verizon was recently approved by the FCC to acquire Frontier Communications in a $20 billion deal. The industry is consolidating -- and while your broadband bill may not immediately (or ever) change, that still means fewer choices for consumers when it comes to internet. Various factors, including geographically diverse terrain, high infrastructure costs and the daunting task of competing with prices from a much bigger ISP, can make it costly for smaller businesses to get a foot in the door without significant funding. "Because of the way that we classify broadband service providers, the FCC has very little authority over prices, which means that [ISPs] can pretty much do whatever they want," Christopher Ali, a telecommunications professor at Penn State, told CNET. Because you likely have only one or two internet options at your address, your internet provider can keep inflating your monthly bill, and you can't really do anything about it. Just 10 years ago, our definition of broadband vastly differed from the FCC's definition today (it was previously a mere 4Mbps down and 1Mbps up). Our conversations about home internet needing to be more accessible, affordable and sustainably fast for average household needs are a relatively recent development. "The amount of money the average American is spending [on internet] relative to their income is about the same [compared to 10 years ago]," said Blair Levin, a policy analyst from New Street Research and former executive director at the FCC. "In that sense, we have a much faster, better product at about the same price point. Sure, you could say that's good. Does that mean it's affordable? Not for a lot of Americans it is not affordable and affordability is a key problem." Although there are thousands of local internet providers, our options often boil down to one or two of the country's ISP giants. Admittedly, CNET often reviews those top providers and may recommend them as viable internet options because those ISP giants aren't necessarily always bad home internet options. They typically offer an efficient cost per Mbps compared with plans from local ISPs, often DSL or fixed wireless options with slower speeds targeted to rural homes. In rural areas that may not have a big or local ISP presence, internet options are even more limited, and people usually have to fall back on the slow speeds and high costs of satellite internet. Although satellite internet offers extensive availability and has proven an invaluable internet option in rural areas, it tends to average less than 100Mbps in download speeds, not quite fast enough for average to above-average internet use. According to data from the FCC, Xfinity (red) and Spectrum (purple) are the two largest cable internet providers in the country. FCC Although competition among ISPs is often limited, there are pockets of regions where competition -- and fast, cost-efficient internet options -- thrive. Wireless internet providers, specifically, have a strong presence in rural areas, which are harder to reach with wired internet services. "There are about 1,500 wireless internet service providers in America, largely in rural, under-resourced and Tribal parts of the country," Mike Wendy, the communications director of WISPA, the Association for Broadband Without Boundaries, told me in an email. "They serve about 10 million Americans through primarily fixed wireless access." In other cases, municipal broadband networks (such as the community-owned fiber networks in Wilson, North Carolina, or Chattanooga, Tennessee) and public middle-mile networks offer much faster speeds for lower prices than a private-owned ISP. Still, those success stories aren't ubiquitous, effectively creating what Ali calls a "Swiss cheese pattern of broadband availability" throughout the country. All too often, people face high price increases, limited high-speed options and inconsistent connectivity with home internet. Even in urban areas, which typically have higher concentrations of internet serviceability, some low-income neighborhoods may see much slower speeds and fewer options at their address than a higher-income neighborhood across town. A study from the Markup and the Associated Press in 2022 zeroed in on the trend of inequitable internet access across neighborhoods with marginalized or low-income communities, raising questions about "digital redlining" by ISPs. Why the difference in the US? You may find it surprising that the high cost of the internet in the US isn't necessarily replicated in other countries. According to a study by the New America Foundation, US consumers pay the highest average costs for broadband compared across all studied regions. The average cost of internet service in the UK sits at around £27 ($34) a month, while the US averages $63 in monthly internet costs -- not including hidden fees, equipment costs and those yearly price hikes. Some researchers point to the concentration of US markets compared to the UK, noting that the concentrated telecommunication industry warrants high internet costs and low capital expenditures from both a consumer and investor perspective. Others point to the tendency of US policy to favor larger ISPs, limiting competition and driving up prices. 