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I grew up in rural West Virginia and Frontier's DSL offering was (and in most cases) still is (aside from satellite internet with ridiculous throttling limits)
by InitialBP 5y ago
I grew up in rural West Virginia and Frontier's DSL offering was (and in most cases) still is (aside from satellite internet with ridiculous throttling limits) the only option for internet connectivity. As a teenager I was always frustrated, and as an adult with a fully remote job, I am still frustrated because I cannot visit my parents for any extended period of time due to the abysmal internet. Not only is the speed exceptionally bad (often between .5 mbps and 1 mbps for paid service of 5mbps) but they have regular outages and issues with the supplied routers and modems.
To top that off, I've heard from my old friends and family, that the lines in some neighborhoods are so overwhelmed by the current load, that they are have begun to turn down new customers because they do not have the infrastructure to support them.
West Virginia and Frontier have a long and troubled history and it seems like it's going to continue for a long time. I can only hope that StarLink is a real and viable solution for people who don't have good internet access.
Some details about WV's past with Frontier
https://www.wvpublic.org/government/2020-12-10/frontier-has-sucked-up-millions-before-without-giving-w-va-good-broadband-theyre-about-to-get-another-chance https://www.wvpublic.org/government/2020-12-10/frontier-has-...
- graton 5y agoYour parents might consider Starlink. My mother is in a similar situation. Way out in the countryside with only very slow DSL available. Even the two WISP (Wireless ISP) providers did not have towers in line-of-sight of her property (darn trees). She got Starlink and now is getting about 80Mbps down and 40Mbps up. It is a bit pricey at $550 for the unit delivered and $99 a month. But when you don't have any other realistic options...
- cronix 5y agoAnd it's portable. I take mine camping in the National Forests in Oregon, far away from any sort of cell signal (or data for that matter). I love how fast it is to set up and automatically positions itself to get a signal lock (as opposed to having to manually point it at the right spot like most other satellite tv/internet dishes). I've done a few 4k youtube livestreams with it. Something that would be impossible otherwise without a tv satellite truck.
- caymanjim 5y ago> I take mine camping in the National Forests in Oregon How do you do this? Starlink is location-locked at the moment. They're awaiting FCC approval for fully-mobile use, and other people have reported that they can't even get service in a fixed location that's more than a few miles from their registered service address.
- wildrhythms 5y agoThe last time I checked (roughly 2 months ago) Starlink is not available yet anywhere in the state of West Virginia. Has this changed?
- InitialBP 5y agoI signed my parents up for the Beta in WV sometime in 2021 (I don't remember exactly when, and did not have any issues.)
- sigzero 5y agoI have a lot of friends in WV. They all complain about this company.