FairPoint DSL

[Slickcraft]

We recently had Fairpoint DSL installed on Welch Island and are happy with the result. Prior to placing the order, neighbor ishoot308 ran a speed test of his DSL and reported 1.53 Mbps down and 0.36 up. This was in line with the “about1.6 Mbps” that Fairpoint said that we would get on the island.

We had been using a Verizon hotspot on our phones for internet access on the island. Normally for the period April – Oct, I bump the data allowance up to 4G from 2G; this bumps the Verizon bill up by $20/month. The hot spot usually provides good download rates however any but brief video streaming will destroy the data allowance.

Since the DSL install the speed has been a very consistent 1.54 Mbps down and 0.41 up. We were pleasantly surprised to find that Netflix works great on either the TV or a tablet at that speed. Netflix has quick start-up and no buffering delays. We have a ROKU 3 that we brought over from home to test streaming so now I’ll get one for camp. On some other ROKU channels we do get an occasional buffering delay. As Netflix has such a wide choice of content and works fine at the DLS speed we are happy campers.

I found that we can watch the Ch 9 news/weather by live streaming to the laptop and display with audio on the TV with a HDMI cable. Typically one or two buffering delays in a half hour live stream.

The cost: Fairpoint DSL is $24.99/month (4 year guarantee) but I can cut my Verizon bill by $20/month in season, a $5/month net increase. I did pay up front to buy the modem/router, no install fee if you stick with FP for 12 months. Off season I can have the Fairpoint service shut off and pay $5/month.

I did find out that Fairpoint has installed many small local sub-stations with banks of DSL modems and fiber optic back-haul. There is one in Glendale. After the installers left Welch they were on their way to Rattlesnake, I don’t know if they have a sub-station in West Alton.