Most reliable internet provider

[Coop63]

Moving to the villages soon, work remotely, and NEED a reliable internet provider. I notice we have some choices, including fiber. Do you have any you would recommend, avoid? Thanks in advance.

I recently switched to fiber in my current location. Upload speeds are great, but my main need is adequate download speed and reliability.

Fenny area

[mtdjed]

Your choices are limited to where you locate. For example, I am located near Lake Sumter Landing. I have Xfinity and the reliability for me has been great, but the cost is on the high side.

[tophcfa]

Xfinity, just don’t confuse reliable internet service with good customer service.

[GpaVader]

Xfinity, just don’t confuse reliable internet service with good customer service.

I would second this, I had some issues with them getting set up but that was 4 years ago. The service has been great since.

On Fiber, not sure you will have that as an option... 3 years ago they said I would be able to get it in a year, still nothing. I'm in Fenney...

[Bill14564]

Moving to the villages soon, work remotely, and NEED a reliable internet provider. I notice we have some choices, including fiber. Do you have any you would recommend, avoid? Thanks in advance.

I recently switched to fiber in my current location. Upload speeds are great, but my main need is adequate download speed and reliability.

Fenny area

Do you do anything special that requires higher than normal download speeds? I'm not sure you can find a plan slower than 100Mbps anymore. 100Mbps is adequate for streaming on at least two televisions simultaneously.

The Xfinity service I had in my neighborhood was very reliable. I never needed to call support and I don't believe I may have needed to reboot the modem/router twice in five years.

The T-Mobile service I have now had a week when it was acting poorly but has been very reliable otherwise. Since this service runs over the cellular system the issues I saw that week could have been due to oversubscription (too many people) or a cell tower under repair. All I know is it has been fine since.

Many people on here have good things to say about Quantum but I have no experience with it myself.

One way to find out which providers are in your area is to look on their sites. Xfinity, T-Mobile, Quantum, and others provide a way to check availability at your address.

[PoolBrews]

I have had both Xfinity and Quantum fiber. Both have worked well and are very reliable. I switched to Quantum about 3 years ago - it's fiber, so by design it should be more reliable and have more consistent speeds (and it does!). I'm getting 1GB service for $35/month. More than 3x the speed I had with Xfinity at less than half the cost.

[jrref]

Fiber is Always going to be the most reliable since it's all fiber optic light wave.

The difference between fiber and cable is the technology. Cable's old copper network is not maintained for capacity anymore here in the Villages so depending on where you live you may get buffering at peak times because you are sharing the cable with all your neighbors. With cable you get the advertised download speed, most of the time but you only get 20-30mbs upload. No option. Limitation of the cable technology. With Fiber you get your own dedicated conection, no sharing to the ISP, and you get the same full download and upload speeds. Fiber is not suseptible to lightning or power surges like cable and is all light wave so when we have power outages, you don't have to worry about a hub not getting power in your area like you do with cable which needs power at several points.

Since you live in Fenney, you can get Quantum fiber. as low as $40, no contract, no tax, no fees, no promotion, and the equipment is included. If you are interested, I can help just reach out to me.

If you live south of Fenney, then Centric fiber is installed when the homes are built and they are also very reliable.

If you can't get fiber, I tend to like Spectrum cable.

[azcindy]

Fiber is Always going to be the most reliable since it's all fiber optic light wave.

If you can't get fiber, I tend to like Spectrum cable.

Why Spectrum over Xfinity? Also when I go to the Quantum Fiber site it says it is available in 32163, but others have told me it is not available in all of 32163 (you can't enter a specific address on their site). Does that mean Quantum would have to dig up the yard to install it or is it even more than that (newbie question, I know)?

Cindy

[JRcorvette]

Moving to the villages soon, work remotely, and NEED a reliable internet provider. I notice we have some choices, including fiber. Do you have any you would recommend, avoid? Thanks in advance.

I recently switched to fiber in my current location. Upload speeds are great, but my main need is adequate download speed and reliability.

Fenny area

We have been happy with Spectrum. Hated Xfinity and will never have them again.

[Bill14564]

Why Spectrum over Xfinity? Also when I go to the Quantum Fiber site it says it is available in 32163, but others have told me it is not available in all of 32163 (you can't enter a specific address on their site). Does that mean Quantum would have to dig up the yard to install it or is it even more than that (newbie question, I know)?

Cindy

Here is the Quantum Fiber site (https://www.quantumfiber.com/shop) that allows you to enter your address.

It tells me I can get 200Mbps for $45.

[Bill14564]

Fiber is Always going to be the most reliable since it's all fiber optic light wave.


No.
Copper cable can be just as reliable as fiber. There are physical limitations and mitigations with both.

Availability, service reliability, price, and support all matter more than the particular technology being used.

- Fiber is no good at all if it isn't available.
- 5G is not a good option at the limit of the cell where service is spotty
- Cable is not a good choice if the price is high

I would take a 100Mbps service in the $45 price range from a company that doesn't have a lot of complaints regardless of how it was provided.

[MrFlorida]

You don't have a choice, you're stuck with whatever provider is in your area.

[jimhoward]

I have three properties in the villages. One is near LSL and uses Xfinity. Two are in the new areas and use Centric Fiber. I have found both Xfinity and Centric Fiber to be 100% reliable.

I have chosen the highest available speed from both providers and both are blazingly fast and exceed my needs. I have measured the speeds using typical speed check apps and Centric Fiber is faster, particularly in upload speeds, but I cannot notice that difference in ordinary use.

Centric Fiber is cheaper than Xfinity.

[azcindy]

Here is the Quantum Fiber site (https://www.quantumfiber.com/shop) that allows you to enter your address.

It tells me I can get 200Mbps for $45.

