Broadband internet

[Biggd]

Has anyone sign up for the new Broadband yet and if so, how do you like it?
I'm sooo disappointed with Breezeline

[root1]

TDS

Not sure if they offer service in Meredith; but, they sure work great in Alton! (fiber right to the house)

You can enter your address here to find out if they offer service in your area: https://tdstelecom.com/visitor/addre...est-deals.html

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by Biggd

Has anyone sign up for the new Broadband yet and if so, how do you like it?
I'm sooo disappointed with Breezeline

I'm not positive its offered in Meredith, but have you tried Hub66?? We get great service and support out on Welch with them.

Might be worth a shot...

Dan

[tummyman]

According to NHEC, their broadband is supposed to be available in Meredith as soon as Labor Day. Might be worth a wait.... I am in M'boro and switched to Fidium as soon as the fiber was available. Glad to be done with Spectrum. Love the fiber.....

[NH.Solar]

I switched from Metrocast to the NHEC fiber a little over a month ago and could not be more pleased with it. I have a high end TV and sound system and the quality of the signal was immediately noticable ...and at just about half the price. Two thumbs up here!

[Biggd]

Originally Posted by ishoot308

I'm not positive its offered in Meredith, but have you tried Hub66?? We get great service and support out on Welch with them.

Might be worth a shot...

Dan

They just installed all the boxes on the telephone poles on my street and throughout Meredith. I put in my address and it says it's available but before I filled anything out I wanted to see if others were happy with it.?

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by Biggd

They just installed all the boxes on the telephone poles on my street and throughout Meredith. I put in my address and it says it's available but before I filled anything out I wanted to see if others were happy with it.?

I love it! Very very few issues and if you do need to call them someone always answers who speaks English! We have a line of sight connection and I am getting 200 Mbps download and 35 upload consistently.

Good luck!

Dan

[P-3 Guy]

Originally Posted by Biggd

They just installed all the boxes on the telephone poles on my street and throughout Meredith. I put in my address and it says it's available but before I filled anything out I wanted to see if others were happy with it.?

I don't think that's Hub66 installing boxes on utility poles throughout Meredith. Hub66 does OTA microwave broadband service. What you are referring to sounds like the NHEC subsidiary NH Broadband, which is currently doing fiber optic installs in Meredith.

[MeredithMan]

Originally Posted by P-3 Guy

I don't think that's Hub66 installing boxes on utility poles throughout Meredith. Hub66 does OTA microwave broadband service. What you are referring to sounds like the NHEC subsidiary NH Broadband, which is currently doing fiber optic installs in Meredith.

NHEC is the one rolling out their fiber in Meredith. They just finished on my street in the last week or so. I checked availability for my address and it currently states "sometime between November and January", so either the website isn't updated or they have a bit of back-office work to do after they put up the cables before you can get hooked up.

[Weekend Pundit]

Just for everyone's edification:

Fidium (Consolidated Communications) is installing fiber state wide in the areas they serve. They are basically doing the same thing TDS has been doing - building out fiber and then ripping out all of their copper. This does two things:

1. Fiber is future-proof as only the equipment at each end would need to be upgraded to handle ever increasing speeds and data capacity. (Note: In many cases all that's required for higher data speeds is 'throwing the switch' and not equipment replacement...until ever higher speed/capacity equipment comes online that may use different wavelengths than the existing ones being used.)

2. Copper is getting more expensive to maintain and it doesn't have the bandwidth of fiber. Then there's federal law which obligates telcos to share their copper infrastructure with competitors, but they aren't required to share their fiber infrastructure. So it becomes cheaper to decommission and remove all of their copper lines. (The salvage value of the copper is also a factor.)

Mind you, all of this applies to telephone companies, not cable companies. While they provide many of the same services they operate under different rules. If you get the electrical utilities involved in providing broadband services (like NHEC), they operate under yet another set of rules.

Cable has been providing broadband services for years, but depending upon the franchise agreements with the towns they serve there may be limitations regarding who can get service. The cable companies aren't obligated to provide service down roads that have only few homes over a specific distance. If a customer still wants service from the cable company they will need to pay the installation costs of running the cable between the nearest cable node and their home. That can run to thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars. Some cable companies are great, some are OK, and some stink.

