Does anyone have a recommendation for really fast internet service in Woodway? I've been here for a year now, and I've tried Spectrum first and then Astound -- had the fastest that each offered. Everything we're using is wi-fi and neither service is nearly as fast as we'd like. We don't have cable, as we went to streaming long ago. There are only 2 of us here, so we don't have 10 devices being used at once.
Post Reply
1 of 1
High speed internet in Woodway
2,460 Views |
16 Replies |
Last: 2 mo ago by Mr Tulip
I use astound in Woodway and have been very happy with them.sevenmilebeachbob said:
Does anyone have a recommendation for really fast internet service in Woodway? I've been here for a year now, and I've tried Spectrum first and then Astound -- had the fastest that each offered. Everything we're using is wi-fi and neither service is nearly as fast as we'd like. We don't have cable, as we went to streaming long ago. There are only 2 of us here, so we don't have 10 devices being used at once.
3 things to look at in your setup:
1. Is your cable modem rated for supporting the highest speeds? Some of them are not...
2. Is your wifi router capable of distributing the higher speed on the latest protocol?
3. Are your devices capable of receiving those higher wifi speeds and are they close enough to the router?
Just some thoughts from tinkering with my system over the years....
I'm not in wood way but live in a rural area. Starlink is amazing and worth every penny if you can't find high speed service. Highly recommend.
Starlink questions...I live outside of Waco also. Waco Wifi is my best option, and I have used it for several years.
What are the startup costs with Starlink? Do you ever lose service? And do you have to get a dish to receive the signal?
What are the startup costs with Starlink? Do you ever lose service? And do you have to get a dish to receive the signal?
When you had Spectrum and Astound, what were your speeds like? Did you run speed tests?sevenmilebeachbob said:
Does anyone have a recommendation for really fast internet service in Woodway? I've been here for a year now, and I've tried Spectrum first and then Astound -- had the fastest that each offered. Everything we're using is wi-fi and neither service is nearly as fast as we'd like. We don't have cable, as we went to streaming long ago. There are only 2 of us here, so we don't have 10 devices being used at once.
Also, what kind of equipment are you using? Also, were you connecting at 2.4GHz or 5GHz?
5GHz is faster than 2.4GHz, but has shorter range.
Right now, I have three separate WiFi networks in my home. I pay for 600 Mbps speed from Astound. I have two 5GHz and one 2.4GHz. My house is also wired for CAT6 networking.
On my computers connected via CAT6 Ethernet cable, I get 631 Mbps download speed (better than the 600 that I'm paying for). On my iPhone (16 Pro) connected to my 5GHz WiFi I get 619 Mbps download speed. Using the same phone connected to my 2.4 GHz band, I'm getting 54 Mbps download speed.
On my 5GHz band, I've got channel width set to 80Mhz and on my 2.4GHz network, I've got channel width set to 40MHz. If I reduce channel width on my 2.4GHz to let's say 20MHz, then I'll get 29 Mbps and if I reduce the channel width on my 5GHz band to 40MHz, then I'll get about 260 Mbps.
I have feeling, but I could be wrong, maybe your equipment wasn't set up correctly (or optimized) or at least nothing was explained by the tech regarding speeds and various settings and your network.
Before you spend hundreds of dollars on equipment to switch to another provider like Starlink, you may want to reach out to someone that may be able to get you squared away with the proper settings.
I've been with Astound (formerly Grande) for years and never have been disappointed.
Sorry if I assumed you may not know a great deal about networking. You may already know everything that I've mentioned.
Just out of curiosity, what kind of speeds do you get with Waco WiFi?Griz said:
Starlink questions...I live outside of Waco also. Waco Wifi is my best option, and I have used it for several years.
What are the startup costs with Starlink? Do you ever lose service? And do you have to get a dish to receive the signal?
Keep in mind that "speed" can be a misleading term.
Numbers that come from the provider are usually "bandwidth" like 300Mbps or 600Mbps or 1Gbps. That refers to the amount of traffic that can go through at any one time without getting clogged. That ONLY refers to their part of the network, and usually isn't guaranteed.
True "speed" comes from a networking concept called "latency". Latency is how fast does a request zip from your computer (or TV or smart-thingy) to the target computer. It should (hopefully) be measured in milliseconds (ms).
Let's say a big 7 lane highway is a hefty 800Mbps connection. A 3 lane avenue represents a 300Mbps one. The 7 lane road will move more traffic, and you're more likely to be able to speed down it, but if everyone wants to do it, or if there's a wreck, then traffic will slow down. If there's no such impediments, the 3 lane road can still be faster. That's the basic difference between "bandwidth" and "latency".
Every part of the network contributes to both numbers. The provider (Spectrum, Astound, etc) connects to your house at some point. Then, your infrastructure takes over. The Wi-Fi, ethernet cabling, etc in your home that gets the signal from the provider to your device is one part of the overall network. It usually isn't the source of the problem (wi-fi either connects or it doesn't. Today's protocols mean it's unlikely you'll get a degraded signal that slows the connection).
On the other end, the provider connects a whole bunch of streams to a big river. If your neighborhood has a lot of heavy users, and a poor implementation from the provider, it'll form a clog right there. If it doesn't provide a big enough connection to the outside work, again, another clog.
If everything in your house seems to be going great during the weekday, but then slows down noticeably after 4pm or so when the kiddies in the neighborhood get home, then your provider may have capacity problems. If it stays slow even when you're the only one home and using it, you may have an implementation problem.