Thanks. Shows not available :( Maybe because I am on an island, kind of (Linden Isle)

[Snakster66]

You don't have a choice, you're stuck with whatever provider is in your area.

Some folks have a choice...some folks don't. Just depends where you live.

[Bill14564]

Thanks. Shows not available :( Maybe because I am on an island, kind of (Linden Isle)

Did it fill your address in for you? When I search mine I enter the number and the first few characters of the street. Then the page lists some matching addresses and I select mine. When I tried some addresses in Linden Isle the Quantum page didn't seem to know any of them. Could be because they don't provide service there or could be because they haven't entered those addresses into their database yet.

I also checked a Linden Isle address on the Spectrum page. The particular address I queried already has a Spectrum account. You might give them a try.

[azcindy]

Did it fill your address in for you? When I search mine I enter the number and the first few characters of the street. Then the page lists some matching addresses and I select mine. When I tried some addresses in Linden Isle the Quantum page didn't seem to know any of them. Could be because they don't provide service there or could be because they haven't entered those addresses into their database yet.

I also checked a Linden Isle address on the Spectrum page. The particular address I queried already has a Spectrum account. You might give them a try.

It did not fill in automatically. When I forced the address in by typing the whole thing out, it said service not available (there). I am going to check out both Spectrum and Xfinity. I can't remember why you said you prefer Spectrum over Xfinity?

Cindy

[Bill14564]

It did not fill in automatically. When I forced the address in by typing the whole thing out, it said service not available (there). I am going to check out both Spectrum and Xfinity. I can't remember why you said you prefer Spectrum over Xfinity?

Cindy

I've only had Xfinity. Posters on here have said good things about Quantum. I don't remember the comments about Spectrum but the Search function could help you find them.

Spectrum looks really, really good if it's your only option. :smiley:

[bopat]

Starlink

[westernrider75]

We have Spectrum and are in 32163. Their customer service is excellent and they have been very responsive on the few occasions I have had to call to either change my service or make an inquiry about something. I have heard nothing but bad things about xfinity’s service but they are running a locked on 5 year deal right now. Quantum is not available in my area.

[SeanInFlorida]

Centric is great with near 1g Download and Upload speeds (mine is around 980) (great for uploading my YouTube videos). At 68.00 a month a great deal and the customer service there is top notch. I called them once and they came out that day (within a few hours of my call). It was actually my router causing the restriction (QOS setting). Before I actually moved to TV I submitted an online question and one of their techs called me that day. I had comcast up North, calling them was a chore. On hold, long wait times.

[rsmurano]

If you can get fiber, that’s your best option. Go with either copper network if you can’t get fiber.
I worked out of my home in high tech and had 1G speeds fiber. In retirement, I have 1G speed using copper. Do not go with the 100, 300 or even the 500Mb speeds if you do a lot of data during the month because there are caps on how much data you can download/upload. Your faster speed networks usually have no data caps.
Also remember, all copper networks (non fiber) have the very slow upload speeds (I have 1G down and 40Mb upload with spectrum) so if you do any large file transfers at the same time do zoom calls, your upload bandwidth could be degraded. If you get the slower speeds like 100, 200, etc, your upload speeds are even slower.
When I worked from home, they wanted me to backup to the corporate servers which take all of the bandwidth of the slower copper cables.
Also, you will need a good lan/wifi setup in your house to get reliable access to your computer. If you work in front of the router, no problem, but if you work in a Bedroom and the router is in the kitchen, get somebody to build you a robust network in your house, preferably using a wired connection to your router

[La lamy]

Xfinity, just don’t confuse reliable internet service with good customer service.

Agreed. XFINITY has been a great, reliable internet for me. But I've got to go into the stores to negotiate renewal prices. Prepare for quite the wait there! Their customer phone service is unfortunately abhorrent IMO.

[jrref]

No.
Copper cable can be just as reliable as fiber. There are physical limitations and mitigations with both.

Availability, service reliability, price, and support all matter more than the particular technology being used.



Sorry, Copper cable is susceptible to water, moisture, and all kinds of buried environmental attacks. Also, it's also susceptible to all kinds of emi/rfi interference expecially from lightning and cable systems need to be periodically powered from your home to the ISP which fiber does not. Known fact, fiber, overall is more reliable or Internet providers would still be deploying copper cable which they are not. In fact, just the opposite.

Now are you saying Xfinity or Spectrum is just as reliable as Quantum? Different question. All three companies are very reliable just with the cable companies you are always getting promotions that you have to constantly re-negotiate. And the technology is totally different.

As mentioned, when people reach out to me for help connecting to Quantum, a significant number say they are tired of the buffering at prime times, and this will vary depending on where you live here in the Villages, along with the need to reduce their monthly costs. The reduction comes with the internet service and getting rid of cable and moving to streaming.

Remember, cable is a "shared" connection with good download but terrible upload speeds where fiber is a "dedicated" connection with the same download and upload speeds.

The need for speed was mentioned. In many cases, cable subscribers sigh up for the higher speeds so when they sometimes get "slow-downs" during peak times they still have enough speed to do what they want. With fiber there is no need for that.

Finally, did you know, one of the most common ways an induced lightning power surge can enter your home and damage and or destroy your sensitive electronic devices is through the copper cable line? It happens a lot and most do not know or install any surge protection on the incoming cable line to their home. In fact, many aren't even properly grounded. The protector costs about $29.95 on Amazon. With fiber there is no need to worry about this.