Then there's fixed wireless which is handled a number of different ways, some by the cell network operators and other by private providers (like Hub66, to name one). Some work better than others and I have no data regarding which is better. One advantage I can thing of is that some of them are 'portable', meaning that if there is cell service there is Internet service. However the costs are going to be high for some of them. I can't speak as to the private providers. (Hub 66 will be serving Locke's Island in Gilford in the near future if everything works out.)

Then there's satellite. Some are OK. Some are bad. And some are really good. All require the customer to buy the ground equipment needed to use the service.

I have used HughesNet in the past and it worked OK, though speeds were limited and it wasn't inexpensive. It had high latency due to the use of geosynchronous satellites. (Latency is a bad thing, particularly for gamers.) It could also be affected by heavy rain and snow.

Then there's StarLink which uses a constellation of thousands of low Earth orbit satellites and can provide higher speeds than other satellite Internet providers. I haven't priced out StarLink recently so I can't hazard a guess as to the cost.

[dpg]

Originally Posted by tummyman

According to NHEC, their broadband is supposed to be available in Meredith as soon as Labor Day. Might be worth a wait.... I am in M'boro and switched to Fidium as soon as the fiber was available. Glad to be done with Spectrum. Love the fiber.....

Hi... Also in Moultonborough. I've got Spectrum and never heard of Fidium but haven't tried looking into anything else either. I was planning on waiting for NHEC to be up and running. Was this Fidium cheaper than Spectrum and is it just internet or also Cable TV services?

Thanks in advance.

[BroadHopper]

Right now, there are two cable providers: Breezeline and Xfinity. Breezeline has old equipment problems, but once a customer complains, they manage to repair the service.

In Laconia, to do business they must seek city approval. Laconia is probably the last to get new providers. Fidium uses existing equipment so they may be able to provide Laconia.

Since Xfinity arrived, Breezeline has been able to provide cheaper service. The last hike buried them. Xfinity is now more economical. I made the switch to Xfinity.

So far Xfinity speed according to Speedbot, is way more consistent than Breezeline and a tad more speed. Both provide me with up to 500GB.

As for streaming, I see no difference. Streaming services will buffer at times, and I believe it's the service itself, not the IP.

[Descant]

Originally Posted by ishoot308

I'm not positive its offered in Meredith, but have you tried Hub66?? We get great service and support out on Welch with them.

Might be worth a shot...

Dan

On the south side of Welch, we get HUB66 from Belknap Mtn. tower. In the cove on the north side of Welch, we get HUB66 from a tower in Meredith. I understand the Varney Islands facing west, get a HUB66 signal from the bottom of Rattlesnake Island. They're all over and adding more transmitters routinely.

[Weekend Pundit]

Originally Posted by BroadHopper

Right now, there are two cable providers: Breezeline and Xfinity. Breezeline has old equipment problems, but once a customer complains, they manage to repair the service.

In Laconia, to do business they must seek city approval. Laconia is probably the last to get new providers. Fidium uses existing equipment so they may be able to provide Laconia.

I saw in one of the broadband trade publications that Breezeline is going to go all fiber in Laconia. This assumes, of course, that their franchise agreement is renewed. They are presently operating under a 1 year extension to the old franchise agreement because there have been 'issues', not just with Laconia but in a number of other Lakes Region towns served by Breezeline.

I know that when Xfinity came into Gilford I switched from Breezeline because of problems I was having that Breezeline seemed it didn't want to solve. It also didn't help that they closed their customer service office in Belmont (which violated the terms of their franchise agreement) and moved all of their tech support from Rochester, NH to Quincy, MA.

[Biggd]

Originally Posted by MeredithMan

NHEC is the one rolling out their fiber in Meredith. They just finished on my street in the last week or so. I checked availability for my address and it currently states "sometime between November and January", so either the website isn't updated or they have a bit of back-office work to do after they put up the cables before you can get hooked up.

This is the one I'm talking about, they've been hanging their boxes on telephone poles throughout Meredith. They did my street so I'm wondering if anyone signed up yet?

