4 ms·

Show HN: Finally a legit way to search for broadband providers by zip.

11 points by nickreese 13y ago

nickreese 13y ago
Here are some fun stats from crunching 184 million rows of NTIA and State Broadband data. * There are 3,413 individual broadband providers in the US. * There are 39.3 million Americans underserved (only one or zero wired providers) * Fiber penetration isn't nearly as bad in some states as it is in others. (http://broadbandnow.com/fiber http://broadbandnow.com/fiber) * Verizon wireless does indeed have the largest coverage in the US out of mobile phone providers (http://broadbandnow.com/mobile http://broadbandnow.com/mobile) Let me know if anyone has questions about how we crunched, cleaned, or collected all of this data. We're happy to share our experiences (and nightmares) of working with more than 50+ different governmental organization's data. I can also pull my business partner the DB engineer in if there are more technical questions.
JimWillTri 13y ago
Great information. You may want to be more specific and use a physical address. My zip provides many carriers that I am unable to get - for instance it provides two different cable companies.
- nickreese 13y ago
  Jim -- What zip code? Because of the way the government collects the data (census based) zipcode is the easiest for the consumer to understand and is only a little less accurate (except in really big zip codes). We're in this for the long haul, so in the future we'd love to hook into the main lookups for the big companies and find the REAL data instead of just using governmental data. We'll see if that happens. ;)
blakerson 13y ago
Excitedly tried it but it seems like you've falsely assumed I'm at home when checking. After entering my ZIP I'm prompted with: "Your internet provider is Time Warner Cable, would you recommend their service to a friend?" True, Time Warner is my employer's Internet provider, but not mine. Also, because this is a modal, I'm forced to pass judgment on a provider that isn't mine. (edit: My bad; I can close the modal. Still, it isn't the most logical user action if I happen to be at work.) I look forward to improvements. I'm not sure I'll get a lot of options in suburban Texas, but I'd like to see options anyway.
- nickreese 13y ago
  Blake -- great point, we're going to be testing different modal designs, but our goal was to get users to rate their provider when they aren't angry at them. Most of the reviews of providers are full of negativity because of a recent bad experience... to counteract this our goal is to get users to rate their experience when they aren't having problems so we get a more unbiased review.
  - blakerson 13y ago
    I like the spirit there. I hope it works!
- nickreese 13y ago
  Blake -- Just pushed an update that offers a 4th option: "I'm on someone else's internet." Thanks for the suggestion.
jlgaddis 13y ago
National broadband map: http://broadbandmap.gov/ http://broadbandmap.gov/
- nickreese 13y ago
  Have you used the government's website? It is full of bugs, non-indexable, and doesn't do it's job efficiently.
jlgaddis 13y ago
I punched in the zip code of my very small (pop. ~4500) rural home town and was told there are "17 broadband providers" there. That is waaaaay off.
- mvelie 13y ago
  I had a similar issue, typed in my zip code (32773) and it listed Summit Broadband with a 100mbps fiber connection. Looked at their site, they're close by (a couple cities over), but not in my area. Couldn't find anywhere to report the issue.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
  - nickreese 13y ago
    Mvelie -- you can drop it in the "improve this data" and we'll address it. (I've added it to our list of things to check into.)
- nickreese 13y ago
  What zipcode? Most were probably fixed wireless in where there are over a thousand, yet most people don't know they exist. Next time you drive on a big highway look for the big circular antennas on the cell towers. (or smaller white ones).
  - jlgaddis 13y ago
    47446. Most of them were fiber providers who you can't actually get fiber from. I work for an ISP that does service this area and we tend to keep up on what's available in our service area. Don't get me wrong -- I realize you're attempting a massive undertaking but, based upon the searches I did, there is a lot of incorrect data in your database.
scottwyden 13y ago
This is going to be so useful for when people ask me for advice. Great work, Nick!

11 points by nickreese 13y ago

Here are some fun stats from crunching 184 million rows of NTIA and State Broadband data. * There are 3,413 individual broadband providers in the US. * There are 39.3 million Americans underserved (only one or zero wired providers) * Fiber penetration isn't nearly as bad in some states as it is in others. (http://broadbandnow.com/fiber http://broadbandnow.com/fiber) * Verizon wireless does indeed have the largest coverage in the US out of mobile phone providers (http://broadbandnow.com/mobile http://broadbandnow.com/mobile) Let me know if anyone has questions about how we crunched, cleaned, or collected all of this data. We're happy to share our experiences (and nightmares) of working with more than 50+ different governmental organization's data. I can also pull my business partner the DB engineer in if there are more technical questions.

JimWillTri 13y ago

Great information. You may want to be more specific and use a physical address. My zip provides many carriers that I am unable to get - for instance it provides two different cable companies.

nickreese 13y ago
Jim -- What zip code? Because of the way the government collects the data (census based) zipcode is the easiest for the consumer to understand and is only a little less accurate (except in really big zip codes). We're in this for the long haul, so in the future we'd love to hook into the main lookups for the big companies and find the REAL data instead of just using governmental data. We'll see if that happens. ;)

blakerson 13y ago

Excitedly tried it but it seems like you've falsely assumed I'm at home when checking. After entering my ZIP I'm prompted with: "Your internet provider is Time Warner Cable, would you recommend their service to a friend?" True, Time Warner is my employer's Internet provider, but not mine. Also, because this is a modal, I'm forced to pass judgment on a provider that isn't mine. (edit: My bad; I can close the modal. Still, it isn't the most logical user action if I happen to be at work.) I look forward to improvements. I'm not sure I'll get a lot of options in suburban Texas, but I'd like to see options anyway.

nickreese 13y ago
Blake -- great point, we're going to be testing different modal designs, but our goal was to get users to rate their provider when they aren't angry at them. Most of the reviews of providers are full of negativity because of a recent bad experience... to counteract this our goal is to get users to rate their experience when they aren't having problems so we get a more unbiased review.
- blakerson 13y ago
  I like the spirit there. I hope it works!
nickreese 13y ago
Blake -- Just pushed an update that offers a 4th option: "I'm on someone else's internet." Thanks for the suggestion.

jlgaddis 13y ago

National broadband map: http://broadbandmap.gov/ http://broadbandmap.gov/

nickreese 13y ago
Have you used the government's website? It is full of bugs, non-indexable, and doesn't do it's job efficiently.

jlgaddis 13y ago

I punched in the zip code of my very small (pop. ~4500) rural home town and was told there are "17 broadband providers" there. That is waaaaay off.

mvelie 13y ago
I had a similar issue, typed in my zip code (32773) and it listed Summit Broadband with a 100mbps fiber connection. Looked at their site, they're close by (a couple cities over), but not in my area. Couldn't find anywhere to report the issue.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- nickreese 13y ago
  Mvelie -- you can drop it in the "improve this data" and we'll address it. (I've added it to our list of things to check into.)
nickreese 13y ago
What zipcode? Most were probably fixed wireless in where there are over a thousand, yet most people don't know they exist. Next time you drive on a big highway look for the big circular antennas on the cell towers. (or smaller white ones).
- jlgaddis 13y ago
  47446. Most of them were fiber providers who you can't actually get fiber from. I work for an ISP that does service this area and we tend to keep up on what's available in our service area. Don't get me wrong -- I realize you're attempting a massive undertaking but, based upon the searches I did, there is a lot of incorrect data in your database.

scottwyden 13y ago

This is going to be so useful for when people ask me for advice. Great work, Nick!