Amazon.com (https://www.amazon.com/Proxicast-Lightning-Suppressor-Connectors-Replacement/dp/B0DFPLR3RZ/ref=sr_1_2?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ha7nJtXPE9q7ORfcEgNbpi pF0HnYi7-YHh9aP3aew6eApjk8--zk_JJr9N2qK9k03iZg8u1TDs4giYb78TnLOmMruB8uHCfrCGu4 zkfYzZKku-gbDtA1F-c59j84pkOqv7_iPLZdu05MwDoPnSpR4HZ3BBToJq_IFWF353Of QotvhdPU7LqGq1Nc_lzwt0KdHtcmPo7m5zLDkDAtBSkz9qnPsu zCNtSoOka5SrLgN2ndG92ntFB7spNEO3lxQi5tLoMeZ9FtQxhS Gab5p2Fws65NL2cma_6cXWIYfBRh0TI.K3vtIPouZLsnBkxSs2 cy1karG_CDwYD9UOv9umZbbh8&dib_tag=se&keywords=Coaxial+Lightning+Arrester%2FSuppressor+w ith+Male%2FFemale+75+Ohm+F+Connectors&qid=1750021387&s=electronics&sr=1-2)

[jrref]

If you can get fiber, that’s your best option. Go with either copper network if you can’t get fiber.
I worked out of my home in high tech and had 1G speeds fiber. In retirement, I have 1G speed using copper. Do not go with the 100, 300 or even the 500Mb speeds if you do a lot of data during the month because there are caps on how much data you can download/upload. Your faster speed networks usually have no data caps.
Also remember, all copper networks (non fiber) have the very slow upload speeds (I have 1G down and 40Mb upload with spectrum) so if you do any large file transfers at the same time do zoom calls, your upload bandwidth could be degraded. If you get the slower speeds like 100, 200, etc, your upload speeds are even slower.
When I worked from home, they wanted me to backup to the corporate servers which take all of the bandwidth of the slower copper cables.
Also, you will need a good lan/wifi setup in your house to get reliable access to your computer. If you work in front of the router, no problem, but if you work in a Bedroom and the router is in the kitchen, get somebody to build you a robust network in your house, preferably using a wired connection to your router

I forgot, if you go with Xfinity internet, unless you get their highest cost package or Infinity Now which is their slowest, there is a data cap. Totally ridiculous. They do this because they are not upgrading their cable infrastructure here in the Villages. Up North, there are no data caps with Xfinity and Spectrum has no data caps which is why I prefer Spectrum if you had no other choice.

[Switter]

Moving to the villages soon, work remotely, and NEED a reliable internet provider. I notice we have some choices, including fiber. Do you have any you would recommend, avoid? Thanks in advance.

I recently switched to fiber in my current location. Upload speeds are great, but my main need is adequate download speed and reliability.

Fenny area

I am a remote worker and chose quantum fiber. It has worked well for me. I went with the 500 mb because it's only $50 a month and I didn't notice a significant performance decrease from the 1gb, which I started with. I think people tend to overestimate the band with they need.

I've only had two outages since hooking it up 2 1/2 years ago. The first lasted of a couple hours, the most recent one (yesterday, as a matter of fact) lasted about 30 minutes. You can cancel anytime, no contract, no data caps.

[jrref]

I am a remote work and chose quantum fiber. It has worked well for me. I went with the 500 mb because it's only $50 a month and I didn't notice a significant performance decrease from the 1gb, which I started with. I think people tend to overestimate the amount of bandwidth they need.

I've only had two outages since hooking it up 2 1/2 years ago. The first lasted of a couple hours, the most recent one (yesterday can believe or not) lasted about 30 minutes. You can cancel anytime, no contract.

I think everyone had that outage yesterday. First one for me in 4 years.

You are right people tend to overestimate the amount of bandwidth they need and part of that comes from using cable. As mentioned, since cable is a shared service, some get more speed so when they get a slowdown, there is still adequate speed available to do what they need. Also, unless you get the most expensive cable internet package, the latency/delay is relatively high. Less latency will "feel" faster. With fiber no matter what speed you get, the latency is the same about 4ms. Very fast, so there is no need to get more speed than what you believe you need.

[wayneman]

In Fenney, using Quantum fiber. For $35/month it is awesome compared to comcast.

[diatom]

Why Spectrum over Xfinity? Also when I go to the Quantum Fiber site it says it is available in 32163, but others have told me it is not available in all of 32163 (you can't enter a specific address on their site). Does that mean Quantum would have to dig up the yard to install it or is it even more than that (newbie question, I know)?

Cindy

I live in the Fruitland Park section of 32163 and have had Quantum fiber for about 3 yrs. They installed a nested wireless configuration and I paid no install fee. It has been very reliable and much cheaper than Spectrum which I had previously. I pay $40 per month and nothing extra on top of that. It includes equipment rental, taxes, and any fees that others might add on to their base charge.

[Jimmay]

I live in 32163 and have had quantum fiber for a year, no issues

[DonnaMBryant]

A month ago, when our 2-year contract was up with Xfinity for internet (800Mbps) and cable TV and our rates went up, we made the decision to go with Quantum Fiber and YouTube TV for streaming service. The service with Xfinity was always reliable. I had been working remotely over VPN as a software engineer and had no issues with service, only the cost. After switching to Quantum, I called Xfinity to cancel their services. They made me an offer I couldn't refuse. While they made it clear that the cable TV service could not be discounted (They seem to accept that many are switching to streaming), they gave me a 5 year no-contract price for 1-GIG internet to match QF, and then additional discounts for autopay, our Xfinity mobile lines, and "loyalty", which are 2-yr discounts. My Xfinity bill is now $23.00. They also sent a free XUMO box (which I don't need and am not using). So I am back on Xfinity for internet and YouTube TV for streaming. P.s., for the brief period of time that I used QF, I had no issues with that service either.

[Nana2Teddy]

Thanks. Shows not available :( Maybe because I am on an island, kind of (Linden Isle)
It’s not available in DeLuna either. We have Spectrum for $55 monthly, but I personally hate the low upload speed. Download is fine, and reliability has been good for 2.5 yrs except recently when a power outage somewhere nearby caused Spectrum to go down for many hours.