Numbers that come from the provider are usually "bandwidth" like 300Mbps or 600Mbps or 1Gbps. That refers to the amount of traffic that can go through at any one time without getting clogged. That ONLY refers to their part of the network, and usually isn't guaranteed.
True "speed" comes from a networking concept called "latency". Latency is how fast does a request zip from your computer (or TV or smart-thingy) to the target computer. It should (hopefully) be measured in milliseconds (ms).
Let's say a big 7 lane highway is a hefty 800Mbps connection. A 3 lane avenue represents a 300Mbps one. The 7 lane road will move more traffic, and you're more likely to be able to speed down it, but if everyone wants to do it, or if there's a wreck, then traffic will slow down. If there's no such impediments, the 3 lane road can still be faster. That's the basic difference between "bandwidth" and "latency".
Every part of the network contributes to both numbers. The provider (Spectrum, Astound, etc) connects to your house at some point. Then, your infrastructure takes over. The Wi-Fi, ethernet cabling, etc in your home that gets the signal from the provider to your device is one part of the overall network. It usually isn't the source of the problem (wi-fi either connects or it doesn't. Today's protocols mean it's unlikely you'll get a degraded signal that slows the connection).
On the other end, the provider connects a whole bunch of streams to a big river. If your neighborhood has a lot of heavy users, and a poor implementation from the provider, it'll form a clog right there. If it doesn't provide a big enough connection to the outside work, again, another clog.
If everything in your house seems to be going great during the weekday, but then slows down noticeably after 4pm or so when the kiddies in the neighborhood get home, then your provider may have capacity problems. If it stays slow even when you're the only one home and using it, you may have an implementation problem.
I have had AT&T fiber in Woodway for about 3 years. It's very fast and I use it all the time for video calls, streaming, remote work. No speed issues, even when the kids come to visit with spouses and everyone is using something. They have plans up to 5Gb. (I am on a 1Gb plan.)
On a 1 to 10 scale of knowledge of technology, I'd give myself a zero. Therefore, I don't even know what some of the comments are talking about -- I sure can't answer the questions raised. I'm guessing that I need to hire someone who is knowledgeable to look into my situation and recommend what to do. If you agree, do you have any suggestions?
This thread is like trying to figure out what a Scotsman is saying. I catch words I understand here and there. makes me realize I am old.
I have AT&T fiber in Waco next to Woodway and can report the same (1Gb here).forza orsi said:
I have had AT&T fiber in Woodway for about 3 years. It's very fast and I use it all the time for video calls, streaming, remote work. No speed issues, even when the kids come to visit with spouses and everyone is using something. They have plans up to 5Gb. (I am on a 1Gb plan.)
Speeds drop dramatically if I'm on a device using Covenant Eyes. Something to consider - if you have some kind of internet filter that can change the speeds significantly.
I just re-posting this to get it to the top to see if anyone has any suggestions. This first time around didn't elicit any.sevenmilebeachbob said:
On a 1 to 10 scale of knowledge of technology, I'd give myself a zero. Therefore, I don't even know what some of the comments are talking about -- I sure can't answer the questions raised. I'm guessing that I need to hire someone who is knowledgeable to look into my situation and recommend what to do. If you agree, do you have any suggestions?
If I'm trying to help, I'd have to know first exactly what you want to happen that isn't happening?
You're saying the service is slow. What are you seeing that makes you say it's slow?
You're saying the service is slow. What are you seeing that makes you say it's slow?
Sachimo said:
what kind of speeds do you get with Waco WiFi?
Usually 30 mbps or so. Not that this is lightning fast, but speed isn't really the problem. These guys are very prompt and attentive, and I fully support locally based businesses. Problems arise occasionally as their towers are linked, so when one goes down, all go down.
I use ATT fiber optic in Woodway. 1GBps. No issues.
We have had AT&T Fiber since we moved in 2022, and we are very satisfied. At our first house, we had Spectrum and it was terrible. We moved to Grande (Astound) and it was a little better.
"True" fiber to the house is about as sure of a thing, speed-wise, as you can purchase commercially. I've seen some advertisements for "fiber" where the installation as "we get the fiber optic connection into your neighborhood, then use the existing coax to distribute it". With that, you're still sharing part of the connection route with your neighbors where a single heavy user can degrade response. With fiber, you essentially have a dedicated route back to the company infrastructure. While it's possible that infrastructure could be a poor, limited design, that's unlikely with fiber.
Most residential users will be satisfied with "fiber to the house" - meaning the company runs their fiber optic network into your house like the cable companies do with their coaxial cable. At that point, you turn the fiber optic connection into "standard" RJ45 ethernet connections so you can use readily available networking stuff.
The alternative to "fiber to the house" is "fiber to the desktop" where you take the fiber inside, replace the Ethernet stuff with more fiber, add a bunch of really specialized multiplexers, and end up with a fiber optic connection all the way to your computer. If you're doing that, you're probably running an ultra-secure server farm, and your networking acumen greatly exceeds my own.
Most residential users will be satisfied with "fiber to the house" - meaning the company runs their fiber optic network into your house like the cable companies do with their coaxial cable. At that point, you turn the fiber optic connection into "standard" RJ45 ethernet connections so you can use readily available networking stuff.
The alternative to "fiber to the house" is "fiber to the desktop" where you take the fiber inside, replace the Ethernet stuff with more fiber, add a bunch of really specialized multiplexers, and end up with a fiber optic connection all the way to your computer. If you're doing that, you're probably running an ultra-secure server farm, and your networking acumen greatly exceeds my own.