Posted: 10/8/2013 11:19:53 PM EDT
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What are the choices in internet providers in Iowa?
Need something that can stream video for Roku and Youtube without frustration. 
Thanks! 
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I get 24Mb down here in BFE with Mediacom.
And yeah, they're assholes. But the DSL provider here is far worse, like 6Mb off peak and slows to a crawl when everybody's browsing the interwebs because they've oversold the bandwidth. You're better off asking knowledgeable folks in the same community as you what their experience and speeds have been like, because even enormous juggernauts like Mediacom aren't the same everywhere. Around here their internet is actually fairly reliable. It isn't that way everywhere. |
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At least you guys have a choice.
The telephone company entered into an agreement with a lot of small towns around here to be the sole cable, internet, and phone provider. Phones work just fine. Cable does too. Internet is stuck in the dark ages; 1.45 Mbps download speeds and sub-,5 Mbps upload. < in town on cable connection And they have no plans to speed it up anytime soon. I don't know if they are just not bothering or they tried to get too big too soon, but it sucks. They spent the entire spring and fall installing fiber conduits all over all of the towns and around the country but tell me they don't plan on doing anything, especially within the towns. Oh yeah, and they just hiked their prices; probably to pay for the fiber stuff they aren't going to use. |
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I don't know if they are just not bothering or they tried to get too big too soon, but it sucks.. That first one. Our mom & pop local telephone company is stuck in the dark ages, too. Their "high speed" internet service has been getting progressively slower for the past seven or so years, because they haven't upgraded their pipe. And EVERYBODY is on the same pipe, even their business customers. It's a little ridiculous. You can pay them $800/mo per T1 for industrial grade internet service, and it is industrial grade. From your location to the CO. Then you're lumped in with all the DSL customers. You don't have guaranteed T1 bandwidth. I talked to a guy who worked for a company that got suckered into four T1's for internet (6MB up/down) and not only did the internet go down every time DSL went down, but it slowed way down every time DSL did, too. I'm glad we didn't get suckered into the same scheme, we're on Verizon Business and our T1 pipes go all the way to Verizon's facility in KCMO. Our bandwidth is guaranteed and we have a 100% SLA, where each hour of downtime is a whole day's worth of billing credit. But the DSL shittiness and T1 shenanigans are not even the best part. Some years back, they got $40.9 million dollars in Obama Bux (ARRA money) to install fiber to the home in rural communities. My community, with a population of just over 2,000, wasn't rural enough. We're talking towns in the hundreds here, with populations that are half meth lab. I did the maths, and that $40.9 million of OUR money was used to run fiber to a whole 4,480 households. That's $9,129 per fucking house! And do you think even half of the meth labs signed up for fiber internet service at $100+ per month? Hell no. And did they upgrade their pipe? Hell no. You pay for fiber (well, we paid for it) which gives you up to 1Gbps (that's 1000Mbps) to the CO... and you end up getting the same slow, shitty internet that all the DSL customers are suffering with. |
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Can't stand the cable side of Mediacom, but was pleasantly surprised with the internet side. On the 50Mbps (5Mbps upload) plan here in Waukee, usually right around 65-70Mbps. Had it for over a year, and I think the DNS was down for about 10 minutes once.
Here is current speedtest from my laptop (over my wireless network): 
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Had it for over a year, and I think the DNS was down for about 10 minutes once. One of the best tricks for improving internet reliability and speed is to not use your ISP's DNS, because ISP DNS usually sucks balls and goes down a lot or is sluggish. Easiest way to change it and have it effective across all devices is to use your own separate router. If you have separate WiFi, you probably have a separate router. Otherwise you can manually specify the DNS settings on each device. namebench |
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Can't stand the cable side of Mediacom, but was pleasantly surprised with the internet side. On the 50Mbps (5Mbps upload) plan here in Waukee, usually right around 65-70Mbps. Had it for over a year, and I think the DNS was down for about 10 minutes once. Here is current speedtest from my laptop (over my wireless network): http://www.speedtest.net/result/3023458661.png You, Sir, are just showing off. Go shut your winkee in the toilet lid. |
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You, Sir, are just showing off. Go shut your winkee in the toilet lid. Quoted:
Quoted:
Can't stand the cable side of Mediacom, but was pleasantly surprised with the internet side. On the 50Mbps (5Mbps upload) plan here in Waukee, usually right around 65-70Mbps. Had it for over a year, and I think the DNS was down for about 10 minutes once. Here is current speedtest from my laptop (over my wireless network): http://www.speedtest.net/result/3023458661.png You, Sir, are just showing off. Go shut your winkee in the toilet lid. Agreed I thought I would check mine and wow it sucks! 
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I'll see your bet's for slowest "broadband" connection and raise you this:
BFE small town local provider and I'm out in the sticks which makes it worse. Supposedly Century Link now covers my address so I need to follow up on that, at the least their advertised price is half of what I'm currently paying so even with the same speed I'd feel better about not getting robbed so bad |
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I wish I could get Mediacom but I'm stuck with shitty slow Windstream DSL. At least when Iowa Telecom was in charge they cared about the rural customers but since Windstream bought them the service has gone down along with any plans to upgrade the infrastructure. Mediacom's service ends 2 miles down the road but I doubt they'll ever expand.
I fear that rural areas will end up getting left behind and stuck with horrible capped satellite or 4g as their only choices. |
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DSL tech has evolved over the years and higher speeds (way more than this 1-2Mb BS) over long distances is a reality. Rural folks don't have to be left behind at all.
Doesn't matter when the local telco doesn't care or is incompetent, a buddy of mine is on the same BLOCK as the telco's POP, and his DSL is just as shitty as everyone else's. There's literally 100 yards of copper between him and where everyone's telephone connection in the town comes together. |
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You, Sir, are just showing off. Go shut your winkee in the toilet lid. Quoted:
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Can't stand the cable side of Mediacom, but was pleasantly surprised with the internet side. On the 50Mbps (5Mbps upload) plan here in Waukee, usually right around 65-70Mbps. Had it for over a year, and I think the DNS was down for about 10 minutes once. Here is current speedtest from my laptop (over my wireless network): http://www.speedtest.net/result/3023458661.png You, Sir, are just showing off. Go shut your winkee in the toilet lid. Of course I am 
But seriously, I tried several different DSL services (hickorytech, quest - now centurylink, dwx, prairieinet). None of them compare in any way to the cable internet service, in speed or consistency. Mediacom cable tv is horrible, you couldn't pay me enough to have it, but their internet kicks ass - at least in some places. Our area has pretty new lines, so I always get good speeds and am never down. My experience with their techs and customer service has been exceptional. I have a couple of friends on the east side of Des Moines that would tell you the exact opposite, though... |
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media communists are going give you fastest speeds. But I absolutely hate dealing with them. They might be all that is available in your area, that is decently fast at least. But they fucking suck. I'll buy beers for IAHTF if they ever go out of business. I FUCKING HATE those motherfuckers. |