Internet Service Providers - Your Experiences? (Knoxville, Chattanooga: apartment complex, lease, crime rate)

[Focus62]

I'm moving to Knoxville shortly and I have never lived in a place with so many options for ISPs. Anybody have any strong opinions towards one or another? The last ISP I had was Time Warner Cable and they were god awful, but I've had Charter before which was fine (I think they're owned by TWC?). I'll be using it to stream Netflix, but I don't game or anything, so something about 10+ mbps is probably fine. I only want internet.

WOW doesn't look like it's available to my apartment complex. Not sure what the other options are; it looks like Spectrum (maybe), AT&T, Xfinity/Comcast, anything else?

[TheShadow]

Spectrum is Charter. It's the fastest in my opinion.

[hiknapster]

You can't have Charter and Comcast, that's not the way it works. If you are in Knoxville, but not Farragut, it will be Comcast. Please use the search feature. It's in the blue ribbon above along with "My Settings, "Blogs," Subscribed Forums," etc. Click on "Search," then type in "Comcast" or "cable," then on the right-hand side, be sure and check Knoxville under Tennessee.

I've written so many times about this that I can't do it anymore. There will be other opinions as well.

[QUEMQUAHT]

Is there any way to find out what internet providers are available to which apartment complexes in West Knoxville and Farragut and if one is able to choose a higher speed than going along with the "party line internet" apartment conduit that usually gets severely limited in speed when everyone comes home from work and school around you and jumps on the internet? In other words, how to find out ahead of a move if and where exactly you can get a dedicated internet connection of 25-50 mbs or better into your own apartment at any of the decent apartment complexes in West Knoxville. This is for someone moving to Knoxville who needs a solid uptime high-speed internet isp connection for stock trading, and there are no indications either on the websites of the various providers or in the various apartment complexes of the true levels of service permitted or available there; in some cases it is not clear whether it even exists for better quality isp providers at that location. A public wi-fi "business alcove" provided by the apartment complex for internet use just is not going to do it for someone making their living trading stocks on the internet all day.

He does not want to take a chance moving to an apartment, only to find out after getting internet service that it is out most of the time or running at 3-5 mbps instead of the promised 50 mbps because the apartment complex is hooked up as a unit party line on extremely limited available bandwidth, which is one of the main ways they try to "overbook" their services in many areas to make more money. Do the individual isp providers tell you before a move which locations (as apartments) they do provide the faster levels of service? It appears that you have to already be living somewhere there with an address before they will tell you if they provide service that you want at that location and allow you to sign up for service; alternatively, you might find out that they do not provide to apartments, etc. which makes you totally without choice in speed or quality, along with your 12 month lease that you already signed and with no way to make a living there to pay for it!

I suggested he consider a move to Chattanooga, where the city provides everyone internet at massive speeds of gigabits per second, if he has a strong enough stomach for living inside the city limits with the highest per capita crime rate in the country.