Internet service in Crown Heights (besides Verizon and Optimum)

travelrobb · May 2015

Hi there-

I'm moving to Crown Heights in a week or two and wondering if anybody in the neighborhood uses other internet services besides Verizon and Optimum. As I wrote in another post, Verizon doesn't serve my building, and it looks like I may have trouble using Optimum to send and receive email through my Verizon accounts, which I plan to keep. Has anybody had any luck, and good service, with other providers?

Thanks,
Robb

eastbloc · May 2015

No, there are no other providers. I replied to your other e-mail with a suggestion. E-mail will ultimately work across providers, but it is definitely silly to use a mail account tied to an ISP. You'll be happier with a commercial e-mail provider like Google or Fastmail.

bobmarvin · May 2015

I use an AT&T Mi Fi devise as the internet connection for my desk top computer. It's very fast (almost as fast as FIOS and much better than the Verizon DSL I used previously) and reasonably priced (as a package deal that includes my smart phone and tablet). Verizon probably offers something similar. However, I probably wouldn't be using this if cable was available on my block (most Lefferts Manor blocks were never wired by Cablevision).

tsarina · May 2015

welcome to the neighborhood bob. PLG's loss is our gain.

newguy88 · May 2015

@bobmarvin Does the device have a data cap?

Robb I believe you may stuck with Optimum. As eastbloc stated try an email service like Gmail or Outlook.

eastbloc · May 2015

FIOS ranges from 50 to 500mbps, while AT&T's service in NYC tops out at about 40mbps downstream with 20mbps up. Bandwidth is only one measure of internet performance -- latency and packet loss are equally significant, and substantially worse on any cellular network than with a wired solution.

But the biggest problem is that after you've exceeded 5 gigabytes in any given month, AT&T will throttle you down to a megabit per second. That means streaming video using an AT&T Mifi device is pretty much right out, unless you limit yourself to one movie or a couple of TV shows per month.

Optimum Online is the best service provider available in those parts of Crown Heights where there is no FIOS (which is most of it). The OP's problems with Verizon e-mail service are resolvable too, although I think moving away from a e-mail account tied to an ISP is still a better move.

For one thing, unless you're employed by that service provider, having a e-mail address that ends in i.e. "verizon.net" is as sure sign of impending decrepitude and personal obsolescence as typing in all caps. It's a reputational liability.

bobmarvin · May 2015

Yes; I'm paying for 20 gigs/month, which is plenty for my needs[and, strangely, costs LESS than 15gigs]. It wouldn't be sufficient though if I watched a lot of videos. That's why I'd prefer cable internet if it were available here and may eventually switch to FIOS IF Verizon is ever able to run fiber optic cable for my block.

bobmarvin · May 2015

The answer above was to "newguy88."

AFAIK AT&T doesn't slow down my service when I exceed 5 gigs in a month (which I do every month) but they may well do that for people grandfathered into old unlimited plans. In any case, I don't have much choice; my former DSL service was about 1.5 mbps (and kept failing) and Clear, the other wireless service I tried was about 2 mbps. I don't think my block will ever be wired for cable, although we may eventually get FIOS. My AT&T service is quite variable, but it's seldom slower than 18 mbps; right now it's 65 mbps.

bobmarvin · May 2015

Actually that 65 mbps figure is what my smartphone says it's connected at. I just did a speed check on my computer and it was about 17mbps download/11 mbps upload. Still much faster than DSL, which is my only other option now.

Internet service in Crown Heights (besides Verizon and Optimum)

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