ISP’s are you getting what you paid for?
Bottom Line: Competition for your connection to the outside world is older than “You Got Mail”. Thankfully the products are generally a whole lot faster and a whole generation of young adults has probably never even heard the sound of a dial-up connection. AOL became the dominate player for a decade for one very simple reason. Speed. We love it, we want it. We can’t get enough of it. Especially when over half of all homes have at least one streaming service they use in their home. With the speed and the options and the myriad of devices that’re always connected comes some grey territory. What are we really paying for and what are we really getting?
Recent SpeedTest.com results suggest that about 80% of us are paying for more speed than we’re ever really getting. Basically, it looks like this... When we setup our internet service we ask for the fastest package available. Our ISP gives it to us and we never look back. But there’s the thing. You’re probably getting hosed without knowing it. While Comcast has had fun in recent advertising picking on AT&T’s “up to” speed claims while pointing out that it rarely can deliver top speeds – truth is that while Comcast is often faster – they’re not likely to get you top speed consistently either. They’re all able to hide behind the fact that most of us don’t have a clue what the top speed we’re paying for is and how much upload and download speed we need to operate everything that’s connected in our home (computers, mobile devices, cameras, TV’s, etc.).
A tech reporter for CNBC recently challenged some of what’s going on and found that many, maybe the average, household could save $30 per month by paying for a plan that delivers what you’re getting and what you need for your home vs what you’re paying for right now. You could use a site like SpeedTest.com and try to figure it out if you’re inclined – or it’s worth a call to your ISP to see what you’re actually using, getting and paying for...it might be a pain but for most people it’s worth $360 a year to figure it out.