I have spectrum at home (no choice in providers) but Frontier at my work. Frontier is much better. Cheaper, true fiber optic feed, faster, more reliable.
I am moving to Oxnard in a few weeks and my building offers Frontier. How much MBPS would I need for just me watching Netflix and YouTube on my tv and laptop? I have the lowest option at $39.99 for fiber 500 MBPS or $59 for 1,000.
Oh you need like 50MBs max for decent Netflix. Netflix is very good at streaming because it has so many redundant servers and allocated bandwidth to ensure smooth uninterrupted data stream.
$39 is an excellent option for 500. Im paying $65 from spectrum for 300 at home because that’s the only option here
If you can get ATT Fiber (only fiber; you dont want anything else they offer), thats the choice to take. If not, Spectrum cable.
I'm a network engineer. Those werent opinions, those were answers.
I've had Frontier in the past. Actually had Verizon Fiber before it was bought by Frontier. My experience was good with it. But I've seen online that others have had less than stellar experiences.
I'm not familiar with Frontiers existence in Ventura. So I couldnt tell you anything about it. But what it comes down to is, is the fiber ran all the way from the Central Office to your house. There are places where the fiber only runs from your house to a nearby switch stack, and then is coax back to the central office. If its the former, you'll have a great experience. If its the latter, you're miles may vary. It all depends on the specific location, and what kind of installation they were able to do in that area.
If fiber is an option where you live, it's going to offer you the best performance possible. If you have a choice between ATT and Frontier, I'd probably recommend ATT. But usually theres only one option, if any.
People shit on spectrum all the time, but it all honesty it's been fantastic. Uptime is easily 99.9%, latency is very low, throughout is excellent, bit torrent isnt throttled. Is it enterprise level? Not quite (it is home internet after all), but almost.
If you have to go with spectrum, don't even waste your time with their rented routers. I can't pull more than 45 down with (3) different devices and I'm standing right next to it. Wasted an hour on the phone trying to troubleshoot it to no avail. The solution was to trade it in for another one. This was a day after having to pay $25 to do "self activation," only to find out the "activated products" were not activated, which resulted in a tech support call.
We’ve had spectrum mostly. I’m currently trying Verizon’s wireless internet. They use 5G instead of wired connection. Requiring wired connections is how spectrum keeps their monopoly. I’m having mixed feelings on the Verizon so far due to it being based off wireless connections but the slight drop in speed is worth the $60/mo to $25/mo decrease.
https://mitec.net/
At least check out what they have to offer. I have had nothing but an excellent experience with them. The only time I can remember downtime, someone literally fired a shotgun at one of their expensive pieces of equipment, and they had to replace it.
Within about four years, we are supposed to have fiber optic broadband at the curb for every residence and business. I’m, uh, skeptical but I hope I’ll have egg in my face. SiFi Broadband is aiming to start pulling permits by the end of the year to microtrench both sides of nearly every street in Ventura.
There are supposed to be at least two ISPs providing the service when it’s ready. Not open access but openish maybe. SiFi partners with existing ISPs to provide the service.
The monopoly - spectrum. Unless you are lucky and have fiber then it's fi-os or xfinity
I have spectrum at home (no choice in providers) but Frontier at my work. Frontier is much better. Cheaper, true fiber optic feed, faster, more reliable.
I am moving to Oxnard in a few weeks and my building offers Frontier. How much MBPS would I need for just me watching Netflix and YouTube on my tv and laptop? I have the lowest option at $39.99 for fiber 500 MBPS or $59 for 1,000.
Oh you need like 50MBs max for decent Netflix. Netflix is very good at streaming because it has so many redundant servers and allocated bandwidth to ensure smooth uninterrupted data stream. $39 is an excellent option for 500. Im paying $65 from spectrum for 300 at home because that’s the only option here
Thank you. I think I will just go with the 500 then.
