10 Essential Tips for Choosing the Best Internet Service Provider
If you’re looking for a new internet service provider, you have several factors to consider. As you may have already discovered, there are numerous ISPs at this point, and each one swears its prices, services, and coverage are better than its competitors. Obviously, that’s not necessarily true, but how do you narrow down your options to a single choice? The following essential tips can help.
1) Local Availability
One of the first points to cover is whether an internet provider offers service in your area. When you conduct an online search for internet service providers near you, you’ll probably get a long list of results. Keep in mind that showing up in your search results doesn’t automatically mean they’re actually available in your area. Dig deeper to determine whether they truly offer services in your neighborhood. That, alone, may eliminate many of the possibilities.
2) Internet Connection Options
After weeding out the providers that don’t actually provide service in your area, it’s time to look into the types of internet connections the remaining providers offer. Several connection options are available. Cable internet is readily available and it’s comparatively fast. DSL is widely available, but it tends to be slower than some of the other options. Fiber optic internet is faster, but it’s not available in all neighborhoods. Satellite internet is best for rural areas where other choices may not be available.
3) Connection Restrictions
From there, look into any internet connection restrictions that may be in place in your neighborhood. For example, if you live in a neighborhood with an HOA, there may be restrictions on the types of external internet equipment you’re allowed to have. In some apartment buildings, residents aren’t permitted to mount external dishes to their buildings, so satellite internet would be out of the question.
4) Plans and Prices
Internet providers generally offer a selection of plans in various price ranges. Delve deeper into those plans to learn more about what they may or may not include. Compare the plans and their prices to those of other providers to find one that gives you a suitable balance of perks and price.
5) Look Beyond the Honeymoon Period
When you’re researching service plans and comparing prices, be sure to read the fine print. The figures you’re getting may be introductory prices. Once the introductory period ends, the cost of your services may skyrocket. Look beyond the honeymoon period to get a better idea of how much you’ll be paying six months or a year from now.
6) Internet Bandwidths and Speeds
In addition to offering different plans and connection types, ISPs have varying bandwidths and speeds. Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be transferred at any given time, and speed is the rate of data transfer between your internet and devices. The two are different, but they’re closely related. For basic browsing and only a few connected devices, 5 Mbps may suffice. If streaming and gaming are part of your life and you have numerous connected devices, you may need 25 Mbps or more in terms of speed.Â
7) Data Limits
Be sure you understand any data limits an ISP may have in place as well. If your provider has data caps, your internet may slow down if you exceed them, or you may be charged extra fees. Either of those penalties could be a problem. Check into your data usage through your current internet provider so you’ll know roughly how much you need per billing cycle. Then, find a plan that dovetails with your data needs.
8) Reliability Versus Downtime
Furthermore, you’ll need to consider how reliable different ISPs are and how much downtime you might face. Having an extremely affordable internet plan and ample data means very little if your internet is down more than it’s up and running. You may need to ask other people in your neighborhood to get a straightforward answer on this point.
9) Customer Support
Check into the level of customer support different providers offer as well. With some ISPs, getting in touch with human representatives isn’t an easy feat. Of those that make human representatives readily available, many still leave a lot to be desired.
10) Ask for Recommendations
Finally, consider asking your relatives, friends, neighbors, and coworkers who their ISPs are and how satisfied they are with them. You may find plenty of reviews online to back all the providers available to you, but those don’t necessarily paint a complete picture. They could be sending in their reviews from virtually anywhere, and the services and customer support ISPs provide in your community may be very different from those in other areas. Talk to people in your area to truly find out what you can expect from service providers locally.
Finding the Right Internet Provider for You
You have numerous ISPs to choose from. Though they all offer internet, their services, plans, pricing, reliability, customer service, and other factors aren’t all the same. Keep the points mentioned here in mind to help you find the right internet provider for you.