[DRH]

Originally Posted by Biggd

This is the one I'm talking about, they've been hanging their boxes on telephone poles throughout Meredith. They did my street so I'm wondering if anyone signed up yet?

NH Broadband (NHEC) strung their fiber optic cables on our Meredith road back in the spring, and the pole boxes were installed several weeks ago. I'm potentially interested in switching over from Breezeline, but I have some questions.

With Breezeline, the coax feedline comes into our house and is connected to the cable modem, which is then connected to our WiFi router, in the living room. I asked NH Broadband how their fiber optic cable would be routed inside the house, and they said it wouldn't be. They said their cable would terminate at the point of entry and that's where the modem would be installed. In our case, that would be in our garage, and I am hesitant to commit to relocating our WiFi router there because I don't know if it would provide reliable coverage throughout our house. Does anyone have any first-hand experience with how this would work?

Also, we currently also have our landline phone service with Breezeline. I would welcome feedback from anyone who has switched their phone service to NH Broadband's fiber optic network. How's it working out for you?

In our case, Breezeline's TV/Internet/Phone service has been pretty good. My only complaint is the high monthly cost. I have no experience with being dependent on streaming TV for the channels we watch, and Breezeline's TiVo boxes make TV watching very easy. So I'll need a pretty good reason to switch over to NH Broadband. Feedback from anyone who's already made the switchover would be very helpful for the rest of us who are still undecided.

[gwhite13]

This morning, an ad on my desktop advertised Fidium one year, one gig, for $50. a month. Spectrum is half that speed, same money.

[The Real BigGuy]

In most cases the fiber optic cable will terminate at the house and is connected to an ONT (optical network terminal) which converts the light pulses to a digital signal that can move thru copper. In turn, the ONT is connected to your existing coaxial wiring in the house. You should not have to worry about moving your router.

Some newer homes were wired with fiber optic cable. In these, there are other options for connecting the 2 cables.


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[Weekend Pundit]

Originally Posted by DRH

NH Broadband (NHEC) strung their fiber optic cables on our Meredith road back in the spring, and the pole boxes were installed several weeks ago. I'm potentially interested in switching over from Breezeline, but I have some questions.

With Breezeline, the coax feedline comes into our house and is connected to the cable modem, which is then connected to our WiFi router, in the living room. I asked NH Broadband how their fiber optic cable would be routed inside the house, and they said it wouldn't be. They said their cable would terminate at the point of entry and that's where the modem would be installed. In our case, that would be in our garage, and I am hesitant to commit to relocating our WiFi router there because I don't know if it would provide reliable coverage throughout our house. Does anyone have any first-hand experience with how this would work?

NH Broadband would install the ONT (Optical Network Terminal) in the garage. Generally ONTs are located near where the fiber optic cable comes to the house. In some cases they are installed outside the home and all of the 'other' cables for TV, telephone, and Internet enter the house there.

That doesn't mean you would need to place your WiFi router in the garage. An Ethernet cable could be run from the ONT to your router inside. You would need to check with NH BB about running the cable between the ONT and your router. They may charge extra for that, but you'd need check with them.

Are you going to be subscribing just to Internet and phone service? Does NHBB offer 'traditional' video services or just streaming?

[Winilyme]

Questions for me:
1 - Does anyone know the approximate cost savings for NHEC vs Breezeline for comparable service?
2 - With NHEC, do I need to pay a monthly fee for the 7 cold weather months we’re not here? With Breezeline, I pay a monthly $5.00 fee to avoid some sort of (net more costly) reconnect fee in the spring. I always felt that was highway robbery since we have no need for broadband during those months.

[DRH]

Originally Posted by Weekend Pundit

Are you going to be subscribing just to Internet and phone service? Does NHBB offer 'traditional' video services or just streaming?

NHBB's promotional literature has indicated that the television part of its fiber optic "package" is provided by DirectTV streaming video.

[sky's]

Originally Posted by Biggd

Has anyone sign up for the new Broadband yet and if so, how do you like it?
I'm sooo disappointed with Breezeline

we built a new house in sandwhich and the broadband was just coming onto our street. because of the size of our house i opted for the 2 gigs for 99.95 a month. make a long story short its awesome. and its 99.95 a month not all these other charges piled on top. great service no complaints here.

