Networking

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Earlier this week, Telstra was among the trio of telcos hauled into Federal Court by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) over allegations of making misleading NBN FttN speed claims. The consumer watchdog alleges the trio made false representations to consumers over being able to: Test lines to determine the maximum speed on fibre-to-the-node connections, notify the customer of test results, and offer remedies if a line was performing below the speed the telco sold it as. The ACCC also alleges that the trio “wrongly accepted payments” from customers for NBN plans when they could not receive promised speeds. It has put the number of impacted customers in the “hundreds of thousands” range. Taking to Twitter on Wednesday morning, Telstra CEO Andy Penn laid blame for the issue at the feet of NBN Co. “When you sign up for the NBN you tell us what speed you want. However, when we connect you for the first time, NBN can’t tell us what speeds you’ll get. Despite this, we still have an obligation to provide you the speed you’ve chosen,” Penn said. “The root cause is at the beginning. We need NBN to tell us what its network is capable of for customers upfront, before we connect and for regulators to impose on NBN the same obligations we have to meet. That’s how we’ll get this right for customers once and for all.” Penn said the telco did not deliberately set out to mislead its customers, and apologised for not fixing it sooner.

“When we identified issues, we reported them to the ACCC and ACMA and started a process to make it right by customers impacted. And let me be clear: It’s our accountability to fix it and we should have been on top of it sooner. That responsibility is with us and for that I’m sorry,” he said. On Monday, TPG said it would be “making things right” with its impacted customers who never received a maximum attainable speed notice. “For the oversight, we are sorry,” a company spokesperson said at the time. “There were two key contributing factors to this issue. The first was failure by NBN Co to provide timely and accurate speed information to TPG Internet. The second was anomalies in TPG Internet’s legacy processes in place since 2017, and these have been fixed post-merger.” TPG added its intent was not to avoid obligations, and of its two million customers, “only a small percentage” did not receive information. Elsewhere on Wednesday, Aussie Broadband announced it signed a five-year deal with Telstra Wholesale to hook up 42 NBN points of interconnect (POI) not covered by its existing fibre footprint. Aussie Broadband said it would save AU$1 million this fiscal year, and AU$15 million per year thereafter. “The deal comprises both inter-capital and NBN POI capacity through the use of dark fibre and wavelengths and allows for significant capacity increases across the network,” the company said. “Upgrades will be rolled out over the next nine months and are expected to be completed by April 2022.” “All 121 NBN Points of Interconnect, through both Aussie Broadband’s own fibre and through Telstra Wholesale fibre, will be upgraded from current 10G or 20G connections to 100G minimum capacity at each POI.” Each POI would be connected to two separate capital city data centres, with Aussie Broadband adding it would be upgrading its inter-capital links with 400G, and have 100G paths to other capital cities. Related Coverage More

Extreme Networks has announced its intent to acquire Ipanema Technologies, the SD-WAN (software-defined wide area network) and SASE (secure-access service edge) division of Infovista. France-based Infovista, which had already had a major stake in the ground as a service assurance company, acquired Ipanema in 2015, well before SD-WAN went mainstream a couple of years ago. Extreme will purchase Ipanema for 60 million Euros (approximately $73 million) in an all-cash transaction. The deal is expected to close in October, pending regulatory approval. Since Infovista is privately held, revenue numbers for the Infovista division are not readily known. I know that pre-pandemic, Ipanema revenue was about 40 million Euros annually but had fallen to 30 million and was probably sliding to the 20 million level. If that’s the case, the 60 million Euro purchase price is a steal and fits the mold of other Extreme acquisitions, because it is a top-tier technology that’s effectively a stranded asset inside a larger organization where it doesn’t fit. Extreme makes another strategic acquisition to fuel its businessExtreme’s addition of the WiFi business at Motorola, Avaya’s network business, and Brocade’s Ethernet products, are other examples of how the company rolls. COO Norman Rice has a knack of finding these diamonds in the rough and has used acquisitions like these to fuel the resurgence of the company. The network vendor is now past $1 billion in revenue and has become a Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader, which is impressive given the company’s bumpy past. The purchase of Ipanema is yet another example of how the company will use a modest investment to fuel another wave of growth. Ipanema isn’t the most well-known SD-WAN company, but its technology is very good. However, Infovista was not willing to make investments in the areas of sales and marketing. The company was founded in 1999 as a WAN optimization vendor, which competed with the likes of Riverbed and Packeteer. I had many engagements with Ipanema customers, and they raved about how good the tech was. Evidence of this? The company was a perennial Gartner MQ Leader for years, and this solid foundation is what it used to build its SD-WAN portfolio. More recently, the company partnered with Equinix and CheckPoint to develop a full cloud-native SD-WAN and SASE platform. This new product shifts SD-WAN to an on-demand service that can be scaled up and down like other cloud services. Ipanema has solid SD-WAN and SASE technology With this big product investment, one might wonder why sell Ipanema? The answer is focus. In a media advisory, Infovista stated: “The planned transaction is part of Infovista’s strategic transformation as it sharpens its focus on delivering its cloud-native lifecycle automation platform.” SD-WAN and SASE do not fit into that strategy. From my dealings with Infovista, this is the right move, because they should focus on service providers. The company doesn’t understand how to sell to businesses or the importance of investing in sales and marketing. Despite having a strong product, they were getting drowned in an ocean of other companies that were far better in those areas. Thus Infovista fell behind.