[jrref]

A month ago, when our 2-year contract was up with Xfinity for internet (800Mbps) and cable TV and our rates went up, we made the decision to go with Quantum Fiber and YouTube TV for streaming service. The service with Xfinity was always reliable. I had been working remotely over VPN as a software engineer and had no issues with service, only the cost. After switching to Quantum, I called Xfinity to cancel their services. They made me an offer I couldn't refuse. While they made it clear that the cable TV service could not be discounted (They seem to accept that many are switching to streaming), they gave me a 5 year no-contract price for 1-GIG internet to match QF, and then additional discounts for autopay, our Xfinity mobile lines, and "loyalty", which are 2-yr discounts. My Xfinity bill is now $23.00. They also sent a free XUMO box (which I don't need and am not using). So I am back on Xfinity for internet and YouTube TV for streaming. P.s., for the brief period of time that I used QF, I had no issues with that service either.

===

[jrref]

A month ago, when our 2-year contract was up with Xfinity for internet (800Mbps) and cable TV and our rates went up, we made the decision to go with Quantum Fiber and YouTube TV for streaming service. The service with Xfinity was always reliable. I had been working remotely over VPN as a software engineer and had no issues with service, only the cost. After switching to Quantum, I called Xfinity to cancel their services. They made me an offer I couldn't refuse. While they made it clear that the cable TV service could not be discounted (They seem to accept that many are switching to streaming), they gave me a 5 year no-contract price for 1-GIG internet to match QF, and then additional discounts for autopay, our Xfinity mobile lines, and "loyalty", which are 2-yr discounts. My Xfinity bill is now $23.00. They also sent a free XUMO box (which I don't need and am not using). So I am back on Xfinity for internet and YouTube TV for streaming. P.s., for the brief period of time that I used QF, I had no issues with that service either.

So, you went from 1Gig download and upload speeds with Quantum to 1Gig download and 30mb upload speeds with Xfinity and now after 5 years have to do this all over again vs just staying with QF and not having to worry about this any more. You could have purchased a Roku or Fire stick for less than $50 and either of these blow away the XUMO box in picture and sound quality. As far as cell service, don't get fooled by their "discounted" service. Read the fine print. They have data caps and you can get better service at the same or better pricing at Consumer Cellular or Visible or T-Mobile or Mint, etc.. The only reason why the cable companies are offering cell service at a discount is to get you to pay for their overprices services after the promotion is up, but 5 years is a long time.

So, here is what happens, sorry for the rant. You stay with Xfinity for 5 years. After the 5 years is up, whatever they offer you, by that time everything will have increased in price, will probably be way more than if you went with QF now and locked in the current price for life with them. I've seen this with my neighbors many times. That $35 1 Gig service QF had will probably never happen again but thousands of us here in the Villages will be enjoying that service for years to come.

Just another perspective on the subject.

[Bill14564]

Sorry, Copper cable is susceptible to water, moisture, and all kinds of buried environmental attacks. Also, it's also susceptible to all kinds of emi/rfi interference expecially from lightning and cable systems need to be periodically powered from your home to the ISP which fiber does not. Known fact, fiber, overall is more reliable or Internet providers woould still be deploying copper cable which they are not. In fact, just the opposite.
The saying goes, "When you hear hoofbeats things horses not zebras," yet just the other day there actually was a zebra. Yes, copper is susceptible to some of those problems but they are zebras AND fiber is susceptible to many of them as well.

Cable systems need to periodically powered from your home? Sure, you have to provide power to the cable modem but you also need to provide power to the ONT. Where is the difference?

Providers are deploying fiber for cost and bandwidth. More fibers in a smaller space enables connecting more customers. I didn't write that fiber wasn't the best choice for new installations, I wrote that cable networks can be just as reliable.

Now are you saying Xfinity or Spectrum is just as reliable as Quantum? Different question. All three companies are very reliable just with the cable companies you are always getting promotions that you have to constantly re-negotiate. And the technology is totally different.
Yes, I am saying that in theory, the technology used by Xfinity or Spectrum networks can be just as reliable as Quantum. I am ALSO saying that in reality, service reliability (a function of the maintenance) is a consideration. I had zero problems with Xfinity service while I was a customer - Quantum can match that but they can't beat that.

Business practices and price are also considerations but are less important. If you only chase price then the phrase, "You get what you pay for," comes into play. I am not at all interested in renegotiating my price every year; in fact, I'm willing to pay a little more to avoid playing those games. Likewise, a company that gains a reputation for an odd interpretation of the term "price for life" is not attractive to me either.

As mentioned, when people reach out to me for help connecting to Quantum, a significant number say they are tired of the buffering at prime times, and this will vary depending on where you live here in the Villages, along with the need to reduce their monthly costs. The reduction comes with the internet service and getting rid of cable and moving to streaming.

Remember, cable is a "shared" connection with good download but terrible upload speeds where fiber is a "dedicated" connection with the same download and upload speeds.

As you know, both cable AND fiber are "shared" connections at some point. That point is different with the two technologies and the amount available for sharing is much higher with fiber but both technologies have limits. Proper provisioning can avoid ever reaching those limits.

The characteristics of fiber allows for higher upload speeds. This is not an issue for me but can be an issue for certain use cases (multiple camera feed stored in the cloud, recording OTA TV to the cloud, probably some gaming, etc).

The need for speed was mentioned. In many cases, cable subscribers sigh up for the higher speeds so when they sometimes get "slow-downs" during peak times they still have enough speed to do what they want. With fiber there is no need for that.
I think in many cases subscribers sign up for the higher speeds due to marketing. Many users on here have mentioned the 500Mbs or Gbps speeds they are paying for but few have ever mentioned why those speeds are needed. There aren't enough people in my household to watch all the televisions that it would take to utilize the bandwidth I currently have, I sure don't need to double that.