'According to the New America Foundation, Americans pay the most for broadband in any country in the OECD," Ali told CNET. "We're averaging somewhere between $74 and $84 a month -- and there is no technological reason why costs are this high. Zero. It is entirely price-gouging.' The size of internet companies such as AT&T, Google, Verizon and T-Mobile is staggering when you consider not only how sizable their footprints are but also how much of the infrastructure (from undersea cables to vast middle-mile fiber networks) they own. Although there are countless other local providers, many have to pay network fees to larger providers to use parts of the "middle mile" for internet services. Plus, it's often easier for those bigger companies to buy out another company and merge their networks than to build out a new network. For example, Verizon bought Frontier Fiber early this year in an attempt to expand its Verizon Fios fiber internet brand. Brightspeed edged into the playing field by buying parts of Lumen's CenturyLink DSL network in 2022, and Charter (Spectrum) bought Time Warner Cable in 2016 -- effectively establishing the company's footing as a top cable internet provider. Fixed wireless internet services might make a difference So far, we've mostly discussed wired internet services, which are tricky networks to establish because of zoning, equipment and labor costs. What about other internet connection types, such as satellite or 5G home internet? Although a fixed wireless internet service is generally touted as a solution to broadband accessibility because it's easier to establish than a wired network, only a handful of big companies dominate the fixed wireless internet market, namely, Starlink, T-Mobile and Verizon. Starlink, which edged into the satellite internet market in 2020, established itself as a top name in satellite internet by deploying roughly 7,000 low-Earth-orbit satellites and offering speeds up to 220Mbps and relatively low latency (the time it takes for data to get to the server and back). In contrast, competitors Hughesnet and Viasat fall behind with speeds that top out at 100 and 150Mbps, respectively. T-Mobile presents a popular alternative to rural internet with its network of high-powered cell sites and licensed 5G frequencies. To date, T-Mobile has the largest footprint of any single US internet provider, thanks to the reach of those frequencies. The catch? Starlink costs roughly $120 a month, not including the hefty up-front cost of satellite equipment, which runs $349 for the basic package. By comparison, T-Mobile offers a much more competitive price. For $50 monthly, you can get speeds around 87 to 318Mbps. There's no equipment rental charge, just the $35 activation fee you pay when you start service. But although Starlink and T-Mobile are popular choices for people with limited internet access, neither provider can offer a consistent speed of 300Mbps over a fixed wireless internet connection, which is why, although neither provider enforces a data cap, your speeds likely will be throttled during peak congestion periods. You won't see the quick, consistent gigabit speeds that you'd get from a cable or fiber internet provider (or at least, not yet). Additionally, more than 1 million people are on a waitlist for T-Mobile services, delayed because of network capacity. The internet services offered by Starlink and T-Mobile are an attractive alternative to solving internet accessibility in underserved or hard-to-reach areas, but the quality of those internet connections and the affordability of monthly prices, equipment and additional fees, are an imperative consideration. What does this all mean for you and me? So, what's being done to ease internet connectivity and affordability? How can we ensure that people have more than one or two options for internet service and that the costs of that internet stay low? No one really has the answers yet. Since the ILSR published its findings on telecom and cable internet monopolies, Congress portioned $90 billion toward bridging the digital divide. That money was split among various groups, including the Tribal Connectivity Program, but most of it has been funneled into the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program (BEAD) -- the largest investment that the federal government has made in internet accessibility. The Affordable Connectivity Program, which offered more than 23 million low-income Americans a monthly discount from $30 to $75 monthly, was perhaps the most significant attempt at ensuring accessible, high-speed internet nationwide. After the ACP ended in May 2024, policymakers disagreed over how to ensure that ISPs offer low-cost plans to their customers. So far, BEAD funding has become tangled with competing interests about how best to use it -- including disagreements with the organization tasked with administering BEAD funding, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The NTIA set guidelines for ensuring a low-cost plan with a baseline cost of $30 monthly, but many states have already planned a price increase for that baseline. Despite that, the plight of internet monopolies, high monthly internet costs and lack of adequate connectivity still hang in the balance. In the meantime, the most you can do to trim down your monthly internet costs is to either reduce your monthly data consumption or look for a cheaper internet provider.