I expect Extreme to do big things with the Ipanema product. The investments that Infovista made in developing the cloud-native platform align nicely to Extreme’s cloud-first approach. In the short term, it’s strong enough for Extreme to sell as a standalone product, but the company does expect to have the technology integrated into its ExtremeCloud platform within a year. This also will enable Extreme to bring its AI capabilities to SD-WAN and SASE, which should add significant value to Ipanema customers. This also boosts Extreme’s total addressable market, because the combined SASE-plus-SD-WAN market could be as big as $20 billion in five years. Ipanema is well aligned with Extreme’s Infinite Enterprise VisionThe acquisition is also well aligned with Extreme’s strategy of the Infinite Enterprise, where connectivity needs to reach anywhere a worker is located. Before Ipanema, Extreme didn’t have the products to reach branch offices and home workers at scale. While there were other SD-WAN and/or SASE vendors Extreme could have purchased, I believe it was the strong cloud back end that made Ipanema so attractive. Its cloud-native software delivery platform now makes this possible and gives Extreme products that span WAN, LAN, data center, and campus–all of which can be managed via the cloud. Extreme will use Ipanema to establish a second technology innovation center in Europe. This will strengthen Extreme’s European footprint and bring into the company several service providers and managed service partners–including a couple of behemoths such as British Telecom and Orange, the enterprise division of France Telecom. More

Credit: Microsoft
Microsoft has acquired Peer5, a WebRTC-based electronic content-delivery-network (eCDN) vendor, for an undisclosed amount. Microsoft announced the Peer5 purchase on August 10. Peer5’s technology will be used to enhance live video streaming in Microsoft Teams, Microsoft officials said. Peer5’s current product runs in browsers to optimize bandwidth usage for line-of-business applications, Microsoft officials said, and its mesh networks can automatically scale as the number of viewers increases. Peer5’s technology doesn’t require additional installation on user endpoints or any changes to physical network infrastructure, officials added. While the addition of the Peer5 solution will give Microsoft its own, first-party product in this space, Microsoft will continue to support other eCDN solutions from Microsoft certified partners, officials said. Current Peer5 customers will be able to continue using their existing Peer5 services, they said.Peer5 has been touting its “seamless integration” with Microsoft’s Teams, Stream and Yammer products on its site. It also has offered legacy support for IE and live and video-on-demand support for Office 365.  Peer5, founded in 2012, has offices in Palo Alto, Calif. and Tel Aviv. According to its web site, the company’s staff has experience in big-data analytics, virtualization and networking. The company is active in the WebRTC space and a member of the W3C steering committee. More

A new report from cybersecurity company Intsights has spotlighted the thriving market on the dark web for network access that nets cybercriminals thousands of dollars.