Quantum tells me their most popular plan is 940Mbps plan for $65. I have no idea whether that is true but I'm sure the statement drives people towards that plan. Their bottom tier plan is $45 for 200Mbps so look at that, I can get 370% more bandwidth for only $20. I can pay $0.23/Mbps or I can pay $0.07/Mbps - the more economical 940Mbps plan is the clear choice. But I am not using the entire 200Mbps, much less 940Mbps! If I only need a cup of milk then it doesn't matter that the price per ounce is cheaper if I buy the quart since I will be throwing most of it away. Paying extra to waste milk once doesn't make sense, doing it every month is foolish - the same goes for spending more to purchase bandwidth you will never use.

You have mentioned the slow-downs during peak times frequently. I have never seen that but I can imagine that it could happen with a poorly provisioned network - including a fiber network. Providers can offer higher speeds on fiber networks because the technology supports it and because they know the subscribers won't actually utilize it. However, as they route more and more subscribers through the same concentrator and as devices start utilizing more of the bandwidth even "dedicated" fiber networks will start to have slow downs. It will be interesting to see how long that takes.

Finally, did you know, one of the most common ways an induced lightning power surge can enter your home and damage and or destroy your sensitive electronic devices is through the cable line? It happens a lot and most do not know or install any surge protection on the incoming cable line to their home. The protector costs about $29.95 on Amazon.



Well, since there are only a few pathways for an induced lightning power surge to enter a home and since many homes here don't have metal gas lines, metal water lines, or telephone lines, the remaining pathways become "most common."

$30 is very small amount to pay to protect a $1,000 television but debatable for a $200 cable modem that might be covered by the provider. In all the years I've had cable into my home or satellite dishes sitting on the roof I have never had a problem with lightning but yeah, it does happen.

[Bill14564]

So, you went from 1Gig download and upload speeds with Quantum to 1Gig download and 30mb upload speeds with Xfinity and now after 5 years have to do this all over again vs just staying with QF and not having to worry about this any more. You could have purchased a Roku or Fire stick for less than $50 and either of these blow away the XUMO box in picture and sound quality. As far as cell service, don't get fooled by their "discounted" service. Read the fine print. They have data caps and you can get better service at the same or better pricing at Consumer Cellular or Visible or T-Mobile or Mint, etc.. The only reason why the cable companies are offering cell service at a discount is to get you to pay for their overprices services after the promotion is up, but 5 years is a long time.

So, here is what happens, sorry for the rant. You stay with Xfinity for 5 years. After the 5 years is up, whatever they offer you, by that time everything will have increased in price, will probably be way more than if you went with QF now and locked in the current price for life with them. I've seen this with my neighbors many times. That $35 1 Gig service QF had will probably never happen again but thousands of us here in the Villages will be enjoying that service for years to come.

Just another perspective on the subject.

He wrote he is NOT using the XUMO box so he probably IS using a firestick or Roku.

The $35 1G service from QF is not happening now or two months ago when he changed providers. Today, QF will be happy to sell me 940Mbps (close to 1G) for $65 compared to the $23 that he is paying. Even if some of his discounts only last for two years, that is over $1,000 saved and if the $23 price lasts for five years the savings will add up to $2,500.

If he starts with $2,500 savings by 2030 then QF will need to raise their 1G price to over $100 in order for him to break even by 2035. How likely is that? What's the chance that QF won't discover a new meaning of life again and increase those $65 payments? What's the chance there won't be another shift in technology and new plans at 5Gbps or higher will be available for the same price?

[rsmurano]

I pay $39.99 for 1G spectrum, why would I go any slower in speeds? I was paying $80 for 1G xfinity before that and they wanted to almost double the cost for 1G so I went with spectrum

[jrref]

He wrote he is NOT using the XUMO box so he probably IS using a firestick or Roku.

The $35 1G service from QF is not happening now or two months ago when he changed providers. Today, QF will be happy to sell me 940Mbps (close to 1G) for $65 compared to the $23 that he is paying. Even if some of his discounts only last for two years, that is over $1,000 saved and if the $23 price lasts for five years the savings will add up to $2,500.

If he starts with $2,500 savings by 2030 then QF will need to raise their 1G price to over $100 in order for him to break even by 2035. How likely is that? What's the chance that QF won't discover a new meaning of life again and increase those $65 payments? What's the chance there won't be another shift in technology and new plans at 5Gbps or higher will be available for the same price?
You are right, I missed that about the Xumo box. But the OP said they got QF 500mbs service for $50 and now they are paying $23? Not sure that's with taxes and fees, etc.. but my point remains the same. My opinion whether you agree or not is they should have locked in service with current pricing vs having to renegotiate 5 years from now probably at a much higher rate. You are right that $35 1Gig service isn't happening now and we probably won't ever see that again. As far as a technology goes, If you live in certain areas of the Villages you can get up to 8Gbs service right now with QF. I can get 2Gbs with QF for $95. That's crazy cheap compared to the rest of the country. Will we see higher speeds at cheaper prices 5 years from now? Probably but the base speed that most use will most likely be higher. And unless you are running a business you shouldn't need 1Gig fiber so the cheaper service at $45/month or the $55/month is probably way more than most here in the Villages would ever probably need.

[jrref]

The saying goes, "When you hear hoofbeats things horses not zebras," yet just the other day there actually was a zebra. Yes, copper is susceptible to some of those problems but they are zebras AND fiber is susceptible to many of them as well.

Cable systems need to periodically powered from your home? Sure, you have to provide power to the cable modem but you also need to provide power to the ONT. Where is the difference?

Providers are deploying fiber for cost and bandwidth. More fibers in a smaller space enables connecting more customers. I didn't write that fiber wasn't the best choice for new installations, I wrote that cable networks can be just as reliable.