CNET
3 days ago
- Business
- CNET
Which Internet Plan Is Right for You? 10 Expert Tips to Help You Decide
A good internet connection has become a necessity, but trying to get one can feel like a chore. There are a ton of providers offering different speeds, prices and promotional offers, which can make it difficult to pick the right connection for you. Some homes may have access to only a couple of options, but most US homes can choose from at least three providers that offer various bundles and speeds. Now, setting up your home internet may not seem like the most fun part, but picking the right provider and plan will save you a lot of money and hassle down the line. Here's what you need to know. How do you know which provider and plan is best for your needs? Somethings to look out for: Speed usage How much you want to spend on your internet Internet provider related details: connection type, additional fees, contracts and data caps Read more: Here's How You Can Stop Internet Throttling By Your Broadband Provider. 1. Evaluate your internet speed needs The best place to start is asking yourself these questions: How much internet speed do I currently use? Would I like a better connection? How many people in my home use the internet and how many devices are connected to my network? Is there a gamer or two in the house? Does anyone work from home? Is there more than one smart device connected to the network? Locating local internet providers For basic internet use like online shopping, browsing social media and light TV streaming, download speeds of 100 megabits per second are usually enough (and they meet the Federal Communications Commission's new definition for broadband). But I recommend faster internet speeds for working and learning from home, streaming in HD on multiple devices simultaneously and connecting numerous smart home devices like security cameras, video doorbells and smart speakers. Gigabit and multi-gig plans will all but guarantee you've got enough speed for every person and device in your home, but those are often the highest-priced plans. If you don't want to splurge on gigabit service but still prefer something on the faster side, consider speeds in the 300 to 600Mbps range, assuming they're available in your area. Advertised vs. actual speeds Pro tip here: Keep in mind that advertised speeds and actual speeds are two different things. An ISP's advertised maximum speeds may be 100Mbps, but those are speeds to the home. Actual speeds in the home are likely going to be lower, even more so when using a Wi-Fi connection and adding multiple devices to your network. CNET's Trisha Jandoc discovered this upon facing slow speeds despite being on a gigabit plan. Additionally, if you have an outdated router, you may not be getting the speeds you're paying for. When shopping for internet service, be sure to factor in that speed loss and select a plan with advertised speeds faster than what you'd like your actual speeds to be. For an in-depth examination of how much speed your house might need, you can check out our internet speed guide. Quick tips to help speed up your Wi-Fi at home Quick tips to help speed up your Wi-Fi at home Click to unmute Video Player is loading. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Next playlist item Unmute Current Time 0:05 / Duration 4:25 Loaded : 15.68% 0:05 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 4:20 Share Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Close Modal Dialog This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. Close Modal Dialog This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. Quick tips to help speed up your Wi-Fi at home 2. Explore all of your ISP options Available internet providers vary by location and possibly by address within the same ZIP code. Even if you aren't moving far, the available internet providers, and the technologies they use, could be different. Your options can understandably feel limited, so know that it's uncommon for one provider to be the absolute only ISP option in an area. In markets where a cable internet provider such as Xfinity or Spectrum is available, there's also likely to be a fiber or DSL service available from providers like AT&T, CenturyLink or Frontier. Additionally, the recent rise of 5G home internet from T-Mobile and Verizon has further increased broadband competition in both rural and urban settings. Serviceability check tools like the one you'll find a bit further up the page are a good way to identify the internet providers in your area and get an overview of potential plans and pricing. I can't speak for all serviceability tools, but CNET's version uses proprietary in-house technology to help ensure your results are accurate and keep your information secure. 