Spectrum Fiber Optic Internet?

[JeepHead]

I've worked with point-to-point data links (T1 lines, etc.) and audio dry pairs for years and agree that fiber is head and shoulders above copper. Even lines where the "last mile" is copper, most of the trunk lines have been fiber for a couple decades now. Maybe there are a few small independent phone companies that still have an old-school central office with batteries, but they're few and far between


Can't speak for others, but when I refer to a landline these days I'm just talking about a wired phone as opposed to a cellular device. At some point in the circuit it's all VoIP these days.

Not here! We have tons of the old school CO's around. We also have dedicated techs that work those. It's a dedicated craft itself. Not that us linemen didn't go to the CO's at times but it was rare...

And to most phone guys, a landline is POTS (Plain old telephone service) that operates over dc voltage. Power and data can be out at your house and your POTS line will still function normally.

 

[mjonesnh]

A couple months ago, somebody ran fiber optic down the the road, in front of my place. There isn't a sign on the box, or anything to say who it was.

Yesterday we found a Spectrum business card in our mailbox from Perez, with a phone number on it, and hand written on the card "fiber optic internet call to sign up"

I never heard of Spectrum, so I went to their website and saw that they offer two packages. One for $50 at 500mbps and the other for $70 at 1gig

https://www.spectrum.com/internet

Currently we're with Skynet and paying $90 a month for the fastest service that they have available to my location at 50mbps.

https://www.spectrum.com/internet

My wife has Zoom meetings all the time, and in order to do that, we have to turn off everything in the house and unplug the TV. I feel that we are borderline able to do this. We also watch TV with our ROKU, which usually works fine, but we have had buffering issues. The other issue is that this internet service is over the air from a tower. We have an antenna facing that tower with what we are told a very strong signal. If there is a big storm, we only have internet as long as their generator has gas. Once it runs out of gas, they do not fill it up again, and there is no internet. We also have random times when we lose our connection and other times when it's painfully slow.

I read through another post on here that was talking about Spectrum and Direct TV. What I heard the most was the constant increase in pricing. Is that from Direct TV? We don't want Direct TV, we just want reliable high speed internet.

Another concern, and I probably have to talk to Perez to find out, but how do they get the internet from the road to my house? I'm about 700 feet from the road, and probably 800 feet from their box.

Currently we have an Orbi25 Router. I'm not aware of anything else that we have other then the ROKU for the TV. Is there something that we need to buy if we switch to Spectrum?

If you have Spectrum, is it reliable? Do they actually answer the phone if you call them with an issue? Do the rates stay the same or will they shoot up every year?

Thank you,
Eddie

Don't have spectrum but do have Fiber Optic internet. Local electric coop came through and ran fiber through area attached to their poles. Had 100mb comcast b4 the fiber install. Pay 50/mo. now for 250mb both up and down speed. Very reliable service with fiber, will say Comcast was also very reliable but fiber saved us 20/mo and we had our own moden with comcast. Electric coop furnishes our modem now with free install when we changed over

 

[fishheadbob]

As a result of Time Warner merging with Comcast, Spectrum became the new name. As a condition of the merger, the company had to roll out internet (and Cable) to a lot of rural customers like me. The internet service is very fast, very reliable in this one persons' experience. When the introductory offer expires hold on to your whatevers because Spectrum just loves heavy rate increases. Not that simple really. When the introductory rate ends, they dump you into regular customer pricing. For a mid-level cable package and internet we went from maybe $49 per month to our current bill under $250.
Customer service is quite good. It's also a good idea to inquire maybe once a year..."Oh, you're under an old plan. We can offer you the same package for several dollars ($10 or $20) less per month.

 

[EddieWalker]

Last week my wife made the call to have it installed. They said that they would be here today to install it at 9am. Yesterday, a crew showed up to run the cable. They had a walk behind cable burying machine, kind of like a trencher, but it only goes down 6 inches. and it doesn't dig up the ground, it just forces the cable into the ground. It looks like a gopher trail when it's done.

They were here less than two hours, and they ran the fiber optic line around our fence, along our driveway, across our gravel driveway, and to the house. It was about 850 feet total distance.

Today, the installer was supposed to be here at 9, but he showed up at 8. We were not ready, but it didn't take too long to put the dogs away so he could work.

He mounted a box to the side of the house, ran a fiber optic line from the outside box, through our wall, and then to another box that he mounted to our inside wall. That's the router. He said that it will cover an area of 1,600 square feet. Since my computer is so close to the box, he connected a cable from the box to my computer.

My wife is used to fiber optic internet at work, but it's new for me. Everything opens instantly. No lag, now pause, it just happens the second I click on something. I've never experienced the internet so fast in my entire life!!!

The installation fee was $50 and the monthly rate for 1 gig of speed is $70 a month. That's going on memory of what my wife said last week, but right now, she doesn't remember what she told me, so I could be wrong. I'll update when I get the bill.

 

[wilso]

I recently switched to Spectrum and have noticed a significant improvement in speed and reliability compared to my previous service. They answered my calls promptly when I had questions. A good way out is to call spectrum customer service directly—they can clarify how the installation works and discuss pricing stability. I found them helpful.

 

[EddieWalker]

About a month and half in, and Spectrum is still great. The bill was $75 for the month, so not too bad considering how fast it is. We're also providing internet to my mom's house with it, so now she doesn't have to pay for internet.