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Paul Prudhomme, cyber threat intelligence advisor at IntSights, examined network access sales on underground Russian and English-language forums before compiling a study on why criminals sell their network access and how criminals transfer their network access to buyers.  More than 37% of all victims in a sample of the data were based in North America while there was an average price of $9,640 and a median price of $3,000. The study notes that the kind of access being offered continues to be used in ransomware attacks across the world. Dark web forums are enabling a decentralized system where less-skilled cybercriminals can rely on each other for different tasks, allowing most ransomware operators to simply buy access from others, according to Prudhomme.  The network access on offer ranges from the credentials of system administrators to remote access into a network. With millions still working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the sale of network access has increased significantly over the last 18 months. Remote access is generally through RDP and VPNs.  In dark web forums and marketplaces, cybercriminals share access to a slate of malware, malicious tools, illicit infrastructure, and compromised data, accounts, and payment card details. Many of the most sophisticated forums and marketplaces are in Russian but there are also many English, Spanish, Portuguese and German-language forums.  Cybercriminals rarely have a full team of attackers experienced in each stage of an attack, making dark web forums ideal as they either sell what they’ve already stolen or search for malware payloads, hosting infrastructure and access to compromised networks.

“This factor is particularly applicable to compromises of specialized environments, such as those with operational technology (OT), industrial control systems (ICS), Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, or other less common or less conventional technology that may be unfamiliar to many attackers,” Prudhomme explained.  At times, attackers realize they have broken into a network with no data that can be stolen or sold and decide to sell access to ransomware groups. The posts offering compromised network access include the victim, the form and level of access for sale, as well as the pricing and other transaction details. Sometimes the victims are identified by location, industry or sector and revenue information is often included.  The descriptions may also include the number and types of machines on it or the types of files and data that it contains. Often hackers will explicitly mention something as a potential ransomware target in ads.  Some access is sold as an auction while others are negotiated over time.  The most common features of these sales are RDP credentials and VPN credentials, both of which are being used considerably more due to the pandemic. Web shells are also used as persistence mechanisms that can be transferred.  “Elevated privileges are a common feature of these sales, but not a universal one. Many types of malware, including ransomware, need elevated privileges in order to run,” Prudhomme said.  “Higher privileges can also enable attackers to create their own accounts or take other measures to use as additional persistence mechanisms, providing redundancy for the access that they purchased. Domain administrator credentials are a common component of these sales, in conjunction with a form of remote access. Some forms of remote access for sale may also come with their own elevated privileges.” Included in the study is a quantitative and qualitative analysis of a sample of 46 sales of network access on underground forums covered in alerts provided to IntSights customers from September 2019 to May 2021. Among this selection, seven individuals accounted for more than half of the access points for sale, representing the larger trend of concentrated attacks by vendor-specific hackers.  Of the 46 samples, 40 named the location of victim organizations and nearly 40% were in the US or Canada.  Ten of the 46 victims were in the telecommunications industry while three other industries — financial services, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, and energy and industrials — tied for second place.  “Despite the relatively small number of retail and hospitality victims, the second-most expensive offering in this sample, with an asking price of approximately $66,000 USD worth of Bitcoin at the time, was for access to an organization supporting hundreds of retail and hospitality businesses,” Prudhomme explained.  “The victim was a third-party operator of customer loyalty and rewards programs. The seller highlighted the various ways in which a buyer could monetize this access, including: review and manipulation of source code; access to the accounts and points of loyalty program members; and spam and phishing attacks, including ransomware campaigns against loyalty program members via legitimate communication channels.”  Prudhomme noted that cybercriminals often go after airline frequent flier programs and similar customer loyalty programs because of the general lack of anti-fraud measures. While $9,640 was the average price, IntSights researchers said most prices hovered around $3,000. Just ten of the prices surpassed $10,000 and most were for access to telecommunications or technology companies. Many offers were in the hundreds and the lowest offer was $240 for access to a healthcare company in Colombia.  The peak seen in the study was $95,000 for access to a large telecommunications service provider in Asia with over $1 billion in revenue.  The researchers urge organizations to patch systems, enable MFA and take other measures to close off potential access points.  “The amount of time that it takes to sell network access may give security teams more time to detect a breach before a buyer monetizes it or does anything else with it that could cause significant harm,” the report said.  “The amount of time needed to find a buyer varies considerably, ranging from hours to months, but a time frame of days or weeks is more typical. If security teams discover an intruder who has had access for a significant period of time but has not yet begun to monetize it, e.g., by exfiltrating profitable files or deploying ransomware, then that delay could indicate that the initial intruder is still waiting for a buyer.” More