3. Consider the connection type Speed and cost are among the most important considerations when it comes to choosing an internet service, but you may want to start by comparing the internet connection type each provider uses. There are some exceptions, but if we're ranking connection types in order of most to least desirable, I'd start with fiber-optic, cable and 5G home internet. Keep DSL, fixed wireless and satellite as a last resort. Fiber-optic internet is the best bet for fast, consistent speeds, low latency and greatest overall value. Service also comes with the advantage of symmetrical or close to symmetrical upload speeds. Cable internet is not far behind in terms of speed and value, and is often a good choice for cheap internet, especially since you can often get a cheap cable TV and internet bundle from some providers. Meanwhile, 5G home internet is quickly proving to be a convenient alternative to cable and even fiber connections in rural areas. In fact, customers are reported to be more satisfied with a wireless 5G connection due to it's affordability and accessibility. The new technology could also provide much-needed upgrades to broadband in rural areas where less speedy or reliable DSL, fixed wireless and satellite internet services are often the only options. 4. Compare speeds, not just pricing Here's where the bulk of your internet shopping takes place: comparing plans from each available provider. It's tempting to look at the price first and speed second, but I'd suggest focusing on speeds first, then price. Opting for a cheaper plan that doesn't quite meet your household's speed demands, especially one that comes with a contract, may end up costing you more when you need to upgrade to a faster plan or provider anyway. Look for plans with the speeds you want, or higher, then compare the prices among those options. Find the one that best fits your speed demands and your budget. Price vs. value Pro tip here: A low price is nice, but is it a good deal? To get an idea of a plan's value, consider the cost per Mbps by dividing the cost by the advertised speed. For example, Xfinity's cheapest plan is available for as low as $40 a month for speeds up to 400Mbps -- that's a cost of around 10 cents per Mbps. Not bad, but one of Frontier Fiber's cheapest plans costs $50 a month, more expensive than Xfinity's cheapest plan. Frontier's plan comes with speeds up to 1,000Mbps for a cost per Mbps of just 5 cents. Although Xfinity's plan is cheaper, Frontier is the better deal. 5. Beware of set price increases Spectrum hikes it's prices after a year once the promo period ends, as seen through it's broadband labels. Spectrum/screenshot by CNET So you've identified potential providers and plans. Let's take a closer look at the monthly cost. Will it be the same a year down the road? Or are there steep price increases and hidden fees waiting for you? On average, internet costs around $78 a month in the US, but your monthly bill could be more than that once the promo period ends. I know that low pricing can be tempting, but a cheap plan can lose its value entirely from one bill to the next when the price goes up by 50% or more. Xfinity, Spectrum, Cox and others have competitive introductory pricing but a looming monthly hike of $20, $30 or more after 12 months. Carefully examine the FCC-mandated broadband labels for each plan. Check for hidden infrastructure fees or equipment fees you could bypass by buying your own equipment. The good news is that providers have to be fairly transparent about price increases as far as when you can expect them and how much they'll inflate your bill. Additionally, many providers don't require a contract, so if the price hike is too steep, you can cancel without penalty. Not all providers have a planned price increase. AT&T, Frontier, Verizon Fios and a handful of others, including EarthLink, don't have promotional or introductory pricing, so you won't have to worry about a guaranteed price increase. Your bill may still go up at some point, which understandably happens, but it won't go up as drastically or quickly. 6. Know your (data) limits Some ISPs enforce data caps and will charge extra fees or throttle internet speeds when you go over. Be aware of the data cap, if any, before signing up for an internet service. Those considering satellite internet will have to be the most mindful of data caps and usage. Although none of the major satellite internet providers impose overage fees for data used, unless you upgrade to an unlimited data plan, your speeds will significantly slow after going over your priority data allotment. Data caps are less of a problem with every other connection type, but they're still there. Fixed wireless internet like what you may find from AT&T or Rise Broadband in rural areas often comes with a data cap of 250 to 350GB. Select cable and DSL providers also have data caps, although typically much higher, between 1 and 1.5TB per month. That's a generous amount of data and much higher than the average household will use, but still, a plan with unlimited data is preferred. You don't want to have to watch your data usage all month, and you certainly wouldn't want to suffer slowed speeds or added fees for going over. 7. Weigh all Wi-Fi options in your new home Viva Tung/CNET You'll need a router to create a home Wi-Fi network. Most, if not all, ISPs offer a router either for rent, to purchase or for free. If you plan on renting your equipment, take a look at what the rental fee is ahead of time, then go ahead and tack that onto the monthly price. Some rental fees are better than others, but anticipate it to add anywhere from $5 to $20 extra to your bill. In some cases, that means an appealing $20 rate may jump up to $35 or even $40 after equipment costs, so make sure you take a look at the fine print before securing a promotional internet rate. Many