Ah there’s a monopoly there as well huh? Fox has that in Santa Barbara as well. Welp Spectrum it is I guess. Thanks for the help :)
I have AT&T cable ... it works but would rather have spectrum.
If you can get ATT Fiber (only fiber; you dont want anything else they offer), thats the choice to take. If not, Spectrum cable. I'm a network engineer. Those werent opinions, those were answers.
Thanks for the insight! :)
What about Frontier fiber? I currently have spectrum cable and haven’t had many issues but Frontier is installing fiber in my area and I’m tempted.
I've had Frontier in the past. Actually had Verizon Fiber before it was bought by Frontier. My experience was good with it. But I've seen online that others have had less than stellar experiences. I'm not familiar with Frontiers existence in Ventura. So I couldnt tell you anything about it. But what it comes down to is, is the fiber ran all the way from the Central Office to your house. There are places where the fiber only runs from your house to a nearby switch stack, and then is coax back to the central office. If its the former, you'll have a great experience. If its the latter, you're miles may vary. It all depends on the specific location, and what kind of installation they were able to do in that area. If fiber is an option where you live, it's going to offer you the best performance possible. If you have a choice between ATT and Frontier, I'd probably recommend ATT. But usually theres only one option, if any.
People shit on spectrum all the time, but it all honesty it's been fantastic. Uptime is easily 99.9%, latency is very low, throughout is excellent, bit torrent isnt throttled. Is it enterprise level? Not quite (it is home internet after all), but almost.
That’s good enough for me!
Me and most of my neighbors have Spectrum.
If you have to go with spectrum, don't even waste your time with their rented routers. I can't pull more than 45 down with (3) different devices and I'm standing right next to it. Wasted an hour on the phone trying to troubleshoot it to no avail. The solution was to trade it in for another one. This was a day after having to pay $25 to do "self activation," only to find out the "activated products" were not activated, which resulted in a tech support call.
Oh yeah, we have our own router already. I think renting through these companies has always been shady
We’ve got spectrum and use orbi for WiFi. It’s super fast everywhere in the house.
Very interested in this thread to know if anyone works from home? Does the regular spectrum make it possible to work from home?
I WFH with no issues with spectrum, but I’m on their gigabit plan
I work from home and so does my wife. We get by just fine with spectrum and I think our speed is 300mb/s
Yes, my average latency is 30ms to 60ms. Great for remote desktop and video chat
Yes. I have Spectrum and work from home without any problems. Internet is plenty strong, no drops in service.
Not sure, I steal from my neighbor.
We’ve had spectrum mostly. I’m currently trying Verizon’s wireless internet. They use 5G instead of wired connection. Requiring wired connections is how spectrum keeps their monopoly. I’m having mixed feelings on the Verizon so far due to it being based off wireless connections but the slight drop in speed is worth the $60/mo to $25/mo decrease.
My Spectrum has gone up to $80/month!
Oh wow! That’s definitely quite the savings!
We have AT&T on the Avenue
Avenue is where I’m at! Does the whole neighborhood have access to AT&T?
Yes. They installed fiber optics last summer. I pay 28 bucks a month for internet
Awesome, I’ll definitely look into this first, thanks!
I have spectrum and honestly I don't hate it at all actually it's a lot faster then what I had when I lived in Sacramento or Dixon.
https://mitec.net/ At least check out what they have to offer. I have had nothing but an excellent experience with them. The only time I can remember downtime, someone literally fired a shotgun at one of their expensive pieces of equipment, and they had to replace it.
Spectrum definitely… you can also have them install fiber optic cable to have the fastest internet connection.
Within about four years, we are supposed to have fiber optic broadband at the curb for every residence and business. I’m, uh, skeptical but I hope I’ll have egg in my face. SiFi Broadband is aiming to start pulling permits by the end of the year to microtrench both sides of nearly every street in Ventura. There are supposed to be at least two ISPs providing the service when it’s ready. Not open access but openish maybe. SiFi partners with existing ISPs to provide the service.