Networking hardware giant Netgear has announced a slate of new cybersecurity and privacy-focused features for one of its most popular products.The Netgear Armor security product, which is built into most routers like Orbi and Nighthawk, will now come with new threat detection features designed specifically for smart appliances. The new features include sensitive data protection — which blocks attempts to send login information, banking data, social security numbers and moreover encrypted networks — as well as an anomaly detection tool that uses machine learning algorithms to monitor how your connected devices usually operate. The system blocks any activity that is considered “out of the ordinary.”Netgear Armor will also try to shield connected smart devices from bots and brute force attacks while also stopping denial-of-service attacks and protecting networks against malicious intrusions through exploits. Netgear Armor is available to customers who have certain Wi-Fi 6 routers, and the company said it planned to roll out the tools to a wider audience in the coming weeks. Right now, Netgear Armor is free for 30 days and then costs $99.99 for a yearly subscription. David Henry, president of connected home products and services at Netgear, explained that it could be overwhelming for people to know what to do to keep themselves and their information safe with the explosion of connected devices in the home. Henry said the company added the features after realizing “that a new type of security solution was needed.”

There are an array of threats facing smart TVs, smart thermostats, light switches, home theater systems, security cameras, game consoles, smart speakers, tablets, smartphones and other smart home gadgets.The company cited a report from Bitdefender that found the number of vulnerabilities in smart TVs and cameras grew precipitously between 2019 and 2021. Netgear said in a statement that the security system is built into the router and eliminates “the need and cost for multiple security subscriptions or software.” The company also offers a cybersecurity program for devices and computers along with the subscription.  More

South Korean telco KT saw operating income jump 38.5% from the year prior during its second-quarter thanks to high demand for 5G and content services. On Tuesday, the company said it recorded 6 trillion won in sales, and 476 billion won in operating income during the second quarter. It is an increase of 2.6% and 38.5% respectively from the previous year. KT said it saw growth across the board with its content and 5G services performing especially well during the quarter. Its IPTV service saw sales increase 14.5% from the previous year. The telco credited the growth to stay-at-home culture and homeschooling trend caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. KT also saw its average revenue per subscriber increase 3% compared to the previous year during the quarter. The telco said this was from its increasing number of 5G subscribers. As of the second quarter, the company had accumulated 5.01 million 5G subscribers, it said. Its data centre and cloud services for enterprises also performed relatively well, seeing a 6.2% sales increase from the previous year. Meanwhile, compatriot telco LG Uplus last week also reported year-on-year growth during the second quarter.

The company posted 3.34 trillion won in sales and 268 billion won in operating income, an increase of 2.2% and 12%, respectively, from the previous year. LG Uplus also credited its 5G services for the uptick. Its total number of 5G subscribers as of the end of the second quarter was 3.72 million, an increase of 108% from the previous year. The telco said it expected to beat its annual target of 4.5 million 5G subscribers before year-end. Its solutions for enterprises, such as smart factories, saw a 34.3% year-on-year sales increase during the quarter, LG Uplus added. Meanwhile, last month, KT launched its 5G standalone service, becoming the first carrier in the country to offer mobile services wholly on 5G networks. South Korea is planning to allocate more 5G spectrum in November to promote 5G-related services. More from Korea More

Consumers are spoiled for choices in many areas, including when trying to choose the best cable internet provider. However, because cable internet is more popular than satellite internet, customers also enjoy lower starting prices. Furthermore, cable internet is easily accessible, meaning faster download speeds and higher data caps.To narrow down the best cable and internet, we considered criteria such as customer service, fastest speeds, data caps and pricing, although in most cases, prices will be based on where you live and current deals.Charter SpectrumComcast XfinityMediacomCox Comm.Best forNo data capsFastest speedsPackage customizationPC gamersReviews.com Sore3.2/53.6/53.4/53.4/5Data capUnlimited1.2TB200GB – 6TB1TBDownload SpeedsUp to 940MbpsUp to 2000MbpsUp to 1000MbpsUp to 940MbpsJ.D. Power Customer Satisfaction*712/1000730/1000670/1000723/1000ACSI score63/10066/10059/10061/100Information accurate as of March 2021*J.D. Power’s 2020 Residential Internet Service Provider Satisfaction Study average rating for all regions. Based on a 1000-point scale.