Yes, I am saying that in theory, the technology used by Xfinity or Spectrum networks can be just as reliable as Quantum. I am ALSO saying that in reality, service reliability (a function of the maintenance) is a consideration. I had zero problems with Xfinity service while I was a customer - Quantum can match that but they can't beat that.

Business practices and price are also considerations but are less important. If you only chase price then the phrase, "You get what you pay for," comes into play. I am not at all interested in renegotiating my price every year; in fact, I'm willing to pay a little more to avoid playing those games. Likewise, a company that gains a reputation for an odd interpretation of the term "price for life" is not attractive to me either.



As you know, both cable AND fiber are "shared" connections at some point. That point is different with the two technologies and the amount available for sharing is much higher with fiber but both technologies have limits. Proper provisioning can avoid ever reaching those limits.

The characteristics of fiber allows for higher upload speeds. This is not an issue for me but can be an issue for certain use cases (multiple camera feed stored in the cloud, recording OTA TV to the cloud, probably some gaming, etc).


I think in many cases subscribers sign up for the higher speeds due to marketing. Many users on here have mentioned the 500Mbs or Gbps speeds they are paying for but few have ever mentioned why those speeds are needed. There aren't enough people in my household to watch all the televisions that it would take to utilize the bandwidth I currently have, I sure don't need to double that.

Quantum tells me their most popular plan is 940Mbps plan for $65. I have no idea whether that is true but I'm sure the statement drives people towards that plan. Their bottom tier plan is $45 for 200Mbps so look at that, I can get 370% more bandwidth for only $20. I can pay $0.23/Mbps or I can pay $0.07/Mbps - the more economical 940Mbps plan is the clear choice. But I am not using the entire 200Mbps, much less 940Mbps! If I only need a cup of milk then it doesn't matter that the price per ounce is cheaper if I buy the quart since I will be throwing most of it away. Paying extra to waste milk once doesn't make sense, doing it every month is foolish - the same goes for spending more to purchase bandwidth you will never use.

You have mentioned the slow-downs during peak times frequently. I have never seen that but I can imagine that it could happen with a poorly provisioned network - including a fiber network. Providers can offer higher speeds on fiber networks because the technology supports it and because they know the subscribers won't actually utilize it. However, as they route more and more subscribers through the same concentrator and as devices start utilizing more of the bandwidth even "dedicated" fiber networks will start to have slow downs. It will be interesting to see how long that takes.



Well, since there are only a few pathways for an induced lightning power surge to enter a home and since many homes here don't have metal gas lines, metal water lines, or telephone lines, the remaining pathways become "most common."

$30 is very small amount to pay to protect a $1,000 television but debatable for a $200 cable modem that might be covered by the provider. In all the years I've had cable into my home or satellite dishes sitting on the roof I have never had a problem with lightning but yeah, it does happen.

Not to disagree with most of what you are saying, you have your own opinions on the topic but what most are missing is although you are correct, the service becomes shared at some point when it gets to the ISP, the buffering is occurring from the home to the ISP which is shared with cable and not with fiber. And buffering issues will depend on where you live in the Villages.

At the end of the day, most people here in the Villages are cost driven so they will tend to go with the cheapest solution and not necessarily the "better" solution. The cable companies know this and right now they are "taking a beating" so they play on this. The big problem with cable is the industry knew that customers would eventually cut the cord but the rate that this has been happening is faster than anyone imagined which is causing them to diversify by selling cell phone service, for example, in order to stay in business. I don't have a problem with Xfinity or Spectrum except for their business model where they try to bait you into signing up for a promotion then forever try to raise you to their full price rates. There are a lot of people who live here in the Villages who have the ability to re-negotiate with the cable companies but there are also a lot who don't have this ability and many of those are unfairly paying full price to subsidize those promotions. Just look at the folks in the Bonita area where these was not choice in providers untill recently. Almost all were paying full price for everything and no deals because the cable companies knew this area, for example had no choices for wired interner providers.

So, if you can get fiber at a reasonable price that meets your needs then that is the "best" service you can buy right now no matter what the cable companies offer you. And this was the initial question the OP was asking.

[rsmurano]

Copper networks are never going to be as reliable as fiber. With copper, when I was working at home in high tech, on snow days when my neighbors were home, the network took a huge nose dive in performance. The more neighbors you have on the network the less bandwidth you will have with copper networks. With fiber, you don’t have these issues. All networks going across the country use fiber not copper.
I must have been lucky because for 30 years, work always paid for my network at home. I put in ISDN (I think it had 256k speeds) in my house in 1991 to work at home or access work if I was on call. Then went to dsl, Microwave, then fiber and copper.
For working at home, I would get fiber no matter the cost.

[Topgun 1776]

Don't believe the Xfinity hype! Very few areas have fast service. Also, those high speeds drop off after a few weeks then you get sent to recording hades! We fired them got Spectrum and have 500mbps download speeds and zero issues.

[jrref]

Copper networks are never going to be as reliable as fiber. With copper, when I was working at home in high tech, on snow days when my neighbors were home, the network took a huge nose dive in performance. The more neighbors you have on the network the less bandwidth you will have with copper networks. With fiber, you don’t have these issues. All networks going across the country use fiber not copper.
I must have been lucky because for 30 years, work always paid for my network at home. I put in ISDN (I think it had 256k speeds) in my house in 1991 to work at home or access work if I was on call. Then went to dsl, Microwave, then fiber and copper.
For working at home, I would get fiber no matter the cost.

Exactly :clap2:

[Birdrm]

[QUOTE=jrref;2440395]Sorry, Copper cable is susceptible to water, moisture, and all kinds of buried environmental attacks. Also, it's also susceptible to all kinds of emi/rfi interference expecially from lightning and cable systems need to be periodically powered from your home to the ISP which fiber does not. Known fact, fiber, overall is more reliable or Internet providers would still be deploying copper cable which they are not. In fact, just the opposite.

