You’ve moved to a new state, city, or neighborhood and want to get a new internet connection installed at your home. You will want the best one, right? One cannot imagine a life without the internet as it has become a hub that interconnects everything. Various factors come into consideration while considering getting a new internet connection for your home.
However, the first thing to look for before anything else is the available internet service providers in your area. It is most likely that the internet service provider you had a subscription with previously is not available in the new place you have just moved to.
This leaves very little window for US residents to subscribe to the internet service provider of their choice. For instance, if a certain internet service is available in Chicago, it may not be available in Virginia, and vice versa. You can check out the official website of your previous ISP to see in which US states it’s available.
To find internet providers catering perfectly to your needs is more complicated than you think. However, it is still necessary to make the best decision. You must consider your online needs, and depending on that, select the suitable home internet plan. Taking into account things like the number of users in the house, online activities, internet speeds, and the price comes in handy before picking the best plan.
We hope this article helps you out with selecting the best internet plan in 2023.
4 Types of Broadband for Home
Before moving further, let us discuss various types of broadband to understand them better. This way you will be able to make an educated decision regarding what broadband service will be best suited for your online needs.
- Cable Internet – Widely Available
Most US residents access the internet from their cable provider as it is less hassle. The same coaxial cables that bring cable TV to the house are responsible to bring the internet as well.
The speeds can indeed vary depending on where you live and multiple other factors. However, the typical speed on cable internet can range anywhere between 3 Mbps to 100+ Mbps.
Furthermore, cable internet is relatively easy to install. If you have a cable TV connection, you can have an internet connection added with just a single call. Also, you will be saving good money as well, at least for the first few months.
Cable internet has some downsides as well. According to many cable internet customers, the chat support is pretty lousy. You can be put on hold for a long while each time you have any query or question.
- Direct Subscriber Line (DSL) – Reliable and Cost-Effective
Direct Subscriber Line (DSL) is the form of internet that is delivered over your phone line. However, it’s not dial-up internet. DSL is slower than a majority of cable internet, but you can still stream Netflix, play online games, and conduct all typical online activities on it.
DSL is characterized into two types, Asymmetrical (ADSL) and Symmetric (SDSL). With ADSL, you get a pretty fast download speed but the upload speed is slow. However, SDSL offers equal download and upload speeds.
The DSL internet speeds can vary based on how far you are from the source (service provider). If you are close, the speeds will be good and if you are at a good distance, the speeds will fluctuate.
On a positive note, DSL is quite cost-effective for those on a tight budget. You can subscribe to it without breaking the bank. If you want an internet connection for streaming movies and surfing the web, then DSL is a perfect choice.
- Satellite – Costly but Easily Available
When it comes to Satellite internet, you don’t have to deal with cable lines, telephone lines, and any other wires going into your house. The internet is provided to your house with a small satellite set up at your house. The speeds can range between 15 Mbps and 3 Mbps download and upload respectively.
You can find satellite internet at most places in the US, thanks to its easy availability. So, if most internet providers don’t cover your area, satellite internet can help you save the day. Although it is more costly than cable and DSL providers.
- Fiber Optic Internet – Extremely Fast
The Fiber optic internet implements light-speed technology for delivering faster internet than any other services mentioned above. The network of fiber optics sends the oscillations of light down through the narrow glass strands. Such oscillations travel at 186000 miles/sec all the way to your house, where they are converted to electrical pulses to become readable.
This results in FIOS being extremely fast. How fast? Well, it’s capable of providing 300 Mbps download speed and 65 Mbps upload speed. If you are someone who’s looking for ridiculously fast internet service, go for fiber optic cables.
Unfortunately, Fiber optic internet services are not available all over the US. You will most likely find this latest internet technology in metro areas or well-served states. States with more rural areas or underserved areas will most likely not have this option available. However, if it’s not available where you live, you can wait for it to officially come there, but it might take its sweet time.
Choosing the Best Home Internet Service
If you decide to go with the absolute fast and the most reliable internet service, you will have to choose fiber optic service. However, due to its availability in limited states only, many Americans cannot get their hands on it.