providers have started including your equipment at no extra cost. AT&T, Verizon Fios, Google Fiber and 5G home internet providers T-Mobile and Verizon, for example, have no added equipment fees. Others, like Spectrum, CenturyLink and Xfinity, may include either a free modem (but not the router needed for Wi-Fi) or all of your equipment at no extra cost with select plans. You may also have the option of using your own router and skipping the equipment fee altogether. CNET's Joe Supan saved close to $1,000 in yearly fees by deciding to by his own router, for example. Although the upfront costs may be high, including the potential optimizations like mesh Wi-Fi, supplying your own may pay off in a year or two if you can save $15 per month in equipment fees. The option to purchase your router is a little less common, but you may come across it with satellite internet or prepaid internet services. This can add to your upfront costs, especially in the case of satellite internet, but you may save money in the long run. 8. Consider any lengthy contracts Your internet provider may lock you into a contract, sometimes disguised as a "term agreement." Breaking your contract by canceling service or failing to pay your bill before the term is up could result in early termination fees and problems if you want to sign up for service again in the future. Some providers require a contract, typically of one or two years, with all plans and services. Others may require a one-year contract to qualify for the lowest introductory rate or special offers. Most ISPs require no contract at all. Term agreements aren't much of an issue if you plan on keeping the service for the length of the contract, but if you think you may move or want to switch providers at some point, it's nice to know you can do so without penalty. Also note that if you decide to switch providers and you rented equipment from a previous provider, you return your equipment within the designated timeframe to avoid any other fees (often up to $300). 9. Consider customer satisfaction ACSI It's no secret that most of us aren't particularly fond of our internet provider. Customer satisfaction ratings, such as those from sources like the ACSI and J.D. Power, shed some light on which providers fare better than others and why. In most cases, customer satisfaction numbers will fall somewhere in the middle of the road and not indicate much one way or the other. In others -- like Optimum's consistently low customer satisfaction score, Frontier's improving numbers or Verizon's consistently high marks -- may be a bit more telling. Do a little social research. Ask neighbors and friends who they have and why, what they like and don't like. Check out Reddit, and other media sources for further insight. Take the feedback for what it's worth, but don't believe everything you hear or read. 10. Watch out for promotional offers There's a reason I'm mentioning this tip last. Signup bonuses, much like low introductory rates, are tempting, but they're never incentive enough to commit to an ISP or plan that isn't the right fit for your needs. Gift cards, free months of internet service or streaming subscriptions eventually expire or lose their value. When that happens, you don't want to be stuck with an expensive plan that is faster than you need or a cheap ISP that doesn't deliver the speeds you want. Additionally, you may have to sign a term agreement when accepting promotional offers to prevent you from canceling as soon as you get the reward. Still, promotional offers like Verizon's streaming bundles which comes with a free Netflix and Max subscription for a year and then $10 a month after, may be worth investigating. Bottom line: finding good internet service is worth the effort There can be a lot to consider when signing up for an internet service. Along with the cost and speeds, be sure to evaluate the fine print -- price increases, data caps, equipment fees and contract requirements -- so you know what to expect when you get the bill each month. It can be overwhelming, but ultimately, your research and knowledge of the internet provider you settle for will pay off in the long run. 10 expert tips to finding your ideal ISP FAQs How do I choose the right provider and plan for me? In order to find the ideal internet service provider and plan for you and your household requires considering these key things: Speed, how much you want to spend on your internet and internet provider-related details such as connection type, additional fees, contracts and data caps. Considering these things can help narrow your search for internet service. What are the best internet providers? This may not be the most exciting answer, but the best ISP will all boil down to what's available at your address. The top providers in the country that offer the widest coverage are EarthLink, T-Mobile Home Internet, Spectrum, AT&T, Xfinity and Verizon 5G Home Internet. EarthLink's unique use of a variety of connection types makes it one of the most available ISPs in the country. T-Mobile comes at a close second with coverage available to more than 60% of the country. There are spots in the Midwest and the West that will have very little to no coverage for T-Mobile. In that case, Spectrum and Xfinity's cable coverage offer wide availability throughout the country.
