Internet Land....the eradication of buffering frustration...

Internet land has become a bit more friendlier.  I had lowest internet service available--which happened to be the ONLY internet service available when I signed up many years ago. I guess over the years, there were add-ons, and I was relegated to the lower rung because I never bothered to upgrade until....

I was having quite a bit of refresh lag at my main computer, and hair-tearingly slow in my bedroom.  After doing some research, I realized (big Doh!) that my current service offering had been out-tiered by two other selections.   I upgraded my service to mid-tier as that is all that my equipment would allow.  I'm not sure that I noticed all that much improvement at my computer (the hard wire), and I was continuing to get poor broadcast from my router.

I wanted something to handle my work computing needs as well as my modest entertainment needs.  I decided to get the full juice package from Cox--but that required an upgrade of equipment.  (My mid-tier upgrade was already providing a problem for my equipment).  My internet is critical to my work as I do so much remotely. So it is mission critical for me to have fast internet. Also, I have to have a backup as well, and my phone hotspot is always a backup if needed. As I looked at my modem (and referring to the manual, UGH!),  I could see that I was not getting the full juice--so my router would be pitiful as well.  Regrettably, the network aspect of computers leaves me more than a little confused.  I'm sure that it is straightforward to some people, but given the amount of griping, handwringing and cursing that I see in the equipment comments on Amazon, I'm confident that I'm in a large majority.

One reason for the delay in getting my equipment upgraded is that I simply did not know what to buy. I ended up buying an expensive package of an Arris SURFboard modem + the router bundle. The router uses Ripcurrent which allows for hotspots via ones electrical system.  Simply by an additional device, and any wall socket becomes hotspot. I was able to install it pretty easily, and already my performance is extraordinary.

The $ delta between where I was and where I'm going is $20/mo.  I brew my own coffee, so a Starbucks habit is more expensive that that.  The Ultimate, does require a $50 one-time fee.  My splurge for eradicating buffering frustration.

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