Internet Service Fears (Manchester, Concord, Derry: power lines, house, live)

[EthanAllen]

I will be relocating from Connecticut soon for a job based in Manchester. I will need internet access for work for facilities across the nation.

How far west of Manchester is 100megabit up/down available. And how far North of Concord?

[KCZ]

It depends on the individual house in any specific town. Provider coverage maps aren't particularly reliable. The best way to insure you can get high speed internet is that the house under consideration already has it. What towns are you considering and we can help you more specifically?

[EthanAllen]

Thank you for taking the time to reply. The position is just west of Manchester. I know I have to be more specific but my considerations were:

I wanted a 30 minute max commute at 730am on a summer Monday morning from anywhere north or west of Manchester from a house with for a single person less than 290K. Google maps reports the Concord exit is about 26 minutes to the job.

A friend warned me about limited high speed internet access. Access is very essential to my job.

[247crw]

Like KCZ said, it is going to vary on a town by town basis (and even within towns) a lot more than just looking at distance from Manchester or Concord.

When I lived northwest of Concord in the I-89 corridor, towns were transitioning to Gigabit fiber so super high speed internet was available. In terms of towns west of Manchester, the Monadnocks are not known for the best internet access, but it will still depend on the town. Last I heard, Hillsborough was a town where half the town could get Gigabit fiber, and the other half the town was lucky to get 10megabit.

As for North of Concord, I live far north of Concord (1 hour and 20 minutes north) and have no problem getting reliable 100megabit internet. I can't speak for towns closer in, but further out or closer in doesn't always mean much for internet connectivity. You are better off asking about specific towns or better yet, confirming with internet providers and homeowners where you are looking.

[399083453]

You should be more worried about reliable electricity. Internet is kinda useless if you dont have electricity. Its possible to loose electricity for a day or more in the winter. Most I've lost electricity for is 2 weeks. Trees fall on power lines, sometimes takes a while to repair.

Think about battery backups and cell phone internet for temp blackouts.

[Nonesuch]

Originally Posted by KCZ

Provider coverage maps aren't particularly reliable. The best way to insure you can get high speed internet is that the house under consideration already has it.

That's the secret -- don't trust maps or "pre-qualification" if home Internet is important to your job.

Originally Posted by 399083453

You should be more worried about reliable electricity. Internet is kinda useless if you dont have electricity. Its possible to loose electricity for a day or more in the winter. Most I've lost electricity for is 2 weeks. Trees fall on power lines, sometimes takes a while to repair.

Think about battery backups and cell phone internet for temp blackouts.

Everybody out here has a generator, and a wood stove.

Utility power goes out a couple of times every winter, sometimes for more than a day. Usually by the second day, cable goes out entirely, and I have to fall back to 4Mbps Cellular (LTE).

Originally Posted by EthanAllen

I will be relocating from Connecticut soon for a job based in Manchester. I will need internet access for work for facilities across the nation.

How far west of Manchester is 100megabit up/down available. And how far North of Concord?

You're looking for symmetric 100 up / 100 down? That's a tall order for residential service. Comcast maxes out at 10 mbps upload for non-commercial accounts in most NH towns.

[KCZ]

I have Comcast for internet with download of 150 mbps and upload of ~6 mbps, when it actually works. My signal drops out frequently, sometimes as often as 20 times per hour. It's hard to even answer my Email some days. This has been going on for about a year, and despite multiple phone calls to Comcast and 8 useless service visits, they've been pretty disinterested in actually solving the problem. Find another provider if you rely on high-speed internet.

[Nonesuch]

Originally Posted by KCZ

I have Comcast for internet with download of 150 mbps and upload of ~6 mbps, when it actually works. My signal drops out frequently, sometimes as often as 20 times per hour.

I had pretty much exactly the same experience as you, but with Consolidated Communications née Fairpoint. So I dumped them for Comcast. I track my signal & packet loss, it's fine (except during power outages).

Originally Posted by KCZ

It's hard to even answer my Email some days. This has been going on for about a year, and despite multiple phone calls to Comcast and 8 useless service visits, they've been pretty disinterested in actually solving the problem. Find another provider if you rely on high-speed internet.

Sounds like you have a cursed subscriber line. Maybe it's time to move to a town with FiOS? Then your Internet can be crazy fast when it works, and when it doesn't it can burn your house down.

[EthanAllen]

Originally Posted by Nonesuch

That's the secret -- don't trust maps or "pre-qualification" if home Internet is important to your job.


Everybody out here has a generator, and a wood stove.

Utility power goes out a couple of times every winter, sometimes for more than a day. Usually by the second day, cable goes out entirely, and I have to fall back to 4Mbps Cellular (LTE).


You're looking for symmetric 100 up / 100 down? That's a tall order for residential service. Comcast maxes out at 10 mbps upload for non-commercial accounts in most NH towns.

Thanks for the info/warning.

[gf2020]

You're probably better off looking in Londonderry, Derry, Danville, Brentwood or Epping, south and east of Manchester. Verizon FiOS is available in those communities. Going west and/or north will greatly limit your connectivity choices.