The Verge
3 days ago
- Business
- The Verge
The plan for nationwide fiber internet might be upended for Starlink
For about 15 percent of US households as of 2023, the only internet options are crappy, especially in rural areas. But thanks to the US Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, which aims to connect everyone in the US to high-quality, mostly fiber-based internet, that's close to changing. Or at least, it was. The plan's lead architect, Evan Feinman, says that before he was forced out by the Trump administration in March, three US states were just one 'minor administrative step' away from connecting their first residents under BEAD. In fact, he says, they could have started the process already — if not for US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, a recent Trump appointee. In March, Lutnick announced a 'rigorous review' of BEAD, which he claims is too 'woke' and filled with 'burdensome regulations.' Now the plan may change. Lutnick's changes to BEAD could hand a lot of the program's money over to private interests like Elon Musk's satellite internet provider, Starlink. And for every person whose home is served by a Starlink connection, their internet will likely be slower, less reliable, and more expensive than what BEAD might have gotten them with fiber. You can think of BEAD as a modern version of the nationwide US telephone network or electrification projects. It's been more than three years since the Biden administration established the $42.5 billion program, and so far, it hasn't actually connected anyone to the internet — a common criticism coming from the political right. But Feinman says that's by design. 'At every step of the game, states were screaming that we were going too fast,' he tells The Verge. 'When we made allocation, more than a dozen states sent us letters saying, 'Go slower, go slower, go slower.'' In fact, Feinman says, the first states would already have started construction if it wasn't for delays by the Trump administration, which has been encouraging states to redo finished phases of the program to make more space for satellite internet. That shift, Feinman said in April, could effectively mean 'millions of private capital is in the garbage.' Until now, BEAD has spent its time laying the groundwork to connect people. The states were given a year and a half to come up with proposals. According to the BEAD progress dashboard, 38 states have either begun or, in the case of West Virginia, finished picking service providers for the proposals. Nevada, Delaware, and Louisiana are just waiting for final approval from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration so they can sign contracts with companies, start laying fiber, and setting up infrastructure. 'More than a dozen states sent us letters saying, 'Go slower'' In his March statement about BEAD's review, Lutnick accused the Biden administration of 'woke mandates, favoritism towards certain technologies, and burdensome regulations.' The Commerce Department 'is revamping the BEAD program to take a tech-neutral approach that is rigorously driven by outcomes.' He didn't specify what he hoped the makeup of this 'tech-neutral' approach would look like. But Feinman told Financial Times in March that before he left, Lutnick had instructed BEAD's workers to give more priority to satellite connectivity and 'singled out Musk's provider, Starlink.' Musk, of course, has been a key player in the Trump administration as well as a vocal critic of BEAD. He's also been accused of trying to enrich himself using his unofficial, yet seemingly very powerful position within the US government. The Wall Street Journal reported Lutnick planned to overhaul the program in a way that could funnel as much as $20 billion, or close to half the program's overall funds, to Musk's Starlink. When I asked Feinman about this number, he said it's hard to know how much more money will go to satellite networks, but that the changes Lutnick is proposing 'will shift tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or millions of locations away from getting a fiber connection and on to the satellite networks.' As for Lutnick's 'tech-neutral' comment, Brian Mitchell, director of Nevada broadband office OSIT, says, 'I think that's what we did from the start.' Given Nevada's vast geography and sparse population, he says, 'it was never going to be realistic for us to do 100 percent fiber like you might see elsewhere.' Nevada's final proposal called for fiber internet in 80 percent of its locations, with satellite and fixed wireless internet making up what's left. As an example of what's on the line, Feinman says West Virginia's proposal included 'a fiber connection for every single West Virginia home and business' with $150 million to spare and ahead of its deadline. That sounds pretty good for a state that says it ranks 50th out of 52 (all the states plus DC and Puerto Rico) in broadband connectivity. Now, plans like West Virginia's could shift many of the proposed fiber connections to satellite instead. Currently, the BEAD program requires states to prioritize fiber over any other connection method for a given location, unless building it out would cost more than a certain cap — a cap each state was allowed to set. But one of Lutnick's ideas is apparently to issue a single nationwide cap. According to Feinman, if Lutnick's 'one-size-fits-all cap' is low enough, satellite internet companies will always win out. In Nevada, for instance, that could see the ratio of fiber-to-satellite flipping from around 80 percent fiber to about 70 percent satellite internet, according to Feinman. Not long after Lutnick announced his BEAD review, Feinman emailed his team to say he was leaving and warned that Lutnick's actions could mean 'stranding all or part of rural America with worse internet so that we can make the world's richest man even richer.' Feinman says that he had offered to continue running BEAD, but that the administration declined to renew his tenure. Although Lutnick hasn't detailed specific plans for BEAD, he's already at work changing the