High Speed Internet Question

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High Speed Internet Question

Postby vdozier27 » Wed May 18, 2011 4:48 pm

I am considering moving to Greenfield and was wondering if there is high speed internet available in the Greenfield township. Comcast says they service the area but I wanted to make check with people that actually live there before I believe them. Any help is appreciated, have a great day.
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Re: High Speed Internet Question

Postby Joe » Thu May 19, 2011 7:43 am

The answer is, it depends on where in the city you move to.

In the townhomes by the schools, I belive they have cable available, and therefore high speed internet service.

There is DSL service available in other parts of the city, but depending on where, different levels of service are available. West of Old City Hall along 50, I know they have full speed DSL (5M connections). On the east side, and the south east corner where I am, there is only 1.5M service available. We are served by two different phone PBXs which accounts for the difference.

I think the best way to find out is to use the 'search by address' feature from Qwest to find out DSL capabilites, or give comcast the address and find out if they actually have service there. It also seems like a reasonable thing to ask the seller (and something they should be able to prove through a current bill)
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Re: High Speed Internet Question

Postby vdozier27 » Fri May 20, 2011 8:58 am

Wow that is so strange that high speed hasn't made it that far out yet. Do you know of any plans to make it more readily available in the area?
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Re: High Speed Internet Question

Postby Joe » Fri May 20, 2011 11:00 am

The problem is in both housing density (cable won't drag in the infrastructure when houses are so spread out), and age of equipment (Qwest is not investing in new equipment when their cable runs are so long anyway).

The speed limitations of DSL are determined by how far the cable run is from their office to your house. In my case it is over 3 miles, so they can not get any fast service out here.

They have no plans on building a new facility closer, or replacing the old cable, unless population really grows, which has been prevented by the last two administrations. (The same people that lost a lawsuit against the city that cost us over $80K).
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Re: High Speed Internet Question

Postby vdozier27 » Fri May 20, 2011 12:11 pm

Man that is really disappointing. Greenfield isn't exactly the boonies. My parents currently get 6mbps over 6mbps with windstream out in the waverly area.
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Re: High Speed Internet Question

Postby Joe » Fri May 20, 2011 1:45 pm

No, it's not, but the distance between properties tends to make it very unattractive for cable companies and telco's to want to upgrade or install anything. They just can't recoup their costs - there are not enough people.
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Re: High Speed Internet Question

Postby GfldRD-North » Thu Jul 21, 2011 10:25 pm

The question of high speed internet is a great question and one that I asked the new mayor about when he was seeking election and stopped by my home on the North End to discuss his election bid. I'm concerned about this for a couple of reasons:
1. HS internet will attract more people to the area and will have an impact on home prices.
2. High speed internet is no longer a luxury, it is the norm. Companies that once relied on office space, retail floors, etc are all going online. Greenfield doesn't even have high speed internet (most areas). For a well to do city such as Greenfield and within an ear shot of a major city, I'm surprised that there isn't better service and more widespread. City leaders need to help with this.

Full disclosure -- high speed internet was nearly a deal breaker for me when my family considered moving here in Dec 2009. Many use satellite internet, which has mixed reviews. I've had great experience using Verizon mobile broadband 4G. It costs a pretty penny and usage is limited but it's better than dialup and actually serves my needs and I am on the internet all day for my job. However, it is still not up to snuff with a cable connection where there are few if any usage limits.

Hope this helps.
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