[TomC]

i also built a house in Sandwich and have NH Broadband. Another thumbs up!

[magicrobotmonkey]

Breezeline is now offering symmetrical fiber in Laconia

[Weekend Pundit]

Originally Posted by DRH

NHBB's promotional literature has indicated that the television part of its fiber optic "package" is provided by DirectTV streaming video.

Ok, that makes sense as it means less work and less capital equipment costs for NHBB and they offload supporting the video side to someone having experience in doing so. I know Fidium is doing likewise - offering Direct TV streaming video as well as some others. I don't blame them for not wanting to have invest in capital equipment to support Linear TV services like cable companies do. Under the circumstances streaming video services makes perfect sense.

[The Real BigGuy]

Originally Posted by Weekend Pundit

NH Broadband would install the ONT (Optical Network Terminal) in the garage. Generally ONTs are located near where the fiber optic cable comes to the house. In some cases they are installed outside the home and all of the 'other' cables for TV, telephone, and Internet enter the house there.

That doesn't mean you would need to place your WiFi router in the garage. An Ethernet cable could be run from the ONT to your router inside. You would need to check with NH BB about running the cable between the ONT and your router. They may charge extra for that, but you'd need check with them.

Are you going to be subscribing just to Internet and phone service? Does NHBB offer 'traditional' video services or just streaming?

If you are using coaxial cable from the exterior wall of your home to the router NHBB can connect this to the ONT. you do not need to rewire with Ethernet (CAT5 or CAT6), new coaxial cable, or fiber. I have Verizon fios at home wired with existing coax (old Comcast) from the ONT to the router and actually get better up & down speeds than I pay for.


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[tummyman]

When we switched from Spectrum to Fidium, we had to run a tiny fiber cable from the outside connection point to the interior where my router is located. A real pain as it was in my crawl space but I did it anyway to avoid a hole in the house near where we wanted the router. We did not switch over our landline phone....Fidium had it screwed up on our initial order and we decided to just stick with Spectrum phone for a while. So far, speeds are terrific even with the 300MB service. We use YouTube TV and it is great....dumped Spectrum Cable TV a while ago since we were able to have just one cable tv provider between our MA and NH homes. Saved us a lot of $$$.

[DRH]

Originally Posted by tummyman

When we switched from Spectrum to Fidium, we had to run a tiny fiber cable from the outside connection point to the interior where my router is located. A real pain as it was in my crawl space but I did it anyway to avoid a hole in the house near where we wanted the router. We did not switch over our landline phone....Fidium had it screwed up on our initial order and we decided to just stick with Spectrum phone for a while. So far, speeds are terrific even with the 300MB service. We use YouTube TV and it is great....dumped Spectrum Cable TV a while ago since we were able to have just one cable tv provider between our MA and NH homes. Saved us a lot of $$$.

Was the small fiber cable you had to install to the router necessary only because you kept your phone service with Spectrum?

[TheProfessor]

Three companies offering wired internet.

As stated in another post. The new ones are Fairpoint/Fidium AND the NH Coop.

Some get the two confused as to what they have/get.

[BroadHopper]

When I switched to Xfinity the ONT is in a dark green box on the corner of the street. They buried cable wire from the ONT box to a light beige box connected to the house. From that box, a wire ran through the wall into the attached garage. The modem is attached next to the wire. Since wi-fi coverage is bad in the garage, I installed a powerline network adaptor next to the modem and attached a wi-fi router to an adaptor. The router is centrally located in the house. I also bought another adaptor to hard-wire my computer in the office. I just purchase another adaptor to hard wire the TV. So far so good!

I was also told Xfinity has wi-fi and 5G modems in various power lines.

Not sure why the ONT is on the street corner and others are directly on the house.

[tummyman]

Originally Posted by DRH

Was the small fiber cable you had to install to the router necessary only because you kept your phone service with Spectrum?