program. Near the end of March, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced he'd met with Lutnick and got his state a 90-day extension that Feinman says West Virginia will use to reopen service provider bidding, endangering the state's pending fiber agreements. The Commerce Department has since issued a blanket invitation to all states to seek such extensions. That likely means at least some states will turn to slower, pricier internet for their citizens. There are states where Starlink makes sense. Mitchell says that his state 'knew that satellite was going to play a big part in connecting Nevadans, and that's the result that we delivered.' Satellite connections make up 10 percent of the state's final proposal. That's a 'great result for Nevadans,' he says, adding that providers are prepared to sign contracts and start building out connections 'as soon as the paperwork comes in from NIST,' or the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The first Nevadans could be connected as soon as this summer, according to Mitchell. (Neither NIST nor the NTIA responded when The Verge asked about the status of those approvals.) Continued delays could be costly. Garry Gomes, CEO of Sky Fiber in Nevada, urged Lutnick earlier this month to push Nevada's BEAD program forward in a letter to the NTIA forwarded to The Verge by OSIT. He said Sky Fiber — Nevada's biggest awardee under BEAD — has 'already invested over $360,000 in equipment, engineering, and staffing' and that its teams are ready to 'immediately' start construction on BEAD deployment. 'Yet the project remains stalled,' Gomes wrote. 'Delays not only risk higher costs and lost labor but also erode public confidence in what is arguably the most ambitious and promising broadband investment in our nation's history.' Would more Starlink involvement be such a bad thing? Sure, it doesn't come close to touching fiber, but a service only has to offer over 100Mbps down and 20Mbps up, with no less than 100 milliseconds of latency, to qualify as 'reliable broadband internet' under BEAD. Feinman says Starlink, while a 'really really good technology,' offers service that's 'barely nosing over' that requirement. This was something that Ookla echoed in December with its median findings from Starlink users in Maine, showing that median users saw 116.77Mbps down and 18.17Mbps up. But, hey, a D minus is still a passing grade, right? But while there's room in BEAD for satellite internet, it's not a replacement for hard-wired, ground-based connections. Even Musk himself has said that, having called satellite a 'nice complement' to tech like fiber and 5G back in 2021. Performance-wise, Starlink pales in comparison to fiber, which increasingly offers as much as 5 gigabits per second, down and up. That's more than 43 times faster than Ookla's reported median speed for Starlink. It's 20 times faster than 249Mbps, the best-case-scenario throughput the company shows for my midwestern address. And it's hardly worth comparing the upload speeds between the two options. Starlink service isn't just undeniably slower than fiber; it tends to be more expensive, too. Its fixed service is $80–$120 per month and comes with pricey upfront equipment fees. (Starlink's site advertises $30–$50 monthly, but when I tried to sign up for service while reporting this out, the price jumped to $120 a month with a $349 equipment fee, for a 'total due today' of $376.57.) In some areas, Starlink's website says its equipment is free if you sign a 12-month contract. Meanwhile, AT&T offers a gigabit fiber plan in my city of Milwaukee for $80 per month, with a $150 equipment fee. 'Nobody is campaigning on slower, more expensive internet for their constituents' Even if all things were equal, Feinman says the company can't scale to the needs of the program, as it 'doesn't have the capacity to serve that many locations.' What's more, it's costly to maintain Starlink's service, which requires rocket launches into space to replace dying or outmoded satellites. Subterranean fiber, on the other hand, can last decades before needing to be replaced. Before the Trump administration started futzing with BEAD, Feinman says the program enjoyed a great deal of bipartisan support. 'This is not what anybody outside of a very small circle of Trump administration folks wanted the program to become,' he says. 'This is not what Senate Republicans wanted it to become. It's not what any member of the Democratic coalition on Capitol Hill wanted. It's not what Republican governors wanted. It's not what the industry wanted.' Mitchell echoes that, saying that both Republicans and Democrats in his state have 'been very supportive' and adding that 'nobody is campaigning on slower, more expensive internet for their constituents.' He also says he doesn't think that has changed as the administration changed hands. 'All of our local officials and local governments are excited for who was awarded,' Mitchell says, 'and are ready to start working with them to issue the necessary permits so they can move forward with deployment.' Instead, they're waiting for Lutnick's review. A bipartisan group of 115 state legislators from 28 states signed a letter to Lutnick in April, stating that while they welcome some changes to BEAD, they urge him to make them optional. 'At this late stage, major changes would undermine our work and delay deployment by years,' they wrote. As for what's next, Feinman says he's working hard to make noise about what's being done with the program in an effort to preserve its core mission of connecting everyone to high-speed broadband internet. His departure letter in March said he thought the BEAD program would still mostly work even without so-called 'woke' requirements, which include things like fair and safe labor practices as well as outreach to historically underrepresented and marginalized groups. He also said 'shovels could already be in the ground … in half the country by summer' without Lutnick's proposed changes and that if the administration let the program move forward, 'it would be a huge political win for the Trump team.'
