Plenty of Fiber

Huntsville has always been a city known for leading in technology, and our internet service is no exception.  Huntsville Utilities has invested in fiber internet service with coverage across much of the city at large.

We here at Travel Tech heartily applaud this investment in infrastructure; it sets our city up as a platform for growth and opportunity.  The announcement of the new Toyota / Mazda plant, influxing a $1.2 billion dollar facility  and 4,000 new jobs into the community is a strong testament to that.  But, with this new infrastructure comes companies offering their services to use it; with all the different internet service providers, how do you choose which one to use?

We have compiled a list of the major companies providing fiber internet service (speeds up to 1,000 Mbps) in our area, with a brief pro/con evaluation based on our personal knowledge, experience and research.  Here goes:

AT&T

Our current provider, their internet service is very reliable and consistent.  Speeds generally drop to 650Mbps during peak hours, but this is still plenty of capability for an entire household or business of high definition streaming and surfing.  The modem has built in dual-band wifi, but it’s not split networks; your devices automatically switch between 2.4 and 5gHz based on signal strength.   Speed over wifi diminishes exponentially outside the room where the modem is located.

Comcast / Xfinity

The notable addition I would add to Xfinity over AT&T is the number of local wifi hotspots around town; as an Xfinity customer, you can use your login information to get wifi service in many areas that you wouldn’t expect it.  Several times a week I come across an Xfinity hotspot while out and about in town.

Google Fiber

The new guy in town is Google; and they have been very aggressively marketing their fiber service.  The notable standout here is that no contract is required; you are free to cancel your service at any time.  Price-wise, their service is a few dollars cheaper a month for my immediate area as well.  Performance-wise, neighbors that carry their service have no negative comments.

Charter Spectrum

While available in some areas of Huntsville, they are simply listed here just so I can specifically state how terrible their service and equipment is.

 

 

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