Now are you saying Xfinity or Spectrum is just as reliable as Quantum? Different question. All three companies are very reliable just with the cable companies you are always getting promotions that you have to constantly re-negotiate. And the technology is totally different.

As mentioned, when people reach out to me for help connecting to Quantum, a significant number say they are tired of the buffering at prime times, and this will vary depending on where you live here in the Villages, along with the need to reduce their monthly costs. The reduction comes with the internet service and getting rid of cable and moving to streaming.

Remember, cable is a "shared" connection with good download but terrible upload speeds where fiber is a "dedicated" connection with the same download and upload speeds.

The need for speed was mentioned. In many cases, cable subscribers sigh up for the higher speeds so when they sometimes get "slow-downs" during peak times they still have enough speed to do what they want. With fiber there is no need for that.

Finally, did you know, one of the most common ways an induced lightning power surge can enter your home and damage and or destroy your sensitive electronic devices is through the copper cable line? It happens a lot and most do not know or install any surge protection on the incoming cable line to their home. In fact, many aren't even properly grounded. The protector costs about $29.95 on Amazon. With fiber there is no need to worry about this.

I found that out last week, had a lighting strike that didn't damage any electronics because all are on surge protectors but it did burn out both of my cable boxes that had to be replaced.

[jrref]

[QUOTE=jrref;2440395]

I found that out last week, had a lighting strike that didn't damage any electronics because all are on surge protectors but it did burn out both of my cable boxes that had to be replaced.

Which means the induced power surge most likely came into your home via the cable line. If you had that cable surge protector you might have avoided that damage to your modems.

[bopat]

Fiber is glass, glass breaks.
Copper is coax, it's shielded but subject to interference.
Wireless is subject to interference.

The myth that fiber isn't shared is just that, a myth. It's all shared at some point. There's no way quantum has dedicated 1gb up and down for every customer on their network.

The myth that copper is always shared is just that, a myth, it's dedicated at some point going to a switch. That's how networking works.

Your best bet is to find one with great service, low price, and lots of peering and points of presence. The bigger companies usually have the biggest backbones and the ability to manage traffic. Good luck!

[Justputt]

Moving to the villages soon, work remotely, and NEED a reliable internet provider. I notice we have some choices, including fiber. Do you have any you would recommend, avoid? Thanks in advance.

I recently switched to fiber in my current location. Upload speeds are great, but my main need is adequate download speed and reliability.

Fenny area

New homes in the South come with Centric fiber preinstalled and RUNNING. The monthly rate is $68/mo for 1 Gig service. We also have YouTube TV ($83/mo, I think) and Netflix Standard ($18/mo). Centric offers packages, but none seemed competitive with the options from YouTube TV. We've seldom had any issue with Centric.

[jrref]

Fiber is glass, glass breaks.
Copper is coax, it's shielded but subject to interference.
Wireless is subject to interference.

The myth that fiber isn't shared is just that, a myth. It's all shared at some point. There's no way quantum has dedicated 1gb up and down for every customer on their network.

The myth that copper is always shared is just that, a myth, it's dedicated at some point going to a switch. That's how networking works.


You are right at some point, everything is shared but from your home to your ISP the cable is shared while with fiber you have your own dedicated bandwidth.

The confusion is what do we mean by shared? Is it a single strand of fiber for every customer to the ISP? Is it a single run of copper cable to the ISP? It's neither.

With cable and fiber there is a single run of copper or fiber from your home to a hub then it's multiplexed to the ISP.

The difference is with copper cable there is a fixed amount of bandwidth per cable to the ISP. The more customers the cable company allocates to a specific cable the more likely the cable's capacity will be reached and possibly cause slow downs. Think of it this way, with cable it is like a highway where during peak hours, when more people are online, the connection can slow down, just like traffic gets congested during rush hour. In technical terms, this slowdown occurs because multiple users are drawing from the same pool of bandwidth on the copper cable. This is why some areas of the Villages homeowners have little or no cases of buffering and other areas there is a lot. The reason why you get fast download and slow upload is because the majority of the download bandwidth of the cable is allocated to download and the smaller remaining bandwidth is allocated to upload.

With fiber, the bandwidth of each fiber is far greater than copper cable so they can allocate a fixed amount of bandwidth for each customer so there is never a slow down at this part of the network. It's like a private toll road, you get the full speed limit at all times, and there’s no traffic to slow you down. You have a continual amount of bandwidth that is solely for your use, ensuring consistent speed and reliability regardless of the time of day or the number of users online. With fiber each customer is allocated their full allotment of download and upload bandwidth so the speeds are the same.

Hope this helps clear things up.

[JerryLBell]

I've had CenturyLink fiber for 4+ years now and can't recall the last time I had any issues with it. I get around 940 Kbps both up and down and the price has not risen in that time. I'm not sure where all it is available though.

[Bill14564]

Fiber is glass, glass breaks.
Copper is coax, it's shielded but subject to interference.
Wireless is subject to interference.

The myth that fiber isn't shared is just that, a myth. It's all shared at some point. There's no way quantum has dedicated 1gb up and down for every customer on their network.

The myth that copper is always shared is just that, a myth, it's dedicated at some point going to a switch. That's how networking works.

Your best bet is to find one with great service, low price, and lots of peering and points of presence. The bigger companies usually have the biggest backbones and the ability to manage traffic. Good luck!

From what I can find, you are mostly right and I agree with you.

TL;DR: Both coax and fiber are shared but fiber runs faster which lets the provider greatly oversubscribed without many noticing.