No, it was a tiny diameter cable that runs from their outside ONT to the modem. Their installer was to drill a hole into the house wherever we wanted the modem to be located or just remove a coax cable and use that route. However, the modem, in my case, was not close enough to an outside wall, requiring us to feed the cable into the crawl space and then up into a closet where the modem and router was located. Plus wife was not happy with more holes in the house !!! Fidium uses two boxes in the house...a very small modem that their tiny fiber cable plugs into that then is wired directly to the router. Each house configuration is special....but getting the equipment into a central place helps with the wireless coverage. They do charge extra for wireless expansion modules if needed but that has not been an issue with us. Our 300MB service was well tested this summer...at one point we had 4 computers, one TV, and 8-10 cell phones all tied into the network and no issues observed. With just wife and me usually, no issues at all. People do not need to over purchase speed. Start low and then move up IF NEEDED.

The phone was a pain, as Fidium did not handle correctly the request to Spectrum to retain our phone number. I think it was just a mix up one off. Anyway, since there was little difference in monthly cost, we decided to leave well enough alone. Others who switched both have had no issue, so my guess of a one off seems reasonable.

[Lakegeezer]

Originally Posted by dpg

Hi... Also in Moultonborough. I've got Spectrum and never heard of Fidium but haven't tried looking into anything else either. I was planning on waiting for NHEC to be up and running. Was this Fidium cheaper than Spectrum and is it just internet or also Cable TV services?

Thanks in advance.

In M'boro, NHEC (NH Broadband) was scheduling to have service available around February 2025. Their wires are mostly strung and they started putting boxes on the poles. Fidium has been up in most of the town since June 2024. I pay $25 a month for 100/100 service from Fidium and it has been great.

[tummyman]

From what I have been told by the Fidium installer, there are two types of fiber optic cable....Single mode (SM) and Multi mode (MM). I was told Fidium uses one type and NHBB uses the other, but I do not remember which one uses which cable. Maybe someone can check when they get an installation. And depending on application, each has specific benefits. As usual, not all cable is the same, even though it is all called Fiber! Do people really care what cable type or will price and upload/download speeds be the primary drivers?

Just trying to confuse the whole topic !!! Ha !

[Weekend Pundit]

Originally Posted by tummyman

From what I have been told by the Fidium installer, there are two types of fiber optic cable....Single mode (SM) and Multi mode (MM). I was told Fidium uses one type and NHBB uses the other, but I do not remember which one uses which cable. Maybe someone can check when they get an installation. And depending on application, each has specific benefits.

The drop to the house would be Singlemode fiber. An interior run from the ONT could be either, but it makes more sense for it to be SM since it doesn't have the Effective Modal Bandwidth limitations of MM. However, that doesn't mean MM won't be used.

[jeffk]

Originally Posted by The Real BigGuy

If you are using coaxial cable from the exterior wall of your home to the router NHBB can connect this to the ONT. you do not need to rewire with Ethernet (CAT5 or CAT6), new coaxial cable, or fiber. I have Verizon fios at home wired with existing coax (old Comcast) from the ONT to the router and actually get better up & down speeds than I pay for.


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There is a caveat to this. In-house coaxial cable needs to be of good (manufactured) quality and in good condition. Pumping a 2 Gb signal into coaxial cable in bad shape can yield substandard (less than 2 Gb) performance. It might be a single segment or multiple segments that needs to be fixed/replaced. You might not even notice a problem with a 100 MB source but find one at 10 to 20 times that speed. I assume it's possible to test your in-house wiring but doubt they will unless requested to do so ($$) or problems arise.

If the coaxial cable is in good shape it will support Gb speeds. When we go to 10 Gb speeds?

[longislander]

I'm a Moultonborough resident and have been using Fidium for a couple of months, as soon as it was available here.

I canceled Spectrum internet but wanted to keep Spectrum TV. Also switched "home phone" (not the Spectrum mobile option). I'm happy with Fidium and get close to 500 Mbps download and upload, for their 1 Gig fiber plan, costing presently, $67.50/month, but that includes $20+, first year discount. I've got a lot of "stuff" that affects bandwidth and speeds. Some are wireless and some are wired. I check download/upload speeds with Oogla or Google speed tests, using either Chrome or Firefox browsers. I've got wired and wireless stuff.

Fidium is fiber all the way to the modem, not like Spectrum. Our modem and router (separate, as was Spectrum) are in our living room, where the wife does a good job blending them into decor. I've got all of the "cabling" side by side that comes from outside, through the garage, and up through the floor in the basement to the living room, where any can be hooked up to any modem and then to the router, if there is one.