It is indeed frustrating to accept the reality that you have to choose the internet service provider from the limited options available in your area. If you require an internet connection in your house for basic tasks, such as sending and receiving emails, we don’t recommend spending money on fiber internet. You can perform these kinds of tasks with a cheap internet service provider as you will not need a lot of bandwidth.
If fiber internet is not available in your area, you can subscribe to DSL or cable internet. Big cities often have more internet options from which you can choose as compared to small cities.
Consider These Factors While Selecting an Internet Service Provider
After getting to know what internet options are available in the area of your residence, you can select the internet plan based on your preference. Every internet service provider offers various internet plans from which you can choose.
It is helpful to consider some major aspects to choose the best internet plan. Below we have discussed some of them to help you out.
Download Speeds
It is crucial to see what download speeds you will be getting after subscribing to a particular internet plan. Download speeds matter a lot when activities such as live streaming online, downloading different movies, or playing heavy online games are involved.
Such activities require more download speeds, which provide a flawless user experience. If the download speeds are slow, your online video streaming will buffer. Moreover, you will see the connection drop multiple times a day. This is why for a smooth internet experience; good download speeds are a necessity.
Upload Speeds
If you deal with cloud-based services daily, you should consider getting an internet plan with good upload speeds. Anyone uploading tons of data online will always require fast upload speeds.
This is why DSL offers asymmetrical and symmetrical services so that you are not paying for upload speeds that you do not necessarily need.
Data Limits
If you have more people in your house that use the internet daily for various reasons, you might want a plan with a larger data limit. The ISPs may throttle your connection if you consume a lot of data and have neared the limit. This can ruin the internet experience, which you don’t need, right? The best thing to avoid being in this situation is to get a plan that offers an extensive data limit, or one that does not impose any data caps at all.
Below we have mentioned how you can reduce your data usage.
Zombie Devices
No, these devices won’t bite you like literal zombies. However, they will eat your internet data all day long even if they are running in the background, without your knowledge. You may not even know that they are consuming a lot of data which will gradually eat up all of your allowances.
Some of the common zombie devices are security cameras, Smart TVs, smartwatches, and all other smart appliances. To put it simply, anything that is connected to the internet will always be consuming data. However, ensuring to disconnect such devices from the internet when they are in an idle state will help you save your data.
High-Definition Picture Quality
An HD picture quality always requires more data. This is another reason why your data cap can reach its limit in no time. So the next time you stream in 2K or 4K, and wonder why your internet acts lousy, that’s the reason. If you can make do with lower resolutions, stick to that!
Tips to Speed up Your Internet Connection
After subscribing to the internet plan of your choice, if it does not offer good speeds, you can have a look at the tips to speed things up. Without any further ado, let us get started.
- Reposition Your Router
Your router placed far away from your room won’t help – we recommend you place it inside your room for much better and strong signals. However, if many people use the same Wi-Fi in the house, you should ensure that the router is placed in the center of the house.
- Use an Ethernet Cable
The Ethernet cable leaving from your router and connecting to your laptop or computer provides fast internet speed. The cable is always better than a wireless connection as there is no over-the-air resistance at all. We suggest you have your devices, such as computers, smart TV, and gaming consoles connected with an Ethernet cable instead of relying on Wi-Fi signals.
- Upgrade Your Router
Sometimes outdated equipment, such as routers can cause the internet not to work at its fullest. If your router is a few years old, maybe it’s time for you to consider having it replaced. Modern routers carry the latest Wi-Fi protocols and new technology. New routers are also strong enough to enable you to connect more devices to it simultaneously without compromising speeds.
- Consider Getting a Different Internet Service Provider
Sometimes, it is your ISP that you need to replace. You should consider changing your internet service provider and go for the one that offers fast speeds and is quite cost-effective. For instance, Cox internet has been getting some positive reviews lately, so you can consider it if it’s available in your area.
Wrapping Up!
It does not matter if you move to a new state or neighborhood, a reliable internet will always be necessary. Be it FiOS, DSL, or cable internet, ensure that it provides good speeds and excellent customer support, just like Cox customer service to help you with whatever query you might have. We hope this article was of great to you with deciding what type of internet service you should choose.