Best for no data caps

Charter Spectrum

Reviews score: 3.2 | Starting price: $49.99/month | Download speed: 940Mbps | ASCI score: 63/ 100 |Charter Spectrum is our only top pick to offer no data caps. Mediacom comes close to offering a deal as generous with data caps that reach 6000 GB — but internet junkies and workaholics will rejoice in an unlimited supply of uploading, downloading, and streaming.Pros:No data caps$500 contract buyoutLow installation and rental costsCons:Average customer serviceLower ASCI ScoreFewer plans than competitorsPlans & pricing:Spectrum Internet: $49.99/mo.Spectrum Internet Ultra: $69.99/mo.Spectrum Internet Gig: $109.99/moFeatures:No contracts$25 off the first year$5/month equipment rental

Best for fastest speeds

Xfinity

Reviews score: 3.6 | Starting price: $49.99/month | Download speed: 2000Mbps | ASCI score: 66/100 |Xfinity by Comcast customers can opt for the highest download speeds available — up to 2000Mbps — with its new and innovative Gigabit Pro internet plans. But be prepared to pay a pretty penny for those speeds.Pros:Wide range of plansImproving ASCI score and higher customer satisfaction ratingUp to 2000MbpsCons:1.2TB data cap$10 overage penaltyEarly termination feesPlans & pricing:Performance Starter: $54.95/mo.Performance Internet: $80.95/mo.Performance Pro: $49.99/mo. — then $95.95Blast! Internet: $69.99/mo. — then $100.95Extreme Pro: $79.99/mo.– then $105.95Gigabit: $89.99/mo. — then $110.95Gigabit Pro: $299.95/mo.Features: No terms, 1-year, or 2-year contracts.$10 automatic payment discount available

Best for package customization

Mediacom

Reviews score: 3.4 | Starting price: $19.99/month | Download speed: 1000Mbps | ASCI score: 59/100 | Bundling your TV and internet service starts at just $49.99 per month in most locations. The base plan comes with 60Mbps and 50+ channels, though Mediacom’s packages allow for easy customization.Pros:Higher than average speedLow starting priceHigh data caps 6TBCons:Poor customer service ratingsLower than average ASCI scoreOverage penalties applyPlans & pricing:Access Internet 60: $19.99/mo. — then $29.99Internet 60: $39.99/mo. — then $69.99Internet 100: $49.99/mo. — then $79.99Internet 200: $59.99/mo. — then $99.99Internet 500: $69.99/mo. — then $119.99Internet 1 Gig: $79.99/mo. — then $139.99 Features:90-day satisfaction guaranteeInternet security included$10/month modem fee

Best for gamers

Cox Communications Internet

Review score: 3.4 | Starting price: $29.99/month | Download speed: 940Mbps | ASCI score: 61/100 |With Cox Communication’s Elite Gamer connections, PC users can experience faster connections to game servers and less lag during game sessions — an absolute boon for playing your favorite ranked games.Pros:No data caps$500 contract buyoutLow installation and rental costsCons:High customer service ratingLower ASCI scoreOnly average download speedPlans & pricing:Internet Starter 10: $29.99/mo. — then $44.99Internet Essential 50: $39.99/mo. — then $65.99StraightUp Internet (Prepaid): $50/mo.Internet Preferred 150: $59.99/mo. — then $83.99Internet Ultimate 500: $79.99/mo. — then $99.99Gigablast: $99.99/mo. — then $119.99Features:No contracts$12/month Wi-Fi modem rental12-month contracts$6.99/month Gamer Elite connection for faster server-based play

What Is Cable Internet and How Is it Different?Cable internet is an internet service that is accessed similarly to your cable television. It’s delivered via coaxial cables, the same ones that allow you to watch cable TV. Because of the way the cables are set up, multiple homes or even an entire neighborhood can use the same cables to access the internet and watch TV. This is a much more affordable and available option than fiber or satellite internet.Cable internet is widely accessible, can come with cable TV bundles, and offers a range of speeds. However, there is a downside. Unfortunately, because all of these homes would share bandwidth, when various households connect simultaneously, that can result in the network being bottlenecked and slow internet speeds.How to find the right internet provider for youFind your local providersAccording to the FCC’s Broadband Progress Report, 70% of Americans have fewer than three provider options (and that’s counting all internet types). Satellite internet is available nationwide and is usually one of those options. DSL and cable have pretty varied availability based on state, and fiber-optic internet is the rarest. Your first step should be checking which providers service your home. Our tool above can help you find the providers available in your ZIP code.Audit your speed needs