The coax to your home is running (probably) DOCSIS 3.0 and is connected to a hub. All the coax connected to that hub sees the same signals. The bandwidth is separated into channels and you use 4/8/16/32 of them but your modem shares those channels with other modems on the same hub. On the other side of the hub is a connection to the ISP that carries all the data from the hub.

The fiber to the home is connected to a switch. The signals to/from your home are not seen by any other modems connected to that switch. You have the full bandwidth between you and the switch. On the other side of the switch is a connection to the ISP that carries all the data from the switch.

Because of the shared nature of the hub I may not always see 200Mbps throughput. Ideally, the provider limited the number of users and since not all users are active all the time and using all their bandwidth there is usually no slowdown, but it can happen.

Because of the nature of the switch I will always get my full bandwidth to the switch. However, since my data comes from locations off the switch, the connection to the ISP also comes into play. The connection out of the switch runs faster than the 1Gbps to my home but it also has a limit, maybe 100Gbps. If fewer than 100 customers are connected to the switch then that shared bandwidth can meet capacity. If more than 100 users are connected or if some of the users purchased 2Gbps then there can be a bottleneck.

The provider is betting on Villagers being typical users and normally pulling data at less then 100Mbps. At that usage he can sell 1,000 users his 2Gbps service, far exceeding what he can actually provide, and no one will know. Well, some will notice when they run a Speedtest but the answer will be that the slowdown was temporary and that you actually purchased up to 2Gbps. Meanwhile, they will keep on collecting monthly payments.

[jrref]

From what I can find, you are mostly right and I agree with you.

TL;DR: Both coax and fiber are shared but fiber runs faster which lets the provider greatly oversubscribed without many noticing.

The coax to your home is running (probably) DOCSIS 3.0 and is connected to a hub. All the coax connected to that hub sees the same signals. The bandwidth is separated into channels and you use 4/8/16/32 of them but your modem shares those channels with other modems on the same hub. On the other side of the hub is a connection to the ISP that carries all the data from the hub.

The fiber to the home is connected to a switch. The signals to/from your home are not seen by any other modems connected to that switch. You have the full bandwidth between you and the switch. On the other side of the switch is a connection to the ISP that carries all the data from the switch.

Because of the shared nature of the hub I may not always see 200Mbps throughput. Ideally, the provider limited the number of users and since not all users are active all the time and using all their bandwidth there is usually no slowdown, but it can happen.

Because of the nature of the switch I will always get my full bandwidth to the switch. However, since my data comes from locations off the switch, the connection to the ISP also comes into play. The connection out of the switch runs faster than the 1Gbps to my home but it also has a limit, maybe 100Gbps. If fewer than 100 customers are connected to the switch then that shared bandwidth can meet capacity. If more than 100 users are connected or if some of the users purchased 2Gbps then there can be a bottleneck.

The provider is betting on Villagers being typical users and normally pulling data at less then 100Mbps. At that usage he can sell 1,000 users his 2Gbps service, far exceeding what he can actually provide, and no one will know. Well, some will notice when they run a Speedtest but the answer will be that the slowdown was temporary and that you actually purchased up to 2Gbps. Meanwhile, they will keep on collecting monthly payments.

When you say both cable and fiber are shared, with fiber, each customer is given their full fixed bandwidth were as with cable each customer is not. With cable each customer has to "share" the available bandwidth at all times. Yes, you are correct, in order to save money, cable companies over provision their systems hoping on average, there is enough bandwidth for everyone. When you hear some people in some Villages complaining of buffering at peak times, this means in these areas, the cable system is over provisioned and there is not enough bandwidth for every customer using the system at that period of time.

After you reach the ISP, the next bottleneck is how good is your ISP? Same issue. ISPs that generally charge more will have more server capacity and bandwidth to the internet and will adjust their provisioning to accomodate the usage on their system. When I worked at Verizon we did this all the time as usage on the FiOS network increased. With cheaper ISPs, there generally will be more over provisioning causing more slow-downs. I don't know much about Xfinity and Spectrum but I believe their "back-bone" and server network are very good which is why I keep saying the buffering some Villagers experience is probably from the home to the ISP. Quantum is owned by Lumen which will soon be AT&T so the Quantum back-bone and server network while very good now will remain high quality.

So, given the difference in the technology, and given the same cost and availability, which service would you get? Fiber or Cable?

[Bill14564]

….

So, given the difference in the technology, and given the same cost and availability, which service would you get? Fiber or Cable?

As I wrote in post #11: Availability, service reliability, price, and support all matter more than the particular technology being used.

Gbps is actually a negative to me because I see it as a deceptive marketing ploy.

Fiber vs Coax vs 5G only go towards availability. One or more might not be available in a particular area though I am fortunate to have all three options.

Poor service would be an issue but I’ve not seen many complaints about any of the available services.

T-Mobile had the lowest price for me so that is what I have.

[jrref]

As I wrote in post #11: Availability, service reliability, price, and support all matter more than the particular technology being used.



I don't think anyone is disagreeing with you but the technology can affect the reliability and performance of the service. As far as support, in general, Xfinity, Spectrum, Quantum, Verizon, and T-mobile are all good. Sure there are some issues with each and someone is always going to have a "bad story" for all of them but in general if the system is reliable you shouldn't need support much and if your do all of these companies provide "good" service.

This is why I say if you can get fiber, get it.

[Nana2Teddy]

I don't think anyone is disagreeing with you but the technology can affect the service reliability and performance of the service. As far as support, in general, Xfinity, Spectrum, Quantum, Verizon, and T-mobile are all good. Sure there are some issues with each and someone is always going to have a "bad story" for all of them but in general if the system is reliable you shouldn't need support much and if your do all of these companies provide "good" service.

This is why I say if you can get fiber, get it.
I hope we can get fiber in DeLuna eventually. I want a better upload speed.