I've usd Roku boxes almost ever since it was made available. and still do, even with Spectrum TV on my TV. I've got Spectrum hooked up to the TV #1 HDMI port and Roku hooked up to the #2 port. # 3 is still empty.

Spectrum TV gives you a receiver box with Cloud DVR, that I'm debating to keep or not. I still get the same programs on Spectrum on my Roku box. The difference for me is the receiver box, Cisco HD Digital Receiver Model 4742HDC. Have also looked at streaming thorugh Hulu, Direct TV (streaming, not satellite) etc. as Fidium may suggect since Fidium doesn't have a TV offering.

Spectrum is peddling XUMO streaming boxes, as well, a joint venture of Charter Communications and Comcast.

[The Real BigGuy]

A good article about fiber:

https://www.broadbandsearch.net/blog...net-need-modem


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[Weekend Pundit]

Originally Posted by The Real BigGuy

A good article about fiber:

https://www.broadbandsearch.net/blog...net-need-modem


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The link you provided gave a much better (and simpler) explanation than I did. Then again, I am involved in the industry at an engineering level and not an installer level...and the installers tend to know more about the nuts and bolts than some guy that designs the 'guts' or the equipment that tests everything.

[The Real BigGuy]

My dad was a EE. I feel you!


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[longislander]

Great info. Thanks!
Got informed on difference from modem and ONT.


https://us.hitrontech.com/learn/do-y...20to%20Wi%2DFi.

[BroadHopper]

Interesting read.

Technically, I don't need a modem. Yet the Xfifnity installer says I am required to have a cable modem even though there is an ONT in a box at the corner of the street. The cables are buried underground, and that box serves a number of units.

[The Real BigGuy]

They probably need each individual user to have a modem/router so they can use the m/r’s MAC address (each piece of equipment has an individual MAC address) to allow them to send your items (I.e., e-mail, phone calls, TV & streaming channels, etc.) to the right location. Kind of like house numbers so USPS and delivery drivers get it right (sometimes ).


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[NH.Solar]

When hooking me up to the Co-op's fiber the installer confirmed what was formerly said here about using my longish (in my case about 40') existing Metrocast cat cable and ran a new fiber from the external entry box to the ONT near the new router. The cat cable between the ONT and their new router is only about 4' long, and to repeat myself, the quality of the signal is noticably better! My only complaint with the installation is that I need at some point to disconnect the new fiber cable and carefully re-route it so it is out of the way in my attic crawlspace.
My billing from NHEC is only about $60 whereas Metrocast was about $110 for a much lower level of service. Loving it!

[The Real BigGuy]

Yes, be real careful moving a fiber cable, especially one in the house. The can be very costly and time consuming to repair and your service provider will generally only be responsible for repair outside your house.


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[panjumbie]

If your installation includes a fiber jumper, the color of the jacket should tell you what type, single mode or one of the several multimode standards:

https://www.lightoptics.co.uk/blogs/...ber-color-code

[dpg]

Originally Posted by Lakegeezer

In M'boro, NHEC (NH Broadband) was scheduling to have service available around February 2025. Their wires are mostly strung and they started putting boxes on the poles. Fidium has been up in most of the town since June 2024. I pay $25 a month for 100/100 service from Fidium and it has been great.

Thanks I'll need to look into it! So it's currently available to reach out to them it sounds like.

[dpg]

Just checked my address in m'boro and NHEC is supposedly about next spring for the street. I'll need to double check my Spectrum bill but I believe their real close to NHEC. When looking at NHEC they say basic internet is 49.95 and their premier (1 gig) is 79.95 per month. I'm not there full time and don't work from home (retired) anything I ever do with my phone or computer works just fine for me through Spectrum.

[Weekend Pundit]

Originally Posted by panjumbie

If your installation includes a fiber jumper, the color of the jacket should tell you what type, single mode or one of the several multimode standards:

https://www.lightoptics.co.uk/blogs/...ber-color-code

It is likely any interior fiber jumper will be singlemode as I am not aware of any of the FTTx providers employing multimode fiber.