When it comes time to purchase your internet plan, you’ll need to know how much speed your household needs. Internet service is sold in speed-based packages, measured in Mbps (megabits per second). Typically, cable internet packages range between 10 Mbps and 100Mbps and accommodate HD video streaming, online gaming, and file downloading. If you only use the internet to check email or social media and you don’t want to pay for excess speed, DSL or satellite internet might be best for you. Keep in mind; these slower speeds usually come at a poorer value.Determining your needs depends on your usage habits. A couple of things play into usage demands, including the number of connected devices and the type of internet activity. Internet speed works kind of like a traffic highway: The more people using it, the slower you’ll have to go. High-demand usage like video conferencing or real-time gaming requires higher speeds and more monthly data.How to know how much internet you need How much internet you need depends on how much you plan to use. Here’s a breakdown of internet usage by Megabits per second (Mbps) and the number of devices connected to the internet.Number of DevicesLight UseModerate UseHigh UseVery High Use1 – 35 – 10Mbps15Mbps25Mbps50Mbps4 – 815Mbps25Mbps50Mbps100Mbps8 – 1025Mbps50Mbps100Mbps150Mbps10+50Mbps100Mbps150Mbps200+ Mbps

How do you determine your data requirements?

Internet data works similarly to your phone data plans in that you receive a certain allotment of gigabytes (GB) to “spend” over the course of a month based on your online activity. Most cable internet companies implement data caps starting at 250GB. For some context, 1GB is needed for about one hour of Netflix SD streaming and 3GB per hour for HD streaming. If you’re just using the internet for light emailing and web browsing, you can stay near 50GB per month. Heavy users should look for a plan with around 500GB of data or more. If you happen to go over your data limit, providers will issue a warning and eventually charge a fee for more data.

What’s the difference between fiber and cable internet?

Though fiber-optic internet is run with literal cables, it’s quite different from a traditional cable internet. Fiber transmits the internet through strands of glass rather than copper; as such, it’s completely unaffected by environmental conditions, and it multiplies typical internet speeds.Fiber providers are few and far between, with minimal availability. Traditional cable providers like Comcast are beginning to introduce fiber service, but it has a long way to go before reaching the same nationwide availability as other internet types.

What is the difference between a modem and router?

 Simply put: The modem acts as a bridge between your home and your internet service provider by establishing a connection to the internet. The router serves to connect the internet/WiFi to your devices by broadcasting a WiFi connection throughout your home. Some modems and routers have merged into one device — a good way to free up space and reduce clutter.

MethodologyWe evaluated internet service providers based on customer satisfaction, data caps, download speed, plans, and customer support to determine Reviews.com scores and create our best internet service provider reviews. To compare internet service providers with other brands across the board, we calculate each Reviews.com score based on the following:Customer Satisfaction: Reviews.com used J.D. Power’s 2020 Residential Internet Service Provider Satisfaction Study to calculate an average rating of internet providers across all applicable regions.Top Download Speeds: We awarded higher scores to internet providers with higher download speeds.Number of Plans: Internet providers with more plan options to choose from scored higher in our methodology.Data Caps: No one wants to be left without internet for the rest of the month, so we awarded internet providers with higher scores if they had high or no data caps. Customer Support: We reviewed and compared the number of channels that customers could reach each provider’s customer support representatives. The more channels of contact available, the higher the score. More

Connecting to the internet has never been easier: Whether you’re chatting in coffee shops or setting up smart smoke detectors, there’s information uploading to the internet everywhere. But there are more options than ever, which can make it tricky to decide which technology is best for you. We’re going to walk you through all the major internet connection types and how you might choose your best. A brief breakdown of your options

Each kind of internet connection is defined by its technology — how the connection is uploading and downloading internet information. DSL: Short for “digital subscriber line,” DSL uses existing telephone wires to send data between your computer and the internet. Information is transmitted on a different frequency than voice calls. DSL is widely available and connects directly from the ISP to your home. Cable: Data is transmitted via electricity through coaxial cables built out in neighborhoods for internet or cable TV. Widespread availability, except for more rural and secluded areas.Satellite: Your computer sends information through your dish up to a satellite orbiting the planet, and that satellite communicates to network operations centers to acquire the data you requested.Cellular: Mobile broadband that lets you connect to the internet wireless anywhere via cell phone towers, using your mobile device or hot-spotting to other devices. Fiber-optic: Similar to cable, but it uses small strands of glass to transmit the information as light. Minimal availability and costly to build out — mostly accessible in large cities.

