You can save a lot on Internet service by shopping around. You might not need to change ISP’s, just threaten to move your business elsewhere. Do a little research then contact your current ISP and ask them to match or better the plan you can get from one of their rivals.
Internet savvy is not required. A friend of mine is in her 70’s and would not know a Mbps if it introduced itself. She negotiated with her ISP to get a faster speed with unlimited bandwidth for a little LESS than she was currently paying.
A Washington Post article doesn’t mention what keeps people with the same ISP and paying way too much for Internet access – using email supplied by the ISP. Moving your email address away from your Internet provider is easier than most people expect and has many benefits, beyond just money saving.
The same approach applies anywhere in the world. Which.co.uk has similar advice for Britain.
It’s not all about speed
Most ISP’s try to sell on connection speed but that’s only part of the story. Here’s a few things to keep in mind.
- The advertised speeds are rarely achieved in the real world. They are theoretical maximums, I’d call them ‘aspirational’ at best.
- RELIABILITY is as important as speed. Wherever possible use a cable or better fibre-optic connection to the premises.
- Some so-called ‘fibre’ or ‘high-speed’ connections only get to the local exchange or hub. The full benefits are only achieved if the fibre-optic cable reaches all the way to your home or business.
- ADSL links use the old copper wire system which is poorly maintained and limits speeds. Anyone who loses their Internet when it rains knows the risks of using ADSL.
- For many people who don’t have special needs (like a business), there’s little benefit from very fast internet. If you and your family just use email, browsing and streaming, there’s little benefit in a super-fast connection.
- UPload speed (from you TO the Internet) is usually much slower, sometimes only a tenth of the download rate. The advertised speed is for downloads (from the Internet to your device).
- Anyone sharing many or very large files might need a special connection with faster upload speeds. That’s usually very expensive and harder to find.
Why doesn’t an Outlook change of address stick?
Stop or change new email notifications from Outlook
Outlook.com will be using up your OneDrive quota