“Fiber’s growth potential is theoretically limitless, which no other physical medium can claim…In an ideal world, all internet connections would be fiber.” – Trevor Textor, Project Manager, Rural IT & Connectivity Consultant.Speed is a defining factorFor consumers, the most obvious difference between these connection types will be speed. Each technology offers a different range of connection speeds, which will affect the time it takes to upload, download, stream, and browse. DSL is typically the slowest internet, offering customers choices between 1.5Mbps, 3Mbps, 5Mbps, 7Mbps, 12Mbps, 24Mbps, and (rarely) 40Mbps. Considering the FCC reported that the median household internet speed is 72Mbps, DSL options cater to the minority of light internet users. These speeds will be enough to do some simple web browsing and sending emails — if you have a few people streaming video at once, you will experience loading issues. With satellite internet, you won’t have speed options when purchasing. You’ll choose a package based on data usage instead. The satellite technology is limited to just one speed: 25Mbps with HughesNet and 12Mbps with Viasat. For smaller households and moderate internet use, this may be a fine option. Cable internet is likely the best option for most people. It’s the most versatile internet connection type, offering speeds from 10Mbps to 200Mbps and beyond. And cable internet providers usually offer the option to bundle with other services like TV too.Fiber is the fastest internet connection available right now and works similarly to cable. If you’re one of the lucky few who have access to fiber-optic internet, you can find speeds as fast as 1000 Mbps. Paired with its higher-quality connection, fiber-optic is best for households that consistently have multiple people streaming video, playing games, working from home, or downloading files. Cellular internet connections are typically just for mobile use, and 4G LTE is the fastest available at the time. It translates to about 50+ Mbps at peak speed but can be as slow as 5Mbps. The next iteration of this technology, 5G, could replace your home internet with speeds as fast as fiber. Reliability is important tooJust because an internet provider advertises certain speeds doesn’t mean it guarantees those speeds. There are a lot of factors that can influence the connection strength — high-traffic times in your neighborhood, weather, router type, etc. If an internet connection isn’t particularly reliable, you won’t consistently get the speeds you pay for.The FCC found DSL internet was the least reliable at delivering advertised speeds to its customers, with less than 10% of Cincinnati Bell and Hawaiian Telcom customers getting advertised speeds (although other DSL providers, like Verizon and AT&T, showed more consistent performance). However, around 80% of cable and fiber-optic internet customers received 95% or more of advertised speeds, with Charter (Spectrum) cable and Verizon fiber showing the best reliability.
FCC
×percentage-of-panelists-580×1024.jpgWhat’s best for you?Your first step is to look at the providers in your area and discover if they serve your address. Your options may be limited — building out service lines is expensive, and providers tend to avoid building where other providers are already offering service. You can ask neighbors who they get their internet from or simply plug your address in online to start your search. Satellite internet options, like HughesNet, will be available to almost everybody. If you happen to have a few options, you’ll want to compare their plans. To know which plan fits you best, assess your speed needs. You’ll need to consider the number of people using the internet in your household, the number of devices connecting (everything from your computer to your smart hub), and survey your household’s typical internet activity (streaming is more demanding than emailing, for example). After years of internet research and consulting network experts, we’ve built a guide to help you gauge the internet speed that will best fit your household. Determine where you are on the range of light use to very heavy use, then match that to the number of connected devices in your home.Light UseModerate UseHeavy UseVery Heavy Use1-3 devices5-10 Mbps15 Mbps25 Mbps50 Mbps4-8 devices15 Mbps25 Mbps50 Mbps100 Mbps8-10 devices25 Mbps50 Mbps100 Mbps150 Mbps10+ devices50 Mbps100 Mbps150 Mbps200+ MbpsFrom there, you should compare price, fees, and overall value. If you have more questions, check out our detailed guide to internet providers. More